spec please

rubin1961 · 15 Jul 2011 at 11:55

iam thinking of upgrading my i7 920.
what i would like is the 2600k cpu
a good m/board for easy overclocking
12gig triple channel memory
the best air cooler.
cost is not a problem,i just want the best parts and a rock solid system.
thanks

Marine-RX179 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:01

What is the PC used for? If it's for gaming, while the SandyBridge CPU would give extra frame rate, it's not really worth it considering the cost. Also, if your i7 920 is at stock speed, you should really overclock it. You would most likely see much greater performance improvement upgrading the graphic card(s) than upgrading to SandyBridge if it's for gaming.

Oh, and SandyBridge is dual-channel, not triple channel.

rubin1961 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:10

i do a lot of gaming and my gpu is the hd5970.
so i would be wasting my money

Jony27 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:19

exactly....
get an SSD

rubin1961 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:22

would a ssd make a big difference and what is the best one.
thanks

Jony27 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:26

crucial M4 at the mo as people have reported BSODs with OCZ SSDs lately

rubin1961 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:28

thankyou dear sir

kristmace · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:29

+1 to the above posts.

Get you i7 to 3.6GHz or above this will make more of a difference than a Sandybrudge upgrade. My i5 750 is identical to your i7 but without hyperthreading, and I got to 3.6 very easily.

As for SSDs, the biggest factor is how big you want it to be. Windows 7 64bit, drivers and a few basic programs comes to 20gb. Game loading times will be reduced if you stick games on there too, but thats a luxury really. Just having the main system files on there makes a huge difference to desktop performance.

rubin1961 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:33

do i just connect it as my main drive.

Jony27 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:34

fresh install of Win7 on it, then put some apps/games after

kristmace · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:44

Basically:

1) Connect SSD
2) Boot to Windows and format SSD using Disc Management
3) Update SSD Firmware (download and flash)
4) Disconnect current HDD
5) Set SATA in the BIOS to AHCI (if not already)
6) Install Win7 onto SSD
7) Set SSD as first Boot drive
8) Reconnect old HDD
9) Install drivers onto SSD
10) Remove windows features not used to save space
11) Disable Hybernation, Defrag and reduce size of System Restore

Jony27 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:48

dont forget to make a backup of all your files

rubin1961 · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:54

i was just going to disconect my hdd and plug in the ssd and install windows like with other drives