Upgrading to i7

cian1500ww

Sorry about creating yet another one of these threads

I'm looking at upgrading my current quad core setup to an i7 system. I'll be using my PC for gaming and editing HD video with Adobe CS4 (hence the reason for i7). I was looking at the following parts:

Asus P6T-Deluxe V2
Crucial DDR3 Ballistx 6GB 1600Mhz
Core i7 920

Would that setup be ok ??

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

Yup looks fine, but i would reccomend:

I7-860
P55/P55a motherboard
4/8gigs 1600mhz ddr3

Wonda-Boy

TBH, I am in the same boat and looking to upgrade but you will not see a huge improvment accross the board. Depending on your current setup of course, as you will see from my specs at the end of my post it would not be benefical to upgrade and get a few FPS increase in games and it would cost alot.

You would however see a big increase in encoding etc so its up to you, Also the new i7 930 is just about here, its a better overclocker on stock volts and is the same price (TBC) as the 920 its replacing so I would wait for that. And TBH the triple channel memory i7 setup is better for gaming then the dual channel memory i5 setups.....especially with a high end GPU. But again it depends on your Budget.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/03/01/intel-core-i7-930-cpu-review/1

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

From owning a X58/920/6gig setup before my 860/P55/8gig setup now i can certainly tell you the 860 out performs the 920 in everything from gaming, to video editing/encoding and everything in between. We currently have the 930 in stock, and its barely any faster then the 920, its pretty much the same chip with a 200mhz speed increase.

cian1500ww

So should I go with an 860 then ??

lmimmfn

i have an i7, so im probably biased but i try to be neutral. Based on your intentions on usage do you think you would ever need/get a 6 core? in which case i would say definately go for an i7 920/920( whichever is cheaper ), also if you plan on SLI'ing/Crossfiring 2 recent/semi high end gfx cards then definately go 920/930

I have a gut feeling that the 1366 will outlast the 1156 socket when sandy bridge is released( socket 1155 unconfirmed if it works on current 1156 or not ), thats my opinion though.

If you want a high performing cpu that will do extremely well for the next 2-3 years then go for the 860, but do check out the cost of comparable rigs

cian1500ww

I think I'll go with the 930, it's the latest chip and the board should be future proof for the next i9 processors.

Anti

Bad move dude. Should have gone with the 860! 1366 will be dead long before 1156 But dont take my word, i only work in the industry

Deano12345

Anti wrote: »

Bad move dude. Should have gone with the 860! 1366 will be dead long before 1156 But dont take my word, i only work in the industry

I lol'd

Damn Anti,4.2 GHZ ?

*Looks at stock Q9550.Starts to cry*

@ OP : Bad move on the 930,not worth it if your not overclocking (In comparison to the 920).And chances are 1156 will have 6 core processors too,in good time

Carne

It all depends on your budget really, if you can afford the 920 or 930, then I'd go for either, Otherwise the 860 will save you a little bit and offer a similar level of performance but if you intend to use USB3.0 your bandwidth would be limited on all LGA1156 chipsets opposed to X58.

lmimmfn

Anti wrote: »

Bad move dude. Should have gone with the 860! 1366 will be dead long before 1156 But dont take my word, i only work in the industry

well if you're working in the industry why are you bottlenecking your cards? :P

cian1500ww

I haven't purchased anything yet, what makes you think that the 1156 socket will outlast the 1366 ?? The Core i9 is suppossed to be 6 cores and socket 1366 as well afaik.

Deano12345

Carne wrote: »

It all depends on your budget really, if you can afford the 920 or 930, then I'd go for either, Otherwise the 860 will save you a little bit and offer a similar level of performance but if you intend to use USB3.0 your bandwidth would be limited on all LGA1156 chipsets opposed to X58.

Wut ?

Also,If you haven't purchased anything yet.To be honest,the i7 980X(The 6 core processor) is over €1000 so it will be a while before you can buy one thats affordable,and 1156 will get them as well.1366 will have them first,but they will bring out 6 core models for the regular market.

If your feeling the itch for something with more than 4 cores,get a Tyan server board and 2 quad core AMD Opetrons,that would work out cheaper I'd say (than an i7 980X)

cian1500ww

Deano12345 wrote: »

Wut ?

Also,If you haven't purchased anything yet.To be honest,the i7 980X(The 6 core processor) is over €1000 so it will be a while before you can buy one thats affordable,and 1156 will get them as well.1366 will have them first,but they will bring out 6 core models for the regular market.

If your feeling the itch for something with more than 4 cores,get a Tyan server board and 2 quad core AMD Opetrons,that would work out cheaper I'd say (than an i7 980X)

It's not more cores that I'm looking for, just something that will be compatible with the newer processors like the i9 when they come out.

Deano12345

cian1500ww wrote: »

It's not more cores that I'm looking for, just something that will be compatible with the newer processors like the i9 when they come out.

i9 is out already

Costs just over €1000 IIRC

BadCharlie

When did the 1156 socket come out?

I have my I7 for 14months now. I think the I7 is only been around 16 to 17months so i got my system very soon they hit our shops.

If like what Anti says about the 1156 will be around for longer then (1366) i would also go down the 1156 upgrade path. Also looking at the 860 chip it does look very good, and it also use's less power then 920/930 and is faster.

swirlser

Well I have both the 860 and the 920 and they are both very capable chips. S1336 was '08 right? S1156 was '09, even without any great insight in what lies ahead, it stands to reason S1156 will be around for awhile yet. (As far as i9 goes, you do realise it will be very much focused on the top tier of the market - ie not cheap)

Out of the box the 860 is a nicer chip, if that helps.

cherryghost

+1 on the 860