Upgrade time (finally)

Secret_Window

Secret_Window

Secret_Window

Soldato
Joined
10 Aug 2006
Posts
5,207
Ok, think I am finally there now with how much I want to spend and content that the sandybridge fiasco seems resolved, but just not sure on the path I want to go with still.

I have a budget of £380 for CPU, MOBO and RAM. I may push to £400 or bit more, if it's worth it or necessary.

What I want, is a system that is going to last 5yrs like my Core 2 Duo E6400 build did. It's also gotta be good enough for video editing, encoding, image processing and gaming.

Two system paths, have currently caught my eye for my needs; the old skt 1366 i7 range and the i5 sandybridge and both currently fit my budget. The reason why I am even considering 1366 i7's is because of the hyperthreading and the number of features on the motherboards - the options for more ram, more PCI-E slots etc etc.

Example:

Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Bloomfield) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £220.79
**B Grade** Asus P6T Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £104.16
GeIL 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Triple Channel (GVP36GB1600C9TC) £51.98

Total : £378.83 (-shipping) or £404.56 with a Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 Intel X58 non B-grade motherboard.


Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
MSI P67A-GD55 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £134.99
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ) £77.99
Total : £376.86 (-shipping)


I'd like to hear what people's thoughts are on this and their spec suggestions for my chosen budget.

Hope that made sense, rushed this a little.
 
Got to be the SB setup for a high performance new build at the moment. The extra performance especially with overclocking more than makes up for the lack of hyperthreading. Dual channel or triple channel memory makes very little practical difference, and the lack of PCIe lanes will only make a difference if you want a mega high end crossfire or SLI setup.
 
I'd definitely go for SB over the old 1366,

Video intensive applications though I really would try and stretch to an i7-2600k, you could pick up a cheaper motherboard for about £100 or so but wouldn't be able to xfire/SLI but would be more than capable for the 2600k....

kd
 
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £239.99
(£199.99) £239.99
(£199.99)
MSI P67A-GD55 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £129.98
(£108.32) £129.98
(£108.32)
2x OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Ultra Low Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1600C9ELV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £59.98
(£49.98)

Sub Total : £358.29
Shipping cost based on delivery to paypal address, XXX XXX with:
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £71.66
Total : £429.95

Best 'bang for your buck' around the £400 range if you want to do some photo/video editing.
 
The i7-2600K has hyperthreading and will overclock with 4 sticks of RAM because the unlocked multiplier means it is RAM-independent, so although I'd buy 2x4GB now, if you need to upgrade later then you won't lose your OC.

The only legitimate reason for socket 1366 now is if you're considering buying something like the 990X, which would far outstrip Sandy Bridge but at a much increased price tag. 8 gigs of RAM is plenty enough for your needs now (32 bit processes are artificially limited to 2 gigs each) and obviously can be upgraded, and the FPS difference between x8/x8 and x16/x16 SLI/CF is hardly noticeable, if at all. You'd get a bigger upgrade for the money out of more expensive graphics cards.
 
hybrid572 said:
The i7-2600K has hyperthreading and will overclock with 4 sticks of RAM because the unlocked multiplier means it is RAM-independent, so although I'd buy 2x4GB now, if you need to upgrade later then you won't lose your OC.

The only legitimate reason for socket 1366 now is if you're considering buying something like the 990X, which would far outstrip Sandy Bridge but at a much increased price tag. 8 gigs of RAM is plenty enough for your needs now (32 bit processes are artificially limited to 2 gigs each) and obviously can be upgraded, and the FPS difference between x8/x8 and x16/x16 SLI/CF is hardly noticeable, if at all. You'd get a bigger upgrade for the money out of more expensive graphics cards.
Click to expand...

That's a very good point actually about the ram. I never realised you could run 4 sticks and still have a stable overclock. I use 4 stick on my overclocks with this CPU and my old E6400 but it definitely did put strain on my motherboard and was harder to find a clock with good stability. So, if there is no strain of stability problems running 4 sticks then I may either buy 4x2GB or buy 2x2GB for now, and add another set later if I feel I really need it. I just wanted 8GB because I know 4GB with what I do on my PC at present, is a bit sluggish, but maybe having a whole faster system will change that perception.

The only reason I was considering the skt 1366 was because I could get MORE for the money than an i5-2500k spec, feature wise, even if it's not as fast. But, I have to admit, if something goes wrong with any of it, parts are going to be difficult to get for replacements in the years ahead.:(

Question: Is there any performance difference between a PCI-E 2.0 16x running in 4x and a PCI-E 2.0 16x running in 8x?

The reason I ask is because with the older 1.0/1.1 PCI-E slots there was a big deal of difference, but I hear a PCI-E 2.0 16x running in 4x is equivalent to a PCI-E 1.1 running in 8x. If that is the case then I may just go with a cheaper Sandy Bridge motherboard, than try to aim for the x8/x16 SLI/CF boards, but I am not sure whether it matters more with the latest cards (I have an ATI 6870 that is going in it). I know I am not using CF/SLI now but I'd like to have the option in the future if I wanted to add another ATI 6870.
 
8x only makes a difference if you are running two massively powerful cards. With 6870 it will only have a small effect. I'm running GTX460's at 8x with no problems.
 
Personally I wouldn't bother with any boards which run the 2nd slot at 4x, 8x is the minimum I'd be looking at with your cards. :)
 
As I recall, with PCIe2.0, x8 suffers virtually no performance loss, x4 suffers a few FPS (noticeable, but not a huge deal), and x1 is death to your frame rates. x8/x8 is what you should go for at the minute, I don't believe even two 580s/6990s would lose performance with it.

As for extra features, forget them. Only get features you're actually going to use- SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0 are still mostly unusable now, never mind super fast PCIe slots.
 
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