Time for an upgrade? (i7 Build)

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lostguy7

n00b
Joined
Jun 5, 2009
Messages
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I think it's time for me to get an upgrade, here are my specs: E6600 2.4 @ 3.2, 2GB Gskill Ram, 8800Ultra SLI, Thermalright 120 Ultra HSF

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
A lot of gaming and film editing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
700 dollars
3) Where do you live?
Bay Area, California
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, Mobo, and Ram
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
BFG 800Watt PSU, Xclio Windtunnel, Optical drive, Fans, 8800Ultra SLI, 320GB HD, Thermalright 120 Ultra HSF
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Dell Ultrasharp 22in
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Summer
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
SLI support
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes

Here are the parts I was looking at:
EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039
Intel Core i7 920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
CORSAIR XMS3 3GB (3 x 1GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145221
Total: 666.28 (Tax sucks)

Thanks!
 
What board do you have?

Depending on the board that you have, you don't necessarily need an overhaul -- which is what you're doing by going towards a Core i7-based build. Getting a new Core 2 Quad processor, a 4GB kit or DDR2 1066 RAM, and getting one of the WD Caviar Blue/Black 640GB hard drives could give you enough of a performance boost for a bit less. If you really "need" a new video card, one GTX 275 or HD4890 would be more than enough for most of today's games at your resolution.
 
Oh I completely forgot to mention:
EVGA 680i SLI

I just wanted to get the Core i7s because I've read that Intel is discontinuing them.
 
Darn. I think your Nvidia 680i mobo chipset only supports 45nm Dual Core Wolfdale cpus and not the 45nm Yorkfields. Yorkfield Quads will be supported on the Nvidia 700 series mobo chipsets.
 
HardwareGuru said:
Darn. I think your Nvidia 680i mobo chipset only supports 45nm Dual Core Wolfdale cpus and not the 45nm Yorkfields. Yorkfield Quads will be supported on the Nvidia 700 series mobo chipsets.
Click to expand...

So an upgrade to the Core i7 platform is a go?
 
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My goodness! LoL I was just about to suggest these exact parts that Danny just listed. The Gigabyte X58 UD4P mobo, Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 RAM and the Core i7 920 would give you a total of $630


Danny Bui said:
Well I'd get this Gigabyte mobo:
http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GA-E...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1244248939&sr=8-1

And then use the savings towards 6GB of RAM:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-TR3X6...ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1244249015&sr=1-2

Should be about the same price as your planned setup but you get twice the RAM and an equal quality motherboard.
Click to expand...
 
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Alright I will definitely go with these parts, but I just want to wait till the end of the weekend to purchase these parts. Just in case something comes up or someone else recommends different parts, etc, etc.

One thing I read about the Gigabyte boards is the Lan connectivity, I do a lot of lanning and hopefully the latest board firmwire/update fixes the issue.

Thanks for the advice!
 
I have the ud4p and the lan issue is fixed by just downloading the latest drivers from the site, might want to do that before you rip down your old system if you only have one. I really like the board so far a lot of features and seems to overclock well, at 3.74 right now with i7 920 d0 @ 1.21v, waiting to tweak it further, also really recommend trying to get a d0 i7 from microcenter if you can because they are cheaper and I'm pretty sure the d0 uses less volts, comparing my oc to others c0 oc's. And definitely go for the 6gb 10-20 dollars more expensive and you won't kick yourself in two months when some game eats up all 3gb.
 
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