I5-750 or I7-930

[trembl27]

Hi!

I have almost completed selecting all my components and I'm going for a gaming micro atx PC.

What I'm sure I'll buy :

Antec Mini P180
Seasonic X-650
Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 ( around 500 Go )
Windows 7 64 bits
DVD-Writer

Now, I'm looking at 2 Mobo/CPU/Video card solution. Right now, there are simply NO game that I want to play. I will probably play a bit of Global Agenda or Perfect World, but it's a build I want good enough to take on games like Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2 , etc with minor upgrades ( video card / ram ) later.

I game on a 20'' Dell ultrasharp ( 1680x1050 ).

Prices are approx. and in canadian dollars.

1) I5-750 / GA-P55M-UD4 / ATI 5850 / 2x2Go Ram ( 200 + 160 + 330 + 110 = 800$ )

I think that's a good PC to play right now, but I fear I might be limiting myself for the future. I would probably buy another 2x2Go of ram later when I have 110$ laying somewhere and that would be it.

When all is done, I would have spent about 910$ on that.

2) I7-930 / EVGA 121-BL-E756-TR / 3x2Go RAM / CHEAP video card ( 310 + 220 + 175 = 705$ + video card )

I looked on newegg.ca and 100$ a GT240 / 9800 GT. I guess i would go with the ZOTAC ZT-20404-20L GeForce GT 240 1GB since it's quiet ( passive cooling ) and it's exactly why I bought the Seasonic x-650.
With that build I would also never buy more RAM since 6Go should be plenty.
In a year or so, I would upgrade the video card and keep the GT240 for physx or use it in another build.

With that in mind, I would have spent a above 1000$ on those parts, however, It would certainly be better in the long run in my mind.


So, what scenario is the best?

 

[gkay09]

^ What else will you be doing on your PC ? And any possibility that you will be using the PC for Professional work ?
IMO if its just going to be a gaming PC, then the i5 is a better choice...Later on you can upgrade the CPU to i7 8xx and that would give you a good boost...
The LGA 1366 route is better only if you will be using the PC for say pro video/ image/ audio and stuffs...As for gaming, there would not be much significant difference in performance between these 2 platforms...

And you wont need a HD 5850 for that resolution... A HD 5770 would suffice for what you do...

 

[trembl27]

This PC will sit in the kitchen/living room area so it will be used to make some web surfing / flash games / homework most of the time.

I will also use my existing wiring to connect my HDTV on it and will stream a bit of movies. I will also either play on the 20'' monitor or the 1080P HDTV.


I decided to go to the LGA 1156 route but with a better motherboard ( ASUS Maximus III Gene ) due to superior quality for a bit more ( about 40$ more than P55M-UD4 ).

I will also go with the I5-750. And after reading some other reviews, I upgraded my ram to the CL7 DDR3 recommended by many for a few bucks.

The only thing I'm unsure is the 5770. As of now I would go with either the ASUS CuCore or Sapphire VaporX 5770 since after reading some reviews they look more "quiet" than the other brands.

Would a 5770 be ok for gaming on 1080P in "high details" ?

I would probably go with it for a year or so and then either go cross-fire or upgrade depending on price/value in that time.

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[gkay09]

^ The i5 750s are the better choice over the 930 for your requirements...

And as for the mobo, IMO the UD4 is also of very good quality(Both ASUS and Gigabyte are the top 2 mobo manufacturers) and you will notice the difference between the UD4 and the Gene only if you will be overclocking high(Say nearly 4GHz)...Else I dont think there would be much difference...

As for the RAM, it wont matter much if you go with CAS 8/ CAS 7 if you will not be overclocking...

Graphics card - At first you said that it was a 1680x1050 monitor... For that the HD 5770 would suffice...But if you will be using a 1080p monitor, then HD 5850 will be a better option for sure...
But just make sure that the Antec 180 mini fits that card...I think you would have to remove the lower HDD cage...