Thinking about going i7, opinions?

[DaddyRabbit]

OK, so I have a bit of scratch (economy and all I need to do my consumer bit to help). Budget is around 1k USD

Current situation:

Son's PC - XBX2, E6600, 8800GTS 640, 2G DDR2, 20" Samsung, Same case as in option 1

My Rig - GA-X38-DQ6, E6850, HD 4870 (512), 4G DDR2, Antec P180b, 24" Gateway

In the drawer = Optical drives, spare HDD, Toneport UX2

Additional considerations - I record guitar and vocals using the UX2. Where my main rig is is noisy and dificult to do so but I don't record seriously and the Wife doesn't want to lose me to gaming in the upstairs studio so the main rig must stay put.

"Perfect goal" Order option 1 and take out my rig's guts and upgrade the boy's PC with the case and 8800GT, put the son's rig upstairs as a "recording only" box and put the i7 sweetness, the RE3 1TB, and my old 4870 in the P180 for my main box.

Option 1 = 1009.94 + shipping but will allow me to meet my goal.

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115202
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231223
Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129036 (son's rig is in one of these and it's a good case)
My new Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136313
i7 Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128375 (dont need SLI or Xfire for that matter)
Misc - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820816001 Want a front E-SATA port

Option 2 = 944.66 + shipping but can't build third rig right away or get the RE3 but will leave me a bit of extra cash.

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115201 (is the 940 that much better than a 920 overclocked to 3.2?)
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231225 not much more expensive but faster
i7 Mobo - same as option 1
Misc - same as option 1 (really want a front E-SATA port!)

Question - Will I notice a big difference with i7 920 @ 3.2g over my current E6850 @ 3.2g?

I really hate shopping!

TIA

[Zertz]

Option 1 sounds much better to me! Considering the price difference, the i7 940 really isn't worth unless you're really into overclocking

[egtx]

Agreed about sticking with the i7 920. It's a great value. My local Fry's in Dallas is also selling them for $229 right now which is an awesome value!

[DaddyRabbit]

Thanks for the input and I agree that, for my needs, the 940 isn't worth the extra $$ so I'll stick with the 920 and OC a bit. (wish Frys was on the east coast ).

I am sticking with my "supporting the economic recovery by consumer spending" and think I've decided on the following:

Case = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119180 - I like my Corsair HX620 but I understand Coolermaster makes good PSUs as well. Also this case has a front e-SATA.

MOBO = Same as option 1 = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128375 - Don't need SLI, this board is basic but fits the need.

CPU = i7 920 - Same as option 1

RAM = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231225 = DDR3 1600 vs DDR3 1333, I've had great luck with G.Skill and the price is right (or as right as it can be with DDR3)

HDD = 2 of these in RAID 0 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136319 The RE3 is a bit pricey and these are supposed to be the same without the enterprise level testing, love WD drives!

Tha advantage of this is that I can install into the new case and simply swap out the sons PC with my old one and use his existing one for the studio, minimal rebuild, swap, and re-install time.

Total = Right at $1100.00 with UPS 3 day shipping (but I'll probably shop around a bit when I buy in a week or so). May be sleeping on the couch for a bit but she'll get over it

[Bio-Hazard]

Just get the i7 920, it will easily do 3.2 at all stock/auto bios settings. And I would get the DDR3 1600 ram, it works out perfectly with the multis for a 3.2 OC.

I wouldn't get that Motherboard though because it only has 4 DDR3 memory slots so you wouldn't be able to use the full 3 channel memory feature of the CPU, although it does say the board supports triple channel, maybe it's some strange configuration. Best thing to do is go with a board that has the full 6 memory slots.

[pwcmed]

One of those four is blue, I'm guessing it does.

[Bio-Hazard]

I'd download the manual and read up on it first just to be 100% sure.........;)

[FZ1]

Use the 3 white slots for triple channel. I am using building a system for my brother-in-law with that board.

[InspectahACE]

I remember the Intel board doing the same thing so as most have said already, you're all good with the one you're lookin at getting

[DaddyRabbit]

Thanks for all of the input folks!

I did a bit of research on the Gigabyte board (originally was going for a UD5) and , for my needs and budget, it fits the bill fine. I'll never use SLI, or even Crossfire for that matter, and by the time I need more than 6 gigs of RAM I'll be upgrading anyway. My overclocking needs are modest (a simple 3.2G sounds fine) and the money saved on the MOBO is better spent on faster RAM and decent drives IMHO.

Bio-Hazard, With the white slots filled the board does run triple channel, when the 4th slot is used Intel Flex Memory kicks in and I think there is a bit of a performance hit but in my config that 4th slot will be just sitting there looking pretty anyways so not an issue

My main questions are

1) The PSU in the Cosmos, which is one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... Pro%20650W. Most of the reviews I've read are excellent and the 650W seems to be the continuous power vs the peak power, but I am spoiled by my Antec P180B and Corsair 620 (great PSU). I really like the looks of the Cosmos though.

2) Will I see much of a performance difference between my existing E6850 rig and the i7 @ 3.2 (but who can resist building a new rig given the chance?) ?

[Bio-Hazard]

I noticed a big difference going from my old Core Quad to the i7, although for what I normally do on a daily basis there wasn't any real true need to upgrade. But I was offered the chance and got a good deal on my old hardware, so I jumped on the upgrade.........;)

[DaddyRabbit]

OK I Pulled The Trigger

Thanks for all the input! I changed up a bit but here is the build:

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119194 - Smaller than the Cosmos and had some good reviews
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817171032 - A bit more power than the 650 in the Cosmos combo

The above two were a combo deal from the Egg for $309 which was $10.00 more but worth it IMHO. Combo deal was $60 off

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115202 - No Brainer
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128375 - This mobo has all I'll need for the forseeable future.

Also a combo deal, saved $15

RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231225 - This was the biggest sticking point, looked at Dominator and better "quality" 3 and 6G kits but I just kept coming back to this kit for "bang for the buck".

HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136319 - I really was looking at the RE3 series "enterprise class" drives but the Black series are supposedly built to the same specs but without the extensive testing (for half the price).

Total price before shipping = $1000.94

Shipping = Won't talk about that. I'm an "instant gratification" type and when the wife finds out... well the swelling will go down after a while Hopefully the stuff will get here Saturday and I'll have Sunday and the holiday Monday to do the build.

I'm gonna' make an effort to take pics along the way and post them up.

[davidm71]

Wait for the i7 950. I heard it overclocks better. Anyhow these days modern gpu's need all the horsepower they can get so get the fastest cpu you can afford. Thats what I think...