i5 Build Recommendations

alexx

alexx

alexx

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Joined
18 May 2006
Posts
785
Going to make my p5q and q6600 system a dedicated hackintosh so looking to build a new system with windows 7 and video editing in mind.

This is what I have so far, not sure on mobo or ram (should I get fast speeds?)

Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard
(will only be running a single 260gtx card so if there is a board as stable, cheaper and doesnt have features like crossfire its probably better suited for me)

Intel Core i5 650 3.20GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail
(got a h50 for it already)

OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3G1600LV4GK)
8gb of this ram or faster stuff? never sure if faster ram is noticeable or not?

Corsair CX 600W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUK)
only because its £54 but id prefer modular?

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)
system drive

this will all go into my asaka omega case but I need a case for the hackintosh setup that can get bashed around and carried places easily? I dont mind going small but it needs to fit a sunbeam cooler, be ok heat wise for an overclocked q6600

ideally have handles so its either the coolermaster scout or the bitfenix survivor... anymore options?
 
No, its the next generation of Intel microarchitecture. The initial "mainstream" release in january will bring in a brand new generation of i3, i5 and i7 chips which are faster than current ones.

This preview article is well worth a read.
 
Hmmm interesting. Must admit that is the first time I've looked at details of SB. So the new i7s are basically the i7 8xx replacement - fine. They've gotten rid of pointless/confusing-if-you-dont-read-up i5 dual cores - good, but two things look a bit odd to me...

They all have a GPU? Is that right? Will that not increase the price for a hell of a lot of people who'll have no use for it?

Only 6MB L3 cache for i5. Wonder how new i5 will perform against current i5 7xx with that downgrade?

I wonder if this first round is going to offer much of a price/performance gain against current i5? Hmmmmmm...
 
I'd get more memory if I was you. I dont know much about video editing, but I'm sure it can use a lot of ram.

I've got two of the cheap 4gb xm3 corsair. I think the differences between performance memory is negligable(1 or 2 frames a second, if lucky), unless you are planning on overclocking, thats when they come into their own, even then not that much.
 
Liampope said:
Hmmm interesting. Must admit that is the first time I've looked at details of SB. So the new i7s are basically the i7 8xx replacement - fine. They've gotten rid of pointless/confusing-if-you-dont-read-up i5 dual cores - good, but two things look a bit odd to me...

They all have a GPU? Is that right? Will that not increase the price for a hell of a lot of people who'll have no use for it?
Click to expand...

Yea, they all have the GPU. It does seem a bit strange - but maybe they are aiming a lot of these at the home/office market where CPU power is king and any old GPU will do. However, with the new SB graphics the onboard graphics is actually OK - certainly sufficient for playing most console port PC games at low-medium settings at 720p, as shown in that preview. Hence, it will be "good enough" for most users and replace either a low-end graphics card or previous generation integrated graphics.

With this in mind I imagine that the above users are more the target of this new chip than PC gamers - as they sell so many chips to OEMs for these purposes. This will mean it costs a bit more to make - but in the grand scheme the price to add on the IGP is not huge.

Liampope said:
Only 6MB L3 cache for i5. Wonder how new i5 will perform against current i5 7xx with that downgrade?
Click to expand...

Good point, but it is comparing two different architectures. My old Q9550 had 12MB (2x6MB, L2) cache and my i7 920 only has 8MB (L3).

Liampope said:
I wonder if this first round is going to offer much of a price/performance gain against current i5? Hmmmmmm...
Click to expand...

I reckon they will - they will be using a new architecture which is clock-for-clock faster than Nahalem, they will be clocked higher (top end i5 will be 3.33GHz w/o turbo) and should arrive at the same price points i5/i7 took up when they launched - so the cost won't be much more than a current i5.
 
currently use 8gb of memory and it seems good dont think id notice 16gb that much.. but maybe its worth a thought for sure... also skeptical about the price hikes of the new gear... but it might mean the i5 stuff will get cheaper? hmm worth a wait maybe! problem with pc stuff its always worth a wait!
 
If you are going for 8GB, then I would suggest going for a 2x4GB kit instead of two 2x2GB kits. It gives you the opportunity to upgrade to more in the future and it is much easier to overclock with 2 RAM sticks instead of 4.

As for existing i5 stuff getting cheaper - it depends where you want to buy it from. If you don't mind buying second-hand (no warranty) then there will be loads of good deals on lynnfield i5 chips and s1156 boards once the new chips come out - since quite a few people will be upgrading and selling their old stuff.

However, if you buy at retail you may find prices don't move or even go up - since the CPUs are no longer made and there is still a demand for full-warranty EOL CPUs.

Put it this way - if you think you can afford a Lynnfield i5 now then you will be able to afford a Sandy Bridge i5 in a couple of months time. According to intel's roadmap the new sandy bridge unclocked i5 chip will be in the same price bracket as the current i5 760 and 655K, which retail for ~£150.
 
Liampope said:
They all have a GPU? Is that right? Will that not increase the price for a hell of a lot of people who'll have no use for it?
Click to expand...

It would probably cost them more to make a separate version without an IGP, especially since they'd have to sell them for less, than it would for them to just release their main line-up all with IGPs.
 
OP- Personally I don't like the OCZ Gold ram and wouldn't use it myself. A number of people have had issues with it. I would choose the Corsair XMS3 at the 1600 mhz speed.

I would also change the cpu to a true quad core i5 760 instead of a dual core with hyperthreading i5 6**.

If you already have the above then not to worry it will be a good spec overall. I use the UD4 motherboard and I have had no problems so far
 
I thought the onboard gpu on the sandy was going to be able to be used like fermi, for other things rather than just graphics?
 
Calabi said:
I thought the onboard gpu on the sandy was going to be able to be used like fermi, for other things rather than just graphics?
Click to expand...

Do you mean things like Open GL and Direct Compute?

To be honest, i'm not sure - these things haven't been supported by Intel graphics in the past and I haven't seen them mentioned in what I have read. However, this graphics core does seem to be quite a bit more powerful than past efforts, so maybe they are going to implement it.

That said - this is a fast integrated GPU, but compared to a G100 or G110, this integrated graphics core is at least an order of magnitude slower.
 
crackerbear said:
People in my own thread basically told be to buy an i5 now as there won't be much difference. However if the Sandy Bridge chips do cost the same, but offer greater performance than the current i5, then it's clearly better to wait.
Click to expand...

From the article andi linked to, looks like the new i5 definately has a small clock-for-clock gain over the 7xx. So it will come down to the price of the K version and how well it clocks. I fear the non-K i5 2400 and i5 2500 will not match the ultimate performance of good old i5 7xx due to un-overclockability, and the 2500K will cost a fair bit more. But we'll see :)
 
Yeah I'm reading that article too and got the same impression. I somewhat wish that I'd upgraded during Summer as then I wouldn't have to think about playing the waiting game now.
 
ah good spot ! I had put the 760 on but must have not saved that cart version! eee! haha.

so is the main thoughts that the 760 is a great chip and the sandy will bring out a similar version but it will most likely be a lot more expensive if i want the unlocked one?
 
so is the main thoughts that the 760 is a great chip and the sandy will bring out a similar version but it will most likely be a lot more expensive if i want the unlocked one?
Click to expand...

The i5 760 is a great chip.

However, for the second part - intel roadmap puts the unlocked i5 quad core SB (i5 2500K) on the same level/price-point as the i5 760 and i5 655K.

This means that it will be about the same price, perhaps ~£20 more than what you can get the i5 760 for today (£140) since this chip has dropped in price since launch.
 
ah that makes sense then, so maybe get the unlocked version for a few pennies more? I think its worth a wait and see :) thanks for all the great advice
 
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