Another i7 Upgrade

S

Seep

n00b
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
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37
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, browsing.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Would prefer to keep it under 800$, but as low as I can get it. Yes and yes.

3) Where do you live?
Southern Ontario, Canada

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU(i7 920), RAM, Mobo

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
9800GX2, old case, DVD drive, and PSU(PCP&P Silencer 750W) I will be reusing my harddrives (1x250gb 1x500gb SATA)

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, eventually.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
1920x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next week or two, hopefully.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing crazy, hopefully RAID I guess for the future, but otherwise something cheap, but I will not sacrifice quality for price (to an extent) so something pretty stable/reliable too.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Win7 RC and/or XP64

So basically is it really worth it to upgrade right now, or should I wait until around the holiday season? I want to be set for the next year or two (making small one part upgrades here and there) with this system. It's probably smart to keep the video card, cause the new ones are coming out soon anyways. I just wanna grab a 920/S1336 while they're semi-hot but am not sure if it's the right choice.


My current system is:
E6600 @ 3 (stock cooling :()
9800GX2
EP45-UD3R
OCZ 1066 2x2GB

I was looking at these:
CPU: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=38881 $353
Mobo: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=34543&vpn=GA-EX58-UD5&manufacture=Gigabyte $235 *edit switched from ud3r to ud5
RAM: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=34654 $109
 
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If you're ready to build a new system now, go ahead. It's not like we're going to stop you.

The board that you're considering -- the Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS3R -- is fine, but it only has four RAM slots. That can be the problem, as the Intel X58 chipset and DDR3 RAM support triple (or tri-) channel memory configurations. If you don't plan on going beyond 6GB of memory, you'll be fine. If you believe that you'll upgrade to more RAM in the future, or you would like that option, you should look for a board with six RAM slots.

If you can afford to, I recommend getting an aftermarket CPU cooler and a better video card now. The four CPU coolers that we often recommend are the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366, the TRUE 120 1366RT, the Xigmatek Dark Knight, and the Cooler Master V8. The video cards that are currently available, such as the HD4890 and the GTX 275, offer better gameplay at a 1920x1200 resolution than the 9800GX2. But again, these upgrades are recommended only if you can afford it. If you're going to buy them after you complete the rest of the build, get the video card first if gaming is a priority for you or the CPU cooler first if you want to start overclocking ASAP. Truthfully, I suggest that you get both the video card and CPU cooler at the same time... though I believe that the video card upgrade would offer a more noticeable improvement in your gaming.
 
Ah yes I completely forgot about the four RAM slots, I guess I'll go with the UD5.

Also it's a pretty tight budget so I doubt I'll purchase anything else at the moment, unless it's still a good idea to get pretty much a whole new system.

How much life would I have with the parts I listed with a 4890 in there? I like cranking up the AA lots so that's why I'm thinking I should just wait for the new line of cards instead of shelling out another 300$, but if the i7 920s life is limited I might just wait and build a new system all together a little later.

Canadian prices :(.
 
Get the i7 920 now. It can be overclocked up to 4GHz (though YMMV) with good air cooling. I personally don't see the need to wait for the new batch of Core i7 processors when you have a proven winner in the 920. If you can, however, get a CPU cooler now. It will be one less thing to buy -- and set up, since you'll have to remove the motherboard from the case in order to install one of the aforementioned coolers -- later.

I figured that you wouldn't have enough room in your budget for a new video card, so in your case, that's a secondary concern. If you really want to crank the AA, you should look at the GTX 285 or one of the dual-GPU cards... but they can easily go above $500CAD IIRC.
 
The UD4P is another, cheaper option: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=35757

However, read all the benchmarks of the games you play to decide if the small performance increase is worth the huge price increase for your upgrade. Although, you could always sell your old parts to help offset the cost. IMO, though, for gaming with a single vidcard, no, an i7 is not a worthwhile upgrade coming from an E6600 Core2Duo. I think you'd get more performance out of a simple vidcard and CPU HSF upgrade (which should allow you to OC more).
 
That's one of the thoughts that's really been holding me back. Problem is I'm not sure that the E6600 is fully utilizing the 9800GX2 at my resolution, though as you said getting a new one and a HSF with a little bit of OCing should fix that and extend the life of this system for long enough until i7 920 is replaced.

Do you think the E6600 will be a bottleneck for the next gen cards (only going for single GPU) if I OC it to ~3.4?
 
Hm... before replacing your GPU, just upgrade the HSF and OC the CPU a bit more.

No, I don't think the CPU will be a bottleneck for the next gen cards if you OC it to 3.4... though, maybe the gen after next it might, depending on how far they get with the tech.
 
That shouldn't be a problem, the next gen cards should be able to max out all the games currently on the market at 1920x1200 so I'd be happy for a while.

I guess it's settled, I'll just OC my current CPU a little more, and hopefully the next gen graphics cards won't be bottlenecked by it.
 
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