i5 or I7?

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 13:54

Hi all,

I am about to upgrade my PC, some of the existing components I will keep, others I will sell on ebay to make the upgrade cheaper.

My current pc:-

Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White
Asus Sabretooth X58 Socket 1366
Intel I7-920 (c0)
Pioneer Dvd writer
Corsair Memory Dominator 12GB DDR3 1600 Mhz CAS 9 DHX XMP Triple Channel
1280MB EVGA GTX 570 HD SuperClocked
Corsair TX850 psu
Thermaltake Frio cooler
Seagate Barracuda 1Tb drive ST1000DM
Seagate Barracuda 500Gb drive ST3500418AS
Western Digital 750Gb drive WD7500AACS-00ZJB0
Western Digital 750Gb drive WD7500AADS-00M2B0
Windows 7 premium
Iiyama 27" Prolite B2712HDS

Now ideally, I would just upgrade the Cpu to a better one in the 1366 socket, but as they have been withdrawn, that wont be happening, I do not fancy taking a chance on a used one.

So I am looking at upgrading the mainboard, ram, cooler and cpu as a minimum, and will probably upgrade the graphics card and maybe put in a Bluray writer, and card reader.

I would also like to sort out my storage drives, maybe put an SSD in for windows, and lose the 500, and the two 750's for larger 2tb drives.

Any thoughts on what I should be looking at? I have read that buying I7's is pointless really, and that I5's are fine? Is this true? Surely quad channel ram is worth it?

Thanks.

stulid · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:04

You should just overclock the existing CPU and skip buying now and just wait for Haswell.

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:21

I have tried that, as it is a c0 cpu it has heat issues, I cannot get any sort of stable overclock with this cpu

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:25

I take it Haswell is a chip worth waiting for? isn't a long while off yet?

bremen1874 · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:27

Katchin said:
Any thoughts on what I should be looking at? I have read that buying I7's is pointless really, and that I5's are fine? Is this true? Surely quad channel ram is worth it?

You appear to be blurring the differences between processors (i5 vs i7) and platforms (s1155 vs s2011).

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:28

how so?

BrianB · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:28

I would get an SSD until Haswell comes out.

Socket 1155 i5 and i7 are different to 2011 i7.

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:39

Oh right, yes I suppose they are.

Well I think i'll have to upgrade sooner than the 'leaked' release date March/April 2013 of the Haswell's, as this date could be a lot further away anyway.
So with that in mind, any advice?

I was thinking of the Intel Core i7-3930K 3.20GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor on a Sabertooth board as I know and like this board.

Any recommendations, or warnings on what to avoid about SSD's?

ilovetechno · 16 Sep 2012 at 14:50

Why i7 pointless? Im sure rendering it beats i5!

Stinger53 · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:09

what do you use the pc for?

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:10

Mainly gaming, and work related stuff (office / email)

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:12

I do tend to have a lot running at once however. 2 or 3 versions of the same online game for instance

Stinger53 · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:13

then i'd say i5 as i7 you wont see any advantage. as games dont uses many threads. and saves you money

sgtmoody87 · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:14

Go I5 then. No benefit from I7 if you only game and use office/mail apps. Only thing I7 has that beats I5 is hyperthreading and no game office/mail apps use that. Only photoshop and video rendering etc applications use it.

sgtmoody87 · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:15

If you run multiple games then there would still be no difference. Only way to improve performance that way is to upgrade RAM

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:20

Just thought, I do use this PC to send all the films I have on the drives to the TV, I assume that I5 is still fine for this?

Katchin · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:22

Also, is the gain from the quad channel ram of the 2011 socket not used in gaming?

Randomface74 · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:27

I don't understand the need to upgrade that rig - sounds like a waste of money to me. I have a similar rig and it owns every game I throw at it.

I guess you could do a clean install.. on an SSD.

job done imo

Fanaticjam · 16 Sep 2012 at 16:40

my 2cents... (Not that I know anything!

)

Well it sounds like you want a totally overkill machine, and you got money to buy it... ( budget is always helpful!)

I would keep the RAM/CPU/MOBO/cooler until haswell is out, then upgrade the core of your PC then.

Buy this stuff now, should blitz games both in game and with load times. Have the 2 256GB SSD's in raid for programs, the small SSD for OS and the 2 2TB for data. All of this should last for a long time and work well with haswell for an incredible machine. Lotta dough, though.

To cut costs, just have the one gpu for now and use smaller SSD's such as this!

Orcvader · 16 Sep 2012 at 17:00

I have to agree with everyone else. Upgrading to a new CPU from your current system won't bring you a significant gain in performance, just a lighter wallet. Just overclock your CPU and it will still last you a good while. It will even still be a great performer when Haswell is out.