Overdue Upgrade: 1055T or P55 build?

[mfenn]

I wouldn't bother with a new PSU. If it could power an old Opteron (those things were power-hungry beasts!) it will have no problem powering an 860.

 

[shredz]

Ok, I'm resurrecting this thread because I can't decide on which 1156 CPU to use. I was able to buy an i5-760 last week for $160 oem tray at Frys. The rest of my parts haven't arrived and I've been thinking that maybe I should return the i5 and drive to microcenter (an hour away) and get the i7-860 for $220. It's only $60 more +gas but has hyperthreading. I bought the i5-760 thinking that the hyperthreading wasn't that importantant, but now I'm thinking it might be.

Any input on this?

FYI, thanks to everyone's help, I have the following parts on order:
-Gigabyte P55A-UD3
-4gb Gskill 1600 DDR3
-thermaltake hyper 212+
-OCZ Vertex 2 50gb SSD
-Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB HD
-G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
-XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W ATX12V 2.2 / ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black)
Reusing:
Antec P180b case, Dell 2209wa LCD, g15 keyboard, mouse, etc...

 

[Sp12]

Eh, it has a one step higher turbo I guess. I'm indifferent on the procs.

On that Vertex 2 SSD, check to see if you can't find the 60GB version for the same price (they often are).

 

[mfenn]

The HT isn't going to matter for gaming, but may make a bit of a difference in your photo editing. I don't think it's worth $60 more though.

 

[shredz]

On that Vertex 2 SSD, check to see if you can't find the 60GB version for the same price (they often are).

Yup, I noticed after I ordered it that the 60gb was the same price at newegg. BUT, I did some research on the OCZ forums and from what I gather, the 50gb and 60gb are the same drive but the 60gb has less space reserved for "house cleaning". Some are saying that because of that, the 50gb will actually last longer and be more reliable. So, if all that stuff is true, I'm happy with the 50gb. As a matter of fact, they are talking about a firmware update that will be able to change the drive back from 50gb to 60gb and vice versa. Thanks for the heads up though.

 

[mfenn]

Yup, I noticed after I ordered it that the 60gb was the same price at newegg. BUT, I did some research on the OCZ forums and from what I gather, the 50gb and 60gb are the same drive but the 60gb has less space reserved for "house cleaning". Some are saying that because of that, the 50gb will actually last longer and be more reliable. So, if all that stuff is true, I'm happy with the 50gb. As a matter of fact, they are talking about a firmware update that will be able to change the drive back from 50gb to 60gb and vice versa. Thanks for the heads up though.

Yes, they are indeed the same drive with different firmware. The 50GB drive will last longer because it has more area to use as spare.

However, is 8 years versus 10 years really relevant? I know that it isn't for me. Gimme the space!

 

[Sp12]

That's interesting -- I wonder if you could convert one to the other or back.

 

[shredz]

Ok, thanks for the input. I went with the i7-870 just because I plan to keep this computer for at least 3 years and by then the hyper-threading will probably be pretty useful for video editing and photo work.