Any opinions on these parts I plan to put into my system

[mikeny]

Every few years I like to switch out some parts so after I built my i7 system (920), I've got the urge again. I was thinking of changing the motherboard, RAM, and maybe the video card.

I was thinking of getting this motherboard. Can't go wrong with either?


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131666

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614



Are the onboard sound in these motherboard powerful enough to skip a sound card or leave it out?

RAM, i will probably go with 12GB from Corsair (I will read the MB of the one I choose and see which it recommends....I learned a lesson lol).

Video cards: Right now I have a 4870 Saphire card. I was thinking of ungrading; getting one, or upgrading and going SLI or Crossfire.

I might change heatsink also...it's sooooooo freaken huge!

Is SATA 6GBS a big difference or just too pricey? I have a velociraptor SATA II and Caviar Black SATA II presently in my system.

 

[g048989h]

Either MB, I prefer Asus
On board should be fine
DX11 would be nice, so vote for new card, 460 or 570?
And from what I have read the SATA 3 isn't currently faster than the 2 but, I have a WD sata 3 black that I got for not much more than the same drive in the sata 2 version. However your Raptor is faster than either. What about an SSD?

 

[g048989h]

Does your 920 work in those MB sockets?? I know Intel has a lot of sockets and AMD has just one really. I'm an AMD guy

 

[aznshinobi]

Pointless motherboard, it's stupid. Expensive for things a 200$ MB could do. Here is a suggestion: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665&cm_re=sabertooth_x58-_-13-131-665-_-Product

Has USB 3 and SATA 6, yes any 1366 socket board supports the 920. Just remember to update your BIOS. As for upgrading your HDD, useless. Just keep your drives.

The VGA wait one month (specifically this month) Since Cayman is coming out you should get the performance of CF 4870's and then some with the new cards coming out this month. Also if your planning to change a mobo for a 300$ mobo... Then I suggest you put it towards saving for sandy bridge.

BTW: SATA 6 vs SATA 3, barely a difference.
PS: Any mobo's onboard sound is good enough to not a get a sound card. People who get sound cards should usually be people who have too much money to waste or actually have a 5.1 sound system. Even then most mobo audio works.

SB: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871/the-sandy-bridge-preview-three-wins-in-a-row

 

[mikeny]

Does your 920 work in those MB sockets?? I know Intel has a lot of sockets and AMD has just one really. I'm an AMD guy

yes, it's a i7 motherboard (both).

 

[mikeny]

Either MB, I prefer Asus
On board should be fine
DX11 would be nice, so vote for new card, 460 or 570?
And from what I have read the SATA 3 isn't currently faster than the 2 but, I have a WD sata 3 black that I got for not much more than the same drive in the sata 2 version. However your Raptor is faster than either. What about an SSD?

Thanks for the response. I have my raptor using Vista and all drivers as well as MMORPG's. My other games are on the Caviar Black.

 

[mikeny]

Pointless motherboard, it's stupid. Expensive for things a 200$ MB could do. Here is a suggestion: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665&cm_re=sabertooth_x58-_-13-131-665-_-Product

Has USB 3 and SATA 6, yes any 1366 socket board supports the 920. Just remember to update your BIOS. As for upgrading your HDD, useless. Just keep your drives.

The VGA wait one month (specifically this month) Since Cayman is coming out you should get the performance of CF 4870's and then some with the new cards coming out this month. Also if your planning to change a mobo for a 300$ mobo... Then I suggest you put it towards saving for sandy bridge.

BTW: SATA 6 vs SATA 3, barely a difference.
PS: Any mobo's onboard sound is good enough to not a get a sound card. People who get sound cards should usually be people who have too much money to waste or actually have a 5.1 sound system. Even then most mobo audio works.

SB: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871/the-sandy-bridge-preview-three-wins-in-a-row

I read the sandy bridge. Something better than i7? Figures. I don't know if I will go there. Im happy with my present Quadcore i7. I was thinking of that motherboard because it seems like a good overclocker and many reviewers love it. OCing seems easy with it, but Im not sure I will do it. I definately want to keep below $300 on MB and put most in video card. Cayman?

 

[aznshinobi]

The Sabertooth is perfect then, it'll future proof you and OC very well. Most people can't get past 4.2ghz with only air any ways on an i7. The Cayman is supposed to be priced at 500$ and 350$. The 6970 (basically competing with the 580) at 500$ and 6950 (Should be competing with the 480) at 350$. That'll be interesting to see since we should see lower temps and better performance.

 

[ComputerNovice]

Honestly I would seriously consider purchasing a ASrock motherboard, on newegg they have this ASrock board for roughly 40-60 dollars cheaper than both boards you listed and they basically have either the same if not more features/options vs. the ASUS boards you listed. Obviously I understand ASUS is a great name though and I'd be willing to say I think most everything ASUS makes is always going to be at least decent.

However though from my personal experience in the 12-16 months or so, I have had great experiences building systems using ASrock motherboards. I've built a total of 6 systems within the last 12-16 months and I used ASrock boards in every single build I did. When I built my i7 920 system I was very weary about going with ASrock for my motherboard, but I ended up going with the ASrock extreme (original extreme), every single review I read said only good things. Basically the only complaint was that the board seemed to run a little higher than most boards but basically every review stated that as long as you had a case with good air flow you pretty much wouldn't ever run into any issues with that.

Two of the other builds I built where basically carbon copy's of each other minus the OS drives I used on the two of them both of them where using the Intel core i5 750 as the CPU and I ended up using the ASrock PRO board for those build's. Once again I had no issues what so ever and the computers ran great. One of the other systems I build used the AMD athlon 635 quad-core CPU. Once again I had no issues with the ASrock board I ended up using for the build.

Basically though long story short ( lol considering how much I've already typed ) The ASrock Extreme 6 is only about 220.00USD and it has more USB 3.0 ports on the board along with the same amount of other features and it also more 6Gbps Sata connections than the other boards you listed have. The only thing it appears to lag behind one of the boards is the fact it only has one on-board Ethernet port, which only one of the boards you mentioned has that anyways.

Here's a link to the board I'm making reference to

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157213

Currently though as I see someone else has already mentioned 6Gbps sata connections currently don't really appear to be any faster than 3Gbps connections are. Although you may or may not want to keep in mind that this most likely will not always be the case. Because even though currently there aren't many companies that are able to find any extra benefit with the extra bandwidth you can get from the 6Gbps Sata vs. 3Gbps sata. I'm willing to confidently state that at sometime within the next 12 months, you will start to see benchmarks popping up that show that companies are starting to actually make hard-drives that take advantage of the extra bandwidth. Cosair has actually had a couple SSD's that have been on the market that already take advantage of the extra speed you can get when you start using the 6Gpbs connections vs the 3Gpbs although currently 6Gbps SSD's that are out are EXTREMELY buggy so I wouldn't ever recommend one for every day usage scenarios.

 

[ComputerNovice]

I also just noticed you had stated you currently have a mechanical HD still, I would seriously recommend upgrading your OS boot drive before spending money on the other upgrades you have listed. I guarantee you if you go ahead and spend the 200 bucks on a OCZ Vertex 2 SSD you will see more of a difference than if you simply upgraded your motherboard and video card, and trust me because I'm talking from personal experince on this matter.

Here's some articles you really should read from Anandtech.com

the article directly below here is once that is somewhat old but it step by step explains why a SSD clearly makes HUGE performance gains in almost any system.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829


The SSD article I'm listing below talks about the specific SSD I would recommend to purchase because it's hands down more reliable and faster than almost any SSD in its price/performance point.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3681/oczs-vertex-2-special-sauce-sf1200-reviewed


Below here is another article explaining why the memory controller a SSD uses is EXTREMELY important.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3661/understanding-sandforces-sf1200-sf1500-not-all-drives-are-equal

 

[aznshinobi]

^ The Sabertooth is 35$ cheaper, Has all those capabilities and is Asus. Not that brand really matters, but the Sabertooth is just as good, for cheaper.

Also, Vertex 2's are defiantly not worth 200$. That's for sure. I'm not trying to but heads, but I agree the controller is important. Best controller for SSD's is defiantly the Sand-Force controllers, most reliable and consistent. Always performs top notch.

I recommend the S599, only 110$ 64gb. SF controller so from Vertex 2 to this SSD you won't see a huge hit in performance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211485

Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/adata-s599-100gb-ssd-review/11

As you can see, it beats out the Vertex 2, it's all the way at the bottom. Sure it isn't the 64gb vers. But you should see basically the same performance.

 

[ComputerNovice]

I agree your SSD suggestion is a good one. Although I would much rather buy the ASrock but as you're already aware as far as that goes it really comes down to each person's opinion. Although the ASUS board doesn't have as many USB3.0 ports as the slightly higher priced board I suggest although I'm very sure the board you suggested is great as well. It's also lacking any 6Gbps Sata connections so as far as it being up to date it really doesn't seem to be.




Basically I've just had good experiences with ASrock so I like it.

The SSD you have suggested though is clearly just as good as the Vertex 2 I suggested though, if not possibly better in some instances, the only thing you may want to keep in mind is the 200 dollar Vertex 2 I suggest was a 120Gb version if you only bought the 64Gb version of the Vertex 2 I suggested it would be roughly 150-170 USD depending where you buy it. Basically though I'm actually considering buying a ADATA SSD though now that I've read the bench data you posted so for that I thank you.

 

[mikeny]

Thank you for all your opinions. I will read the articles and see what I can come up with. I don't need to break the budget, just doing some quick updating. I know when USB 3.0 first came out, I was amazed at how fast the transfer rate was between it and a 2.0 but is 3.0 necessary? Also, any difference between SATA II (that I have) and 6gbps? Im comparing the ASrock and ASUS boards. I trying to make sure I get a stable board and get the correct ram. I'm probably looking to go back to COrsair.

Im hung up on video card also. I read about NVidia's 5xx series and ATI's 6xxxx series. It seemed like ATI's new cards don't seem appealing to some. Some previewers were disappointed.

 

[mikeny]

Honestly I would seriously consider purchasing a ASrock motherboard, on newegg they have this ASrock board for roughly 40-60 dollars cheaper than both boards you listed and they basically have either the same if not more features/options vs. the ASUS boards you listed. Obviously I understand ASUS is a great name though and I'd be willing to say I think most everything ASUS makes is always going to be at least decent.

However though from my personal experience in the 12-16 months or so, I have had great experiences building systems using ASrock motherboards. I've built a total of 6 systems within the last 12-16 months and I used ASrock boards in every single build I did. When I built my i7 920 system I was very weary about going with ASrock for my motherboard, but I ended up going with the ASrock extreme (original extreme), every single review I read said only good things. Basically the only complaint was that the board seemed to run a little higher than most boards but basically every review stated that as long as you had a case with good air flow you pretty much wouldn't ever run into any issues with that.

Two of the other builds I built where basically carbon copy's of each other minus the OS drives I used on the two of them both of them where using the Intel core i5 750 as the CPU and I ended up using the ASrock PRO board for those build's. Once again I had no issues what so ever and the computers ran great. One of the other systems I build used the AMD athlon 635 quad-core CPU. Once again I had no issues with the ASrock board I ended up using for the build.

Basically though long story short ( lol considering how much I've already typed ) The ASrock Extreme 6 is only about 220.00USD and it has more USB 3.0 ports on the board along with the same amount of other features and it also more 6Gbps Sata connections than the other boards you listed have. The only thing it appears to lag behind one of the boards is the fact it only has one on-board Ethernet port, which only one of the boards you mentioned has that anyways.

Here's a link to the board I'm making reference to

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157213

Currently though as I see someone else has already mentioned 6Gbps sata connections currently don't really appear to be any faster than 3Gbps connections are. Although you may or may not want to keep in mind that this most likely will not always be the case. Because even though currently there aren't many companies that are able to find any extra benefit with the extra bandwidth you can get from the 6Gbps Sata vs. 3Gbps sata. I'm willing to confidently state that at sometime within the next 12 months, you will start to see benchmarks popping up that show that companies are starting to actually make hard-drives that take advantage of the extra bandwidth. Cosair has actually had a couple SSD's that have been on the market that already take advantage of the extra speed you can get when you start using the 6Gpbs connections vs the 3Gpbs although currently 6Gbps SSD's that are out are EXTREMELY buggy so I wouldn't ever recommend one for every day usage scenarios.

I see some motherboards have dual LAN ports and some with one? I just have one ethernet plugged into my desktop. What is dual LAN used for?

 

[aznshinobi]

Dual LAN is for like LAN battles. (Gaming computers all connected to each other to be in like a private server)

 

[mikeny]

Dual LAN is for like LAN battles. (Gaming computers all connected to each other to be in like a private server)

Ah, so, in a home, it's worthless Thanks! I decided to hold off and research more.

 

[aznshinobi]

Alright good luck!

 

[ComputerNovice]

Yep basically in a home it isn't really worth having unless you where going to play LAN based games with friends at your house. Or unless you wanted to set up a home network which had your NAS/Server or whatever on a different subnet/IP range than what your modem that you use to access the internet uses which for home use really wouldn't make any since to do at all.

However one of the other main things that I have used two Ethernet ports for one machine is when I have setup a few systems at my office I work at so that they can connect to our company's domain while still being able to use the other port as the port for them to access the internet because currently are company is in the process from switching over from T1 lines over to Business class cable internet and sadly not everyone on the network has stopped using the T1 lines and since not everyone at all the locations doesn't have a tech person that would know how to go around and change the gateway's IP settings and or Routers IP range and subnet masks the solution I listed above is the only you can set it up to work with each other so it can verify itself with the one network device over the company's domain but is still able to surf the net and download stuff from the other buildings within our company that have actually managed to make the switch.

 

[mikeny]

Got it

Getting a headache lol I was thinking of getting a x58 motherboard now that Sandy Bridge is out and see if prices went down along with a new video card (ATI 6xxx). Then I saw how inexpensive the Sandy Bridge processors/mobos are. What's a good performance/price ratio? mobo for my present cpu (i7-920) and new video card or Sandy Bridge cpu/mobo and video card.

 

[aznshinobi]

I'd go with the SB CPU and mobo + Video card if you can do that. Then sell the 920. However you wouldn't really make much off the 920. At most you'd make 200$. That's really pushing the limit. Probably 140-150$ is how much an i7 920 is worth. But yeah sell your 920 and get an SB+mobo and a 6xxx. I recommend the 6870 if your in the US it's only 240 for an Asus Directcu a very reasonable price at newegg.

 

[ComputerNovice]

Well if you want to overclock and have one of the "unlocked" sandy bridge CPU's then I would recommend you just go ahead and by the Intel Core i72600k. Its only about 325 bucks and it actually beats the i7 980x in quite a few benchmarks. Which is funny since the 980x cost like 1000 dollars.... So basically you only have to pay 300 dollars for a CPU that's equally as fast for 600 bucks less than you would have to pay for a i7 980x.

But for the most part the i7 2500k or i7 2500 is also a very awesome CPU and it only cost about 210 bucks... The Intrel core i7 2500 or 2500k are right behind the 2600 on every benchmark basically.

 

[mikeny]

I'd go with the SB CPU and mobo + Video card if you can do that. Then sell the 920. However you wouldn't really make much off the 920. At most you'd make 200$. That's really pushing the limit. Probably 140-150$ is how much an i7 920 is worth. But yeah sell your 920 and get an SB+mobo and a 6xxx. I recommend the 6870 if your in the US it's only 240 for an Asus Directcu a very reasonable price at newegg.

Thanx guys (Aznshinobi and ComputerNovice! I was looking at those SB chips. I was thinking of the 2600 (havent decided about o/c. I was going to with the 920 but chickened out), with a Asus mobo and 6870. Are the mobos that claim they can o/c on their own, any good or just extra stuff that's not needed. Is it overkill to crossfire the 6870? Do I have to buy new RAM for SB? Is it still triple channel? I was thinking of going back to Corsair anyway. I have GSKILL but I was thinking of selling it and the processor (920) on Amazon. I'm going to put up a list (of parts) to see if you agree later on. Thanks for your advice (both of you).

 

[mikeny]

So here is the minor list:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000343&IsNodeId=1&Description=sandy%20bridge&bop=And&CompareItemList=343%7C19-115-070%5E19-115-070-TS%2C19-115-071%5E19-115-071-TS%2C19-115-072%5E19-115-072-TS


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%20600093976%204802&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280%7C13-131-679%5E13-131-679-TS%2C13-128-463%5E13-128-463-TS%2C13-131-682%5E13-131-682-TS (also looking at the p8p67 WS Revolution and Maximus IV extreme)

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-145-286&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Video: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000048%20600007856&IsNodeId=1&Description=6870&bop=And&CompareItemList=48%7C14-102-909%5E14-102-909-TS%2C14-150-507%5E14-150-507-TS