Please Rate my Builds

[6parkgeek]

Edit 3:
I was going to go i5 + 5870 path, then asteldian kindly reminded me about the bottleneck of p55 usb 3.0 boards, I then went read a bit more about it and found out I will have to pay more to get the board with:

routing add-on components through PCIe switching logic or by physically wiring these controllers to PCI Express 2.0 lanes

which would cost more to an extent that it is only 71 pounds (around 90 US dollars in electronic exchange rate) cheaper than a i7 920 x58 based machine with tri channel boards/mem in place.

i5 750 system:

CPU: i5 750
mobo:Asus P7P55D-E pro P55
GPU: HD 5870
RAM: G-Skill Ripjaw 4GB DDR3 1600MHz CL7(7-8-7-24) 1.65V
PSU: Antec TruePower New Modular 650W Power Supply
HDD: Samsung F3 or Seagate 7200.12 x2 for RAID0

Total: 935 Pounds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i7 920 system:

CPI: i7 920
mobo:Giga X58A UD3R
GPU: HD 5870
RAM: Corsair XMS3 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Tri-Channel
PSU: Antec TruePower New Modular 650W Power Supply
HDD: Samsung F3 or Seagate 7200.12 x2 for RAID0

Total: 1006 Pounds

Difference: 71 Pounds

It is still worth it to go cost effective and go i5?
Or rather spend 71(90US) more for the mighty i7 tri system?

 

[Userremoved]

system 1:
No Sata 6gb or USB3 from the details you gave, I think you could a got a single 5850 to save a PCIe lane also you could have got a 7200.1RPM HDD or one of the Samsung F3 HDDs and you that power supply could be from a bad brand since you did not indicate what brand it's from so I give it a 8/10.
system 2:
Again I think you could have used one 5850 and used one of the HDDs I wrote about on the first system but this one as USB3 and SATA 3 but same thing with the power supply so 8.5/10
system 3:
I like the UD3R (USB3, SATA 3), the 5870 and GTX 470 (I think the 5870 is still a better value but the 470 is great) and the i7 930 but it still dont know what brand is that case from or that power supply plus for the GTX 470 I would at least buy a Corsair TX 750 and I still think the HDDs I suggested are better so 9/10

 

[mosox]

system 2 - 5850+5870 ~ $1000.

 

[Niklas_13]

System 3

 

[6parkgeek]

system 1:
No Sata 6gb or USB3 from the details you gave, I think you could a got a single 5850 to save a PCIe lane also you could have got a 7200.1RPM HDD or one of the Samsung F3 HDDs and you that power supply could be from a bad brand since you did not indicate what brand it's from so I give it a 8/10.
system 2:
Again I think you could have used one 5850 and used one of the HDDs I wrote about on the first system but this one as USB3 and SATA 3 but same thing with the power supply so 8.5/10
system 3:
I like the UD3R (USB3, SATA 3), the 5870 and GTX 470 (I think the 5870 is still a better value but the 470 is great) and the i7 930 but it still dont know what brand is that case from or that power supply plus for the GTX 470 I would at least buy a Corsair TX 750 and I still think the HDDs I suggested are better so 9/10

thanks dude, i added the detailed names and brand of each component, hope these would make it easier for you to point out the down side of those systems.

 

[Userremoved]

OH! Nice PSUs I boost the grades on those builds by 0.5. System 3 his the best if you ask me.

 

[Userremoved]

So here are the updates: Sytem 1:
Nice build HDD could be better so 910

System 2:
Great build again the HDD could be better also I think the ASrock 880 is better because it has support for 8X/8X Xfire so 8.5/10

System 3:
NICE! That thing will keep you going for a few years also like Seasonic 650 GOLD so 9.5

 

[mosox]

system 2 - 5770x2 +5870.

 

[asteldian]

I am confused as to why the more expensive i7 rig got the 5870 treatment while the other two didn't.

System 3 is not worth it. The extra performance you get is from the better GPU not from the CPU. Stick it into the other systems and they will perform amazingly.

My personal preference would be system 1 with the 5870 but that is because I am an Intel fan. For price/performance number 2 with 5870 would likely be best.

System 3 is not worth the money for the performance i7 gives over i5 750

 

[mosox]

I'm partial to 2 only because of the upgrade path. i5 is a great CPU, too bad Intel changes the sockets like socks.

 

[asteldian]

Yes the upgrade path makes system 2 tempting, on the other hand you likely are not changing the system for 3 years or so. Surely AMD will have a new socket by then...but then again maybe not

 

[Userremoved]

I feel like system 3 will keep you going and going and going for years.

 

[a4mula]

From a straight gaming viewpoint the i5-750 is the way to go.

I would take a single 5850 over dual 5770s however. While they benchmark similarly the dual 5770s depend on crossfire which isn't supported in many games. The 5850 also gives the option to upgrade later by adding a 2nd.

The WD drives are dated. They depend on 320gb platters vs the newer, faster and more efficient 500gb platters offered by the Samsung F3 and Seagate 7200.12.

 

[6parkgeek]

Lot of thanks guy for all helpful advices, my heart was going for the i7 system with tri-channel obsession for unknown reason, after reading your advices, wouldn't i5 750 CPU bottle neck a 5870 GPU? (Or perform badly where intense physical simulations needed as there is no PhysX with ATI).
I would be using a 24' monitor on 1920x1020 resolutions, would a 5870 be an overkill to play today's most GPU taxing game on all max?
If i5 750 doesn't bottle neck the GPU; and 5870 is not an overkill. I guess I will order the i5 system with 5870 in place of the dual 5770.
Lastly, the Motherboard, I heard that low-end Asus products is crap quality wise. if i was to get the i5 system, instead of P55D-E I should rather get P7P55D-E PRO or Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4 for more durability?
Thanks

PS, yeah, alot of down rate on those HDDs, I was looking to RAID0 two HDDs together, shouldn't i use <1TB for RAID0s? or have I miss-understood RAID0?

 

[Userremoved]

No the i5 750 is well suited for a 5870. Nah the 5870 is good for you.

 

[6parkgeek]

From a straight gaming viewpoint the i5-750 is the way to go.

I would take a single 5850 over dual 5770s however. While they benchmark similarly the dual 5770s depend on crossfire which isn't supported in many games. The 5850 also gives the option to upgrade later by adding a 2nd.

The WD drives are dated. They depend on 320gb platters vs the newer, faster and more efficient 500gb platters offered by the Samsung F3 and Seagate 7200.12.

a4mula as of 8th june, both Samsung F3 and Seagate 7200.12 doesn't come with the new SATA III 6GB/s interface where as WD does. would having SATA III make up or better the platter disadvantage?

 

[Userremoved]

As far as I know I dont think anything use 6Gbs transfer.

 

[asteldian]

Get the Asus P7P55D-E PRO, it is the best of the bunch. Unlike Gigabyte it does not lose it's 6gb/s and USB 3 function when 2 GPU cards are installed.

As for HDD, my understanding is atm 6gb/s is pretty pointless as nothing really makes use of it (even those new HDDs designed for it) and that the Spinpoint is still the better option. Getting a mobo that uses the new 6gb/s and USB3 is more for using a bit in the future when hardware catches up

 

[Userremoved]

Get the Asus P7P55D-E PRO, it is the best of the bunch. Unlike Gigabyte it does not lose it's 6gb/s and USB 3 function when 2 GPU cards are installed.

As for HDD, my understanding is atm 6gb/s is pretty pointless as nothing really makes use of it (even those new HDDs designed for it) and that the Spinpoint is still the better option. Getting a mobo that uses the new 6gb/s and USB3 is more for using a bit in the future when hardware catches up

Yes that motherboard is one of the best 1156 motherboard.

 

[6parkgeek]

Get the Asus P7P55D-E PRO, it is the best of the bunch. Unlike Gigabyte it does not lose it's 6gb/s and USB 3 function when 2 GPU cards are installed.

As for HDD, my understanding is atm 6gb/s is pretty pointless as nothing really makes use of it (even those new HDDs designed for it) and that the Spinpoint is still the better option. Getting a mobo that uses the new 6gb/s and USB3 is more for using a bit in the future when hardware catches up

I will have to pay more to get the board with:

routing add-on components through PCIe switching logic or by physically wiring these controllers to PCI Express 2.0 lanes

Asus P7P55D-E pro P55 you suggested or otherbrands with similar priced boards.
which would cost more, to an extent that it is only 71 pounds (around 90 US dollars in electronic exchange rate) cheaper than a i7 920 x58 based machine with tri channel boards/mem in place.

i5 750 system:

CPU: i5 750
mobo:Asus P7P55D-E pro P55
GPU: HD 5870
RAM: G-Skill Ripjaw 4GB DDR3 1600MHz CL7(7-8-7-24) 1.65V
PSU: Antec TruePower New Modular 650W Power Supply
HDD: Samsung F3 or Seagate 7200.12 x2 for RAID0

Total: 935 Pounds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i7 920 system:

CPI: i7 920
mobo:Giga X58A UD3R
GPU: HD 5870
RAM: Corsair XMS3 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Tri-Channel
PSU: Antec TruePower New Modular 650W Power Supply
HDD: Samsung F3 or Seagate 7200.12 x2 for RAID0

Total: 1006 Pounds

Difference: 71 Pounds

It is still worth it to go cost effective and go i5?
Or rather spend 71(90US) more for the mighty i7 tri system?

 

[a4mula]

For a gaming rig, the answer is no. You'll see absolutely no difference for your 71 pounds.

For general purpose computing the Hyper Threading can come in handy. You'll extract/compress files faster, you'll run certain apps like CS4 and Photoshop faster. The triple channel memory has never to my knowledge shown any advantage over a dual channel setup.

I went with a i7-860 personally. In hindsight I really don't think I got anything from it that I wouldn't have gotten from the i5-750.

The 920 is in a little different boat because of X58 and the ability to support hexacore and 40 pcie lanes vs 16. That said, today's gpus in crossfire/sli show very little loss on x8/x8 (2-3pct according to most benchmarks for the 5870).

P55 vs X58 is a very heated discussion and there are advocates for both sides. At the end of the day make the choice that you're going to feel best about.