~New Build Suggestion

well for actual productivity on your pc the 1366 platform is best or if you got a big budget

for gaming and general use with minor productivity socket 1156 will be best

and amd and intel are neck and neck on the gaming front but intel has a slight lead but amd is cheaper at the same performance level

nvidia will release their new cards 26 march but the leaked info is not promising and ati has improved much since amd took over and ati has been outpacing nvidia for a while now on bang for buck stakes

If you are not doing a lot of rendering and transcoding of video, then 1156 will do.

The 1366 has 1366-1156= 210 more pin-outs. Most of these are data lines so, tho the die is essentially the same for an 1156 i7-860 as for a 1366 i7-930, the amount of parallel data that can be "pumped" on and off the cpu is ... that much more.

Platform longevity does play into it. Figure that , with another $300 cpu (and prolly a ~200$ gpu), added in about 3 yrs, you may be able to almost doubly extend your longevity.

The other route is to spend less now and "run it into the ground", replacing everything but the CASE & PSU, in 3.5 yrs, or so.

I kind of splurged on a 2.8GHz P4, 5 years ago, and traded that off to a buddy so I could get the 3.2GHz P4 I am using on this system. This is still a very viable general purpose system .... I even put a $130 nVidia7200GT(OC) in it (much cheaper after those few years) and a few more sticks of ram. All that was 2 years ago and the only place I am really feeling much drag is with long video output renders that can take 7-12 hours (at the very highest quality 1080P/30 25Mbits/sec CBR 2-Pass) ...

I have been considering a 1366 for that reason but I have decided I'm gonna try to limp and suck air untill the PCIe3.0 bus standard comes out, in about a year.

What that means, for me, is that I will be focusing on editing that huge crate of standard definition DV-25, VHS, SVHS, and Hi-8 videos ... as well I should ... even tho HDV 25Mbit/sec footage is piling up on me fast.

So, this year, I will continue to SHOOT in HDV (accumulating Art footage), but I will be editing a few years of backlog.

This sort of makes economic sense because proc power is just now catching up to consumer HD codecs. Another year and that power will no longer cost a premium.

You have to watch product cycles and realistically project your "proc power needs" over the amortized life of the system, be that 3.5 years or a very long six years (few pcs last 6 years without major overhaul).

The good news is that all that speed and power is cheaper than ever and will trend that way. If you NEED to upgrade, now is the time (always) ... The matter of how substantial an investment you should make in "robust" system architecture really does take some sussing (after lots of research).

For 3.5 year commodity/appliance grade computers ... you just get one when you need it ... not going much beyond current needs.

Some people feed at the trailing edge (as opposed to 1st adopters) and can cobble an aging platform together out of used parts, but have to do that pretty often.

I think the AM3 socket (Latest AMD) with a fast 3-core proc and 4GB ram is a very reasonable medium, in terms of power, and will save you big-time, on price.

Try a build with an AMD/AM3 Phenom-II Triple Corre and 4GB of fast (CAS 7) RipJaws DDR3 ... Drop in a 64GB SSD as your boot+apps drive ($150) and a Samsung Spinpoint F3 HDD (~60$) for media content. It will scream ... Overclock it and LAUGH at INTEL owners ... It's like Levis vs Jordache.

= Al =

Thx for the help ill price out a system, with a 1156(current choice) at the core and post it here after i do some research on AMD. but ill wait and see what happens in the next few weeks. to see what comes out.Thx again.

*update* going by Newegg(US) pricing the new Intel 930 processor is out for 300 vs AMD x4-395 for 200 im leaning back to the 1366 socket cause of the triple channel and higher throughput, 860 1156 socket is only $30 cheaper, so price vs performance is negligible. Also after a bit of research, im looking to get a Ati 5870 cause it seems the drivers have improved. As for any OC i cant risk it cause my room can hit over 110 in the summer and i have damaged other systems because of it.

Current build

Well, that is the *other* way of viewing economy ... The premise that, "If I am already buying a PSU/Case/GPU and Drives, then why not lean into the premium build for (only) $200 more, which, as percent of total system cost is not all that much more and, What good is an underpowered system going to do me? (as demands are sure to increase rapidly).

I can see the logic in that.

I view the GPU decision as almost completely independent of "the rest" of the system ... I can't think of to many pro or gamer's builds that do not dictate putting as much budget emphasis on the GPU as one can possibly afford. The GPU is a "complete system" in it's self and is totally "independently portable" as a major component, much like an external RAID array ... it just does what it does and even a faster "wimpy" compute core can benefit from a beefy GPU ... And, the GPU can move with you , to your next build, if the standard is yet viable.

just get some DDR3 with faster CAS timings and a really good cooler, anyway, for two reasons ... (1) You might be surprised that your system will stay pretty "COOL" with a really good cooler, despite that hi ambient temp, in summer. ... and (2) You might move into a place that has great AC and free utilities ... If that happens, then you will definately wish to OC (later if not sooner). Besides ... If it really is that hot, where you live, then you are going to want RAM and CPU setup that is designed to take heat ... The very same requirements for extreme OC.

Best of luck, with all that. Tho, since your logic led you to disagree with *my* best advice (as best your needs can be known), then I will abandon this thread and avoid it, henceforth, as long as recognize it as such (as one I intended to eschew).

There's no way you aren't gonna love an i7-930, tho, regardless.

= jealous =

i didn't disagree this a preliminary build i considered, every point but one cant just brush aside 10 years of brand loyalty (Intel vs AMD) and a slight fear of OCin a system do too environment, over night. As things progress or budget changes other options may arise. Who knows maybe ill be smart for once and save a bit of money and go with cheaper CPU with more overhead, ill definitely look into better RAM and new products are always being released the purchase an build are still a month or maybe two off.

Thanks for your Help,
Slappy