A new build,opinons?

[Zidane24]

Your build won't work - you are matching an X58/1366 LGA motherboard with an 1156LGA/P55 CPU. The RAM is wrong too - for that processor you need dual not triple channel. I would also go for a cheaper AMD build.

Thanks for pointing that out,i can use the i7 920 2.66Ghz and just overclock it i suppose,i could go for the i7 940 but for the extra .30mhz id prefer not to pay an extra €150

Will the triple channel work with the 920?

Thanks for pointing that out.

yes...the new X58 boards require triple channel RAM

 

[Frostmourne]

You may as well build a cheaper AMD system that will match the i7 920 - the Phenom x4 965 has dropped in price. Match it to a 790GX board such as a Gigabyte MA 790 GPT UD3H.

Incidentally, that card is too weak for gaming at high resolutions.

 

[Minotar]

Well, I have 2 SSDs. One OCZ 60GB Vertex and an Intel 80GB. The speed boost is absolutely amazing (and I have only an old AMD 4800+ CPU on one system and a Q6600 on another system). Boot times of 12 sec are common and program calls are instant. Data access time is a few nanoseconds versus 15 to 20ms on a spinning disk (that is thousands of times slower). And data transfer rates are over 200MB/sec sequential read versus a typical 50 to 70MB on rotating disks. One guy reported 600MBs with a quad Raid0.

On the picture note that the program cannot report access times in nanoseconds. 0.1ms is the smallest unit it knows.

Thats quite impressive,i think ill look a bit more into this,thanks

Just looked at your supplier.

I do see the Antec 300:

Komplett.ie - Antec Three Hundred Midi Tower Black

As an aside, case gurus seem to think very highly of the Antec Solo:

Komplett.ie - Antec Solo Miditower, Piano

A bit cheaper than the 900.

The Solo gets quite high marks for being a quiet case.

Too many openings in a case is often just a way for noise to escape. Cases often run just as cool with fewer holes if the fans are appropriate. I personally would avoid vents on the top side.

If noise typically does not bother you, then go with your first choice. Antec generally gets high marks, but some are quieter than others.

I dont mind noise too much,my case is usally open more than closed,plus it looks s^*t cool lol

Frostmourne could be right.

I haven't even looked at the mobo and assumed Minotaur had already scoped that out.

If you are locked into that mobo, you may have to switch processors.

If you are locked into that processor, you may have to switch mobos.

Sorry,i did overlook it,it is 3am but that was a big mistake even for me

 

[Frostmourne]

As I said, is this for gaming? The GPU is weak.

 

[Minotar]

yes...the new X58 boards require triple channel RAM

Thank you

You may as well build a cheaper AMD system that will match the i7 920 - the Phenom x4 965 has dropped in price. Match it to a 790GX board such as a Gigabyte MA 790 GPT UD3H.

Incidentally, that card is too weak for gaming at high resolutions.

Ill have a look at an AMD build,but i have heard good things about the i7 hence why i went Intel

 

[Minotar]

As I said, is this for gaming? The GPU is weak.

Not specifically,all i need to do is play COD MW2 etc,my current XFX HD 4650 1GB can do that comfortably,so im sure the new one can play at the higher resolutions if OC'd

 

[Frostmourne]

Yes, but this is the PC I built for myself:

http://www.sevenforums.com/gaming/46227-excellent-gaming-performance-7-a.html

The only thing you could change is the CPU to a 965 - I went dual-core just for gaming as quad is just starting. Also, get an 80% efficient PSU. You will not regret it. The price for it was just right.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Come to terms with your socket choice first.

I have not looked at the Intel roadmap in several months.

The last I looked, the roadmap for 1366 was unclear over the longer term. I think there will be a 6 core processor (Gulftown) in the next few months, but beyond that it wasn't clear recentlly.

The roadmap may have been updated??

There is certainly no issue with 1366 being high performance as it stands now, but if you are the type to upgrade processors, you might be faced with a motherboard upgrade when you do change processors---depending on what Intel has up its sleeve for that socket.

The 1156 roadmap is clearer and not lacking in power either.

Pick your poison.

 

[Minotar]

Yes, but this is the PC I built for myself:

http://www.sevenforums.com/gaming/46227-excellent-gaming-performance-7-a.html

The only thing you could change is the CPU to a 965 - I went dual-core just for gaming as quad is just starting. Also, get an 80% efficient PSU. You will not regret it. The price for it was just right.

Nice
The PSU is 80% efficent

I had a look at the 3dmarks site on the bench test's the 4890 usally scores about 3000 more than the 5750, i could go for the 1GB 4870 GDDR5,theres only a deficit of 1400 in the scores and costs about €10 more than the 5750

Come to terms with your socket choice first.

I have not looked at the Intel roadmap in several months.

The last I looked, the roadmap for 1366 was unclear over the longer term. I think there will be a 6 core processor (Gulftown) in the next few months, but beyond that it wasn't clear recentlly.

The roadmap may have been updated??

There is certainly no issue with 1366 being high performance as it stands now, but if you are the type to upgrade processors, you might be faced with a motherboard upgrade when you do change processors---depending on what Intel has up its sleeve for that socket.

The 1156 roadmap is clearer and not lacking in power either.

Pick your poison.

I wouldnt be one for changing proccessor no,so that wouldnt be a problem

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Then you are pretty much set, assuming you want Intel and the 1366 socket.

SSDs give a very obvious bang, the shortcoming being price per GB.

You might want to run with the stock cooler and fans in the beginning. After you familiarize yourself with the the PC, you can consider overclocking and experiment with it while monitoring temps.

If temps go beyond your comfort zone, replace heatsink. If they don't, continue at stock.

 

[bobkn]

yes...the new X58 boards require triple channel RAM

Thank you

(snip)

Ill have a look at an AMD build,but i have heard good things about the i7 hence why i went Intel

My mainboard is an Asus P6T Deluxe (X58 chipset). If its manual is to be believed, it supports both dual and triple channel memory configurations. (I've only used triple channel, though.) Triple channel is to be preferred, but I believ that it's not required.

The Radeon HD4850 ought to give better performance at high resolutions than the 5750, at about the same price. The 4850 has a 256 bit path to its VRAM, while the 5750 has 128 bit. (The 4850 isn't a DX11 card, though.) The 4850 is the least expensive card in the 4800 series, which was the highest-end single GPU line of its generation for ATI. The 5800 series is the top line of the newer generation, and much more expensive. The 5700 family supports DX11, but it's more of a midrange series.

The Socket 1156 approach might be a good one, if you wish to go Intel and you're interested in saving some money. In the US, the I5 750 is about $89 less than the I7 920 (www.newegg.com), and P55 mainboards from the majors (Asus, Gigabyte) can be had for roughly $100 less than the least expensive X58 boards. Socket 1156 only includes dual channel memory support.

If you choose the I7 920, overclocking is common. I normally run mine at 3.8GHz, with a Thermalright Ultra 120 air cooler. I have the older stepping, and I believe that the newer one may do a little better.

The Antec 900 will accept large graphics cards, which makes it a good choice for a mid-tower. (You may have to remove an 80mm internal fan on the back of the drive cages; no great loss.) I still prefer to have the PSU at the top of the case, though; call me old-fashioned. I prefer larger cases like my current one, a Cooler Master Stacker 830, but it's a bit expensive. (Got it for about $175, including shipping. It's only the silver model, though.)

 

[Minotar]

Then you are pretty much set, assuming you want Intel and the 1366 socket.

SSDs give a very obvious bang, the shortcoming being price per GB.

You might want to run with the stock cooler and fans in the beginning. After you familiarize yourself with the the PC, you can consider overclocking and experiment with it while monitoring temps.

If temps go beyond your comfort zone, replace heatsink. If they don't, continue at stock.

Yup,hopefully
Thats the part i have to read up on lol.
I want the pc to be quick,but id like to see how the set up would run first before splashing out on an SSD

Thats the plan,seeing as the heatsinks and fans arent expensive i can upgrade as i go

yes...the new X58 boards require triple channel RAM

Thank you

(snip)

Ill have a look at an AMD build,but i have heard good things about the i7 hence why i went Intel

My mainboard is an Asus P6T Deluxe (X58 chipset). If its manual is to be believed, it supports both dual and triple channel memory configurations. (I've only used triple channel, though.) Triple channel is to be preferred, but I believ that it's not required.

The Radeon HD4850 ought to give better performance at high resolutions than the 5750, at about the same price. The 4850 has a 256 bit path to its VRAM, while the 5750 has 128 bit. (The 4850 isn't a DX11 card, though.) The 4850 is the least expensive card in the 4800 series, which was the highest-end single GPU line of its generation for ATI. The 5800 series is the top line of the newer generation, and much more expensive. The 5700 family supports DX11, but it's more of a midrange series.

The Socket 1156 approach might be a good one, if you wish to go Intel and you're interested in saving some money. In the US, the I5 750 is about $89 less than the I7 920 (www.newegg.com), and P55 mainboards from the majors (Asus, Gigabyte) can be had for roughly $100 less than the least expensive X58 boards. Socket 1156 only includes dual channel memory support.

If you choose the I7 920, overclocking is common. I normally run mine at 3.8GHz, with a Thermalright Ultra 120 air cooler. I have the older stepping, and I believe that the newer one may do a little better.

The Antec 900 will accept large graphics cards, which makes it a good choice for a mid-tower. (You may have to remove an 80mm internal fan on the back of the drive cages; no great loss.) I still prefer to have the PSU at the top of the case, though; call me old-fashioned. I prefer larger cases like my current one, a Cooler Master Stacker 830, but it's a bit expensive. (Got it for about $175, including shipping. It's only the silver model, though.)

Thanks for the info
Would the i5 not be slower due to the 4mb as opossed to the i7's 8mb?

I think the i7 920 will do me perfectly,i have no need to run near 3.8Ghz,ill probably go as far as 3.2Ghz-3.4Ghz with a heatsink and fan once i have it for a while,but its great to know it can go that high,and i read on a few different forums some have had it as high as 4.0Ghz! I think thats astounding lol

The reason i chose the case was mainly due to the fact of price/practicality and looks.Have to admit,i really like it

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Here is one set of benchmarks:

PassMark CPU Lookup

I hesitate to post it for all sorts of reasons. Take it for whatever you think it is worth.

 

[Pauly]

I have recently built a similar 6GB i7 920 system with the antec 300 case and am very impressed with the performance

I went for the UD4P motherboard which i have found a bit temperamental for bios changes and overclocking but it does have the dual bios which is an excellent feature (if you enter wrong settings it defaults the bios back to copy of the 2nd bios) providing a bit of a fail safe and gigabyte are very good at releasing updated drivers/bios and offer three different ways off updating bios which takes away the risk of an error flashing the board.

The only thing i regret is not getting a SSD as everything else is so blistering fast the HDDs are definately the system bottleneck (and i got 2 in raid0)

The stock cooler on the i7 seems to perform reasonably well i played around with OCing to around 3/3.4 and found system temps fine although i did add additional fans cause my case only came with two so i added another two but often left the side panel off so this would have an effect (not sure how much)

Only thing worth noting is the i7 will only accept 1033 ram, i bought 1600 and had to OC in effect just to get it to run at stock speed, this is where i found bios to be temperamental as XMP profiles do not work, adjust profile to run at 1600 and by default it changes DRAM voltage etc as well and crashed system, but manual doing settings you should be ok, if your not familiar with OCing just take it slow and you should be fine

Also according to my MB manual the board can take any ram it says supports triple channel but can take any number of sticks 1-6 as long as you use the right slots.

Not much of a gfx/games man so cant really comment on that

Good luck on the build, hope you have as much fun as i did building mine

 

[bobkn]

(snip)

Thanks for the info
Would the i5 not be slower due to the 4mb as opossed to the i7's 8mb?

I think the i7 920 will do me perfectly,i have no need to run near 3.8Ghz,ill probably go as far as 3.2Ghz-3.4Ghz with a heatsink and fan once i have it for a while,but its great to know it can go that high,and i read on a few different forums some have had it as high as 4.0Ghz! I think thats astounding lol

The reason i chose the case was mainly due to the fact of price/practicality and looks.Have to admit,i really like it

4MB vs 8MB? I'm not sure what you mean. The I5 750 and I7 920 both seem to have 8MB of cache RAM.

I'm with you on the 920, but a socket 1156 system could save you about $200, with (I presume) a fairly trivial performance loss. I'm unsure what I would do at this time. The 1156 systems were not yet available when I did my latest build, one year ago.

 

[Frostmourne]

So what have you decided Minotar? Blue or Red?

 

[Minotar]

So what have you decided Minotar? Blue or Red?

Blue seems too suit me better

 

[Minotar]

I have recently built a similar 6GB i7 920 system with the antec 300 case and am very impressed with the performance

I went for the UD4P motherboard which i have found a bit temperamental for bios changes and overclocking but it does have the dual bios which is an excellent feature (if you enter wrong settings it defaults the bios back to copy of the 2nd bios) providing a bit of a fail safe and gigabyte are very good at releasing updated drivers/bios and offer three different ways off updating bios which takes away the risk of an error flashing the board.

The only thing i regret is not getting a SSD as everything else is so blistering fast the HDDs are definately the system bottleneck (and i got 2 in raid0)

The stock cooler on the i7 seems to perform reasonably well i played around with OCing to around 3/3.4 and found system temps fine although i did add additional fans cause my case only came with two so i added another two but often left the side panel off so this would have an effect (not sure how much)

Only thing worth noting is the i7 will only accept 1033 ram, i bought 1600 and had to OC in effect just to get it to run at stock speed, this is where i found bios to be temperamental as XMP profiles do not work, adjust profile to run at 1600 and by default it changes DRAM voltage etc as well and crashed system, but manual doing settings you should be ok, if your not familiar with OCing just take it slow and you should be fine

Also according to my MB manual the board can take any ram it says supports triple channel but can take any number of sticks 1-6 as long as you use the right slots.

Not much of a gfx/games man so cant really comment on that

Good luck on the build, hope you have as much fun as i did building mine

Thanks for the info,appreciate it

(snip)

Thanks for the info
Would the i5 not be slower due to the 4mb as opossed to the i7's 8mb?

I think the i7 920 will do me perfectly,i have no need to run near 3.8Ghz,ill probably go as far as 3.2Ghz-3.4Ghz with a heatsink and fan once i have it for a while,but its great to know it can go that high,and i read on a few different forums some have had it as high as 4.0Ghz! I think thats astounding lol

The reason i chose the case was mainly due to the fact of price/practicality and looks.Have to admit,i really like it

4MB vs 8MB? I'm not sure what you mean. The I5 750 and I7 920 both seem to have 8MB of cache RAM.

I'm with you on the 920, but a socket 1156 system could save you about $200, with (I presume) a fairly trivial performance loss. I'm unsure what I would do at this time. The 1156 systems were not yet available when I did my latest build, one year ago.

Sorry, i was looking at a different i5
I still think the 1366 socket is what i want and offers the proccessors i want,but who knows,by the time i have the money together i might change my mind

 

[Frostmourne]

I'm still pushing Red - more bang for your buck.

 

[Minotar]

I'm still pushing Red - more bang for your buck.

LOL,i see you are.

As im saving up,cost isnt really an issue (i still wont spend massive money though) and the intel set up gives me what i want where as the AMD doesnt.

At the minute the things im thinking might change are
1156 socket -1366 socket
980 i7 - 920 i7
Whether or not to get an ssd
Watercooling,Fans

I still have to look up alot before i hand the money over but the basic set up,ill stick with it.