My current build is around 3 years old and it's getting a little long in the tooth if I'm honest. I've upgraded the GFX relatively recently so I'm looking for a new CPU/mobo/RAM combo. Budget: *I don't mind spending a bit of cash here, in the past I've always been very conservative with my components and for once I wouldn't mind investing into something a little more expensive. It's vague I know but you'll get the gist with the components I'm proposing. Main uses of intended build: *Gaming intensive Parts required: *Motherboard, RAM, CPU and a new case Previous build information (list details of parts): *E6300 *Asus P5B Deluxe Wi-Fi *4 Gig DDR2 6400 CL5 *XFX 260 Black Edition *Corsair HX 650W *Antec P180B Case *Dell SP2309W Monitor resolution: *2,048 x 1,152 Storage requirements: *not important will you be overclocking: *yes Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): *none really Extra information about desired system: *Going from this months buyers guide I'm stuck as to whether go for the cheaper and reliable overclocker of the i5 or to push the boat out and get the i7 860/930. The thing I'm concerned about is whether pushing my budget up and going for the slightly more expensive CPUs and the very much more expensive i7 boards will really have a worthwhile impact on my gaming experience. Also, is there a notable enough difference between dual channel and tri channel DD3 to justify the bigger price tag in my case? I'm a keen overclocker so I plan on upgrading my case which lacks great cooling potential and is looking a little tired. My neighbour has just bought himself a Fractal Design R2 based on the recommendation from the buyers guide and my brother has an Antec 900, again from the buyers guide last year. There's also the Cooler Master CM 690 II and the Xigmatek Utgard Case. So many options as you can see so if any1 would mind giving some advice and pointing me in the right direction I'd be most happy
Personally, I'd get a nice i5 750 and overclock the poo out of it . Since your main interest is gaming and not things like video/image editing there's no point getting the more expensive CPUs. In-game, the performance will be the same.
If your main/sole purpose for the upgrade is for gaming, your absolutely right that going the i7 route is unlikely to boost your FPS. i5 750 overclocked bundle (i5 750 @ 4GHz, Asus P7D55D LE Motherboard, 4GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz memory, Akasa CPU cooler) at Scan for £427.69 Antec 902 at Scan for £90.11 Have you considered getting an SSD? You said storage isn't important, Intel SSDs have dropped in price recently, Scan have the Intel X-25M 80GB for £170.
I've been considering this question as well, decided to go for a low-end i5 and OC it. Reason? Most games framerates will barely be affected by the processor as they are usually GPU-bound - with exception to RTS games or apparently GTA4 (as they are CPU intensive). i7 has their benefits when using multiple graphics cards, but in most normal situations you will be fine with even an i3! Especially since you are overclocking - you can get better than i7 performance (FPS) with an overclocked i3 530 according to the link below. Many people recommend saving on the CPU and spending the extra on the GPU instead, seems like good sense to me Sources: many (Anand, TomsHW, OC forums etc) I have been extensively researching ready to buy a new rig. TomsHW has a relevant article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i3-gaming,2588-7.html Hope this helps!
I've always been under the impression that SSD technology was in it its early stages and extremely expensive because of this. For it to be really worthwhile I can't see 80GB being enough room which would mean having to spend more on greater capacity. Eventually I will no doubt get 1 when the £/GB is a little better. As for CPU, it looks more likely I'll get the i5 upon your advice and OC the shiz out of it with a little Titan Fenrir on top. I'm leaning towards the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 as the motherboard of choice which was suggested in the last few months What to buy list. The only issue I know of is the lack of space for RAM with the Titan Fenrir on. I know my neighbour had problems fitting his Fenrir with GSkill RAM next to it. I don't know if the same problem is exhibited with the Gelid Tranquillo.
I have an i7 and a SSD. The i7 isn't really that important. Triple channel ram only goes so far and my 5970 only uses one PCI-E slot which isn't using all the x58 bandwidth either. Now SSD on the other hand. It is like windows with wings. My computer boots in 20 seconds. I can transfer a 10GB file in less than a minute. I don't install everything on it since my indilinx SSD is only 128GB but you know those splash screens for games, photoshop, and MS office. Those practically don't appear. Everything just loads like that.
If I was you I would go the I7 route, I have just done so myself and to honest I am not dissapointed one bit!!! I was thinking about the I5 but I weighed it up and the I7 was like only £100 more so I went for that! At least with the I7 you will be able to put another graphics card in at a later date and get full fat 16X speed for each card! Also think of the upgrade path for the CPU later on. I have just fitted an i7 920 on a H50 water cooler and it has just clocked to 3.8ghz without breaking a sweat and can even go more if I need! Go on go for it, you will only regret it if you go the I5 route!
It's not so much the price difference in the CPU but rather the motherboard. The i5 mobo is about £85 compared to the i7 mobo at about £220. If I'm not going to see much of a difference if any at a gaming level it seems like a waste of money whereby it could b better spent on a future GFX upgrade.
I was once advised that instead of bit-by-bit upgrades, go for the long haul as you benefit from it in the long run. I've gone from Core 2 Duo (E6600), Core 2 Extreme (QX600), Core 2 Quad (Q9550) and all on DDR2 RAM which maxed me out at 1200MHz. Now I've watercooled on an X58 chipset with an I7-920, a GTX280 (which I may upgrade... again!), one SSD as my boot drive and two F3 1TB drives for my games, applications and storage. I've not regret ever since I made the leap. No drawbacks except the lack of funds once the upgrade has been complete, but I'm still alive!!
After doing a little number crunching and a last minute change of i7 mobo this is what I'm currently looking at: i5 750 - £133.94 GA-P55M-UD2 - £79.93 OCZ 4GB DD3 CL9 1600Mhz - £88.11 Total of £301.98 i7 930 - £211.49 GA-X58A-UD3R - £145.00 Corsair XMS3 DDR3 6GB CL9 1600Mhz - £145.84 Total of £502.33 so recap i5 setup of £301.98 vs a i7 setup of £502.33 I havent made up my mind on RAM in particular for the i7 yet, thats just what i would find in a rush, if anyone else has any suggestions please say so. Some of you say i5 and others i7 so I still havent quite made my mind up yet! So reflecting on these current prices do you guys think that it would be worth it in the long run and worth it generally to go down the i7 or the i5 route? Opinions welcome
The thing is, the i5 750 will handle everything game related just the same as an i7 X58. The only reason you'd consider i7 is if you're going to go tri/quad SLI/Crossfire. Having said that, an i7 920 for ~£160 is just too good to pass up. If you don't mind spending the extra money for an i7 X58 rig, I'd go for that.
Me personally I'd go for the i7 system, the price isn't much and you have better gfx upgrade option than the i5.
Personally I would spend the extra £200 for the i7. You're getting a better processor and 2gb of extra memory for that or if you can get the 920 for £160 - then it's only another £150. I think it would be rude not to
If you go i7 you also protect yourself for upgrading in the future. i7 will support the newer CPUs coming out. i5 will not. Basically, do you want to spend more now, get a higher performing mobo/cpu, and save later when you upgrade again? Or, do you want to save some money now, and then have to buy a new mobo/cpu later when you want to upgrade?
I went for the I7 930 and i'm not regretting it in the slightest. I plan on overclocking it as soon as i'm using more than 60% of its power, nothing I do seems to max it out.
Oh and i just thought i'd add that i bought it in a bundle. Which was extremely easy to sort out, with my X58 mobo.
