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Build Advice New Intel System Advice

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Ant1981, 21 Aug 2011.

  1. Ant1981

    Ant1981 Minimodder

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    Hi folks.

    I'm looking to build a new system, but there's a few product lines from Intel, that I'm not sure what to go for.

    I'm currently running an Intel E6600, dual core on XP Pro 32bit. No idea if both cores get used though.

    Anyway, I'm looking to go Windows 7, as I'm told it doesn't get bogged down and slow down over time like XP does. I want serious power as I'm a geek who uses Microsoft Flight Sim, which is power hungry.

    I'm looking to go 4 cores if its worth doing, if it'll help.

    So what I'm looking for is good advice on which Intel chip (yes Intel) to go for, advice on the architecture of the processor and the motherboard that it should run with. Also a healthy dose of matched memory too.

    The price? Well what ever it takes to build a bullet proof performer. On top of your reccomendations, I'll chuck in a new case and a few hard drives no doubt, so will factor cost to that and possibly (or more than likely) re use my GTX265. I don't upgrade with the fashion, I built my E6600 in 2007. I only upgrade if I have a need or feel I'd benefit.

    Cheers.
     
  2. meandmymouth

    meandmymouth Multimodder

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    This is roughly what you should be looking for.

    The i5 2500K CPU has 4 cores and can hit 5GHz on air if you want to overclock. It's a very good and very fast chip. You could go for the i7 2600K which is almost the ssame but with hyper-threading enabled and clocked at 3.4GHz instead of 3.3GHz. It's quite a bit of extra money, however.

    The motherboard is very good, and even better when considering the lower price compared to other P67 boards.

    The changes I'd make would be to go with a 128GB SSD (Crucial M4) and 8GB RAM, maybe 16GB if you really want lots.

    You will need Windows 7 64-bit but I'm guessing you probably know that.

    If money isn't an issue then have a look at the Premium Player.
     
  3. Bede

    Bede Minimodder

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    http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/43b4b53e69b748b0a75b38cf78ae5e9a

    ^ is a pretty damn good computer. The case essentially comes down to personal opinion, but I put the FT02 in as it is a very good case which should last you a long time. Altogether just over £1200. You can shave a lot off by getting a cheaper case or smaller/no SSD or by using the motherboard's onboard sound instead of a dedicated card.
     
  4. Ant1981

    Ant1981 Minimodder

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    Thanks chaps.

    How does the i5 compare to the i7?
     
  5. Bede

    Bede Minimodder

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  6. Ant1981

    Ant1981 Minimodder

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    Thanks.

    Just so that I know incomparison, my E6600 that I run now which is dual core, with XP Pro 32bit, do both processors get used properly? I think XP shows there are two, but I'm not sure how effective it is? Am I misguided thinking that I'd have needed 64bit to properly run two processors?
     
  7. donok

    donok Every Little Helps .....

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    what display you using ?? graphics power is very much based on res you run. a gtx 570 will do everything but at extreme high res or multi display you'll need a gtx580
     
  8. Ant1981

    Ant1981 Minimodder

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    I've got a GTX260 card running two NEC 24WMGX3's at 1920x1200. Would you reccomend the upgrade to the 580? I'm assuming that you probably will.
     
  9. Bede

    Bede Minimodder

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    You seem a little confused, but we all started out like that at one point :)

    The E6600 is 1 processor with 2 cores that can (when the program is written correctly) do different things on the different cores - essentially parallel processing on the same chip.

    The 64-bit architecture's main benefit is that it rectifies a weakness of 32-bit which was that it could not address more than 4gb of memory (across both your RAM and graphics card). With a modern high-end system typically containing a bare minimum of 5gb memory (RAM and VRAM) 32 bit is no longer acceptable.

    Increasingly now, consumer programs and games are written to take advantage of multiple core processors. A dual core is a bit limited, a hexacore is only useful in a limited number of scenarios, quad core is the sweet spot.


    Edit: you could also consider an AMD Radeon 6970 2gb for a new graphics card. Cheaper option than the 580 but still with enough memory to power 2 screens.
     
    Last edited: 22 Aug 2011
  10. xp-T

    xp-T What's a Dremel?

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    you could wait till next year and be at the top of the food chain with Intel's Ivy Bridge CPU. It should be 20% better than Sandy Bridge or, you could wait till 2013 for this puppy

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_%28microarchitecture%29#Rockwell

    Id wait though, not long and would be a waste to buy what's about to be old news...wait about 2 month after it's released though. You want to make sure the bugs are worked out of the CPU and mostly the chipset like the P67 chipset problem.
     
    Last edited: 22 Aug 2011
  11. Ant1981

    Ant1981 Minimodder

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    Hmmmm, when they come out, they might be alot more expensive, so I've got to think about what I want to be spending too.
     
  12. Blogins

    Blogins Panda have Guns

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    You could wait, but going Quad Core and 64-Bit Windows 7 is going to be a massive leap from your previous PC and will last a nice long time if you select the right components. Sandybridge is cool running which can be another factor (my old 680i used to turn the house in to a furnace!) so a powerful Micro-ATX system is very doable for less than £400 excluding GPU and an OS.
     
  13. xp-T

    xp-T What's a Dremel?

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    Well price will be the same as current CPU's I would think depending on the version. Also DDR4 will be out in 2012 which should be able to reach 4000MHz where as current DDR3 only hits 2100MHz.

    DDR4 also uses less electric. So there's a new CPU out next year, 20% better. There's new Ram out next year, that uses 0.3 volts less than DDR3.

    What the other guys said is perfectly fine, nothing wrong with a Sandy Bridge set up. Personally i'm waiting for AMD's new Billdozer and hoping it won't be a Phenom flop.

    Also Ivy Bridge will be out in march, I don't know when the DDR4 is out but it will be 2012 and it will use 1.2V then in 2013 it will only use 1V.

    Shouldn't cost more than todays systems to be honest. Because what's here now is new, then when the new stuff comes out it should take DDR3's and Sandy Bridge's price tag.

    Plus in 2013, intel are changing the architecture and socket of their new CPU's.

    So that whole Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge deal will end in 2013 where it will be taken over by the CPU haswell.

    2013(if we last that long)will be pretty special for p.c gamers.
     
    Last edited: 22 Aug 2011
  14. Zehetmayr

    Zehetmayr Minimodder

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    Seems a bit daft to hang on for so long waiting for bigger and better things to be released. If we are only talking a couple of months until a major release, then maybe. But waiting 6 months/a year? I vote the OP bites the bullet if he wants to upgrade. P67 & 2500K have proven to be a winning combo that should last a long while yet.
     
  15. Bede

    Bede Minimodder

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    @xp-T: Sauce for this info about DDR4's voltages, 20% CPU next year etc please.
     
  16. xp-T

    xp-T What's a Dremel?

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    Well that's just me, not daft but i like to keep whatever i buy for at least 3-5 years. id rather wait and buy the best than dish out a grand and get swept away by the next big thing around the corner.

    But he wants it for flight sim so yeah, better off with the P67 and 2500K setup.

    I'm trying to get into graphic design so i need raw power lol
     
  17. xp-T

    xp-T What's a Dremel?

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR4_SDRAM

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge

    "Ivy Bridge

    Intel's performance targets(compared to Sandy Bridge):[11]

    30% increase in graphics performance.
    20% increase in CPU performance."

    "DDR4 itself is a DRAM interface specification. Its primary benefits compared to DDR3 include a higher range of clock frequencies and data transfer rates (2133–4266 MHz and MT/s compared to DDR3's 800–2133[1][2]) and significantly lower voltage (1.2 decreasing to 1.05 volts,[2] compared to 1.5 – 1.2 V for DDR3). DDR4 also anticipates a change in topology – it discards dual and triple channel approaches in favor of point-to-point where each channel in the memory controller is connected to a single module.[2][3] Switched memory banks are also an anticipated option for servers.[2]"

    1.2V to 1.05V, my mistake.

    "The new chips are expected to run at 1.2 V or less,[24][25] versus the 1.5 V of DDR3 chips, and have in excess of 2 billion data transfers per second"

    Never mind i was right, my mistake....again. lol
     
    Last edited: 22 Aug 2011
  18. Zehetmayr

    Zehetmayr Minimodder

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    Can't fault you! I just haven't got your patience. I want to upgrade NOW! :D
     
  19. xp-T

    xp-T What's a Dremel?

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    Patience is needed when you haven't got the money to be upgrading every year :p
     
  20. Zehetmayr

    Zehetmayr Minimodder

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    Everything but the gfx card in my system has just had it's 4th Birthday. Not bad going at all! And I see the 2500K very much in the same mold as the Q6600 4 years ago. Great bang for buck, overclockable, and damn fast.
     

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