Finally got the go-ahead from 'er indoors...

Havana_UK

Havana_UK

Havana_UK

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Hi all,

I've finally been given permission to upgrade my now aged system (as per my sig).

For now I will be replacing just the processor, motherboard & RAM. Graphics card update will come later so will for now be sticking with my 7800GTX SLi config (I'm not into the latest games any more so super performance graphics isn't crucial for me).

I have tentatively selected the following:
  • Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - OEM
  • Asus P6T Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
  • OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Triple Channel (OCZ3G1333LV6GK)
  • Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B CPU Cooler (Socket 775/1156/1366)
At some point I will overclock the system, so I would like to know:
- Will these components work fine together?
- Are they decent overclockers?

I will probably upgrade my graphics card to a single GTX285 or maybe just wait for the next generation cards.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Looks fine, never heard of the cooler so can't comment on that, usually Noctua i've seen used for overclocks and i would wait for the next gen if you can.
 
The Megahalem is a great cooler with one of the best mounting systems. Although you could get a Noctua NH-D14 (The Daddy of coolers) for a similar price of adding two decent fans to the megahalems.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
Any reason for going the i7 920 route?

Have you considered AMD?

Phenom II x4 955

or the i5 750

Check this bundle out

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-002-OB&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback all.

The reasons I was planning the Intel route, and specifically the i7 are:
- Last time I was up to date with these things Intel were ahead of AMD
- Chose i7 over i5 because I'm unlikely to upgrade for quite a while, so I wanted to go for the higher end processor in the hope that it will last longer, and also hoping that Intel will support the LGA1366 a litle longer than the 1156 (even though the 1156 is the newer socket)
- Triple channel memory appeals, again to ensure the system performance is up to the task of today and the future

How do the AMD X4s & Intel i5s / i7s compare?
 
In the simplest terms, the i7 is considered a rendering chip, the i5 a gaming chip and the AMD X4s the budget chip.
In not so simple terms, the i7 is top of the range tech available on the market at this time, the chipset it's on (1366) will still be used for a while to come. It is widely considered a rendering chip because of the hyperthreading capabilties of the processor enables it to render in astonishingly quick times compared to other CPUs out there.
The i5 processors, although cheaper, do keep up with most i7s when it comes to gaming - the only real differences between the two you will notice are benchmark results. The consideration that has to be taken into account with the i5 is that it is on the 1156 chip which is a lot less likely to be used for newer CPUs in the forthcoming months / year.
The AMD X4s I'm not so well read-up on as I've focused a lot on the Intel side of the board recently, although I do believe that the performance is comparable to the i5 series in games as again you will not notice much difference in terms of fps - the graphics card is usually the limiting factor here.
 
bJN said:
In the simplest terms, the i7 is considered a rendering chip, the i5 a gaming chip and the AMD X4s the budget chip.
In not so simple terms, the i7 is top of the range tech available on the market at this time, the chipset it's on (1366) will still be used for a while to come. It is widely considered a rendering chip because of the hyperthreading capabilties of the processor enables it to render in astonishingly quick times compared to other CPUs out there.
The i5 processors, although cheaper, do keep up with most i7s when it comes to gaming - the only real differences between the two you will notice are benchmark results. The consideration that has to be taken into account with the i5 is that it is on the 1156 chip which is a lot less likely to be used for newer CPUs in the forthcoming months / year.
The AMD X4s I'm not so well read-up on as I've focused a lot on the Intel side of the board recently, although I do believe that the performance is comparable to the i5 series in games as again you will not notice much difference in terms of fps - the graphics card is usually the limiting factor here.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this sort of confirms my own opinions. I have also read that future Intel 6 & 8-core CPUs will only be supported in the 1366 format, hence the desire to future-proof (as much as is possible in the ultra-fast paced world of computers!)
 
Been doing a bit more reading about the differences between the i5 & i7, and now I'm starting to lean towards the i5 a bit more. This has got me thinking that if I went for an i5-based upgrade instead of i7 I could add a new GFX card (probably GTX260) for roughly the same total spend.

Can anyone give me an idea of the relative performance difference between 7800GTX SLi & single GTX260?

Thanks
 
Havana_UK said:
Been doing a bit more reading about the differences between the i5 & i7, and now I'm starting to lean towards the i5 a bit more. This has got me thinking that if I went for an i5-based upgrade instead of i7 I could add a new GFX card (probably GTX260) for roughly the same total spend.

Can anyone give me an idea of the relative performance difference between 7800GTX SLi & single GTX260?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Why nvidia? At the moment it would be advisable to pick an ati dx11 card that fits your budget.
 
As much as AM3 is a tad slower sometimes than i5, it's still cheaper, allows better upgrade options in the future and better CF capability so you should consider that.

tbh any quad above 2.6ghz is plenty good enough to run just about any game up to date on max if you have good enough GPU, a nice phenomII at 3.8ghz+ still has plenty of years of life in it and you could upgrade to 6 cores later if you feel the need.

It's not like the difference between 100fps and 105fps will be noticeable in games : ).

Also I would go with some better ram, 1066c9 is pretty rubbish, don't forget that memory brings a lot of performance as well, it's not just about the CPU.


Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £128.99
(£109.78) £128.99
(£109.78)
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
(£91.91) £107.99
(£91.91)
OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 Dual Channel (OCZ3OB1600LV4GK) OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 Dual Channel (OCZ3OB1600LV4GK) £85.99
(£73.18) £85.99
(£73.18)
Sub Total : £274.87
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £49.76
Total : £334.13

that's a decent setup if we're at it
 
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