Core i7 advice

Nick1881 · 15 Jan 2009 at 13:12

Hi,

I'm itching for new tech, I was considering a Q9650 after price drop for a cheap upgrade, but i7 is more desirable.

Whats the cheapest I can get for a nice i7 set-up?

I was looking at

Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz - OEM
Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel
G.Skill 3GB DDR3 NQ PC3-12800C9 1600MHz

Any gains to be had from the more expensive boards?
Will I notice a loss going from 8Gb to 3Gb of ram?
Whats the chances of this hitting 4Ghz under water?

Thanks

Nick1881 · 15 Jan 2009 at 13:42

Just realised the UD3R isnt triple channel so it would have to be the Gigabyte EX58-DS4, hows this board? I assume it has raid?

Frozen_Texas · 15 Jan 2009 at 15:10

yes EX58-DS4 has raid. but regarding EX58-UD3R it does support 3-channel mode, using 3 pcs of memory sticks you need to install them in DDR3_1, DDR3_2 and DDR3_4 slots, that's all.

Nick1881 · 15 Jan 2009 at 17:17

Ah right, thanks for that. I'd still rather have the DS4 though I think for future expansion when DDR3 prices have dropped.