i7 970 vs i7 2600k

ChilliPalmer

Junior Member
May 6, 2011
5
0
0
Ok so here is my situation:

As a retail employee Intel enables us to purchase their chips, ssds, etc. at a discount. At the end of the month they are selling the i7 970 and the i7 2600k, as well as a 120gb and 160gb 320 series ssd.

Not considering cost, since they will both be well below retail, I'm looking for which chip set to start a new build with (and my first in quite a few years). Whatever one is best for gaming and Video capture is most important.
My main uses will be:

Gaming
Video Capture, Editing etc. via either Black Magic Intensity Pro or BM Shuttle
Some Overclocking

They only pieces of the build I already have are 2 Galaxy GTX 465s that I got for a really nice price. Since I get those i7s and those ssds for cheap, those will also be a part of my build. I am open to any suggestions for the rest of it.

My concerns are which capture device to go with? The Black Magic Intensity Pro Capture Card or the Shuttle with USB 3.0? From what I read with the Shuttle I need an x58 mobo for on board USB 3.0 or an x58 or p55 via pci express USB 3.0 card.

Knowing this as well as what else you know about the Black Magic Intensity products what would you guys suggest for my chip and mobo?

Links to BM support:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail/supportnotes/?sid=3947&pid=3989&os=win

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail/supportnotes/supportnote/?sid=3947&pid=4042&os=win&isSDK=0&snid=9710

Thanks
 

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
As a i7 930 @ 4.2Ghz owner let me say i would reccomend the SB chip the 2500k or 2600k. They are just better for the same price as far as pure CPU power for the money. I would only stick to 1366 if you need the extra PCIe lanes for Multi GPU setups, raid cards, capture cards or any high bandwidth PCIe cards. And even if you do need more PCIe lanes i would wait for LGA 2011 at this point in time. my .02

EDIT to add, i know you mentioned capture cards but what bandwitch do you really need for those what res/format will you be recording. Also the 465's will not require enough bandwidth to need 16x lanes either, i would still stick to SB.
 
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ChilliPalmer

Junior Member
May 6, 2011
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As a i7 930 @ 4.2Ghz owner let me say i would reccomend the SB chip the 2500k or 2600k. They are just better for the same price as far as pure CPU power for the money. I would only stick to 1366 if you need the extra PCIe lanes for Multi GPU setups, raid cards, capture cards or any high bandwidth PCIe cards. And even if you do need more PCIe lanes i would wait for LGA 2011 at this point in time. my .02

EDIT to add, i know you mentioned capture cards but what bandwitch do you really need for those what res/format will you be recording. Also the 465's will not require enough bandwidth to need 16x lanes either, i would still stick to SB.

Thanks for the reply.

The only thing that is holding me back from the 2600K is I don't know the two cap cards I mentioned are supported by 1155. I shot Black Magic an e-mail to see what they said.

I could wait but I have the money now and two GTX 465s that I got for close to nothing that would have to sit around for another 6 months (Intel does these deals twice a year).

Ill be recording 1080p gameplay and such, not sure if I would be using compressed or uncompressed. After I figure out the CPU situation, then I have to decide which cap card too. They pci internal Pro model or the USB 3.0 external Shuttle model.

Also any pros cons to buying a case with USB 3.0 on the front of the case vs. having to buy a USB 3.0 card to install?
 

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
Thanks for the reply.

The only thing that is holding me back from the 2600K is I don't know the two cap cards I mentioned are supported by 1155. I shot Black Magic an e-mail to see what they said.

I could wait but I have the money now and two GTX 465s that I got for close to nothing that would have to sit around for another 6 months (Intel does these deals twice a year).

Ill be recording 1080p gameplay and such, not sure if I would be using compressed or uncompressed. After I figure out the CPU situation, then I have to decide which cap card too. They pci internal Pro model or the USB 3.0 external Shuttle model.

Also any pros cons to buying a case with USB 3.0 on the front of the case vs. having to buy a USB 3.0 card to install?

I would get a case with USB 3 on the front, no point in not getting one now as even most recent 1366 boards support it. Always think future upgrades as well when purchasing case/PSU IMO, so definatly go USB 3 on the front panel of the case.
 

eelw

Lifer
Dec 4, 1999
10,052
5,158
136
Will RetailEdge offer the 970s again? Well if they have stock, they probably will. As for which is better, the more cores of the 970 still is better for video encoding. But most other tasks, the 2600k is better for the price.
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,310
790
126
Depends how often you upgrade and what you want to do with the computer. I would personally go with the i7 970 for the extra cores if you think you will do any video editing or plan to use the machine for more than 2 years before upgrading again. Gaming will be largely limited to what GPU you pair the CPU up with unless it's a CPU intensive game (e.g. Starcraft 2), but those are pretty few and far between types of cases. Almost all games are GPU limited when you have a high end system. I suppose the only other consideration is RAM pricing, but 4GB vs 6GB kits aren't much different in price with RAM so cheap right now.

Also, for the video editing card, there is a lot of CPU overhead associated with USB. I'd go for the PCIe solution.
 
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Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
2
81
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
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1366 is a dead end
1155 is a dead end if you want anything over 4 cores in the future

I say buy the 1155 now because at least it has SOME upgradeability in the future. You're really waiting for X79 if you want tri SLI or insane memory bandwidth or the potential to run octacores...
 

Lepton87

Platinum Member
Jul 28, 2009
2,544
9
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I think the choice depends on how often you upgrade. As software is getting better threaded 50% more cores will turn out better than 20% higher IPC, even at gaming workloads. Since both are made on the same process clocking potential is comparable. SB probably will have a slight edge at conventional cooling methods but nothing major.
 

ChilliPalmer

Junior Member
May 6, 2011
5
0
0
Do you guys think the PCIe option or the USB 3.0 option is the better way to go for the capture device?

Also any mobo suggestions for either chip considering what Ive written for under 250ish?
 

StinkyPinky

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2002
6,917
1,203
126
1366 is a dead end
1155 is a dead end if you want anything over 4 cores in the future

I say buy the 1155 now because at least it has SOME upgradeability in the future. You're really waiting for X79 if you want tri SLI or insane memory bandwidth or the potential to run octacores...

Has Intel actually said IB on 1155 is 4 core only? THey've said 4 core is entry level for IB so with i3's already 4 core (without HT I presume) and i5's possibly 4 core with HT, that would leave the i7's with 6c/12t. Otherwise there seems to be little difference between the i3/i5/i7 line in IB 1155.