Upgrades

[Xplorer4x4]

Looking for some upgrades here soon. Obviously I work with 3d models a little bit, and photoshop as well. However I also do alot of video editing and watching(alot of high def), as well as conversions and such. From time to time I run a virtual machine or two to test somethings out in various linux distros. And to top it off, I have a bad habit of multi tasking alot of stuff at once. I know there arent to many hardcore geeks here but figuered I would get feedback from those of you who are geeks.

Current build:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q 6600

Asus P5N-D

EVGA 9800 GTX+ 500 MB

Patriot Viper 2x2 GB DDR 2 RAM

EVGA Nvidia 9800 GTX+ 512 MB GDDR3

Corsair 520HX PSU

Its pretty solid, but I am looking for something more powerful and something more future proof as well.

I'll start with the processor upgrade since this is for sure:

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

Now obviously I need a new mobo. I dont care much for NVIDIA chipsets. I was thinking of this one:

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128375

I want this to be, and stay lightning fast, so I think a dedicated OS drive is needed so I dont clutter up my OS drive with downloads.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136320

I also considered this:

Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3250310NS 250GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148309

The seagate, being a smaller drive, seems like it would be a little faster, but is it? Not to mention its $5 more for half the storage space.

Moving on to RAM:

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS34G1333LLKN - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820220333

Not the best known brand but they make solid products and I hear there customer support is great. To top it off they match my green cathodes and such. Pretty set on this.

Last but not least, a video card. We have the:

EVGA 01G-P3-1156-TR GeForce GTS 250 Superclocked Edition 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130470

or we have the SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102801

[billyfromhill]

Looking for some upgrades here soon. Obviously I work with 3d models a little bit, and photoshop as well. However I also do alot of video editing and watching(alot of high def), as well as conversions and such. From time to time I run a virtual machine or two to test somethings out in various linux distros. And to top it off, I have a bad habit of multi tasking alot of stuff at once. I know there arent to many hardcore geeks here but figuered I would get feedback from those of you who are geeks.

Current build:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q 6600

Asus P5N-D

EVGA 9800 GTX+ 500 MB

Patriot Viper 2x2 GB DDR 2 RAM

EVGA Nvidia 9800 GTX+ 512 MB GDDR3

Corsair 520HX PSU

Its pretty solid, but I am looking for something more powerful and something more future proof as well.

I'll start with the processor upgrade since this is for sure:

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

Make sure you get a D0 stepping one.

Now obviously I need a new mobo. I dont care much for NVIDIA chipsets. I was thinking of this one:

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128375

Go with the EVGA X58 LE mobo. Just came out and it looks real nice. BTW Nvidia doesen't make any chipsets for i7. Only X58 will work.

http://www.evga.com/articles/00481/

I want this to be, and stay lightning fast, so I think a dedicated OS drive is needed so I dont clutter up my OS drive with downloads.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136320

I also considered this:

Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3250310NS 250GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148309

The seagate, being a smaller drive, seems like it would be a little faster, but is it? Not to mention its $5 more for half the storage space.

I use three of the WB Caviar Black HD is RAID 5 and they are fast. I recommend. Look at the WD Velociraptors also.

Moving on to RAM:

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS34G1333LLKN - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820220333

Not the best known brand but they make solid products and I hear there customer support is great. To top it off they match my green cathodes and such. Pretty set on this.

Corsair Dominators all the way. Keep in mind DDR3 runs in triple channel so you need three sticks. Go with 6 GB (3 x 2GB) of Corsair Dominators.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145232

Last but not least, a video card. We have the:

EVGA 01G-P3-1156-TR GeForce GTS 250 Superclocked Edition 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130470

or we have the SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102801

Use the 9800 GTX+ you already have. The GTS 250 is a slightly (very slightly) better 9800 GTX+. Reuse your current card and wait until the GT300 cards hit the market in Q4 2009-Q1 2010 and then upgrade.

What about a case and PSU? Are you going to reuse your current ones? What about a CPU cooler?

[Xplorer4x4]

Make sure you get a D0 stepping one.

I'll try.

Go with the EVGA X58 LE mobo. Just came out and it looks real nice. BTW Nvidia doesen't make any chipsets for i7. Only X58 will work.

http://www.evga.com/articles/00481/

Sorry the boards about $100 more so doesnt look its gona happen.

I use three of the WB Caviar Black HD is RAID 5 and they are fast. I recommend. Look at the WD Velociraptors also.

Meh the velociraptors are killer but there are other hard drives out there that are cheaper and perform almost the same. Caviar Black is one of them.

Corsair Dominators all the way. Keep in mind DDR3 runs in triple channel so you need three sticks. Go with 6 GB (3 x 2GB) of Corsair Dominators.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145232

Might do that.

Use the 9800 GTX+ you already have. The GTS 250 is a slightly (very slightly) better 9800 GTX+. Reuse your current card and wait until the GT300 cards hit the market in Q4 2009-Q1 2010 and then upgrade.

Why wait? If I always wait for the bigged better card then I will be waiting forever.

What about a case and PSU? Are you going to reuse your current ones? What about a CPU cooler?

I am currently using a Mozart TX case and a Corsair 520 HX and they should work just fine for the new build according to corsairs website.

[billyfromhill]

I'll try.

Don't forget if you live near a Microcenter that have the i7 920 for $229.99.

Sorry the boards about $100 more so doesnt look its gona happen.

Not really. Newegg has the X58 LE for $219.99 after MIR. That Gigabyte board you plan to get is only $184.99 after MIR. It's only $35 bucks more. If you can afford it go for it since you get that fourth PCIe X16 slot on the X58 LE.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...mp;Tpk=X58%20LE

Meh the velociraptors are killer but there are other hard drives out there that are cheaper and perform almost the same. Caviar Black is one of them.

Go with the Caviar Blacks then. If they're in RAID 0 they should be on par with a Velociraptor.

Might do that.

Why wait? If I always wait for the bigged better card then I will be waiting forever.

Well, this time the wait for GT300 will be worth it. Nvidia has new technology that is reported to be much, much, much faster then any current card. Take a look at the article below and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2009/...-cgpu!.aspx

If your dead set on upgrading go with a GTX 275 or 285.

I am currently using a Mozart TX case and a Corsair 520 HX and they should work just fine for the new build according to corsairs website.

You might want to think about upgrading that power supply. If you're doing any overclocking it might not be enough.

[Xplorer4x4]

Don't forget if you live near a Microcenter that have the i7 920 for $229.99.

As far as I am aware there arent any near by, and really theres only one PC shop in town that carries parts like processors and mobos on the shelf. There are a few small reapir stores that can order parts but since I am going through a middle man I am sure it would be more. We have a Best Buy but the only things they really carry on the shelf are DVD burners, cables and things like that.

Not really. Newegg has the X58 LE for $219.99 after MIR. That Gigabyte board you plan to get is only $184.99 after MIR. It's only $35 bucks more. If you can afford it go for it since you get that fourth PCIe X16 slot on the X58 LE.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...mp;Tpk=X58%20LE

Oh I thought you meant this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813188039

I see no reason for a fourth PCIe X16 slot. Plus I am just dont trust the board yet. Thats just me but I dont care how great it is claimed it will be, its just too new at this point.

Go with the Caviar Blacks then. If they're in RAID 0 they should be on par with a Velociraptor.

Well I want to do raid but for now I am just doing one and then I will probably add another a month or two down the road depending on how a non raid set up goes.

Well, this time the wait for GT300 will be worth it. Nvidia has new technology that is reported to be much, much, much faster then any current card. Take a look at the article below and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2009/...-cgpu!.aspx

If your dead set on upgrading go with a GTX 275 or 285.

Again price..

You might want to think about upgrading that power supply. If you're doing any overclocking it might not be enough.

Nah no ocing, maybe in the future but for now I should be fine.

[billyfromhill]

As far as I am aware there arent any near by, and really theres only one PC shop in town that carries parts like processors and mobos on the shelf. There are a few small reapir stores that can order parts but since I am going through a middle man I am sure it would be more. We have a Best Buy but the only things they really carry on the shelf are DVD burners, cables and things like that.

Oh I thought you meant this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813188039

I see no reason for a fourth PCIe X16 slot. Plus I am just dont trust the board yet. Thats just me but I dont care how great it is claimed it will be, its just too new at this point.

Well I want to do raid but for now I am just doing one and then I will probably add another a month or two down the road depending on how a non raid set up goes.

Again price..

Nah no ocing, maybe in the future but for now I should be fine.

Usually you have to set up RAID before you install your OS because it wipes the drives and the MBR. The fourth PCIe slot is there so you can run tri-SLI with a dedicated card for PhysX. I wouldn't worry too much about how new the board is. All of EVGA's other boards are rock solid. There's another board from EVGA new also. The X58 Micro. It's sort of a shame you won't be doing amy overclocking. The 920's can easily hit upwards of 4 GHz with good cooling and the right voltage.