A high performance build for processor and memory heavy tasks

T

Tsphere

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Sep 16, 2005
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I compiled the following parts for a computer I'm building, and wanted to ask for guidance and opinion. I wouldn't want to pay a lot and have bottlenecks because of some ill conceived part.
The filled faq is below the build.

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5
Processor: Intel CoreI7 950 3.06Ghz/8MB/4.8 GT/sec
PSU: ANTEC TP 750 80
Memory: KINGSTON - 2GB DDR3 1333MHZ X4 (8gb total)
HD: WD WD1001FALS 1TB/7200/32MB SATA II Black
DVD: LG GH22NS30 Dual Layer x22 SATA DVD


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I'm a statistician and will be using this computer to run complex simulations which are heavy on memory as well as demand all the processing power they can get. multitasking is also a necessity, as I often run long simulations in the background while working.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
As I'm in Israel the prices are completely different than the, I'll pay as much as I need to get a good value high performance machine.
Specifically, I don't want to pay double for a 975 extreme if I don't get a comparable bump in performance.

3) Where do you live?
Israel

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
I need a complete build, from scratch. No need for a fancy monitor, though, as I won't be doing any graphics.


6) Will you be overclocking?
No.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing special, and definitely no SLI or Crossfire.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Ubuntu!
 
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I think you would be better served by the i5

GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3L LGA 1156
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128406

Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214

You will be able to run dual channel ram on this board and it will perform nearly identicaly to the 950, since you wont be overclocking. You don't need the 750w power supply you have in your list, look for the TP-550, it suits you needs (maybe overkill too).

If you wanted to bump the processor to 3.0ghz, you could do that easily and reliably with this board.

antec 300
tp-550 or 400cx
Seagate 7000.12 500gb, or 640gb Black westerndigital harddrive
any dvd burner
Ati 4650 /9500gt
 
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Thanks for the reply.

Why don't you think I'll benefit from the faster processor, is it only good for overclocking? Also, the motherboard as configured support triple channel memory, does it not suppport dual channel memory?

I'm still inclined towards going with as good a processor as doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, since the calculations I run use up all the processing power, and still take a while. The most important thing for me is not to have any bottlenecks.
 
Will your applications benefit from Hyperthreading? If they will then the i5 probably isn't the way to go and you should stick with the i7.
 
I think your original choice of i7 and X58 board are good. When the upcoming i9 comes out, you will definitely benefit from the extra cores the socket 1366 will support. You might want to just get 6 pieces of the 2GB DDR3 for a total of 12GB of RAM, you can do that with either 2 sets of triple memory kit or 3 sets of dual channel memory kit.

Oh, since you don't want/need SLI or Crossfire setup, settle with the cheaper Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R, saves you enough cash towards a bit more memory.

Power supply is overkill, you'll be fine with a quality ~500W. But if you insist on getting the TP750/650, they're great PSU, you won't be disappointed.
 
The reason i said an i5 would suit you better is a i5-860 is hyperthreaded just like the 920 or 950 above. It falls in between them. And your pick of dual channel ram also led me to that decision.
Ideally, it sounds as if you need a Dual-Quad core Server for your needs.


Cobalt35 said:
Will your applications benefit from Hyperthreading? If they will then the i5 probably isn't the way to go and you should stick with the i7.
Click to expand...
The Socket 1156 i7 has hyperthreading :rolleyes:
 
gwarren007 said:
The Socket 1156 i7 has hyperthreading :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

And... :confused: You said i5, I asked about Hyperthreading and said i7 would be better if his software benefits. I fail to see what point you're trying to make here other to confirm what I said about i7. :confused:
 
Cobalt35 said:
And... :confused: You said i5, I asked about Hyperthreading and said i7 would be better if his software benefits. I fail to see what point you're trying to make here other to confirm what I said about i7. :confused:
Click to expand...

He used i5, and socket 1156 interchangeably.

The original suggestion was a socket 1156 i7, which is the i7-860.

The i7 920 is socket 1136, which the upcomming Intel hexacore is being developed for, too.
 
Let's stop with the "i5-860" and "socket 1136" mumble jumble confusions here. :)

He should stick with the X58 chipset, he will benefit from hexa and perhaps octo cores down the road.
 
SOSTrooper said:
Let's stop with the "i5-860" and "socket 1136" mumble jumble confusions here. :)

He should stick with the X58 chipset, he will benefit from hexa and perhaps octo cores down the road.
Click to expand...

True.

If he's looking for outright power, socket 1136 will provide it down the road. It's the best there is from Intel, at the moment,
 
jeremyshaw said:
He used i5, and socket 1156 interchangeably.

The original suggestion was a socket 1156 i7, which is the i7-860.

The i7 920 is socket 1136, which the upcomming Intel hexacore is being developed for, too.
Click to expand...

Ahhhh I see. I didn't mention either socket when talking about i7 but meh, now that we have...

If the OP is wanting to further upgrade to the six-core Gulftown next year then socket 1366 is the only way to go. I suppose it really depends on how much money you're willing to spend.

Edit: One last thing on sockets... it's 1366, not 1136 :)
 
Tsphere said:
Why don't you think I'll benefit from the faster processor, is it only good for overclocking? Also, the motherboard as configured support triple channel memory, does it not suppport dual channel memory?
Click to expand...

Simply put, even here in the U.S, the i7 950 is a total waste of money for the very very small performance increase it provides (no more than 5%) over the i7 920. Is a 5% improvement worth close to $290? No. So use that extra cash from going with the i7 950 towards other parts like more RAM or save it for a future CPU upgrade.

The X58/Core i7 do support dual-channel RAM but it isn't an optimal solution IIRC.

Now as to which setup you should go for (Core i7 860 + P55 mobo or Core i7 920 + X58 mobo), I would go with the i7 920 + X58 since it'll allow you to run up to 12GB of RAM whereas the i7 860 + P55 maxes out at 8GB of RAM. In addition, the X58 does offer a bit of a better CPU ugprade path than the P55. As mentioned a few times earlier, the X58 will more than likely be compatible with the six-core or even eight core Intel CPUs coming out next year. More than likely a few of those CPUs will fall within the $290 range.
 
OP, some of these guys have i5 on the brain. Personally, I'm partial to the 1366 boards and X58. You're not going to save that much money going P55, and I think I prefer to have more PCI-E lanes and more memory expansion available, as well as the fact that i9 is not going to be used in the 1156 socket.
 
Core I7. Besides, budget is not much a concern for OP. But then, a Core i7 975 Xtreme would not be a reasonable purchase.
 
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