Corsair Dominator 6GB 1600mhz or Corsair Dominator-GT 6GB 2000mhz

[bwiltse2620]

I'm currently in the process of picking out parts for a computer upgrade/rebuild and am deciding between the Corsair Dominator 3x2GB 1600 kit and the Corsair Dominator-GT 3x2GB 2000 kit. My current system is:

Mobo: xfx 750a
CPU: amd phenom 9600 BE
RAM: 2x2GB g.skill ddr2 800
GPU: 2x9800gtx+ in sli
SSD: Intel x-25 80gb
HDD: 2x500gb storage drives
PSU: OCZ 600W stealthxstream
CASE: CM HAF 932
MONITOR: 2xHanns.g 28"
OS: Windows 7 Professional x64

Just a bit of (I think) relevant background - I'm going to be a sophomore in engineering in the fall, am an amateur photographer and am a gamer. On a day-to-day basis I multitask fairly heavily, running itunes, outlook, firefox, word, excel and assorted other programs including the windows sidebar, fraps, etc. The more processor-intensive things I do are:

Running Lightroom 3.0 and Photoshop simultaneously editing several hundred photos at once
Editing video with Premiere Pro, Photoshop and Encore simultaneously
Video encoding/transcoding
3d solid modeling with Autodesk Inventor 2011
Solid part stress analysis with Autodesk Inventor 2011
Gaming (the most processor intensive game I play is probably Supreme Commander 2)

*(all adobe programs are CS5)

I would like my new system mainly to be able to handle the photo and engineering workload for the next 2-3 years. That is the first priority. The second priority is gaming. The third is video transcoding, editing, and general multitasking.

The components I'm considering are as follows:

CPU: i7 930
RAM: Dominator 1600 6GB or Dominator-GT 2000 6GB
MOBO: ASUS P6X58D Premium
PSU: Corsair TX950W (I am hoping this will give me headroom for future upgrades)
HSF: Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme

GPU: 2x9800gtx+ in sli (keeping from old rig)
SSD: Intel x-25 80gb (keeping from old rig)
HDD: 2x500gb storage drives (keeping from old rig)
CASE: CM HAF 932 (keeping from old rig)
MONITOR: 2xHanns.g 28" (keeping from old rig)
OS: Windows 7 Professional x64 (keeping from old rig)

Newegg has the 6GB 1600 kit listed at $220 and the 6GB 2000 kit at $270. I am more than happy to take any suggestions or substitutions. Any advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ksampanna]

Do you plan to overclock your new rig? If yes, then the 2000 kit might be worth a think.
But I'd recommend you stick to 1600, since that is a point of diminishing returns, beyond that, an increase in price will only result in a fractional increase in performance. In short, not worth it. As it is, 1600 will be plenty for your overclocking needs.
I say you save the $50, get another SSD within a year.

 

[bwiltse2620]

Yes I do intend to overclock my setup. I'm looking to hit 4.0-4.2ghz. Just something I thought of, can the i7 930 processor actually handle all the bandwidth available from the 2000 kit (appx. 30GB/s) ?

 

[Ubrales]

With the OC that you are considering, the RAM will run well over 1600 at 10x, and around 1450 at 8x. Considering this, the 2-year future life expectation, and the fact that you are anticipating Autocad, video editing, photo editing, as well as Photoshop CS5, go for the 2000 MHz Dominator RAM.

For reference, my i7-920 is OCed to 3.82 GHz. I run Autocad, photo editing, some other programs all multi-tasking and so far, my Corsair Dominator 1600 12 GB (underclocked at 1452 MHz) seems to run fine.

The reason why I suggest 2000 MHz over 1600 MHz (while I use the 1600 RAM) is because I have 12 Gigs of RAM, and my setup is 8 months old. Your setup is current and you are considering 6GB of RAM. My engineering designs are conservative, with wide margins of safety, and so is my thinking regarding technical issues. Err on the side of the angels!

Check into the tall heat spreaders on the Dominator. Make sure that they don't cause interference between the RAM (1st slot) and the Tuniq Tower.

 

[ksampanna]

Yes I do intend to overclock my setup. I'm looking to hit 4.0-4.2ghz. Just something I thought of, can the i7 930 processor actually handle all the bandwidth available from the 2000 kit (appx. 30GB/s) ?

Recent studies have indicated that processors degrade in months rather than years if you go beyond 1.45v. Considering you want your rig to last about 3 years, I doubt the processor will last that long with such a high sustained overclock.

 

[bwiltse2620]

If I can hold my voltage to say 1.4-1.42 or less, do you think my processor will last a couple of years? Also, according to this article, Intel is going to drop prices soon. I may go with a 950 or 960 then. Would the 950 be easier to get to the 4.0ghz range at lower voltages?

 

[ksampanna]

You will be all right at anything less then or equal to 1.45v.
I really don't know if the 950 can hit 4 Ghz at lesser voltages than the 930. This is something you'll have to ask in the overclocking section. All I can tell you that OCing is also dependent on the chip you get & its stepping. Some chips just OC better than others; getting one is a matter of luck.

 

[Ubrales]

Rev. DO stepping is current in i7-920 chips, however, there still are some rev. CO stepping chips floating around. DO will OC better!

 

[jpishgar]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Motherboards & Memory by Jpishgar