I7 930 vs i7 980x

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bwiltse2620

bwiltse2620

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Hey guys,

I'm currently picking out components for a system upgrade/rebuild and I'm debating on whether to go with the i7 930 or the i7 980x. I know there are several similar threads, but I felt that my requirements are slightly different in being an almost hybrid workstation/gaming machine. 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 perform these more intense tasks from every several days to once every few months depending on school assignments and free time.

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: as mentioned, the i7 930 or the i7 980x
RAM: Corsair Dominator ddr3 1600
MOBO: EVGA FTW3 or ASUS P6X58D Premium
PSU: Corsair TX950W (I am hoping this will give me headroom for future upgrades)
HSF: Scythe SCMG-2100

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)

I am more than happy to take any suggestions or substitutions. Any advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
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ares1214
as far as mobos go for either one, the p6x58d is a great board, practically a classic now, but as far as new boards, this is the best, or the best value:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130289&cm_re=msi_big_bang-_-13-130-289-_-Product

it has some good combos with the 480, 470, 980x, 930, and a few others. that will likely get you a higher, more stable oc, but nothing amazing. but considering it is the same price, i think its a no brainer. And if you are to lazy to oc, just press the OC Genie button :lol: back to the question, even though its a pretty lame discount, intel is releasing the 970x for a tad over 800 bucks i believe. i think they underpriced the 980x according to their overpricing pricing scheme...
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enzo matrix

enzo matrix

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You didn't mention how much ram, so I am going to recommend 3x2GB so you can upgrade to 9GB or 12GB if you ever feel you need it.

As for the CPU, i7 930, hands down. It should be enough for what you intend to do, especially if you overclock. I doubt you would notice a difference moving to the i7 980X. Even if you did, it certainly would not be worth the price premium. It would also make zero difference in gaming.
 
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bwiltse2620

bwiltse2620

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Yeah, I was intending to go with the 3x2GB modules. Sorry I forgot to mention that. Also, I know there will be zero difference for gaming. For CAD work, do you think I would notice more of a performance increase from more ram instead of the 980x?
 
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bwiltse2620

bwiltse2620

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If I went with the i7 930, in order to be keeping up with the engineering work I'll be doing, will I be looking at another upgrade in 2 years or will it be sufficient for 3-4 years? On the other hand would it be worth stepping up to the i7 960 instead of the i7 930 now? Also, between the two mobos I have listed, which would you recommend? Thanks again for all the advice!
 
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bwiltse2620

bwiltse2620

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Yeah I do plan on overclocking, so no i7 960.

I don't mean to keep harping on this, I'm just tired of having my computer sit for 45-60 min while doing FEA (finite element analysis - stress modeling) for engineering projects. I guess that's my main concern - to be able to handle FEA for several years to come on mid-sized school assignments/projects.

I have to ask, does anyone have any experience with CAD programs and how well they respond to scaling, either by adding more cores or clock speed?
 
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wayneepalmer

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He lists it at the top of his original post.


>>
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
<<
 
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pdxgfx

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I was at the point the original poster was a couple of months ago. My old core 2 was being thrown to the mat repeatedly when rendering in Cinema 4D and Adobe CS4/5. Instead of doing the upgrade thing I opted to go for the big gun 980x i7 12GB system. I actually got a fantastic deal from HP for a then 190t for about $2200. I can tell you in all tests I've thrown at it, it has beaten our Nehalem 2.26Ghz Octo Mac Pro with 16GB at work. If you use the Cinebench 11.5 benchmark, the 960 is about 40% slower than the 980.

The way I look at it, I might need to upgrade sometime in 2014 :)

-PDX
 
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bwiltse2620

bwiltse2620

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Thanks for all the awesome comparisons WR2. So if I went with the i7 930, would the best value then be to put the money that would have gone towards the 980x into water cooling, more ram, a new gpu, or some combination of those?
 
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pdxgfx

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You linked to the 975 which actually costs more than the 980 on your comparison, not the 920. Probably some kind of sale going on Newegg to reflect that price difference. Performance wise this would be closer to the mark to your comparison:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/47?vs=142

My point being that it could be cheaper to set up a multi computer render farm for the power you get out of one processor but you make up for the cost in power consumption and at least one of those computers is going to need a smoking video card. In comparison, the Mac Pro 8 Core 2.26 (16 logical) I have at work is considered a professional workstation and I can kick it to the curb for about $1600 less. In fact, because of the 3.33GHz speed on the 980, it's actually closer to the much more expensive 2.66 Mac 8 core in speed (at least in Cinebench)

If the original poster is looking for a workstation that won't need upgrading for quite a while and can handle anything you throw at it in a small amount of time then I would recommend the 980. If time is not so much of an issue (i.e. You can set thing to render overnight or no demanding client for short render times) you can get away with an overclocked 930.

The reason I bought the 980 was simply that I wanted to be able to tell any freelance client that asked me that I can get things done on time without worrying about system speed. That kind of peace of mind is worth alot.
 
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bwiltse2620

bwiltse2620

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I don't remember exactly where I read it, but I believe the Scythe Mugen 2 came in 3rd of the several HSFs in whichever review it was I read. At any rate, I'm currently leaning towards the i7 930 with the Tuniq tower 120 extreme HSF. How far would I most likely be able to push the i7 930 with that HSF? I don't want to do anything crazy with the voltages as it needs to last several years.

On the peripheral note, I currently have an Logitech LX710 Laser mouse/keyboard combo. Now that you mention it, I think it might be time to upgrade those. I love my media buttons though, so any keyboard I get I would like to have zoom, play/pause, next/prev, and browser buttons. I don't have any preference between wired and wireless. It also might be nice to have a backlit keyboard as I'm up late a lot. As for a mouse, I've never had one with on-the-fly dpi switching and I think that is something I'd like to have, both for Photoshop and gaming. Does anyone have any recommendations for keyboards and mice I should look into? Thanks.
 
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