E8400 wolfdale users.

fbm211

I currently have a Silverstone Zeus ST56ZF power supply.Im hoping it has enough to run an i7 system.At first...... untill I upgrade from the HD4890 to a 5870 with a coolermaster silent pro 750 or 850. And a i7 930 proc,gigabyte X58 E board, and OCZ reaper 6G tripple channel memory to round it out.

How much do you think I would save if I went AMD based but still get the performance in the above i7 based system?

Bobsama

When gaming, there's very little difference in most titles. You'd save about $100-200 with a Thuban, more if you stick with DDR2 RAM. Typical cost per gigabyte of RAM is $20-25. If you're planning on running stock, then you should be fine with that Silverstone unit. Also consider using LGA1156 instead of LGA1366; the former is more of a mainstream solution while the latter is aimed for workstations. To the typical user, that means that LGA1366 is better at running multiple graphics cards (more PCI Express 2.0 lanes) and can handle about 50% more RAM. When using dual-channel RAM on an X58 board or a single GPU, LGA1156 typically performs within 1% of an LGA1366 setup.

You're in the USA, right?

fbm211

Yep.The middle of PA.
Ill look into the 1156 right now.Thanks.

fbm211

Are all the 1156 boards P-55 chipsets.? What, no tri channel memory?

renowilliams

fbm211 wrote: »

Are all the 1156 boards P-55 chipsets.? What, no tri channel memory?

Yes, 1156 socket boards take duel channel memory but that said,I regularly beat trichannel memory in benchmark test with everest ultimate. I'm not sure why, but there ya go

Bobsama

fbm211 wrote: »

Are all the 1156 boards P-55 chipsets.? What, no tri channel memory?

No; there are three chipsets for LGA1156 boards. The first and original is P55. Intel followed that up with H55 and H57. While any 1156 CPU will work with any 1156 motherboard (at least that I've seen), the IGP is only active when you match a dual-core version to an H55/H57 motherboard. The Core i5-750, i5-760, and all desktop Core i7's DO NOT HAVE IGP. That's actually a good thing since, in place of the IGP you get the additional two cores. For what you're doing, IGP would be irrelevant as you already have a dedicated graphics card.

renowilliams wrote: »

Yes, 1156 socket boards take duel channel memory but that said,I regularly beat trichannel memory in benchmark test with everest ultimate. I'm not sure why, but there ya go

Not quite. A lot of those memory benchmarks are BS since, outside of synthetics, you'll never see a difference. Often, boards will differ because some boards set more aggressive memory timings while others are laxer in favor of absolute reliability or just better memory compatibility.

Anyways, the actual effects of using dual-channel versus tri-channel is that you lose the addition RAM slots. Most (90% of models and like 99% of boards shipped) of the 1156 boards have either 2 RAM slots or 4 RAM slots. The latter is much more common once you leave entry-level hardware. You're maxed out at 8GB or 16GB (4x2GB or 4x4GB). With LGA1366 boards which typically have 6 memory slots, you'll be maxed out at 12GB (6x2GB) or 24GB (6x4GB) RAM. The actual differences above 6GB are small. You'll actually see a difference between, for example DDR2 533 and DDR3 1600 RAM in games (as much as 10-20% I've seen in benchmarks). However, there's very little difference between DDR3 1066, 1333, 1600, and above in actual use. Spend your money on more RAM instead of faster RAM.

1GB RAM typically costs $20-25. A 2GB stick is usually $45-50. A 4GB stick is usually $100-110. I'd suggest the latter as it's most upgradeable.

Budget dual-channel suggestion: 4GB (2x2GB)
Upscale dual-channel: 8GB (2x4GB)
Budget tri-channel: 6GB (3x2GB)
Upscale tri-channel: 12GB (3x4GB)

Remember that Windows imposes some artificial RAM limits.

Windows 7 Starter: 2GB in x86 or in x64
... Home Basic: 4GB in x86 or 8GB in x64
... Home Premium: 4GB in x86 or 16GB in x64
... Professional: 4GB in x86 or 192GB in x64
... Enterprise: 4GB in x86 or 192GB in x64
... Ultimate: 4GB in x86 or 192GB in x64

fbm211

Im thinking either an ASUS P6T or msi x58 PRO-E for motherboard.Can be had for 149.00.I like that deal on the msi.

Bobsama

fbm211 wrote: »

Im thinking either an ASUS P6T or msi x58 PRO-E for motherboard.Can be had for 149.00.I like that deal on the msi.

The original P6T is a rather aged board, and computers rarely get better with time. That said, the most common suggestion that I see and I make is a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, which supports both USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0. I don't care so much about the latter, but the former is, without a doubt, a huge improvement over USB 2.0. There are already a decent number of USB 3.0 products shipping.

fbm211

Well I was looking through ebay and see that the i7 930s are going for around 240.00-250.00.Shipped!..Thats not bad considering newegg is at 289.00.

concealer404

Nifty. I just got a new computer at work, and it's got an E8500. Big improvement over the crap i had before.

Bobsama

fbm211 wrote: »

Well I was looking through ebay and see that the i7 930s are going for around 240.00-250.00.Shipped!..Thats not bad considering newegg is at 289.00.

Not bad, but make sure the sellers are very highly rated.

fbm211

I recieved my Performance PC flexable magnetic filters today.Sure hope this keeps the dust level down.

Bobsama

Cleaning your computer: just another excuse to upgrade hardware.

fbm211

This is what I came up with after days of looking around.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220431

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115213

Bobsama

Looks good, though you don't need overpriced RAM like that. I personally use RAM without those darn heatspreaders--they never (in my experience) make good contact and some of them end up sliding off if you remove them while "hot".

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253

fbm211

After some even more looking around I changed my mind...again.

I ordered the MSI P55-GD65. Even more expensive RAM--(I ordered the 1600mhz Viper II instead of the 1333.) A Thermaltake Silent 1156 CLP0552 92mm CPU Cooler.And the i7 870.

I ordered the 1600 viper ram to hopefully take advantage of the turbo boost technology although Im not quite sure if the ram speed will matter or not.

fbm211

The MSI mobo gives me the choice of adding another 4890.But I will probably go for the 5870 instead.

Bobsama

fbm211 wrote: »

After some even more looking around I changed my mind...again.

I ordered the MSI P55-GD65. Even more expensive RAM--(I ordered the 1600mhz Viper II instead of the 1333.) A Thermaltake Silent 1156 CLP0552 92mm CPU Cooler.And the i7 870.

I ordered the 1600 viper ram to hopefully take advantage of the turbo boost technology although Im not quite sure if the ram speed will matter or not.

It won't. Turbo works by boosting the multiplier, not by upping the BCLK. In Core i3/i5/i7/etc, clock speed = bclk * multiplier, so stock without turbo for an i7-870 would be 133.33*22=2933.33MHz. You can (and should) manually turn off Turbo and set the motherboard to use the highest possible multiplier--which will be between 24x and 27x.

My experience is that more slow RAM is much better than less fast RAM, at least for regular usage. The price of a fast 2x2GB kit is usually ~$120-150, and 4x2GB would be ~$180-200.

P55 isn't the best for multiple graphics cards. The reason is that there's only one PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot--the second slot is typically PCI-E 1.1 x4 (in an x16-length slot) and quite useless for SLI/CFX. Its only real use would be to add a PhysX card to an nVidia-based setup, where bandwidth matters much less. P55 borads with PCI-E 2.0 x8/x8 are tougher to find though much better for SLI/CFX.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130292
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138162
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131407

As for a second 4890, that's also a choice. Those cards perform quite well. Look on eBay for a used card--buying one new definitely isn't worthwhile.

fbm211

I paid 109.99 for 4 gigs( 2x2) of the viper II memory.
How do you change the multiplier if its not an ulocked CPU??

Link to memory>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220432

Bobsama

There's usually an option in the BIOS with all but the cheapest motherboards. I don't know what the max settable will be, but I've seen some boards where that may well be 27 with that processor.

EDIT: Not a horrible price for the RAM, but I still find it overpriced compared to a basic kit. You'll get more out of high-bandwidth than low-latency RAM, except for in synthetics.

fbm211

Did you ever have to install sata drivers while installing xp...Id like to have my VelociRaptor sata II drive run at the sata II speed but dont know how to do it without a floppy.Would a usb flash drive work?

Bobsama

You'd need to install RAID drives but not SATA drivers. And no, a USB flash drive won't work with normal XP/Server 03. You either need to slipstream the drivers or use a floppy disk.

The oddest thing I saw was with an Intel motherboard with a non-RAID southbridge that shipped with a RAID drivers floppy disk. The issue with that was the board didn't have a floppy header.

fbm211

OK thanks.
I watched two vids on Installing a cpu cooler for max cooling. IE:Proper thermal grease/paste and how to apply it.
I always used the method ----a little rubbed into heatsink and rub off excess.Coat the entire CPU cap with the AS5..A grain of rice amount.

One vid instructed to run a line down the middle of cpu and let it spread out when securing it into place.
How about you all.Maybe I should start a poll.Id be interested in what method polkies use.

Oh and I always used a razor blade to spread out the AS5.

Bobsama

I use Arctic Cooling MX-2 (it's non-conductive, unlike Arctic Silver 5). Anyways, my method is to put a bead about the size of two grains of raw rice in the center of the IHS. Then it's just to put the CPU heatsink firm, twist a touch left and a touch right, and securing the heatsink. Reason for the little twist is to pop air bubbles that might have formed.

fbm211

I had my new stuff in 2 days.
The box is a little beat up.Hope all is well.

And when will I find the time to rebiuld my rig.:eek: