1500 budget, i7-860 vs i7-920 builds help...

[flymolo41]

Real novice gamer trying to build my first system here asking for advice...both of these builds are within my budget, but don't know which is better due to the socket differences. Please help...any advice would be appreciated!


# POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: 1, 000 Watts Power Supplies (Azza Gaming Active PFC Power Supply SLI/CrossFire Ready)
# CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-860 2.80 GHz 8M L2 Cache LGA1156
# COOLING FAN : Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
# MOTHERBOARD: [CrossFireX/SLI] Intel Extreme Series DP55KG P55 Chipset DDR3 ATX MB w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB2.0, SATA-II Raid, 3 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI
# MEMORY: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module (Kingston HyperX (All Venom OC Levels Certified))
# VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 5870 PCI-E 16X 1GB DDR5 Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
# HARD DRIVE: Extreme Performance (RAID-0) with 2 Identical Hard Drives (1TB (500GBx2) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

vs.

# POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: 1, 000 Watts Power Supplies (Azza Gaming Active PFC Power Supply SLI/CrossFire Ready)
# CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366
# COOLING FAN : Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
# MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI Support) Asus P6T Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA, GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394a, &7.1Audio (Venom Boost Extreme OC Certified)
# MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module (Kingston HyperX (All Venom OC Levels Certified))
# VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 5870 PCI-E 16X 1GB DDR5 Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
# HARD DRIVE: Extreme Performance (RAID-0) with 2 Identical Hard Drives (1TB (500GBx2) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

 

[kshitijm]

Providing Links would help. But, I what I can tell you for now is that the first one looks better as 1366 socket is being fazed out i think.

 

[psycho sykes]

The 1366 socket isn't being phased out any time soon!
I strongly advise building it your self and avoiding CyberPower.com

 

[dndhatcher]

Is there a special reason you want liquid cooling right from the start. You could build a much simpler/safer air cooled system now then upgrade to liquid cool later if you find you want to.

Both systems have twice the power they need. Even leaving power for a second GPU they only need 750W.

I dont know of anyone building their own system that uses intel montherboards. I would look for an ASUS or EVGA p55 motherboard instead.

Kinston is a cheap junk RAM manufacturer, look for Corsair, GSkill, OCZ, even Patriot instead.

Socket 1366 is not being phased out. It is the high end socket and intel's 6 core CPUs will use it. The 1156 is the economy socket which you see more of because it was just released and it is a good price/performance value.

Dual HDDs in Raid 0 isnt going to help your gaming performance much. It only helps when you load new maps and such, not while you are playing.

 

[jyjjy]

Yeah, as a self-proclaimed novice you shouldn't be considering water cooling and I wouldn't worry about RAID either.
Read this for all you could want to know about the difference between the various i7s;
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410.html

 

[photonboy]

Good advice here.
I agree, get a good Heatsink/120mm fan combo for your CPU. Get another 120mm case fan (low noise) to push out the air.

HD5870:
1) The Vapor-X version is going to be released by Sapphire
2) I'd hold off for the NVidia cards due before Christmas

CPU:
i7-860

MOBO:
1156

RAM:
4GB DDR3 (2x2GB)

PSU:
650W/750W good quality

There are pros and cons to going with the 1156 vs 1366 platforms. The 1156 is slightly cheaper but also the IDLE power is less than 1366 (it's the best at this power level period). The 1366 has 2x the theoretical PCIe bandwidth (2x16) however it's been shown that you can run 2xHD5870 on the 1156 without being limited by PCIe bandwidth. The 1366 does have the advantage of Memory bandwidth but again real-world performance for most people would be nil. I know the 6-core 32nm CPU is going to the 1366 but I'm sure the 1156 will get something by the time it's time to upgrade.

Other:
- SATA 6Gb/s ?
- sound ?

If you want to compare 1156 to 1366 there are lots of reviews. The bottom line for me is the Idle power (and performance). The HD5870, i7-860 and 1156 are an unbeatable combination.