Core i7 Build: Opinions and Suggestions Solicited

[Atheist Icon]

Don't get me wrong, all my systems for the last 8 years have been AMD, but in terms of performance, Intel has created a hell of a chip in the Core i7, I can't even promote AMD over it. Will probably upgrade in 2 years, so by then I hope AMD has an alternative, but if not I think I'll be buying Intel.

I hope so as well. I only advocate AMD because without them, Intel would be charging outrageous prices for bullshit processors...Pentium 4. Not only that, but all of the software manufacturers bitch about having to make their programs multi-threaded. Their analogy, paraphrasing of course:

"Normal birth is 1 woman, 9 months. Imagine now getting 9 women to give birth to 9 different pieces of a baby in a month, then reassembling it at the end."

So, in all reality, it doesn't matter if you have 139 threads on a CPU, most programs are only going to utilize 1 or 2, the others are wasted and a majority of the chip in dormant.

[Signa]

Don't they try to implement some technology on the chip itself that uses all the threads if they aren't being used? I'm certain it's not the same as parallel processing if that's the case, but it can't be all completely wasted then.

[El Comandante]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm moving a little slow on the purchases so that the dust settles on the full scale release of Windows 7.

In addition, the P6T Deluxe V2 Asus Mobo seems to have some kinks that are being worked out in Bios releases. I'm hoping the price drops in the next two months. You guys would not believe the crazy quality control issues that Mobo manufacturers are having. I think they just rushed the Intel X58 mobos into the marketplace.... it sucks.... 1 in 15 are DOA or defective.

Right now I bought the Corsair Professional CMPSU-750HX 750W PSU for $145.99 and free shipping at ZipZoomFly. It was a good deal.

I also got the CoGage True Spirit 4-Heatpipe CPU Cooler at Frozencpu for about $60 bucks with bolt on brackets for the i7 and Shin-Etsu thermal paste (generally considered to be better that Artic 5 for air cooling.... don't ask me why...)

I'm waiting for the price on the Cooler Master Storm Sniper to come down or for some free shipping at Newegg .... right now it's about 160 bucks with shipping....

[Mucci Man]

Be careful with the new Asus x58 boards. Their quality control is not what it used to be. I would seriously look at EVGA as an alternative. They have very good customer service and Asus does not. I recently got 4 workstation boards from Asus for the office and 1 was DOA and another was damaged. If you get a good Asus board though you will be happy.

Also, if you are not a gamer i would not bother overclocking. The i7 nine series is very fast.

[w31n3r]

...The i7 nine series is very fast.

isn't that what they said about pentium MMX 133MHz processors? :laugh2:

we're all fools...

[CRLocky]

I love you guys....

[mountain_rage]

I love you guys....

Whoa, its been a long time since you posted here. Nice to see ya.

[Atheist Icon]

Holy Crap!! I actually sounded intelligent then...

Still got the same setup...although my MB threw a memory slot (RMA time) and the video card is giving me some problems, drivers. I hate AMD for their lack of 3rd party support. My video card hasn't worked right since Sapphire dropped their driver support for their dual GPU configurations(4850x2).

[sygreenblum]

My current system is an i7. I feel a little dirty about that. I've always had AMD systems starting with the k6 and its 3d Now instructions. However, I'm not nostalgic if AMD develops a superior product again I will buy it. Right now however for what I do Intel is a hell of lot faster. A i7 3.0 GHz with a SandForce solid state drive is amazingly fast.

[Signa]

Still running my i7 920 and only needed to replace my video card because my last one died. Honestly, there isn't another processor or GPU out there that I wish I had more. My PC is going to be 2 in June, so I think it's awesome how long this one is lasting me.

[mountain_rage]

Thinking of upgrading my rig in the fall. This machine is starting to struggle with some games and rendering tasks. Still a good machine, amazing for how old it is, 4 or 5 years, but its time. Looking at comparisons online, I think some of the new machines rate at 10 times the speed of my machine in pure processing. Real world I'm sure its not as significant, but still, its time.

[Atheist Icon]

MR - I still have an AGP card laying around X1650...if you want it. Just pay for shipping. hehe

This April I am looking to upgrade. I will get 3 paychecks instead of 2. Probably going to be video, memory, mobo, and cpu. I won't even consider Intel just because of the price, can't justify it.

Oh, forgot to mention the most recent upgrade to my current system, Blu-ray player for $25. Not that I use it to play Blu-ray..just couldnt pass it up.

[mountain_rage]

MR - I still have an AGP card laying around X1650...if you want it. Just pay for shipping. hehe

This April I am looking to upgrade. I will get 3 paychecks instead of 2. Probably going to be video, memory, mobo, and cpu. I won't even consider Intel just because of the price, can't justify it.

Oh, forgot to mention the most recent upgrade to my current system, Blu-ray player for $25. Not that I use it to play Blu-ray..just couldnt pass it up.

Its actually running PCI Express. Made sure of it when I bought my system way back when, because I knew AGP was on its way out.

The newest Intel core I7 only costs about $300, although there was a recall so you might have to wait for that to get fixed before jumping on top of it. But from the comparisons I've seen its about the 3rd fastest processor on the market, for only $300. Its about 30% faster than AMD's faster chip.

[RACKnRAIL]

I love you guys....

Great to see ya back!