Upgrading from Core2 Quad?

paradigm · 25 Apr 2011 at 08:52

The time has come for me to upgrade from my current setup (frequent crashes, and the time to format = convenient time to change hardware), however I'm struggling to decide which is the best path?

Do I either go nehalem and socket 1366 i7 (920) with 12GB of RAM at a total cost of around £250, or do I go i5 2500k (sandybridge) with 8GB for around £300?

All I need it CPU and RAM, as I'm fortunate enough to have a DDR3 based C2Q setup, but which path?

Is sandybridge enough of a reason to lose Hyper-threading and tri-channel RAM?

Answers on a postcard, but asap as I want to sort this today!

paradigm · 25 Apr 2011 at 09:08

RAM is fine, it was only bought last year and was i7 compatible then (currently running at 1.5v).

And resale value isn't of importance, as I never sell on.

paradigm · 25 Apr 2011 at 10:14

It's not really about "saving up" or "cheaping out", it's about a smooth transition from what I already have, with decent bang for buck.

Smooth transition = requiring to be able to run my current 6-disk RAID 5 array, which means an intel ICH is the best bet for compatibility. I'm slightly concerned by the SATA layout on the sandybridge boards, what with most of them having 4x SATA 3Gb/s and 2x SATA 6Gb/s ports. Are these on the same controller? Can they run a single array across all 6 ports?

If the answer is no, then I'll have to go 1366 for the 6x SATA 3Gb/s and 2x SATA 6GB/s ports.

paradigm · 25 Apr 2011 at 11:53

8igdave said:
why do you need HT? Do you do encoding etc?

Nope, but I do run a large virtualized testbed, so the additional RAM slots and vCPU cores would come in useful.

paradigm · 25 Apr 2011 at 15:00

Every board I've read the manuals for on OcUK's sandybridge section seems to imply that you can only create 1-4 disk arrays.

Oh well I've gone the 920 route, it'll more than do me for now for £200.

Eventually it'll replace my spare rig (C2D 8GB DDR2), and I'll go sandy bridge for the main PC.

paradigm · 27 Apr 2011 at 11:22

Just thought I'd update this. The day I made the thread, I drove down to OcUK and picked up a B-Grade Asus P6X58D-E motherboard, and a clearance i7 920 (D0).

It's now all nicely set up (cooled with an Antec Kuhler, idling at 35ºc~, and 100% load at 70ºc, are these temperatures ok?), and running at 4GHz, which is giving me a nice performance boost for the most part.

I'm happy, and I still think it was a good bang for buck at £200