i7 930, 920 or 860?

[xe-cute]

Just a quick question really.

I'm guessing the 930 is best option and overclocks just as good as the 920?

Also whilst I am here and asking (may as well kill two birds with one stone, so to speak).......

i7 Have a future ahead of it hasn't it?
I mean I don't want to be stuck in a dead end (like what usually happens - Hence why not going for the i5 750).

Then some peeps say for longevity that AM3 socket is way to go over LGA1136.

But now reports are that the 6 core etc are larger than AM3 socket size.

It can get all very confusing. I just want the best path to update & start with a low end chip on that path and then simply add to it and improve it as the years go by and the prices come down.

Thanks for your help over this matter.

 

[xe-cute]

I'm getting confused now.

You reckon I should just go for i5-750 then or something on AM3?

I dunno what to do for my money now.

I've got around £700-£800 and all I need is

CPU
GPU
RAM (the more the better - music production use)
MoBo
Solid State Drive (I'd like to try one for OS [Windows 7] - I've plenty of other normal hard drives)
Case (but no PSU needed as I've already got a Corsair HX 620w which I think will do the job fine?! - I do already have a case but it's like small & 10yrs old with no decent airfllow)

I'm usually too scared to overclock by much too. But will give it a go when I find a nice safe guide.

Don't need a screen (use my 46" HD TV) or DVD RW (have a Sony External one which I love - That baby has been so kind over the years with no probs).


I will be getting a new sound card, but because I do music production I will be getting that elsewhere and with other funding (same as some new active monitors).

 

[xe-cute]

Well after buying this I won't be buying anything for a few years.

I am guessing in 3yrs/5yrs time than I Can just pick something up on EBay and slot it in for a quick and easy boost?

In the past I've always made the mistake of buying end of line Technology where I have the fastest CPU already etc. Always means a whole new system when upgrading.

For once I want to start at the bottom of a path so that in a few years I can cheaply increase its power instead of buying a whole new dead end system.

It would be cool in several years time to simply pop in a cheap 2nd hand CPU and double my processing speed. (when that technology is at end of life then).

P.S. Updated my siggy to show my current out-dated system.

 

[xe-cute]

I have my eye on this option:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-044-OE&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1675

With a Solid State Drive added. (Do I save much money overclocking it myself? - hmmm I'm gonna check the prices of parts)

I dunno whether to risk water cooling option too as I've never done it before.
If I forget to 'top-it-up' could I be in trouble and CPU burn out? (or is there some protection).

I'd love to have a silent system. Makes all the difference when producing music to not have any external noises.


UPDATE: £40 price difference between building it myself and risking an overclock to OcUk doing it for me and secure to know I can hit 4ghz. So I guess it is worth them doing it for me. With this overclock would I ever need to buy the i7 975 in a few years time 2nd hand when it is cheap as chips? Are there any future chips planned?! past the i7 975 that would slot in to that motherboard (Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R)?

 

[xe-cute]

If you are also wanting a GPU

Crap, I completely forgot about the GPU... grrr.

Back to drawing board then.

Hmmm... Would my Radeon x1800xt PCi-e work in the mean time until I can afford a better GPU?!
Don't do much PC gaming these days (have PS3 & Xbox 360). So can get a decent GFX at a later date I think.

Oh actually, Windows 7 has problems with it already as its Legacy support and it crashes with YouTube... oh boy.

Thought I had it almost all tied up there.

 

[xe-cute]

As previously stated, music production.

Apart from the obvious Internet browsing, emails & YouTube when bored.

Cheers for helping. Be great if I could order this today (been saving up my money for ages).


P.S. Is there any MoBos with a decent on board GFX card built in which is quiet and supported by windows 7 and better than my Radeon X1800XT? Also can you still add in future a PCI-e GFX Card on such a MoBo? Only problem is I guess I have to do the overclocking myself and cross my fingers it can hit 4Ghz.

BTW my current Radeon X1800XT is the loudest thing in my current system. Does my head in!

 

[xe-cute]

You will have to buy a cooler mate if you want to hit 4ghz, the stock won't be able to do that no matter what cpu you get i would'nt think.

Thats why that OcUk overclocked bundle was my choice.

All done for me so I can;t make a mistake. Just I forgot about the GFX Card & was unsure whether to get water cooling or not (as never had water cooling before & can just see me mess it up or run out of water one day).

 

[xe-cute]

Any idea how quiet that system will be?

I'm guessing the 5450 will be on par or a little better than my X1800XT and yet be much quieter, Which is great if so? (TBH it is not important atm anyway the GFX power - prefer it to be near silent running for current situation, can always upgrade GFX at a later date if I start gaming again on PC).

I'm gonna have to do research in to them case fans and that CPU fan for db levels.
Last thing I want is any noise, does my head in. PC in my front room which also doubles up as a music production studio. Silence is golden.

I keep looking at water cooling, but don't feel confident enough yet.
Will also have to read up more on overclocking as I've only done very minor ones in past as I don't like to touch and voltages in case I break it.

Thanks for your help again. appreciate it.

 

[xe-cute]

Ah, of course - you will want it as quiet as possible, that makes sense.

In that case, I will modify my spec a bit:

Change the GPU to this Passively cooled 4650.

And for the case fans use two of these.

For the CPU cooler, use this heat sink and this fan (use the black voltage reducer).

I would also suggest not overclocking too high. The higher you overclock, the more heat is produced and the faster the fans spin. I'm sure that 3GHz of i7 power should be enough for your workload.

With these changes you will have a very quiet system without having to go to the expense and effort of watercooling.

That sounds brilliant having a passively cooled GFX card. I never realised they existed.

Also them fans, already have two in current system build (I'd forgot there name, hence why not mentioning them earlier, was going to try and describe them by colour but felt silly trying to do so), So I can use them in new build I remember I did a lot of research last time and they where the best. Amazing to see they are still the best after so many years. But yeah they are very silent.

Thanks for the Heat sink recommendation, as I was completely lost on that aspect.

Thanks for your help again.

 

[xe-cute]

Been looking around and starting to get a bit greedy and pushing my money barriers.

Is there any passive cooling Direct X 11 cards yet?

I would start a thread in the Graphics Card section, but wasn't too sure whether just to add it on to this thread which has turned in to more of a system build than my original question.

Thought I may keep everything in one thread. But suppose I can ask in there if this thread is going too far off-topic to original question (not sure on forum etiquette here).

 

[xe-cute]

Also seen this new thread which is making me think about going in a different direction due to on-board GFX card on the 890GX chipset MoBos. However, even though my old build is an AMD system, I've been following Intel so closely due to the i5 & i7 that I don't know much about AMD current options & upgrade paths compared to intel's.

 

[xe-cute]

Yeah, seeing as I am using my HD TV top resolution will be 1080p

I'm thinking I may buy from OcUk without the GFX card atm and get that at a later date in the hope that the new build accepts my old X1800XT and it somehow starts working with Windows 7. As atm it crashes it, but it may be due to a number of faults on this old dodgy ship wreck of a system.

Just them new 890GX chipset motherboards announced today really has knocked me for six. bah, always the same... Have my mind set on something and all decided when something new gets announced. Typical, lol.

Thanks for your help again mate.

I'll do some head scratching then put an order in later today or tomorow after a bit more double checking stuff.

You've been a great help though getting me up off the ground running quicker than I expected to absorb everything.

P.S. 9 more posts for my free P&P I think... hehe.

 

[xe-cute]

Yeah it was basically just with it being fresh & new, along with the integrated GFX chip for silent running and all at just over £100 (roughly half the price of mobo + gfx card).

I trust your judgement more than mine though & TBH Ihave been looking at the i7 range for ages now and it would feel weird for me to do a U-turn at this late stage as I would always be 2nd guessing my last minute change of direction.