EggXpert

Sup guys.

Figured I'd ask everyone their opinion on what I should do for my upgrade

Firstly, It's a hobby, so dropping money (what ever I can spare) on this for little gain might be retarded to some but for me it's worth while (what's a hobby without spending the $$$$)

Anyways, I currently have a Q9450 - GA-EP45-UD3P - 4gigs corsair Dominator 1066mhz

And for the last 3-4months I've been haunted by some plague of BSOD in my computer. It's not that stable and I think it's killing more hardware, the higher I overclock the more stable it gets... quite funky right? My first batch of Dominators went bad (both sticks, one doesn't boot, other has mem errors), I bought a new set just recently (Thats $150+ of a waste) and even it got mem errors once, one day it doesn't have it, next day it does....

So instead of me RMAing everything or dropping MORE money into another part that might not fix my issue and just keeping the pc at the same performance level. I've decided to upgrade to a core i7 to rid this issue and upgrade the PC.

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 I'm debating on going Core i7 920 ore Core i7 860 (i5's are out of the picture)

I do run multi GPU

I do overclock a bunch

I am very picky on price vrs performance.

So with that, I'm thinking i7 920 is the better choice, right? But I'm not liking most of the mobo's out there because of the $$$ andjust can't justify $289 for a good x58 mobo. What are your guys experiences with the i7 860 and its overclocking ability on the p55 chipset?

I've seen people stable at 4.2ghz with core i7 920, but haven't seen that much with the 860. I could also stay with single GPU for a good while and upgrade later on, but no telling in this economy about $$$

 

Thoughts and opinions?

You are discounting the i5 750 as a viable choice when actually its the best bang for the buck and performs and oc's amazingly. Look at this article on toms hardware and you may have second thoughts. It gets you in cheaper then going x58 and will perform on par with a 920 as you can see by this article at AnandTech.

So I would reconsider the i5 750 cause its a wolf in sheep's clothing.

I agree with Sparker. Don't discount the i5 750.

The difference between the 1156 and the 1366 board is the 1156 will run 2 video cards at 8X (8X, 8X) while the 1366 will run 2 cards at the full 16X (16X, 16X). Needless to say, both Sparker and I would tell you to go with a Gigabyte motherboard either way. For the 1366, don't fool around and get the "top of the line" UD5. For the 1156 get either of the UD4 boards. They support the 8X SLI / CrossFire. The 1366 supports Triple-Channel memory. The 1156 supports Dual-Channel. Both use DDR3 memory.

My first consideration was the Core i5. But coming from a Q9450 to a i5 just wasn't worth the change. If I'm upgrading, I'd like to actually 'upgrade' a little more for the price that's coming out of my pocket. I'm not doubting the ability of the i5. Bu

If I was going to go 1156 I'd pick up the 860 and of course 1366 = the 920. I just can't figure out which one I should get between the 860 and 920

 I run multi GPU so x16 x16 would be beneficial, but I could save $100 by running the x8 x8 link on an 860

 I know the differences between the chips, but wanting advice on the overclocking potential and 'how much' it matters for the differences between the chips

Is Triple channel and x16 links and support for the i9's worth the $100? Or is saving the $100 for Dual channel and x8 links and maybe the core will be threaded out?

860 will be my choice. Better performance and improved turbo boost performance.

Same here. Triple Channel doesn't really provide much benefit; the higher clock speed would do better. Just go for the Core i7 860.

You may want to read this http://www.techspot.com/review/195-mainstream-quadcore-cpu-performance/

Looking at the link whitelotus posted there is negligible difference between the 750 860 and 920 in the testing that was done. So my feelings are still go with the i5 750 save money.

Also it has been shown that 16x per slot vs 8x per slot makes very little difference in overall gpu performance.

I can't see spending the money for an i7 920 and x58 board and ddr3 triple channel when a i5 750 and dual channel ram performs nearly the same for less money.

Also your 9450 is a decent cpu but the 750 should be better overall.

Personally I can't justify the expense for an 860 or a 920 when you can bump the 750 up in clk speed and out perform both.

Intel core i5 750 vs 860

the main difference is that the 860  sports Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology if you really need this featuer, it is better to fork out more bucks

Intel® Core™ i5-750 Processor (8M Cache, 2.66 GHz)   2.66 GHz/3.2 GHz(Max Turbo Frequency)

Intel® Core™ i7-860 Processor (8M Cache, 2.80 GHz) 2.8 GHz/3.46 GHz(Max Turbo Frequency)

other than that, Intel core i5 750 is the way to go, great bang for bucks,no doubt about it.

I can't forget that I'm also a pretty avid Enthusiast, upgrading when something new comes out. That is also why I was thinking the more expensive route of the 920.

Stock to Stock the 860 is faster (2.8 vs 2.6) but when it comes to a solid overclock and adding in the graphics. I think the 920 will come out on top not biased to a CPU stand point.

x8 link with 2x 4870's vs x16 link isn't very noticable, but I have a feeling x8 vs x16 with 2 x 5870x2's will be... Or even 2x 5870's

Well I have to add that you are extremely closed minded with this issue. We have shown you that the 750 performs on par with the other 2 cpus yet you still want to spend extra money that is not needed.There is 100 bucks or so difference between the 750 and the other 2 cpus.

Well that is your choice and your money and you are entitled to it.

There is little if no performance difference between the 750 and the 920 yet you still want to spend almost 100$  more for the whiz bang factor. Waste of money.

I have to also add that I am an enthusiast as well and I am going to go with the 750 cpu cause its got alot of potential and it's really not much of a performance loss from the other 2 and its 100 bucks cheaper and the mobo are less expensive as well.

As for the video its not going to make any difference really with the 5 series cards going with 8x vs 16x. The bandwidth is not even saturated with the very high end cards.

I don't think I'm close minded. I was going on an enthusiast mindest per PC gains and not just a CPU gain.

Like you stated, it's not much of a difference, but I'm still inclined that triple channel bandwidth and x16 support and future gulftown support 'can' be worth $100 in a system...

Not to mention the overclocking headroom that a 1366 can offer (not saying the others can't do some insane overclocks) but doing it with a 1366 is a breeze. That and Hyperthreading is a plus for the little apps it does support.

That's not being 'close minded;, rather, open minded about a system perspective and not just a CPU in my opinion. If I wanted to save all the money I could, yeah i5 is the way to go for certain, but I'm spending for a little more then just 'saving every penny I can" -  Hmm. at the same time I could get Core i5 and water cooling for an i7 920 budget... That might make me rethink a little.

I basically have enough money to go for an i7 system change that I could spend the 'savings' in other parts of the PC.

Hmm, thanks a lot sparker, now I gotta rethink! haha

 

 

With a budget of $650.00, I have to agree with most here that your best "bang for your buck" is going to be the i5 750 with one of the Gigabyte UD4 motherboards. From what parts you have listed, you can transfer the hard drive, video cards, and power supply. This leaves you needing the case (I would only recommend the Cooler Master HAF 922 Mid-Tower with it's great cooling), CPU (Intel Core i5 750), motherboard (one of the two Gigabyte socket 1156 UD4 boards or higher), memory (4GB of OCZ Platinum with good timings of 7-7-7-24 built for the 1156 boards. You might want to get 8GB instead of 4GB. You never know what the price of memory is going to do.), after market CPU cooler (I haven't seen a kit that gets the Xigmatek Dark Knight to work with the socket 1156 boards yet. So you'll need to find something close.), a storage (D:\) drive (1TB or larger), and an OEM copy of Windows 7. Now if all that doesn't eat your $650.00 budget including the shipping costs, then look at something a little more expensive.

Its not 100$ more to go with 1366. The cpu is 100 more then the 750 and the mobo can be upwards of 120 or more so its like 200 or so more to go with that. 1156 overclocks just as well as the 1366 so that argument is mute. The 750 oc's just as well as the 920 or the 860 so again that argument is mute. HT is really a minuscule benefit so that argument is mute. The only argument you have now is the 16x a slot for gpu's and that to is a minuscule benefit as well.

So I stand by my convictions that the 1156/750 is the best bang for the buck and really the best way to go. We have also shown you that triple channel doesn't give you really any gain over dual channel so that point is mute. The only reason for going i7/920 is if you use the apps that will get the most out of that type of build. For overclocking and gaming and such then the i5/750 is the way to go.

Oh and for water cooling I just got the corsair h50 and will be stuffing it on a 680i with an E8400 cpu and will see how well that cools and how far I can push the 8400.

Even at $200 margin in difference, just the support of future gulftown the x16 lanes, and HT imo can be worth $200. This is a hobby, I don't really play many games, heck I just browse the net 80% of the time. The strongest game I play is TF2 and I'm running Quad core with 2x 4870's 1gb... why the hell would I go to an i5 which isn't much of an upgrade over the current CPU I already have. Granted I could overclock the i5 to perform better then the other i7's, as a chip, but you fail to realize I'm already going to overclock the chip regardless, basically I'm looking for  a 'system' upgrade and not just a CPU. I'm gaining x16 support over my current x8 lane (and yes, I have a difference in performance going that route vs x16), I'm gaining tripple channel DDR3 over dual channel DDR2, I'm gaining future support of Gulftown.... I have $750 or so to spend on 3 parts + selling my old parts too.

 What system would perform the best (system not CPU)

Core i7 920 - 4.0ghz x 16 lanes, HT, Gulftown support, Triple channel memory

Core i5 4.0ghz - Dual Channel, no HT, could be a dead socke,t x8 lanes

Core i7 860 4.0ghz Dual channel, HT, could be a dead socket, x8 lanes

I'm sure there are different features/specs I've missed.

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 Might not be 'much' noticeable performance, but the only difference is $200 from the top i7 to bottom i5 and I'm gaining more of an 'upgraded' system the just that CPU.

 I think I'm choosing the i7 route for obvious reasons, just have to see about the 860.

 

Thanks though, Sparker - c ya on Egg chat sometime soon ;)

 

Deriggs007:

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Might not be 'much' noticeable performance, but the only difference is $200 from the top i7 to bottom i5 and I'm gaining more of an 'upgraded' system the just that CPU.

I just want to clarify one point based on the above quote from the text in your last post.  The 920 is not Intel's top i7 CPU.  It is actually the bottom 9xx series CPU for the socket 1366.  Yes, it can be overclocked quite a bit but the base/stock speed is NOT 4.0 GHz.  The following link to Newegg's item page shows that the stock speed is 2.66 GHz.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=n82e16819115202

I understand you are referencing OC speeds in your post but even so, Intel has multiple offerings in the 9xx series above the 920.  The 920 is just the best bang for the buck out of all of the 9xx series CPUs.

To clarify, I meant in my post, the top (i7) in my post :-)