The right Cpu/Mobo for this GPU

nish-ka-bibble

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Jul 2, 2010
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Hey everyone,

I am stuck deciding on the right Cpu/Mobo for the GPU I finally selected, which is this HIS HD 5850, which I plan to crossfire so I can use Eyefinity, but I can only afford one right now. I was also considering this HIS HD 5830 as well and Crossfire that later.

Wish I can afford the HD 5970, but I can't right now.

Also, do you need to have one or two of these GPU's to run Eyefinity on three monitors.
Right now, my single monitor is 1680 x 1050, but I will hopefully move up in a few months.

Well, I am stuck deciding which CPU / Mobo combination to go with.

Either the i7-930 with either the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R or the ASUS P6X58D-E, both of which are expensive boards that use expensive RAM, like this Gskill set. Right now I am considering this CPU.

Or I can go with an i5-750 with a ASUS P7P55D-E, although the feedback on Newegg bothers me. Any other suggestions on mobo's with the i5-750?

With that, I guess I can either get the Ripjaws here this Gskill set or the Eco set here unless someone can recommend something better.

I thought about AMD, just to get the price down further to save some cash, but had no idea which one to get with a mobo to handle the current GPU with a crossfire in the near future. I've been reading about "bottlenecking" with the GPU. Can anyone verify this? Is it better to have a more powerful CPU to avoid this (like the i7-930)?

Any feedback or suggestions is welcome.

Thanks again everyone!
 
The first link to a 5850 is to a 5870.

i5-750 should be all you need to drive those video cards.

You should check up on coming Intel price cuts and new models.
http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?showtopic=35930
Last I heard, you can buy a i7-930 for $199 at microcenter, walk in only. That is a great deal.

On ram, just get enough. Don't pay much extra for faster speeds or lower latencies. It does not show up in better performance or FPS.

Asus, Gigabyte, and EVGA are usually good. New motherboards often have some issues when new, and a bios update will fix them. If a motherboard has been out a while, you should be OK.
 

nish-ka-bibble

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Hey, thanks for pointing out the bad link...just fixed it :D
That's exactly where I was going to get the i7-930! Microcenter rocks on those prices, don't they?

Still if I get the i7, I have to spend more on RAM, don't I? I have to get DDR3, correct?
 

jesman1985

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get a asus 785g evo motherboard and a phenom x4 955 cpu .. that way you can add another card in the future if you want.. also both gpu slots are @ full 16 so youll be getting to use all of both cards.. intels kool.. ehh :/ but it makes sense to go ahead and go amd since you have an ati card..
 

nish-ka-bibble

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which ASUS board? There are 3 of them. The feedback is kinda iffy on them, but I am entertaining the idea of going to AMD, but not sure because of the good deal on the Intel i7-930.

Either way, it really seems like you are taking a 50/50 chance with most of these boards, right? :D
 


Anything you buy today will use DDR3 ram. Fortunately ram prices have come down.

No, you do not NEED to spend more on ram for a X58 motherboard. They will happily run on two sticks in dual channel mode, just like the i5-750 will. My Motherboard manual for the Asus P6T says so. But, I think 6gb is the current sweet spot for ram, and I would recommend a 6gb kit. You could save some with a 3gb kit in triple channel mode, but I think 4gb or better is best, particularly on a high end system.

Just check the ram QVL list for your prospective motherboard first. Alternatively, use the ram vendor's configurator and they will tell you what ram kits will work properly with your motherboard.