Fix my current rig or build a new one? ($2500 budget)

[Retailgeek]

I built my current rig in Nov of 2007 and lately have been getting the itch to upgrade. I used to be a pretty heavy gamer (FPS's and MMORPGs) but these days only play the occasional game with my buddies. I do want to make sure I'm able to try out the latest titles (although perfect frame rates at the highest resolution are not a requirement). I probably won't overclock or SLI but like to choose components that preserve the option. I value stability, fast speed for general computing (browsing), and it would be nice to keep system quiet.

My primary use on the rig is video editing with Sony Vegas Pro and Adobe Creative Suite. My rig has been fine for that application, until I recently upgraded my camera from a HDV to a AVCHD (Sony AX-2000). The 25 mbit/sec AVCHD takes quite a bit more CPU to edit or even transcode than the older HDV format did.

The PS on my current riq recently died, and my super premium ChillTec Thermo Electric CPU Cooler (http://www.ultrax3.com/product_details.php?cPath=17&pPath=571&productID=571) is now failing. So I'm trying to decide if I should repair or just move to a new rig. I'd also use the excuse to use a 64 bit OS for the first time.

Current Rig:

ASUS P5N32-E SLI QUAD 680I 775
INTEL QUAD CORE Q6700 2.66 GHZ
WD RAPTOR 150GB 10,000 RPM SATAII (System drive)
7200 RPM 1TB DATA II data drive, and 8TB's on fileshares
4X1GB CORSAIR DDR2 6400 XMS2 EXTREME
SILVER CM STACKER 831 W/WINS NO Case
TAGAN 1100WATT QUAD SLI READY
BFG GTX 260 2304MB (originally a EVGA GF8800 GTX 768 MB)
ULTRA CHILLTEC THERMO CPU COOLER

I'm running 2 1920x1200 LCD's. (LG2446LP)

Option 1:
Replace the failing Chilltec and maybe upgrade to the best CPU that fits in the ASUS 775 socket. (Maybe an E8600) Approx $270 plus cooler.

Option 2:
Get a new rig w/o a new graphics card or SSD. Plan to upgrade video card and to SSD down the road when it makes sense. Approx $1500

Case: CoolerMaster Elite 310 Mid-Tower Case with See-Thru Side Panel
Extra Case Fan
Sound Absorbing Foam on Side, Top And Bottom panels
Power Supply Gasket
Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-930 2.80 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366
Cooling Fan: * CoolerMaster V8 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan
Motherboard: (3-Way SLI Support) GigaByte GA-X58A-UD3R
Memory: 6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module (Corsair Dominator)
Corsair Power Supply (* 750 Watts CMPSU-750TX - Quad SLI Ready)
Optical Drive: LG BH08-LS20K 8X Internal Super Multi Blu-Ray Rewriter
WD RAPTOR 150GB 10,000 RPM SATAII (from old system)
BFG GTX 260 2304MB (from old system)

Option 3:
Get a new rig with a new graphics card or SSD, and be done with it. Approx $2500

Same build as Option 2, with the addition of:
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB DDR5 16X PCIe Video Card [DirectX 11 Support]
Hard Drive: Single Hard Drive (160 GB Intel X25-M 2.5 inch SATA Gaming MLC Solid State Disk)

Any thoughts about which is the best option given my use-case and the current market? I'm not super price conscious (I can afford the $2500), but don't want to waste money. Or any thoughts about the specific components in the above build? (I'd probably buy it from CyberPowerPC to save time, so it's based on components they offer).

Thanks much for any thoughts!

Jason aka retailgeek

 

[MisterDonut]

Welcome to AT.

My vote goes to your option 2. It seems most logical. Since you're not too big of a gamer anymore, your GPU should hold fine for what you need it to do. Pick up an SSD, i7-920, Scythe Mugen 2 for your HSF. Your PSU is a little overkill, so I would drop it down to something close to the 500-600w region unless you have plans to CFX/SLI in the future. I'm not sure on the Dominator prices, but I usually go for the cheapest memory among G.Skill, Corsair, Mushkin, etc.

Option 3 is also nice, but that's completely up to you. You can always get a 5870 later down the road if the games you're going to play require that much power.

Since you're not looking at overclocks, get an Antec P183. It's a great, quiet case. You should probably build your own, instead of buying it pre-built. Let's you pick and choose whatever you want 🙂.

 

[yh125d]

Opt 2. But step down to the i7 920, overclock to 3.6 or so, and downgrade PSU to 500-650w.

 

[klocwerk]

Opt 2. But step down to the i7 920, overclock to 3.6 or so, and downgrade PSU to 500-650w.

That would work, but the price differential between 920-930 is minimal so I'd go 930 unless you're really pinching pennies.
Agreed on the PSU. No need for bigger unless you're going SLI/CF

You can get a better performing air-cooler as well, after lots of research I went with a Megahalems. The dual-fan Noctua (14 something?) also performs as well in all the tests I found.

Since you already have a Raptor for OS, I'd hold off on the SSD for the moment. Prices are only going down on those and they're still a fairly young tech.
And your vid card's plenty for the moment.

 

[yh125d]

That would work, but the price differential between 920-930 is minimal so I'd go 930 unless you're really pinching pennies.
Agreed on the PSU. No need for bigger unless you're going SLI/CF

You can get a better performing air-cooler as well, after lots of research I went with a Megahalems. The dual-fan Noctua (14 something?) also performs as well in all the tests I found.

Since you already have a Raptor for OS, I'd hold off on the SSD for the moment. Prices are only going down on those and they're still a fairly young tech.
And your vid card's plenty for the moment.

But there's still a price difference. And the only thing separating the 930 and 920 is a CPU multi IIRC, which would be negated by a clock bump to 3.6 (which the OP should OC a little anyways, a clock like that it peanuts to these chips and is free performance)

 

[klocwerk]

But there's still a price difference. And the only thing separating the 930 and 920 is a CPU multi IIRC

I know that's the common wisdom, but it's debatable.

Everyone's saying "Ah, they're just labeled differently" but no one's shown proof of that yet and there's anecdotal evidence that people are getting better speeds out of the 930's.

Check out the results bit-tech had, they got the 930 to 4.3ghz and the 920 D0 gave up at 4.0
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/03/01/intel-core-i7-930-cpu-review/2
Only 1mhz higher bclk, but the extra multiplier makes the difference.

It's obviously of marginal benefit in the end, but if you only build a new machine every 3-4 years it might be worth the extra $30 now for a faster chip for the forseeable future. That's just my $.02 😀

 

[Murloc]

I would go for option 2.
Get new processor, mobo and ram and upgrade the gpu later.

Why do you want to change chassis?
get at least a cm690 if you do.
I don't understand why would you spend so much money on a pc and get a crappier case, the cm690 doesn't cost much more and is in general pretty cheap.

The PSU is a bit oversized but that's your money...

 

[MisterDonut]

That would work, but the price differential between 920-930 is minimal so I'd go 930 unless you're really pinching pennies.
Agreed on the PSU. No need for bigger unless you're going SLI/CF

You can get a better performing air-cooler as well, after lots of research I went with a Megahalems. The dual-fan Noctua (14 something?) also performs as well in all the tests I found.

Since you already have a Raptor for OS, I'd hold off on the SSD for the moment. Prices are only going down on those and they're still a fairly young tech.
And your vid card's plenty for the moment.

It's the Noctua NH-D14, and that thing is massive (I've seen it block DIMM slots). It's probably the top dog out there if not the new VenX from Thermalright. I wouldn't shoot for anything high end on air cooling, especially if you're only going to do very, very easy mild overclocking. The Scythe Mugen 2 is $40 and will handle your needs like a walk in the park. You would only need such high end coolers like ProMeg and Noctua if you wanted to hit around 4ghz.

 

[klocwerk]

You would only need such high end coolers like ProMeg and Noctua if you wanted to hit around 4ghz.

Or if you want to do a decent overclock while still running undervolted 120mm fans so that you can't hear your speedy machine running from 5 feet away... *whistles innocently*

😉

 

[yh125d]

I know that's the common wisdom, but it's debatable.

Everyone's saying "Ah, they're just labeled differently" but no one's shown proof of that yet and there's anecdotal evidence that people are getting better speeds out of the 930's.

Check out the results bit-tech had, they got the 930 to 4.3ghz and the 920 D0 gave up at 4.0
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/03/01/intel-core-i7-930-cpu-review/2
Only 1mhz higher bclk, but the extra multiplier makes the difference.

It's obviously of marginal benefit in the end, but if you only build a new machine every 3-4 years it might be worth the extra $30 now for a faster chip for the forseeable future. That's just my $.02 😀

OP stated no overclocking, so max OCs are irrelevant. We ought to be able to convince him to do a mild OC (theres no good reason not to), but 4gHz+? nah. And since both chips would hit the same mild OCs very easily, no reason to buy a 930

 

[MisterDonut]

Or if you want to do a decent overclock while still running undervolted 120mm fans so that you can't hear your speedy machine running from 5 feet away... *whistles innocently*

😉

Haha, throw it all in an Antec P183 and be done with it, IMO 😀. Those high end air coolers can get super pricey 0_0. Upwards of $70-80 depending on # of fans. I'm running a TRUE, and the whole setup was not cheap 🙁 (nor silent :/).