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real quick, C2D vs. i7

J

Jzabi

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 25, 2007
Messages
104
I am thinking about buying a new rig. Budget: $1,000

My current rig has a C2D e6850 3.0GHz
( as well as 4GB DDR2 PC6400, 8800 GTS 320MB)

How much more performance will I get from a 2.66 i7?
(if I get the i7 I will get an SLI mobo, 2GB DDR3 RAM to start out with, and a GTX 260 Black Edition from xfx)

I primarily will be gaming with this rig. Resolution 1680x1050
I do not overclock.

Should I go with this new set up, or should I replace just my mobo and add 2 GTX 260's in SLi?
 
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Things to keep in mind:
-X58 platform is really nice(performance wise) for SLI
-2.66ghz is still a bottleneck (Go to BIOS and set BLck to at least 150, and don't look back)
-socket 775 is dying

Dang, i'm really biased.

I went from a E6400 @ 2.13ghz to a i7 920 @3.6
i shat myself
 
If anything, just OC that C2D or get a quad for cheap (if you need it). GPUs will remain the bottleneck for games for quite some time still, I think. You'll see the largest boost in performance simply by upgrading your GPU (4890 or GTX 275s look pretty tasty right now...)


I really debated to wait for i7 back in August, but since my rig will eventually be a WHS when its Q6600 can't keep up any longer, I decided to skip Nehalem. I figure I've still got quite a while before a 3.4GHz quad doesn't meet the cut. DDR3 and X58 mobos were much more expensive then too.
 
if you go with the i7 get at least 3gb of ram (they're made for triple channel) and a stock gtx 260 and overclock it. the evga gtx 260 1255-AR is easily overclockable to the xfx black speeds and it comes with the software to do it.
 
thank you everyone for the quick responses. I think I am going to go with the new i7 rig, instead of swapping just a mobo and video card. This way, I can still get to use my old rig. I found the entry level i7 for $229 at a local computer shop. I am going to get it there and then get the rest of the stuff on newegg.
I will also buy a stock GTX 260 and save some $$ by overclocking it myself.
overclocking a GPU is easy right? I mean, even the xfx black edition has the same fans on it so I should be good for temp?

I can't wait to buy the parts for my new machine this friday! :)
 
Dood - you're running 1680*1050. I would KEEP your cpu and board, and if anything get a nice new video card. It's going to be the best bang for your buck upgrade. Any GTX 260 or the new 275 will handle 1680*1050 without a problem. SLI would be a waste at that res if you ask me. (and that's partly biased as I think SLI is a waste of time and money at any res)

I haven't tried any i7 systems, but I think you'll be disappointed in that "upgrade" path.
 
i can't say anything about overclocking a xfx card but i have the evga gtx 260 1255-AR and it came with software that lets you set the speeds. assuming you use a case with good airflow you should be able to get to the 666 speeds or higher without any problems.
 
The Gigabyte EX58-UD3R is the motherboard you should be looking at. The only other option within the same sub-200 dollar range is the MSI X58 Pro. The Gigabyte has official, native SLI support in all versions now. The MSI has the advantage of 6 ram slots. The Gigabyte has the advantage of 8 SATA ports and somewhat better overclocking. Either way will give you the best bang for buck you can get in X58 motherboards.
 
You might want to hold off until the Core i5 (at least I think that's what they're called). It's the mainstream variant of the Nehalem that'll be offered later this year. Either way your current rig is by no means aging. We don't know if they'll be some great overclocker in that series yet. Apparently the only disadvantages of that line are that they are dual channel memory rather than triple channel. Also they may decide to disable HT to further differentiate the line.

Either way the i920 is very tempting and with some X58 boards hitting sub $200 and DDR3 pricing, it's not a bad deal either. It's a buyers market now for sure.
 
post a thread in the general hardware section for help with the best parts and prices for the build. i imagine the cpu you're talking about for $230 is at microcenter and thats a good deal. as for the power supply amazon will most likely have the best prices. i also recommend spend the little bit of extra money and getting 6gb of ram. post in the general hardware section like i said and be sure to answer the stickied questions at the top.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375
does it do SLI? Because I don't see anything about SLI.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128386 this one does have SLI all over it. But, there are only three RAM slots.

This was the mobo I was looking at
DFI LANPARTY JR X58-T3H6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136066

However, I have always owned Gigabytes and I do like them. Never had a DFI.


Taking your advice, my next big purchase is a 24"+ monitor. This will come in the summer, or as soon as a really sweet game comes out lol. Then the SLI will come.
 
like i said from here on out this topic is best discussed in the general hardware. i'm not positive but i'm gonna say the first one only does crossfire and that 2nd gigabyte does crossfire and sli. they only have 4 ram slots because you use the 3 white slots for triple chanel or all the slots can be used for dual channel. obviously you'd wanna use the 3 slots for the triple channel. the dfi board is matx so if you want to use a small case that would be a good choice. otherwise just use one of the regular atx boards. if you're gonna get a 24" monitor soon you could just get a single gtx 285 and be ready. that would require less money and power than sli 260s in the future.
 
All Gigabyte X58 boards now support SLI as of the most recent bios updates. Even the vanilla EX58-UD3R as of bios revision F4.
 
moshpit said:
All Gigabyte X58 boards now support SLI as of the most recent bios updates. Even the vanilla EX58-UD3R as of bios revision F4.
Click to expand...

why are there 2 different UD3R boards listed on newegg? it seems strange that they have 2 listed with one stating sli and having a different price. not trying to start an arguement just asking because i can't say 100% that the old UD3R will sli with the new bios.
 
get a Q9650 overclock to 4Ghz and get another card and done deal, total cost maybe $500 and then go buy something nice.

at 1680 x 10560 you DONT need SLI , come on people
 
seanmcd said:
Dood - you're running 1680*1050. I would KEEP your cpu and board, and if anything get a nice new video card. It's going to be the best bang for your buck upgrade. Any GTX 260 or the new 275 will handle 1680*1050 without a problem. SLI would be a waste at that res if you ask me. (and that's partly biased as I think SLI is a waste of time and money at any res)

I haven't tried any i7 systems, but I think you'll be disappointed in that "upgrade" path.
Click to expand...

1680*1050 with every maxed out still lags on new games. Best bet is next-generation video cards.
 
auceny said:
why are there 2 different UD3R boards listed on newegg? it seems strange that they have 2 listed with one stating sli and having a different price. not trying to start an arguement just asking because i can't say 100% that the old UD3R will sli with the new bios.
Click to expand...

The vanilla version did not support SLI until just last week. There was a difference before the bios update, now there's not. I can 100% garuntee SLI works on the vanilla version or Gigabyte is lying on their bios update page and in the press release.

http://www.techreport.com/discussions.x/16687

Remember that BIOS switching trick that let you enable SLI support on some unsupported Gigabyte X58 motherboards? Well, Gigabyte has finally dealt with the issue—but not in the way you might think.

The motherboard maker has posted a press release saying that all of its X58 motherboards now have official support for Nvidia SLI multi-GPU configurations. That includes the following mobos:

* GA-EX58-Extreme
* GA-EX58-UD5
* GA-EX58-UD4P
* GA-EX58-UD4
* GA-EX58-UD3R

If you already own one of the above, Gigabyte says you need only upgrade to the latest BIOS to enable SLI functionality. That certainly beats a shady BIOS hack, especially since there's no threat of Nvidia (or Gigabyte itself) pulling the plug.

That change makes the GA-EX58-UD3R particularly attractive, since it currently retails for $199.99 at Newegg (and $184.99 after a $15 mail-in rebate). We gave that board a TR Recommended award last month.
Click to expand...
 
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your rig is pimp enough for the rest of the year, just take our advice and get a real good GPU.
 
I just went i7 from a Q9400@3.8GHz and 8GB of RAM to i7 920 @ 3.9GHz and 12GB of RAM and wow. My jaw actually dropped when I first booted Win7 and loaded Photoshop CS4. It used to take about 25 secs to open PS CS4 with all my brushes and filters, and with the i7 it opens instantly, 3 secs tops.

For me, the $300 upgrade was worth it. I sold my old computer and purchased the new one and it was $287 out of pocket for the eVGA x58, i7 920 and Corsair ram.

Best $300 I've ever spent on a computer =)
 
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