oldsoulrevival

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Jan 22, 2010
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So I am building a gaming/movie/music rig and I was wondering what your thoughts on which processor is the better buy.

*COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Blue RC-932-KKN3-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
*(2)SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5
*XIGMATEK MC NRP-MC651 650W ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V Ver. 2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular *Active PFC Power Supply
*COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm
*XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire
*CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
*GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s - Retail
*LITE-ON Black 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support - Retail


With the..... i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz = $1300.00
With the..... i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz = $1420.00

Is it worth the extra $120?
 
Solution
nothing wrong with the spec, but personally if I was going i7 I'd go to the top and go 1366, so stick with the i5.

Also, personally I'd take the PSU up to 850W for some headroom - PSUs are at their most efficient around 50-65% load apparently, and 650W running your rig is actually close to its upper limit.

Also I have no idea who Xigmatek use to make their PSUs, so it could be junk. Go Corsair.

Oh, and you can get better and cheaper RAM than that Corsair kit.

Cryslayer80

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Aug 28, 2009
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In my opinion it is not worth the extra $120, but if you really can afford yourself, why don't get the best of the best and take I7 920? That would really rock and would not be much more expensive...
 

laluma22

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Sep 13, 2009
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Hi guys
so in case yes you should get a i7 920 and 6Gb of ram, if you can aford yourself, but the pc you listed are good enaugh also with the i5 750 actually you would not have such a problem with heat temperature like with an i7. But if you are looking for really good performance and the maximum of the maximum take the i7 920 (D0 Stepping) and Overclock it.^^
I bought the i7 920 now 4months ago in D0 stepping 83 Degrees (Load) with intel boxed cooler.
But with the corsair Watercooler for 80€ i've got it to 36 Degrees under load^^
so i just went furder to oc it now i have temperature like 55 Idle and about 68C on Load.
And now the best i have overclocked it from 4x 2,66 to 4x4,8Ghz with an Intel Mainbord DX58SO.

So i can not tell you what to buy but for better performance use i7
for good performance and an idle system temperature use the i5

if you have any more questions just write me a personal message or write furder in the Forum^^

greetz
laluma22
 

LePhuronn

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Apr 20, 2007
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nothing wrong with the spec, but personally if I was going i7 I'd go to the top and go 1366, so stick with the i5.

Also, personally I'd take the PSU up to 850W for some headroom - PSUs are at their most efficient around 50-65% load apparently, and 650W running your rig is actually close to its upper limit.

Also I have no idea who Xigmatek use to make their PSUs, so it could be junk. Go Corsair.

Oh, and you can get better and cheaper RAM than that Corsair kit.
 
Solution


Not really, unless the programs that you use actually benefit from HT and VT.

If you are trying to save get the 750 and a decent air cooler or the H50. Later on if you need a bit more speed you can bump up the clocks to 3.5Ghz with very little effort.
 


Yes, but i meant combined, for example lets say that the OP mostly plays games on his PC. He would be better off saving that 120.00$ for a better GPU as opposed to the 860 unless he plans on leaving the clocks at stock. IDK, i would opt for a 750 and a nice air cooler. I was lucky enough to get one from MC at 149.99$, at that price there is no better option.

The 750 has VT-x but no VT-d, and that supossedly is a must for some :

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