Which system would you keep?

GoogalyMoogaly · 9 Nov 2011 at 13:46

Hi,

I've currently got 3 PCs and it seems a bit excessive so I'd like to reduce it to 2 PCs.
I'm also tempted to go to SandyBridge, possibly even a 2700K.

I'm not sure which system to keep though and which to replace with SB.

I'm planning to get rid of my Q6600 (WC'd), ABit IP35 Pro, 4GB DDR2, 5850 system.
This leaves 2:
AMD Phenom II x6 1055T @ 3.5GHz
Asus M5A99X EVO AM3+ mobo
2 x 4GB Corsair Vengence LP RAM
Asus GTX 480

and

Intel i5 750 @ 3.8GHz
MSI P55-GD65 mobo
4 x 2GB Corsair XMS3 RAM
2 x Palit GTX 570

Now I'd put the 2 x GTX 570s in the SB system and also have another 8GB Corsair Vengence I had planned to put in the i5 system that I can use in the SB system.

The AMD system currently has a water loop that includes the cpu and gpu. So whichever system ends up with the 480 will also be water-cooled. If this is the i5 then I'll need a new waterblock.

Now I part of me thinks this is a no brainer and that I should keep the Intel system. However I also have a Crucial M4 I'd like to use with the system, which is SATA III. The AMD mobo has SATA II while the Intel mobo only has SATA II.

Is it worth keeping he AMD system just to get more out of the M4? Is the X6 1055T actually better than the i5 750?
I'm thinking the i5 750 would benefit more from watercooling that the cool running AMD chips.

Hopefully you've all read this far and not got bored!

So what do you think, which CPU/Mobo should I keep? AMD or Intel?

95thrifles · 9 Nov 2011 at 14:22

I'd be tempted to keep the AMD over the Intel, not only the SATA III but also it would save buying new WB and changing loop over too, plus whilst the Intels better, its prob not significantly better to justify the hassle, or am I just lazy? lol

GoogalyMoogaly · 9 Nov 2011 at 23:28

Yeah, all very good points.
I suspect the performance will be similar. The only thing is the temperatures, with the X6 limit at ~62ºC (is the 95W edition higher than that?) I do feel like the watercooling is fairly unspectacular. You know, 55-60ºC underload on the AMD is not a good temp, but on an Intel that'd be pretty good.

But I do like simple, and the SATA III thing is a bonus.

Mind you, I went a little overboard with my SSDs as I also have 2 OCZ Vertex drives (SATA II). So I could put both the OCZ drives on the i5 750 and then both the Crucial drives on the SB. Would it be worth raiding them? Would I notice the extra speed? Would it be worth the loss of TRIM support?
If not raiding, then it wouldn't make the i5 750 SSDs faster, but at least it wouldn't feel like I was wasting the Crucial's speed on SATA II.

fowler002 · 9 Nov 2011 at 23:35

get rid of both and just have the 1 pc?

Greavesy · 9 Nov 2011 at 23:37

I'd get rid of both of them then build an awesome SB pc with sli 570 then maybe a HTPC or something

?

beejjacobs · 10 Nov 2011 at 01:13

Yeah, why not keep the best bits of each? the 2 570s, the 8GB of RAM and the SSDs, then buy an i5 and Z68 board.

I don't think RAIDing SSDs is worth it personally, they are so fast already.
If keeping the 570s, 8GB of RAM and any HDDs, you could get:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Asus P8Z68-V PRO GEN3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
Total : £339.37 (includes shipping : £9.50).

I'm guessing you have a decent PSU anyway?

GoogalyMoogaly · 10 Nov 2011 at 20:13

Got the following PSUs at the minute:
Corsair AX1200
Antec Quattro 850W
Antex TruePower New 750W
Corsair TX750

Which is silly as I 'only' have 3 PCs!
I'm trying to clear stuff down though.

The thing is I'd quite like to keep a watercooled PC as I like the novelty (I'd say I like the temps and the noise, but neither of them are fantastic). However I don't want to watercool my main rig as it can be a bit of a hassle if I want to upgrade or anything.

Having 2 PCs is also handy if one goes wrong and I need to get onto the internet, or if a friend comes around.

Greavesy · 10 Nov 2011 at 20:25

Id strip them both down and sell unwanted parts and just build 2pcs from scraps, you have the case,psu,hdd, and optical drives to reuse so you can probably get 2 sb builds.
If i had to choose between the 2 id choose the phenom II just for the novelty of 6 cores xD

Devrij · 10 Nov 2011 at 20:31

The real question is what are you going to use it for? Obviously the SB rig becomes your main rig, but what will you use the secondary build for? Base your choice on that.

Maybe keep the WC AMD rig as a HTPC and sell off the higher value intel bits. It's a good chip to use as a home server too so maybe pile it full of storage and then use it as both a HTPC and server.

The i5 is obviously the higher performance rig, but as a secondary build, do you need it? Otherwise just harvest it for bits and flog the CPU and mobo. Keep the better case or maybe move the keeper into a shuttle (or something bigger if you keep the WC loop).

My point is, think of your application to make your choice.