Need Feedback on my Planned Core i7 System

[ds1817]

Hello everyone,

I'm planning to put together a new gaming system. Although I upgraded my video card and processor on my old AMD socket 939 mobo (Sapphire 3850; and Athlon X2 3800+), in retrospect that was a waste of $300 as the processor (a step up from my athlon 64 3500+) is bottlenecking the graphics card.

Here are the specs for the new system:

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos 1000
CPU: Core i7 920
Mobo: Asusu P6T Deluxe
Ram: G.Skill PC1600 6GB
CPU Cooler: Vigor Monsoon III or asetek liquid cooling.
PSU: Seasonic 500W
Video Card: Radeon HD4870 1gb

Here is where I'm having some uncertainty. Will my power supply be able to handle this system? At some point in the future I think I'll upgrade to a dual card set up, but if my current PSU is sufficient to drive this system, I'd rather worry about getting a new PSU later. The other question I have has to do with my memory selection. Do I really need to get PC1600 memory if I don't plan to overclock the system too much (would PC1333 ram work just as fine)? Any positive experience with Asetek liquid cooling? Also, any opinions of Cyberpowerpc, I'm also thinking of ordering something close to the above specs from them (rather than going through the hassle of assembly).

Thanks in advance

 

[WR]

The PSU will power that fine and should even power a second, identical card if you have enough connectors left over.

For modest overclocking, why go through the trouble of water cooling? The i7 runs very cool at low load - some good heatsinks are capable of passively cooling it. It's when you peg all 8 threads that it churns out heat and you understand the reason for keeping a fan there.

Some people will say i7 is overkill for gaming, which it is now, but based on your experience I can see the justification for not going with 775 or AM2.

As for RAM, the base speed of DDR3 on i7 is 1066MHz, 8 times the base clock (Bclk) of 133 MHz. The i7 920 is "stock" 2.66 GHz, but Turbo gives you a free +1 bump in the multiplier (+133 MHz) to run at 2.79 GHz, or +2 if you're utilizing just one core, for 2.93 GHz. When you overclock by raising the base clock (Bclk), you'll raise minimum RAM speed as well.

So DDR3-1333 would let you overclock up to 166 Bclk, which means the 920 would run at 3.49 GHz on all cores with Turbo, or 3.65 GHz if just on one core.

And DDR3-1600 would let you go up to 200 Bclk (which the Asus board should reach fine), for 4.2-4.4 GHz, if your CPU can actually do that. That's why heavy overclockers go for DDR3-1600 at least, so as not to have RAM limiting their OC.

 

[ds1817]

Thanks for the great info. I think I will do as you suggested and stick with the DD3-1333, the price premium for 1600 Cyberpower charges is just not worth it. As for the liquid cooling, my answer is why not? If cyberpower offers the ASetek liquid solution for the same price as air cooling, it seems to me like a win win situation. What I understand about Asetek is that they seal their liquid cooling solution at the factory, so you don't have to worry about leaks and such for the life of the part (50,000 hours). The other added benefit is that it takes up much less space and is very quiet.

I'm also on the same page with you as to 775 and AM2, my current rig has served me well for 4 years now. I'm a big believer in buying a machine that's powerful enough to last at least 4 years. Core i7 seems to fit the bill.