Going i7

[GreyFox37]

Hey guys, long time no see.

My Q9550 has been awesome to me, but I am passing the flame down to my roomie so he can play games with me. I'm going i7 and I'm excited.

I have decided on the i7 2700 Sandy Bridge which looks awesome and I have 8 gigs of PC3 12800 RAM picked out as well for it, and a 24X DVD-RW (not interested in Blu-Ray). I am carrying over a 1000W Bronze 80 modular PSU from Kingwin, a SoundBlaster XFi Xtreme Gamer sound card, and a 640 gig internal WD Caviar HD and an external 1TB seagate HD. I also have Logitech Z5500 speakers, a 24" ASUS 2ms monitor brand new. I have the ANTEC 1200 tower so plenty of room. Last but not least, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. I'm set on all of that.

My roomie is gonna get my P5Q Pro Mobo, my 8 gigs of 6400 RAM, 5870 Radeon 2GB and my 20X DVD-RW. I've got him covered for a PSU, HD, and he can use my on board audio, all set there.

My question now comes to three specific and obvious decisions. Keep in mind, I have money to burn for a 1000-1500 budget, I am aware my Q9550 is still awesome (again, handing it down as a gift, have had it for 4 years now), and if anything I am bringing over is unnecessary, let me know (sound card probably). Here we go:

1. I heard the P67 is a good mobo for Sandy Bridge. Should I go that route on the bridge or are there other suggestions? This is a business/gaming PC.

2. The timeless classic war of AMD or nVidia now is asked again. I have used AMD/ATI for 5 years now. nVidia has dramatically skyrocketed I see, but is it worth it to go over for the extra bucks or should I stick with ATI? Which cards would you recommend for both sides 7000 vs 600. This is vitally important to me.

3: Any custom CPU coolers to recommend? I've actually never used one before on a personal machine, only on many I've built for people and there are so many, I can't decide!

Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks and I'll check at work to see updates tomorrow.

 

[lemlo]

I would suggest waiting just about 3 weeks before ordering your 2700k as ivy bridge is slated for April 29th on the same socket platform 1155. I do recommend z68 over the p67 as their bios are better supported if you wish to oc. The z77 should be out in better quantity at any moment and is also 1155.

http://www.techspot.com/news/48072-report-intel-ivy-bridge-launch-set-for-april-29-amd-trinity-on-may-15.html

For high end graphics, it depends really what your willing to pay.

For cooling, Lots of people swear by the h80 or h100. Although it's huge I still adore my Noctua NHD-14 as it has been compared as the standard in high end air cooling for a couple years strong now. It's huge, but it's almost silent and cools as well as cheaper closed loop coolers.

 

[serialkiller]

Hey op

For gaming even an i5 is enough and i7 is bad as ht reduces frames per seconds.

Why not wait for ive bridge.

For the ive bridge build

intel i5 2500k equivalent ive bridge.
Cooler master hyper 212 evo
asrock z77 extreme3
corsair vengence 2x4 gb 1600mhz low profile ram
Evga gtx 680 2gb or sapphire hd 7970 3gb
pc power and cooling silencer mkii 950 w 80+ silver
crucial m4 128 gb
wd carvier blue 500gb
corsair carbide 500 white
windows 7 hp

 

[KNO3]

Why does everybody jump all over anybody that wants an i7? He didn't ask if he should get an i5 or i7. He already made his decision. He asked about motherboards, video cards, and cooling solutions.

Init don't get a i7, they're just have some extra feature for movie editting or something. Not worth the extra £100, buy an i5 2550k or wait for these new ones people have just said.

And they don't just have some extra feature for movie editing or something. They have hyper threading which allows them to process twice the number of threads over i5's. This thread wasn't created to discuss the number of threads utilized in games.

 

[lupinesithlord]

get what you want, but as far as mb, dont bother with the p67, i'd go with the z68 its a blending of the p67 and the H series for the best features of both...
as far as the War of flames, my camp is firmly in the Nvidia camp. ATI/AMD have always run a little (sometimes alot) hotter than the Nvidia cards. Also Nvidias driver support tends to be a bit better. if 500ish on a video card is your thing then go with the 680, if not I like the 560 ti its a good performance to price ratio. do yourself a favor and get a ssd for boot, it makes a world of difference.. as far as coolers go for air I use the coolermaster hyper 212, it cools as efficiently as the expensive units and does it at between 20-30 bucks.

 

[lemlo]

Yeah, nothing wrong with getting an i7 if that's what he wants I agree. Especially since he is doing work with it as well.

I would still wait just a wee bit and see what Ivy has to offer in that line.

Also looking at your budget again I say go all out and get a flagship gpu. You can't go wrong either amd or nividia. Though the 680's are a tiny bit cheaper and more efficient. When they come back into stock that is.

 

[KNO3]

If you're going for a flashship card I would wait. This is a terrible time to buy one. You can choose the better value and performance and get a 680... except they aren't available right now. Or you can overpay to get a 7970. After the 680 is available the 7970's price should drop and it should be even ground, but right now you're getting shafted.

i7s benefit people on an incredibly small amount of games with that.

Irrelevant. OP made the decision to buy an i7.

 

[dish_moose]

Sindacco - we do not talk to people in here like that - grow up and treat people with respect. To the OP 2700k does look awesome but the 2500k or if you do need hyperthreading, 2600k are much better value wise. If you can't wait go with a z68 mobo ASRock or Asus or wait for z77. I think I would go with a GTX680 and you won't need any more than a quality 750W PSU for SLI - yours will do TriSLI.
-Bruce

 

[serialkiller]

To whom are you saying and why

 

[morgoth780]

yes, the i5 is probably the better choice, but does that mean he can't get an i7?
he could just as easily ignore everything we say and a sandy bridge-e i7 with a low-end graphics

i'd recommend an i5 over the i7 2700k, but they'll both do great in games, so if you want the i7, get the i7.

 

[po1nted]

Mr. Sindacco has voiced an opinion that wasn't asked for and was completely rude and out of place. While I do not think this individual's method of communication is appropriate, he isn't necessarily wrong. However, his input did nothing to resolve the original OP's concerns.

Personally, I went with an i7 and am thrilled that I did. I can crunch video and play a game at the same time. I can tab out, start encoding audio and then tab back in to play a game in the foreground without experiencing any perceivable degradation of my entertainment experience. I can launch a virtual SQL server and have it crunch some stored procedures and still be perfectly happy in game while it runs in the background.

So yes, the i7 is a perfect solution for some people. How I work would often bring an i5 to it's knees. It would be whining much like Mr. Sindacco when his high school peers caught him in the parking lot after school. Learn some manners, Mr. Sindacco. Play nice.

OP:

That said, I would lean towards the 680 Nvidia platform and Noctua for your two concern areas (video and cooler). This is entirely personal opinion based on my hands on experience with the i7 platform. I now that I am thrilled with my build.

Sounds like you are planning a good machine, enjoy!

 

[po1nted]

they're just have some extra feature for movie editting or something. Not worth the extra £100

This post proved that you have no understanding of the benefits of either CPU and are in no position to provide advice. You put yourself in the hotseat here, not so-called trolls, sir.

If the OP is a computer science major or something similar that might see the machine being used for multi-tasking or creating virtual labs then the i7 may be the wiser choice. Perhaps that is why he had already settled on the i7 and is only looking for advice regarding other components. If this is the cae, he would have been seriously misled by your incorrect information. Misinformation is sometimes worse than no information at all.

 

[azeem40]

This forums does every effort to guide the people who ask for advice on the right path. Sure how he said it could have changed, but overall, he is right. Unless you are doing heavy video editing and 3D rendering, an i7 is a complete waste of $. Use the $ saved on an SSD.

 

[azeem40]

If you're going for a flashship card I would wait. This is a terrible time to buy one. You can choose the better value and performance and get a 680... except they aren't available right now. Or you can overpay to get a 7970. After the 680 is available the 7970's price should drop and it should be even ground, but right now you're getting shafted.



Irrelevant. OP made the decision to buy an i7.

You're an advise giver, correct? And advice givers are supposed to guide the OP to make the correct choice, right? If so, why even mention what decision they made? Your job is to give him correct advise, not lead him into thinking the i7 is a good choice.

 

[po1nted]

This forums does every effort to guide the people who ask for advice on the right path. Sure how he said it could have changed, but overall, he is right. Unless you are doing heavy video editing and 3D rendering, an i7 is a complete waste of $. Use the $ saved on an SSD.

Or doing anything with virtualization. Which he points out an i5 would be good for, he is incorrect.

 

[po1nted]

no just because he dont need it

How do you KNOW this? Have you gotten a list of his user requirements and done a CBA against his needs, future investment, etc?

The major differences between the i7 and i5 platforms, Core i7 provides:

- higher clock speed
- larger cache
- supports virtualization technologies including direct i/o
- allows for hyperthreading (theoretical 8 cores instead of 4)

That does not equate to "they're just have some extra feature for movie editting or something". So if you are going to use your machine for more than gaming there may be very appropriate reasons to spend the money on the i7.

You don't need it. Perhaps he could benefit from it. I guess you hit a nerve. The kind of uneducated short and nasty post dictating to someone what they do or do not need. Same to azeem40. The data was not inserted into the original post allowing anyone to make an educated decision either way. Yet pointed direction was given.

Yes, we are here to guide. Perhaps laying out the differences between the processors would allow the OP to make a decision, providing informative options (also educating them in the process) is a much better way to do this than "you dont need that it is stupid" type of tactic. So, instead perhaps ask: "If you would not benefit from the following X, Y, Z, then you may be better of saving some money and getting an i5. Would that be a better decision?"

 

[GreyFox37]

I'm sold on Ivy Bridge. I will hold out for that. Love the specs. Thanks for the cooler advice, lupinesithlord, I like saving money and cooling well, ha ha ha. This is something I'm planning for the summer, got some car repairs to handle. I'm actually a CIS major and a Network Admin for a digital company. I saw my Dad's i7 on his laptop and loved how it handled tasks such as photoshop, movies, gaming, multi-tasking, etc. and I was completely drooling.

Mobo, I'll see what they have. I usually go ASUS or Gigabyte. I heard of a company called ASROCK. Are they any good? I usually have good luck with testing new companies, HIS for my old 4870 rocked and ADATA for cheap gaming RAM didn't let me down either, but I am going back to Corsair for this new build.

The video card is still a hard choice. I haven't had many issues with the drivers for AMD. The major issue I had was with their 4870x2, I had a cooling issue that nothing I did resolved it. My 5870 was a replacement and it did far greater and still does great so my roomie is set. I mostly play TOR, Battlefield 3, COD, Diablo 3 upcoming, and Skyrim. So I do shooters mainly. Do I stick with what I have used regularly or do I go back to nVidia (last card I used was the 7800GTX), that is my dilema now heh

Thanks for everyone's input and if anyone has any other ideas video card wise, please speak!

 

[GreyFox37]

I'm on the last leg of the adventure. I have bought a secondary HD 2TB WD Caviar Black, 16GB of DDR3 Corsair Vengeance RAM, and I just got my ASUS Sabertooth mobo today. I'm getting the Ivy Bridge 3770K next paycheck and an AMD 7970 from Diamond. I think the Nautea cooler they have for 90 on NewEgg looks really good, but I heard it covers some RAM slots but that can be resolved by unscrewing the head spread headers. I still have my 640GB Caviar Green left over and my Roswill 1000W Bronze Modular PSU with my Antec 1200 case and a 24x DVD drive so I am set on the rest of that. Can't wait to build this puppy