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#31
You have made very good choices and gotten some excellent suggestions.
First, your questions.
1. Answered already, yes.
2. I have to agree with Wishmaster on this topic, just going with a SF controller doesn't mean the best performance. Sequential writes and reads are prominently posted by all manufacturers but, is one of the least important factors. Random reads are the most important, with random writes next. This is what allows the OS and programs to perform. Input/output is the key factor.
The firmware for the controller will make or break the SSD. This is very important.
3. Your PSU choice is fine, if you want an extra measure of insurance go for 750w or higher. Quality PSU is very important, good choice going with Corsair.
4. Your compatibility choices are good, always best to get RAM on the motherboards compatibility list.
You have mentioned that you have decided to go with the 1366 platform.
Good choice.
Just another opinion, not sure if you based this on the best information.
If it's what you want, then get it, although the 1156 platform has specs and benchmarks the are nearly identical, especially if your not planning on overclocking. You can save money with the 1156 motherboards, the extra features on the 1366 boards are for graphics cards(2) and OC'ing.
The added benefits of triple channel versus dual channel RAM has been debated and the added benefits are considered by most reviews as being for OC bragging rights.
Triple channel versus Dual channel
There are many reviews on this subject, just run a search.Discovery: Two Channels Aren't Worse Than Three from AnandTech
The 975 ran DDR3-1066 memory (the highest it officially supports), while the 870 used DDR3-1333. The faster memory gave the 870 the advantage. Since we're not taxing all four cores, Lynnfield is at no disadvantage from a bandwidth perspective. Surprisingly enough, even SiSoft Sandra (which does use four cores for its memory bandwidth test) shows Lynnfield's dual-channel DDR3-1333 memory controller as equal to Bloomfield's triple-channel DDR3-1066 interface.
My 1156 socket Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P, i5-750, with dual channel Corsair XMS DDR3 runs at 19,521 MB/s.
The i7-9xx triple channel I've seen run anywhere from 16,000 to 22,000 MB/s.
The speed difference will not be noticeable.
If you just want to have the triple channel, then by all means get it. Just wanted to give you some information on the subject.
CPU
Just checked the i7-950 and i7-870, specs are for all purposes the same, the price at Newegg US is $5 more for the i7-950. So no real difference between them.
At the AnandTech CPU Bench site you can pick any two CPUs and compare them side by side.
Here is the i7-950 and i7-870
Here is the list of rankings of the tested CPUs
Motherboard
The only real difference between the 1366 and 1156 socket motherboards are triple channel and dual channel RAM, and price. The 1366 socket boards are better if you want to run two or more graphics cards.
You will pay approximately U$ 80-120 more for the 1366 socket board.
I would save the $100 CAD and put it towards a better SSD.
SSD
Anandtech Bench SSD you can look at the list on the first page or choose any two SSDs and compare them.
My personal choice is Intel followed by OCZ, the Crucial SSDs are getting good reviews but, did have some firmware issues before, so still risky for me.
If you can wait for a couple of weeks or maybe months, the new 25nm memory SSDs are going to start showing up, rumors are they will be twice the size for about the same price they are today. They should have much better performance and life expectancies.
An 80GB SSD should be in the $100-150 range.
The new Intel Gen3 25nm SSDs are coming out soon, with higher specs.
Also, Sand Force is coming out with a new controller in the same time frame, this combined with 25nm memory should have some nice specs.
In conclusion, get the system that you want.
The performance of this level of specs are very close, at the end of the day you are the one that needs to be happy with it.
My recommendation at this level would be:
i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz, Newegg.ca $215 - Check the comparison between this and the i7-950 on the AnandTech site.
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard, Newegg.ca $135
This will save you about $180-200. For a performance differential of about 3%. Which won't be noticable.
Last edited by Dave76; 17 Oct 2010 at 01:53.
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