PC Gurus - three components - what do you think?

[Darren S]

Chaps,

Can I have your input on the following three bits that I'm thinking of buying to revamp the core of my PC at home...

• Asus Rampage III Extreme mobo
• Intel i7 930 CPU @2.8Ghz (8MB)
• G-Skill 4GB (2x 2GB kit) PC3-17600 memory

The key part I'm unsure of is the memory. I've never had G-Skill stuff before and at 17600 - I'm thinking I'll be paying a premium simply to have the best that's currently available. However, it does seem daft to me not to do so if I'm stumping up the money on the Rampage III Extreme.

Thoughts and suggestions most definitely appreciated. Oh, and in response to what it will be used for - 99% gaming and jack all else. It wouldn't even have Adobe Acrobat installed on there.

Cheers,
D.

 

[Magic Johnson]

What OS will you be running? If it's not x64 W7 then you won't see too much benefit.

 

[Griff]

Oh, and in response to what it will be used for - 99% gaming and jack all else.

Ditch the i7 and swap it for one of the new i5 655K. Cheaper, faster at default clocks, also has Hyper threading and comes with an unlocked multiplier.

 

[saltyhair81]

i7 965 going cheap here if you want it Darren.

 

[Darren S]

What OS will you be running? If it's not x64 W7 then you won't see too much benefit.

Sure am m8.

Ditch the i7 and swap it for one of the new i5 655K. Cheaper, faster at default clocks, also has Hyper threading and comes with an unlocked multiplier.

Is that LGA1156 though, Griff? I was looking at socket LGA1366 mobos. Good call though, I should probably look at i5 setups.

i7 965 going cheap here if you want it Darren.

Heheh - when you say 'cheap', just how cheap?! They're circa £800 new aren't they?

Cheers,
D.

 

[Griff]

LGA1156 yeah. I couldn't see the point of going for an i7 setup purely for gaming, ego aside.

 

[Silent_Scone]

£365

^ Posting from new account

 

[Darren S]

LGA1156 yeah. I couldn't see the point of going for an i7 setup purely for gaming, ego aside.

You've definitely got me thinking m8. Just looking at a saving of around £130 going down the i5 route with the following...

• Asus Maximus III mobo
• i5 655k
• G-Skill PC3-16000 4GB kit.

In the real world, am I likely to see much difference in performance? Probably not, I would have thought?

D.

 

[Griff]

Gaming? No difference. Encoding video/audio, high-end workstations etc then an i7 would have the advantage.

 

[Silent_Scone]

I've got to agree you're better off spending the cash on a video card

*looks at griff*


Mike

 

[Darren S]

£365

^ Posting from new account

WTF?! Surely you could get a LOT more flogging that on Fleabay?

D.

 

[Silent_Scone]

you'd be suprised mate! They don't go for a lot second hand.

Mike

 

[Darren S]

Is it worth dropping to dual-core from quad-core?

D.

 

[Griff]

Is it worth dropping to dual-core from quad-core?

D.

Nope. Some of the newer games, Bad Company 2 for example, really do play better under quad core than dual core.

 

[Darren S]

Nope. Some of the newer games, Bad Company 2 for example, really do play better under quad core than dual core.

That's what I thought. The 655k is only dual core.

D.

 

[Griff]

Doh.. Shows how much attention I pay to things. i5 750 then.. Easily get that to 3.6ghz or there abouts.

 

[Robb]

Go for a Tripple channel memory kit 3x2GB as this is what I7 supports. Probably no performance boost though!

 

[Darren S]

Grrr. Still can't decide!

D.

 

[H182]

As griff said there's no difference in gaming between i5 and i7. I went for an i5 750 and its spot on, easily overclockable too.

I'd never had g-skill memory but bought some this time round and no problems, with regards to memory speeds I read on tom's hardware its not worth the extra dosh.

 

[SharkyUK]

I'd go for the i7 solution/route if I had the pennies set aside for a gaming rig upgrade.

Just a bit of reading info...

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-phenom-ii-corei-i5,review-31915.html

I'm sure you'll make the right choice D.

 

[Darren S]

Well, I bought the kit! Being pig-headed and more than a little stubborn, I went down the i7 route.

Ordered pretty much what I said in the original post, an Asus Rampage III Extreme mobo, and an i7 930 - but went for a OCZ 6GB memory kit (3x 2GB) of DDR3 2000Mhz sticks.

I tend to stick with my mobo choice for quite a while - the current M2N32-SLi I currently use is 4 years old - so when stretched out over that many months, it's not a big expense really.

I just want somone to donate a couple of ATi or nVidia cards my way - especially when I read that comment from Sharky's link above.....

"This is an architectural detail that the LGA 1156-based Core i5 and Core i7 processors share, so if a gamer plans to use more than two graphics cards in CrossFire or SLI, the LGA 1366 Core i7-900-series processors are the way to go."

Chuffed for now. Until that Mastercard statement comes through - lol!

D.

 

[SharkyUK]

Great choice mate - plenty of fun to be had out of that! It's just a shame I don't have a couple of Fermi's just sat around otherwise I'd happily donate them to you... *cough*

 

[Gareth]

Good stuff, I'm going i7 for sure this year.

 

[Cookie]

I'm still rocking a Q6600 (clocked to 3gig for the summer months) and 2 gig of DDR2 running W7 X64

Still works perfectly well

 

[Magic Johnson]

Why so little rammage?

 

[Cookie]

Me, or Darren?

 

[Darren S]

Great choice mate - plenty of fun to be had out of that! It's just a shame I don't have a couple of Fermi's just sat around otherwise I'd happily donate them to you... *cough*

If I were you, I would double-check, just in case. You might have forgot that you had some spare!

Quite surprised at the price of the ATi 4890's on Fleabay - they are barely making £100. Unless I hammer mine with very high eye candy settings, it copes with most things at 60fps running at 1920x1200. I might keep an eye on them over the next week or two - seems a quick fix for a Crossfire option?

Just had email confirmation of the mobo being shipped too...

D.

 

[Magic Johnson]

Me, or Darren?

Your fine self.

 

[saltyhair81]

gah, I've got 2 sets of Corsair tri channel shiz you could of had! 12gb worth

 

[Cookie]

Your fine self.

That's just how I specced my machine 3+ years ago tbf, I've still not really found the need for more RAM, everything is speedy enough

The other issue is that DDR2 isn't made anymore, and as such is ridiculously expensive.

Will wait until the rest of the system gets slow and then replace CPU/mobo/RAM at the same time

 

[Magic Johnson]

I've only got 2gb of DDR2 as well, clocked from 667 to 800. No point in anything more as I've only got x86 but I just thought you might have more because of x64 w7.

 

[Gareth]

I run 4GB DDR2 1066Mhz for my x64 W7

 

[Darren S]

I run 4GB DDR2 1066Mhz for my x64 W7

Same here...... for now.

D.

 

[Darren S]

gah, I've got 2 sets of Corsair tri channel shiz you could of had! 12gb worth

Now you tell me! :rasp:

D.