New computer system, comments welcome

[T5KCaNNoN]

I've got an old Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 based system which is showing it's age, and have thought about upgrading to an i7 based system.

I thought about these components:

Asus P6X58D-E
Intel Core i7 950
Thermaltake Frio
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB)
Silverstone RV02 Raven

With that I thought I'd add Windows 7.

I have an ATi 4870 1GB vga card, a Be Quiet! 650W PSU, Samsung F1 1TB HD, and X-Fi sound card which I'll recycle from my current system.

I'd like to upgrade my monitor (got a Samsung 2032BW 21") but am unsure if IPS is worth going for; I'd like a 23"-24" one though, £300 maximum cost. I use my computer for gaming, video editing and some photo editing.

What do you think of this system outline? All comments welcome. Thanks!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Are you a professional Gamer or photographer? What do you prefer if neither?

 

[T5KCaNNoN]

Bias towards gaming, but I do use my computer for various things. I'm not a professional gamer in the sense I don't make a living from it. Video editing and photo editing likewise: More a hobby.

 

[Arsynic]

I'd replace the i7 with an upper range i5 and use the savings for a faster video card. You might also want to invest in a SSD boot drive. It's the one thing that will make your PC really feel faster.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

The I'd go for a 120Hz LCD. I have one. I use to have a 19" 2m response time LCD with 65Hz refresh at best and the 120Hz 3ms LCD is far better for gaming.

I also recommend a 500-1000Hz polling rated mouse to also help reduce input lag.

 

[mfenn]

Grab an i5 760, P7P55D-E LX or similar, and 4GB of 1.5V DDR3 1333. That'll be just as fast in gaming and most other tasks as the i7 950, but should free up enough budget to go for a 6850, GTX 460 1GB, or SSD.

 

[T5KCaNNoN]

Thanks for all the above comments.

The option of going for an i5 760 crossed my mind (and it's noticeably cheaper), but would not an i7 system future-proof better? Or, is the difference between an i5 760 and i7 930-950 not worth the extra in cash terms?

BTRY B 529th FA BN, which 120hz monitor do you have?

I see SSD's being recommended as a boot drive. That seems definitely worth thinking about.

 

[betasub]

First you need to understand the difference between the i5-7xx and i7-9xx. It is not a case of the higher number being faster/better - it requires building on a different (more expensive platform). One thing that all the i7s have is HT - so do you require the extra virtual cores? If so, look at i7-8xx.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Yes the i5 760 also is 169$ at Micro Center!

This is my 120Hz LCD - http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktop-monitors/lcd/x-series/vx2265wm-fuhzion-lcd.htm Its not the greatest for colors but its way better to game on than 60Hz and i'll take 120Hz over 60Hz any day of the week

 

[T5KCaNNoN]

First you need to understand the difference between the i5-7xx and i7-9xx. It is not a case of the higher number being faster/better - it requires building on a different (more expensive platform). One thing that all the i7s have is HT - so do you require the extra virtual cores? If so, look at i7-8xx.

Yes good question. Gaming wise I mostly play WoW (little SC2 and some Modern Warfare2, but it's mostly WoW; I'll certainly be playing Diablo 3 when it ships).

I believe WoW can make use of a 3rd and 4th core (made so in the latest patch, 4.0), but remains a cpu-heavy game (perhaps due to older coding, Im not sure). But, WoW will not make use of a 5th and 6th core.

Seems, from comments here, that an i5 based system might be the way forward, and with the saving there go for a 64gb ssd with a Nvidia 460.

The difference between an i7 950 based system and an i5 760 based system works out for me (taking ram, mobo and cpu into account) to something in the order of £180.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

How does it not make use of the other cores?

I mean a really good explanation would make me believe so.

 

[mfenn]

Yes good question. Gaming wise I mostly play WoW (little SC2 and some Modern Warfare2, but it's mostly WoW; I'll certainly be playing Diablo 3 when it ships).

I believe WoW can make use of a 3rd and 4th core (made so in the latest patch, 4.0), but remains a cpu-heavy game (perhaps due to older coding, Im not sure). But, WoW will not make use of a 5th and 6th core.

Seems, from comments here, that an i5 based system might be the way forward, and with the saving there go for a 64gb ssd with a Nvidia 460.

The difference between an i7 950 based system and an i5 760 based system works out for me (taking ram, mobo and cpu into account) to something in the order of £180.

Also remember that the extra cores of a hyperthreaded system aren't real cores. If the game perfectly took advantage of all 8 virtual cores in an i7, you would be looking at a 10% speedup. For games that use 4 cores or less (the vast majority for the reasons below), the speedup is 0%.

How does it not make use of the other cores?

I mean a really good explanation would make me believe so.

The better question is "How does it make use of the other cores?". Cores aren't just magically used because they exist (unfortunately ). The game programmers have to specifically create multiple threads. Multi-threaded programming is really really hard especially when it comes to giving each thread a balanced amount of work to do. The wiki article touches on just a few of the major obstacles.

 

[T5KCaNNoN]

So looks more and more that the i5 system is the better value for gaming, especially for games like World of Warcraft.

Given I go for a i5 760, which motherboard and ram would you guys recommend? Ive had excellent experiences with Asus and Corsair in the past and would probably want to stick with them, however if there's better out there I'm always open to new suggestions.

This had crossed my mind, Asus P7P55D-E (which mfenn above recommended): http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...-sata-raid-atx

Gives USB3 for example which seems nice to have at this stage.

Thanks the help

 

[mfenn]

So looks more and more that the i5 system is the better value for gaming, especially for games like World of Warcraft.

Given I go for a i5 760, which motherboard and ram would you guys recommend? Ive had excellent experiences with Asus and Corsair in the past and would probably want to stick with them, however if there's better out there I'm always open to new suggestions.

This had crossed my mind, Asus P7P55D-E (which mfenn above recommended): http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...-sata-raid-atx

Gives USB3 for example which seems nice to have at this stage.

Thanks the help

The P7P55D-E LX is a good choice.

This Corsair kit also looks fine. The most important thing when selecting memory for the Intel Nehalem architecture is to make sure that the voltage is 1.5V or below.

 

[T5KCaNNoN]

The P7P55D-E LX is a good choice.

This Corsair kit also looks fine. The most important thing when selecting memory for the Intel Nehalem architecture is to make sure that the voltage is 1.5V or below.

Im confused over memory selection.

According to the Asus the board is compatible with DDR3 Dual Channel (1066, 1333, 1600, 2200(OC)), and up to 16gb.

You have recommended Corsair Memory XMS3 Classic 4GB DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) Dual Channel. Is there any virtue going for faster memory, like this: Corsair Memory XMS3 4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) Dual Channel 1.65v? Would the extra voltage requirement be that detrimental, and in which way?

Also, would it be worth investing in 4x2gb sticks, so 8gb in total?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Just keep the voltage choices to 1.5v

I remember back in the DDR2 days when I thought 2.1v wasn't bad until it wore out my board and ram faster.

 

[mfenn]

Im confused over memory selection.

According to the Asus the board is compatible with DDR3 Dual Channel (1066, 1333, 1600, 2200(OC)), and up to 16gb.

You have recommended Corsair Memory XMS3 Classic 4GB DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) Dual Channel. Is there any virtue going for faster memory, like this: Corsair Memory XMS3 4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) Dual Channel 1.65v? Would the extra voltage requirement be that detrimental, and in which way?

Also, would it be worth investing in 4x2gb sticks, so 8gb in total?

There is really not much performance benefit to be had by going to that DDR3 1600 (1% maybe) and going above 1.5 is detrimental to the life of Nehalem's memory controller. People didn't take this seriously back when Nehalem first came out, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth as people burned out their shiny new CPUs.

Long story short, 1.65V DDR3 is dangerous for Nehalem, and 1.5V DDR3 1600 ain't worth the money.

Oh yeah, and there's little reason for you to go to 8GB unless your video and photo editing needs are at least semi-pro.

 

[T5KCaNNoN]

There is really not much performance benefit to be had by going to that DDR3 1600 (1% maybe) and going above 1.5 is detrimental to the life of Nehalem's memory controller. People didn't take this seriously back when Nehalem first came out, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth as people burned out their shiny new CPUs.

Long story short, 1.65V DDR3 is dangerous for Nehalem, and 1.5V DDR3 1600 ain't worth the money.

Oh yeah, and there's little reason for you to go to 8GB unless your video and photo editing needs are at least semi-pro.

Thanks for that, so DDR3 1333 is it.

 

[T5KCaNNoN]

There is really not much performance benefit to be had by going to that DDR3 1600 (1% maybe) and going above 1.5 is detrimental to the life of Nehalem's memory controller. People didn't take this seriously back when Nehalem first came out, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth as people burned out their shiny new CPUs.

Long story short, 1.65V DDR3 is dangerous for Nehalem, and 1.5V DDR3 1600 ain't worth the money.

Oh yeah, and there's little reason for you to go to 8GB unless your video and photo editing needs are at least semi-pro.

Out of interest do the voltage restrictions also apply to the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 board?

Sorry for my ignorance, but I could not find out the type of memory controller used with this board.

 

[mfenn]

Out of interest do the voltage restrictions also apply to the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 board?

Sorry for my ignorance, but I could not find out the type of memory controller used with this board.

With Nehalem, Intel moved the memory controller into the CPU. You can't find any info about the memory controller on a P55 board because there isn't one.

 

[T5KCaNNoN]

With Nehalem, Intel moved the memory controller into the CPU. You can't find any info about the memory controller on a P55 board because there isn't one.

Thanks for the help, and BTRY B 529th FA BN thanks for the monitor recommendation.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the help, and BTRY B 529th FA BN thanks for the monitor recommendation.

You're very welcome.