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Hey guys,
It's been about a year since I've been involved in my hardware hobby (and likewise this forum.) My photography has picked up recently such that I'm now shooting semi-pro, and the time put into that hobby is time unfortunately lost to hardware. Nevertheless, I've been poking around lately and given certain factors, I'm now thinking of getting into my yearly upgrade a bit early. Since I've been out of the loop for a bit, I was hoping for some thoughts and advice on what to look for.
Before I get into parts, here is a list of reasons why I'm thinking about upgrading now.
1. I'm sure (in part for work reasons) I will be upgrading to Windows 7 once the RTM is released to MSDN at the end of the month. If I have to redo a system I'm currently happy with, a hardware upgrade will help motivate me.
2. The performance of my water cooling system has degraded noticeably over the last month. I think its time to take it apart and give it a good cleaning. If I have to disassemble, I might as well make the most out of the project and upgrade.
3. Most importantly, it seems that now is the time to buy a Core i7 920. They're relatively cheap given the $200 MicroCenter deal, and I don't want to be without an inexpensive upgrade path to s1136 once they're discontinued. If I wait until the fall (or perhaps until USB3 is out,) will it be too late to get the 920?
Now on to parts discussion:
- I'd like to jump on the X-58 bandwagon sooner or later. As noted above, a reason for upgrading now is to get a Core i7 920 while they're cheap and available. Unfortunately, a Lynnfield replacement is unattractive to me. With 920s available for $200 at MicroCenter, is now the best time price wise to upgrade to a true socket 1136 i7 with all the trimmings I actually use (such as VT support?) Thoughts on this would be appreciated.
- My priorities have changed a bit since I was scouring Q6600 batches looking for a 4ghz OC. While the cpu and video card are still very important components in my system, so is my 3-drive RAID 5 array for photo storage. I've noticed that the P6T Deluxe lost it's secondary SATA controller and now only offers 6 SATA ports. This is unfortunately too few. Otherwise I wouldn't think twice about upgrading to a P6T Deluxe, as my P5Q right now is easily the best mobo I've ever owned. Anyway, my budget for a mobo is about $350+/-. I was wondering what people considered the best X-58 board that had more than 6 SATA ports.
Also, I'm aware of why ASUS removed the JMicron controller for the other ports. Are there boards with secondary SATA / SAS controllers that work with more than 3 gigs of RAM? (As of now, I'm thinking of either the Gigabyte EX-58 Extreme or the EVGA X58 Classified, although I really do like my ASUS and I'm a bit hesitant to go back to EVGA after past experiences.)
- I'm also undecided about keeping my water cooling system. I don't really see much of a need to OC these days, as I game less and photo-edit more. In the end I doubt I'll drop it however, as I do enjoy (and take pride) in tinkering with it, and it does a great job of impressing others. If I do go back to air cooling, what would be the best cooler for an i7 920? Is it still the TRUE 120 Extreme? If I stick with water cooling, it seems that everyone has moved on from the D-Tek Fuzion. What's the best water block right now for the i7?
I think that's it. Along with the proc, motherboard, and perhaps a new cooling device, the only other purchase will be for 12 gigs of G.Skill 1600mhz RAM (which at $5 more than their 1333mhz DIMMS, seems like a good buy.)
Thanks for any thoughs, advice, and words of encouragement
It's been about a year since I've been involved in my hardware hobby (and likewise this forum.) My photography has picked up recently such that I'm now shooting semi-pro, and the time put into that hobby is time unfortunately lost to hardware. Nevertheless, I've been poking around lately and given certain factors, I'm now thinking of getting into my yearly upgrade a bit early. Since I've been out of the loop for a bit, I was hoping for some thoughts and advice on what to look for.
Before I get into parts, here is a list of reasons why I'm thinking about upgrading now.
1. I'm sure (in part for work reasons) I will be upgrading to Windows 7 once the RTM is released to MSDN at the end of the month. If I have to redo a system I'm currently happy with, a hardware upgrade will help motivate me.
2. The performance of my water cooling system has degraded noticeably over the last month. I think its time to take it apart and give it a good cleaning. If I have to disassemble, I might as well make the most out of the project and upgrade.
3. Most importantly, it seems that now is the time to buy a Core i7 920. They're relatively cheap given the $200 MicroCenter deal, and I don't want to be without an inexpensive upgrade path to s1136 once they're discontinued. If I wait until the fall (or perhaps until USB3 is out,) will it be too late to get the 920?
Now on to parts discussion:
- I'd like to jump on the X-58 bandwagon sooner or later. As noted above, a reason for upgrading now is to get a Core i7 920 while they're cheap and available. Unfortunately, a Lynnfield replacement is unattractive to me. With 920s available for $200 at MicroCenter, is now the best time price wise to upgrade to a true socket 1136 i7 with all the trimmings I actually use (such as VT support?) Thoughts on this would be appreciated.
- My priorities have changed a bit since I was scouring Q6600 batches looking for a 4ghz OC. While the cpu and video card are still very important components in my system, so is my 3-drive RAID 5 array for photo storage. I've noticed that the P6T Deluxe lost it's secondary SATA controller and now only offers 6 SATA ports. This is unfortunately too few. Otherwise I wouldn't think twice about upgrading to a P6T Deluxe, as my P5Q right now is easily the best mobo I've ever owned. Anyway, my budget for a mobo is about $350+/-. I was wondering what people considered the best X-58 board that had more than 6 SATA ports.
Also, I'm aware of why ASUS removed the JMicron controller for the other ports. Are there boards with secondary SATA / SAS controllers that work with more than 3 gigs of RAM? (As of now, I'm thinking of either the Gigabyte EX-58 Extreme or the EVGA X58 Classified, although I really do like my ASUS and I'm a bit hesitant to go back to EVGA after past experiences.)
- I'm also undecided about keeping my water cooling system. I don't really see much of a need to OC these days, as I game less and photo-edit more. In the end I doubt I'll drop it however, as I do enjoy (and take pride) in tinkering with it, and it does a great job of impressing others. If I do go back to air cooling, what would be the best cooler for an i7 920? Is it still the TRUE 120 Extreme? If I stick with water cooling, it seems that everyone has moved on from the D-Tek Fuzion. What's the best water block right now for the i7?
I think that's it. Along with the proc, motherboard, and perhaps a new cooling device, the only other purchase will be for 12 gigs of G.Skill 1600mhz RAM (which at $5 more than their 1333mhz DIMMS, seems like a good buy.)
Thanks for any thoughs, advice, and words of encouragement
