bit the bullet...

[imported_wired247]

Originally posted by: Toadster

Originally posted by: ilkhan
less extreme, more GPU.
$1200 on a CPU, and you wont get a pair of GTX285s? Are you nuts? Get the 920 + H20 and sit pretty at 4.0Ghz and SLI.

I guess I've learned over the years, that buying MHz ensures that you have a guaranteed level of performance, and you can go from there (if you like) - if you buy low, there's no promise to go higher.

At this point, I'm after more threads - nearly everything I'm throwing at my current quad setup is pretty good - but I have to disable some things before I can 'get my game on' - hopefully I'll be able to tune things better with the Core i7 with 2x the thread count

Well you can also learn something else now, called "GPU limited performance" ... your CPU will sit there doing nothing while your GPU does all the heavy lifting.


I'm trying to think of a crappy analogy... you're paying for Ferrari engine but you only bought Honda Civic tires, so putting that power to practical use might disappoint.





http://www.pcgameshardware.com...fire-reviewed/?page=10


http://www.bit-tech.net/hardwa...-295-quad-sli-review/3

Or here's another interesting article showing that in some of the latest games the i7 runs exactly the same in games whether you're using only 2 cores or the full 4.

http://www.tweaktown.com/artic...ce_analysis/index.html

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: Toadster

so what performance degrade have you seen in an SSD? I'm curious... I don't have to defrag anymore - so that's a huge benefit, my spindle (storage) drive continues to degrade - so I have to defrag it at least once a month - plus I'm planning on not having a swapfile to see if it's really needed anymore with the SSD.

yes, I know that these devices are either working or not - but this one is working

I've lost many spindled drives in my day as well - drives are like car tires, the more you use them the more they wear! (SSD or spindle) - it's just physics

I'm not knowledgeable about this, just what I've read. Here's a thread about it: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2277372&enterthread=y

I've never noticed performance degradation in an HDD. For example, take a well-used 5 year old hard drive, reformat it, and it will perform about the same as when it was brand new.

That said, it looks like you've $$ to burn, so as long as you back up the stuff that's important to you - which you probably do - then you may as well go for it.

 

[nerp]

SSD wouldn't work for someone like me because I currently have 5TB of media accessible on any machine on my network, including my MCE box hooked up to the TV with a remote control. I think it would be a little cost prohibitive to transition to SSD. Hehe.

 

[Toadster]

Well you can also learn something else now, called "GPU limited performance" ... your CPU will sit there doing nothing while your GPU does all the heavy lifting.


I'm trying to think of a crappy analogy... you're paying for Ferrari engine but you only bought Honda Civic tires, so putting that power to practical use might disappoint.

I hear you, I used to run SLI 8800GTX's just to run Crysis - I may go back to SLI now, depends on what I'm playing to be honest

on my current list: Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, TF2, and L4D - all at a max 1900x1200

 

[Toadster]

Originally posted by: nerp
SSD wouldn't work for someone like me because I currently have 5TB of media accessible on any machine on my network, including my MCE box hooked up to the TV with a remote control. I think it would be a little cost prohibitive to transition to SSD. Hehe.

this is why I'm using SSD for my system drive only

 

[Toadster]

ok - it's built (pics in the link below)
http://scoop.intel.com/2009/02...t-extreme-hardware.php

 

[aigomorla]

Toad you work for intel?

Crap one more person i need to watch out for..

errr i mean, make sure i dont goof up showing wrong stuff too. :X

 

[HOOfan 1]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Toad you work for intel?

Crap one more person i need to watch out for..

errr i mean, make sure i dont goof up showing wrong stuff too. :X

Yeah I couldn't imagine why he bought the Intel branded motherboard at first. I would have gone P6T Deluxe or WS Revolution all the way myself.

 

[taltamir]

i'll kill your IO speed with my controller + 5 raptors in raid 0. :T

Threats of murder aigomorla? (thats some typo )

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: HOOfan 1

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Toad you work for intel?

Crap one more person i need to watch out for..

errr i mean, make sure i dont goof up showing wrong stuff too. :X

Yeah I couldn't imagine why he bought the Intel branded motherboard at first. I would have gone P6T Deluxe or WS Revolution all the way myself.

actually ima start a boycott on crapsus.

They been really flakey with me lately, and also there RMA service has been giving a few of my friends some lip.

Saying stuff like bent cpu pins, when they mailed it with cpu socket protector.

 

[HOOfan 1]

Originally posted by: aigomorla


actually ima start a boycott on crapsus.


.

would you buy the Intel branded board as an alternative though?

The last Intel board I even thought for a second about buying was the Bad Axe 975

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: HOOfan 1

Originally posted by: aigomorla


actually ima start a boycott on crapsus.


.

would you buy the Intel branded board as an alternative though?

The last Intel board I even thought for a second about buying was the Bad Axe 975

no i would get the EVGA X58 or the Giggy b4 those 2.

Even on LGA775 side, the UD3P is one of the best platforms to be on.

Todd get this for your SSD's and enter a completely new world:
http://www.wiredzone.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=32016353

The best person to ask what to upgrade is someone thats on your platform or greater now.

 

[exar333]

The intel boards may not be an overclocker's dream, but they are stable as hell. From what I have heard, they have pretty good support too.

BTW - there are some goofy "comparisons" in the OP link a few comments above. The comment about "two free cpu's under 75% load" is pretty much marketing hype....and I think might have a spyware issue with 74% overall cpu usage under normal usage... (just kidding) That's a lot of applications running; it must be a pain to shut down 70 processes just to play a game....

 

[Toadster]

Originally posted by: ExarKun333
The intel boards may not be an overclocker's dream, but they are stable as hell. From what I have heard, they have pretty good support too.

BTW - there are some goofy "comparisons" in the OP link a few comments above. The comment about "two free cpu's under 75% load" is pretty much marketing hype....and I think might have a spyware issue with 74% overall cpu usage under normal usage... (just kidding) That's a lot of applications running; it must be a pain to shut down 70 processes just to play a game....

I do have to say the Intel boards are stable, it fired up and ran without question... will I overclock? maybe but I'm perfectly happy right now with 3.2GHz... but I'm sure I'll get used to it and try more tweaking...

I'll admit - the comparison did sound a little campy, but I was trying to show 'my usage' - and I'd say 95% of that 77% load is from BOINC - it is alot of apps running... but isnt' that what all this horsepower is for?

I mean, how many times have you guys see a quad core (or higher) system just sitting around at 5% utilization for no reason.

oh and aigomorla - I read your posts pretty regularly

 

[exar333]

I am sure you will be very satisfied with the performance, it is a great processor. It is great to see people excited about their new builds, I felt the same way at the end of last year!

 

[Martimus]

That is a nice setup.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Toadster


oh and aigomorla - I read your posts pretty regularly

CRAP... means im dead. :rofl:

Well i havent shown gainestown numbers yet... so im still alive... LOL...
But i did promise IDC and few others once Lind is clear of NDA it would do some work for them.

 

[jagsrocknfl]

GTX260 ftw =)

 

[Toadster]

Originally posted by: jagsrocknfl
GTX260 ftw =)

agreed - and further reinforced by the latest article about Multi-GPU's

oh and aigomorla

 

[aigomorla]

get watercooling next. (but let the Cases n Cooling section help you plan it)

so you can push her like this:

http://i125.photobucket.com/al.../aigomorla/Final-1.jpg

HT ON, Linpack.

<3 my max temps.

oh on gpu's you notice almost a reduction by HALF as well on full load.

But welcome to the top 1%.

 

[Toadster]

aigomorla - I appreciate the excitement I am trying to keep everything "inside the box" at this point, so I'm wary of external water coolers, etc... temps seem to be pretty happy now - but then again it's winter

 

[Toadster]

btw - I tweaked a little last night, it's running at 3.6GHz

Super Pi came out at 11 seconds!
also, my Cinebench 10 score is at 20,686... I think that's pretty good!!

 

[ilkhan]

Originally posted by: Toadster

Originally posted by: ilkhan
less extreme, more GPU.
$1200 on a CPU, and you wont get a pair of GTX285s? Are you nuts? Get the 920 + H20 and sit pretty at 4.0Ghz and SLI.

I guess I've learned over the years, that buying MHz ensures that you have a guaranteed level of performance, and you can go from there (if you like) - if you buy low, there's no promise to go higher.

At this point, I'm after more threads - nearly everything I'm throwing at my current quad setup is pretty good - but I have to disable some things before I can 'get my game on' - hopefully I'll be able to tune things better with the Core i7 with 2x the thread count

Yes, because 20% more CPU is worth not doubling or more your GPU power, on a gaming machine. Great plan.

Unless you are gaming at 1280x800, more GPU is going to benefit you far more than more CPU. And I haven't heard of a single 920 that won't do 3.2Ghz.

edit: its built now. Oh well.

 

[Toadster]

Unless you are gaming at 1280x800, more GPU is going to benefit you far more than more CPU. And I haven't heard of a single 920 that won't do 3.2Ghz.

edit: its built now. Oh well.

2nd GTX260 may be on order soon

 

[Toadster]

ok guys - did the 2nd video card

http://scoop.intel.com/2009/05...eing-created-today.php