Which path do I take?

OCDan88 · 2 Sep 2010 at 13:58

I need help on which path to take. The rig in my sig I have had for 3yrs now. Although the 8800GTS died shortly after I got ST2410 at the begging of the year

. Currently I have a woeful GT210

which is okay. But I'm missing my STEAM games.

Since then I have been saving and I have got a budget of £850 max. So I have come up with this i5 build

I like the spec. But the thing I'm not sure about is that socket1156 will be replaced by 1155 (what difference does a pin make!). So I came up with an i7 build

* I will be get the SSD in a week or two if I go this route. Comes to £840 without the SSD

I don't want to be having to replace the mobo/ram when I want to change the cpu in the furture. Plus the Asus P6X58D-E supports SLI where as the P7P55D-E only supports crossfire.

Would the i7 be a better option? More future proof? Or is Intel still going to be releasing new CPUs for 1156, from what I have seen this isn't going to be case.

Another question with the two F3s I was planning on running them in raid0. Or would I be better of just getting an F3 1TB instead? The SSD will be used for just Win7

I am going to using my current case, monitor and PSU with this build. I already have Win7 so no need for an OS.

Thanx.

95thrifles · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:24

the 1366 is bout to be replaced to, if you want an upgrade path then look at AMD

Redmint · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:29

AMD offers the option of changing to an affordable hex core. Cheapest hex core for 1366 is about £500 2nd hand currently (or £670 new) and I doubt the price is going to drop that rapidly in the next year or two.

OCDan88 · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:42

Okay, Umm... I think I may go for the i5 build.

skylineboy · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:47

If you decide the i5 route there is a motherboard that offers SLI (8x, 8x) if you want to do it in the future. The gigabyte board is £149.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-226-GI

just another thought.

Biz.Kid09 · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:51

I would go AMD Hexcore and then you will likely be able to get the new Bulldozer cpus

nightmare99 · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:54

I would go AMD Hexcore and then you will likely be able to get the new Bulldozer cpus

Bulldozer requires AM3+, AM3 will probably live about as long as 1366.

Redmint · 2 Sep 2010 at 14:57

Yep: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/di...rocessors_Will_Require_New_Platforms_AMD.html

Although if the choice is between AM3 and 1156 I'd still lean towards the AM3 option as in a few years it would be nice to upgrade to a cheap hex core which will overclock nicely (such as the 1055t chips).

OCDan88 · 2 Sep 2010 at 15:15

Thanx guys. Just ordered the i5 rig.

OCDan88 · 6 Sep 2010 at 15:44

Ok chaps. I have now got my computer setup and am sat looking at the bios.

Can I install Windows7 now onto the SSD and then setup the Sammy F3 as RAID 0 in the BIOS latter? Or do I need to setup the RAID first?

Thanx chaps