Legit Reviews

I am seriously torn I would like to upgrade systems but not sure which way to go. I am contemplating building an I7 rig with the 920 using my 2 existing 9800gtx's, or upgrading cards in my phenom 2 rig. Right now frys has the i7 920 and evga x58 board for 499. I would still need some ddr3 and a new waterblcok for the cpu. For the p2 system all my existing water cooling would word so my only expense would be the gfx card('s) Any input would be appreciated. I am not sure what would gain me the biggest boost in performance. I am leaning toward the i7 since I could upgrade the gfx cards later, but I could be swayed.
Thanks,
Stollie

I have a similar urge to upgrade something too, but can't decide what I should do


How big is your radiator for the watercooling? And would it be CPU cooled only or CPU & GPU cooled?
The core 2's put out a lot of heat, so you'd want to make sure your WC's got adequte cooling capacity for all the components you are throwing into it.

Do you feel like your graphics cards are starting to feel slow in games? (Just wondering how long they'll keep you happy for if you dont upgrade them now)

Hows about you put your current cards in the Phenom 2 rig and get new cards for your E8400 rig? Aside from the quad core-ness, the i7 won't really net you any extra performance in games over your current E8400 clockspeed, so if gaming is your main reason for upgrading then it makes the most sense to get the new cards in the currently faster CPU'd rig. But if you want more performance in things that aren't gaming, then getting the core i7 upgrade will work for you there.

Dan

Upgrading a E8400 seems crazy I must say upgrading is always in the back of my head but my wife destroys those ideas. It's and urge I deal with all the time. It helps that I just built a i7 setup for a friend so that itch is not that strong.

pwcmed wrote:Upgrading a E8400 seems crazy I must say upgrading is always in the back of my head but my wife destroys those ideas. It's and urge I deal with all the time. It helps that I just built a i7 setup for a friend so that itch is not that strong.

Mine gets worse after building new systems with the latest tech! My itch would have me bleeding from scratching so hard

It's definitely more about want than need. Prolly just gonna up the gfx on my phenom. I think I might pick up a 4850x2 or try to find a 9800gx2 if I can. I really wanted to pick up a xfx gtx295 but I haven't been able to find one. My rad is a trip 120 black ice currently cooling the e8400 and the nb of the evga 780i via a swiftech apogee gt and a en nb780i

I myself wouldn't upgrade. I went from a AMD Athlon X2 @ 2.4Ghz (now 2.65Ghz) and I feel it snappier than my current C2D rig. I don't even notice the performance difference between the two rigs in everyday computing. I only see performance improvements in F@H and in the occasional games that I play.

Save yourself some money. If you really do want to upgrade, get the Phenom II. What are you gonna do with your current Phenom though?

I'm in a similar quandary. I REALLY want an i7 for my gaming rig/test bench, but I can't justify the expense (with my wife). Fortunately, after a few hours of beating his head against the desk, Bwall was able to pull my lowly E8400 from 3.0Ghz to 3.8Ghz stable where I wasn't able to get any overclock to boot. With the new found power, I've noticed (in the last 12 hours) that things seem to be running much better and my 3DMark06 scores seem to back up that "feeling", so I'm going to put off the upgrade for now... though I have the i7 upgrade sitting in a newegg wish list just in case $700 falls into my lap.

I'm hoping an overclock will quench my thirst for upgrade too

Dan

see now i wouldn't mind getting an i7 rig, but you need alot of money. anyway this would be my should we say monster system but yet its not absolutly maxed as that is point less seeing as you can overclock lightly and get the same performance plus save yourself about £100+

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... =CPI-I7920 (Processor)
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... BA-RAMPIIE (Motherboard)
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... A-XNGTX268 (Graphics Cards SLI)
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... D34096D13N (Memory 4X2GB)
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... T-XARMP-BK (Case)
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... =PSC-850RP (Power Supply)
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... CNPS9700NT (CPU Cooler)
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... -1000SAT32 (HDD)
http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... DRW20B1LT1 (DVD Re-Writer)

Overall price is £1670.28. now what do you all think of that price? plus they will build it for that price and it will cost the same if i build it myself

Alright Ill stick with the phenom 2. Now I just need to pick up a single card solution that will be comparable to my pair of 9800 gtx's any suggestions?

I'm guessing either a 4870X2 overclocked edition or a GTX 285/295

What resolution are you gaming at? What are you doing with your rig? Are you still going to fold?

You might want to get NVIDIA since they fold way better than ATI. I say get the GTX260 or another 9800GTX+.

geokilla wrote:What resolution are you gaming at? What are you doing with your rig? Are you still going to fold?

You might want to get NVIDIA since they fold way better than ATI. I say get the GTX260 or another 9800GTX+.

I game at 1920x1080 on a viewsonic vx2260wm. As for folding I do plan on getting back to it as soon as I make some system changes and get some other stuff in order. I am leaning towards a gtx260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150329
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... mbo.159040