I need advice, EVGA Classified or Rampage Extreme for I7 975

jlaavenger

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Sep 28, 2006
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I need advice, EVGA Classified or Rampage Extreme for I7 975 using possibly the cooler master v8 for cooling? I don't over clock but I will use Dominator 1600 memory, so I may need to. The rampage appeals to me because of the X-Fi card. I want the options of SLI or Cross-Fire, a network card, Phys-X and definately the X-Fi sound down the line. I play games, stream movies, will likely ad a Blu-Ray drive eventually and I use PhotoShop. I'll be eventually running Windows 7 64 bit.
 

ChuvelxD

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If you ask me, I say forgo the 975 all together. Buy a 920 and use the easy overclock utility on either of those boards to over clock it. For what you sound like you're doing, you don't need the computing power of the 975 one bit. Don't forget, we are dabling in the Ultra-high end CPU market and anything you buy with an 'i' in the name is going to more power than you need.

To help you out, here is what I suggest.

If you are just really power hungry, go for the i7 920 and just be patient for the Westmere/Core i9 line to come out in a few months(6 cores), then put your money in that. I say purchage the Rampage Extreme and a cooler that will give you no reason to worry. (Prolimatech Megahalems w/ a couple of Coollink WiF2 fans)
http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/prolimatech-megahalems-cpu-cooler.html
Use a good thermal paste (IC Diamond 7/24 Carat TIM, don't be fooled by the very old Actic Silver stuff)

I say spend your money on a fantastic storage device. SSD or HDD is a tough decision to make. Personally, unless you are using a program that requires a rediculous read/write speed, forget the SSD and get yourself a VelociRaptor that will perform. If budget is an issuse (which apparently it isn't with the 975), then buy yourself a Seagate Barracuda 7200.12. THe .12 is very important, they have many different revisions of the Barracuda series, that is the latest and fastest, and even benches up there with the VelociRaptors.

The biggest thing to do, is to not OVERGEAR your PC for your current needs, this will save you hundreds of dollars and you'll never know the difference. If you need some more help chosing just post in this thread and i'll be watching. GOOD LUCK!
 

jlaavenger

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Sep 28, 2006
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The thing is I ordered the I7 975 this morning for $700 even. So now my concern is the mother board. I'd already planed on going with two 300GB Velociraptors in raid 0 before the end of the year. I figured I'd start with a cheaper Video card till I could afford a better one and eventually go SLI or Cross Fire. My last PC lasted 6 years. I expect my rebuild to last another seven.