Want to upgrade my system questions

[GaryRad]

I currently have a Gigabyte GA-EP45 DS3R with an E8400 running along well at 3.6gz (and has been for over a year) with 4gb and an ATI 4870 1GB video card. I want to upgrade but have lost track of the latest hot setup and don't want to spend megabucks for bleeding edge stuff. Is there a good combo that can be overclocked, maybe using an i7? What about video, any input on that? I was also going to go with a SS boot drive and Win7..

Thanks for any and all input!

 

[Lmeow]

Before we start, what is your budget?

 

[GaryRad]

I don't have one, but as you will notice from my O/C current system I want to spend the least I can for a "near" top end system. Overclocking is great as part of it and I will most likely need new matched memory also. My PS is an Antec TruePower 800W in a full size Antec tower with about 6 120mm fans IIRC.. Let's say under $1000 for the MB, memory, SS drive, and video card to see what that gets me.

 

[jockey]

How 'bout something like this?
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?Submit=view
Note I also included WIN7 pro 64 bit.

 

[GaryRad]

Jockey - That link doesn't work for me for some reason.. I've been out of touch for any debates about the i5 at higher clock speed vs the i7, i.e an i7 860S Lynnfield at 2.53 vs. an i5 680 Clarkdale at 3.6 vs an i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core? All are within a few dollars at NewEgg with a BIG jump ($200 more, is it 40% faster?) to get a i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core.

Then of course which Gigabyte mobo and memory combo works best now..

 

[GaryRad]

Well, After reading a bit here and on Anond's, then checking out the TweakTown OC guide for the new Sandy Bridge CPU I bought the following -

1 GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - P67 allows for overclocking
1 GIGABYTE GV-R587UD-1GD Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video ...
1 Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K - 2600K allows for overclocking
1 Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAA128MAG-1G1 1.8" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
1 Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Dual Channel
1 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

 

[jockey]

That's triple channel memory, the board supports dual channel. All else looks good.

 

[GaryRad]

That's triple channel memory, the board supports dual channel. All else looks good.

Thanks, originally I had picked out a mobo that had triple channel support and forgot to check the specs on the one I bought. Between your's and another sharp guy on a different board I got the message and switched it to what you see now. Added a new 24X DVD too, one of mine burped last week so it was good I changed it..

 

[jockey]

Other than that, good choices. In the link I posted that won't work, I had 4 of the six items that you picked. The difference was an Asus board and an nvidia GPU. I personally prefer Gigabytes, so your choices are even better.

 

[GaryRad]

Thanks again for the input Jockey, appreciate it!