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Core i7 920 or Q9400?

L

legoman666

Diamond Member
I'm planning a build fairly soon and am torn between two choices. I already have the PSU, hdd's, video cards and such.

Option 1:
Motherboard: Foxconn BloodRage for $310
CPU: Core I7 920 for $290
RAM: 6gb DDR3 for $165
Total: 765

Option 2:
HDD: 2 32gb SSD's for $186
Motherboard: Asus P5E Deluxe for $220
CPU: Q9400 for $240
RAM: 4gb DDRs for $35 (with ability to upgrade to 8)
Total: 681

With option 2, I have enough extra cash to go for 2 SSD's and RAID 0 the puppies (and still spend less than option 1). With option 1 I'd have more CPU power and more ram initially.

So which do you think would be better? I'm kind of leaning toward option 2. The plan is to make a mineral oil cooled PC with a 226w pelt on the CPU, so there will be plenty of overclocking headroom.
 
Have you checked out the Puget Systems mineral oil cooled system? With a radiator that thing got some awesome temps 😀

As per your builds, the board you chose for the Core2 system is a bit pricey, seeing as how the P5Q SE Plus is around $90 + shipping, also you realize that cheap SSD's perform nearly on par (usually slower actually) than a Velociraptor, and have far less storage space? You should check out the AT article that was written on them. Quite a fun read in my opinion, and stopped me from buying some 64gb SSDs.

You could save at least $100 on the board by going with a cheap but stable P45 board like the UD3 (iirc) or P5Q SE Plus. Don't spend the money on those SSD's and instead invest about $20 more and get the 300gb Velociraptor HD, speeds are the same if not better and you get 5 times the total storage capacity, win all around.
 
Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
Have you checked out the Puget Systems mineral oil cooled system? With a radiator that thing got some awesome temps 😀

As per your builds, the board you chose for the Core2 system is a bit pricey, seeing as how the P5Q SE Plus is around $90 + shipping, also you realize that cheap SSD's perform nearly on par (usually slower actually) than a Velociraptor, and have far less storage space? You should check out the AT article that was written on them. Quite a fun read in my opinion, and stopped me from buying some 64gb SSDs.

You could save at least $100 on the board by going with a cheap but stable P45 board like the UD3 (iirc) or P5Q SE Plus. Don't spend the money on those SSD's and instead invest about $20 more and get the 300gb Velociraptor HD, speeds are the same if not better and you get 5 times the total storage capacity, win all around.
Click to expand...

Yea I've seen the Puget PCs. Awesome temps with a not so awesome price. 😉

I chose that Foxconn board and the P5E Deluxe because of their PCIe slot layout. I need 2 PCIe slots separated by 2 slots that will be eaten up by a HSF. Then I need a usable 1x PCIe slot for a sound card. And lastly a PCI slot for a wireless card would be nice but isn't really 100% necessary.

The reason I want to splurge on two SSD's is because I can stick them in the oil without any modification. Regular platter HDDs can be modified for submersion in oil, but it's iffy. I don't want to gamble with 1 or 2 raptors. So if I don't get the SSDs, I'll probably stick the HDD's on the top of the case where they'll be audible.
 
Ah, makes sense now. Still there's the problem with SSD drives have limited writes prior to failing on you 😕

Seems like a nice build then, since you've obviously researched it thoroughly, unlikely that anyone'll have upgrade suggestions. I'll see if I can find a board that fits your description for a lower cost though.
 
Depends on the usage in my opinion, average use with some developer software, I'd still go with a Core2 system (maybe shell out the difference in price on a Q9550). But I guess it should come down to whichever has the best performance for the intended tasks.
 
i7 is slightly price heavy at the moment, expect the price to drop over the next 3 months.
But that Foxconn board is mean!
If you go i7 now you can add the SSD's later once the tech is not so buggy( I have read bad things about MLC SSD's)
Mineral oil FTW lol

However, the only advantage of i7 now is:
Board config (SLi & Xfire)
Memory speed is higher

If you buying new now its better to get the i7 for future resistance.

Your Cpu choice is good, you can clock that 920 (with your cooling) just as high as the $1000 965...
 
Originally posted by: JTsyo
I would go with i7. It'll be easier to upgrade later.
Click to expand...

So you can guarantee that the mobo you buy today will be able to support voltage changes and die shrinks in the future??? It may or may not. Not worth it if your not into building a system every year or two.
 
Originally posted by: P1n3c0n3
i7 is slightly price heavy at the moment, expect the price to drop over the next 3 months.
But that Foxconn board is mean!
If you go i7 now you can add the SSD's later once the tech is not so buggy( I have read bad things about MLC SSD's)
Mineral oil FTW lol

However, the only advantage of i7 now is:
Board config (SLi & Xfire)
Memory speed is higher

If you buying new now its better to get the i7 for future resistance.

Your Cpu choice is good, you can clock that 920 (with your cooling) just as high as the $1000 965...
Click to expand...

You mean be able to. There is no guarantee that any chip will overclock at all, they sell you the chips at stock clock because they can ensure you that the chips operate at those clocks, even the smallest OC might not work on certain chips (depending on the die cut, right?), legoman knows this as do most of us, just saying don't promote a weaker chip to someone saying it'll go as high as another just based on the cooling. Better cooling = ability to OC more due to controlled temps.
 
Originally posted by: GLeeM
Are the video cards X2s?

The i7 has 8 HT threads: SMP is 4. 2 X2s bring you to 8 😉
Click to expand...

Heh, nope. They're HD4850's with Thermalright T-Rad^2 's on them. That would be pretty beastly....
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Originally posted by: JTsyo
I would go with i7. It'll be easier to upgrade later.
Click to expand...

So you can guarantee that the mobo you buy today will be able to support voltage changes and die shrinks in the future??? It may or may not. Not worth it if your not into building a system every year or two.
Click to expand...

No but I'm sure the one for the C2Q won't be used for future cpus.
 
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