I7-975 Extreme- Which one of these MoBo should I get?

I am building a new pc with a i7-975 extreme.

I am trying to decide between these two motherboards. Supposedly the only difference if 8 phase or 16 phase power.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131386
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

I am new to OCing, so im not sure which one is better for me. Is it worth the the extra (close to) $80?

Do you have a better mother board suggestion?

Thank You

If you're gonna chalk up $1k for a CPU, you should hold off as Gulftown is being release early next year.

You going under LN2? Why a $1k processor?

LN2?

ghurty said:

LN2?

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Liquid nitrogen, normally used for benching purposes. What cooling are you planning on running on this chip? Just air or water would be a waste on the chip to be honest.

What would you recommend without breaking the bank while on the other hand taking advantage of the capabilities?

I got the 975 as a present.

I am trying to build a good computer while keeping under a normal budget.

I currently have the CPU and 24GB of ddr3 10600, and GTX 260.

I also have either a CM 690 or Antec 900 as a case.

My PSU is a EIN720AWT 720W SLI .

So now I just need to work on the cooling system and motherboard.

I just looked into the i9.

If possible I would want all the parts compatible with that so in the future, I could just swap it in.

Thanks

24GB of DDR3? You run multiple VM's or do you believe you would use that?

Personally, and if possible, if I was you I would sell the i975. Take the cash, go buy yourself an i7 920. Net $500+

Then I would sell 18GB of that DDR3 ram and keep 6GB, 12 if you really need it. Net $200++ selling 12gb and $300 selling 18GB.

I would then get a HD5870 GPU instead of a solid, but now mediocre GPU like the GTX260 and then sell it $100.

With the extra money saved, get a nice 24" monitor so show off that fancy 5870...and you would still have a few hundred left over for gulftown.

Im not certain which motherboards will support Gulftown at this point. A lot for sure will with BIOS revisions I would imagine.

Holy crap, that's a nice present!!!

24GB of memory, too? Yikes... the GTX 260 is a nice gaming card, but wow... what are you going to be doing with this monster?

Either case will be great for air flow, though I think the Nine Hundred has a bit of an advantage there, with more fans and all... the power supply should also be way more than enough - that's a pretty nice PSU!

Guess you don't want to "break the bank" with the motherboard, since that was already done with the memory? I keed! But seriously, either of those boards would be more than enough, I think. It's tough to get a "bad" X58 board, and most review sites have shown little variation in max OC from one board to another. Once you get to some point, the i7 pumps out enough heat to make cooling one of the bigger challenges, not necessarily the bClk that the board allows being a limiting factor. I doubt the 8-phase versus the 16-phase VRM of the two boards would make a gigantic difference... maybe in longevity due to less stress on the 16-phase board's parts, but even that's a stretch. Lots of folks have had good luck with the lower-end EVGA boards' mere 6-phase unit.

As for compatibility, nearly all X58 boards should be able to take i9. At least, that's what Intel had indicated at one point. It'll probably be up to the manufacturers to see to it that their boards get the needed BIOS microcode updates and that's it.

All this being said, I wouldn't feel bad about getting the SE model instead of the Deluxe. The extra power capacity would be nice if you were going on LN2 or other exotic cooling for benching, but if you're sticking to air, the 8-phase SE model would be sufficient.

What cooling would you recommend? I have never OC'd so far, but I would like to get into it.

I would rather spend a little bit more now, rather then having to buy a better cooling system as I get more daring with the OCing.

Thanks

The RAM and the CPU were the present(I did her a really really big favor once), the rest I have been buying as they go on sale

ghurty said:

The RAM and the CPU were the present(I did her a really really big favor once), the rest I have been buying as they go on sale

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Seriously, dude, what did you do for someone that made them buy you a $1000 CPU and $1200 in memory? You must be some kinda frickin' superhero or something!

That being said, cooling is pretty important with the i7, since it can ramp to ridiculous clock speeds and use a whole grip of power while doing so. If you're sticking with air, the top-echelon coolers are regarded to be large heat pipe sinks like the Thermalright IFX-14 and the larger Noctua units. The Cooler Master 212+ is also an amazing cooler for $29, that a lot of $50+ heat sinks have a tough time keeping up with. If I was putting together such a megalomaniacal system, I'd have a tough time putting anything other than a Scythe Orochi on it... since it's really, really, unbelievably big. It's not the best cooler out there, but I think it's damned near the biggest!

As mentioned, you could also sell off the expensive parts and use the rest towards an elaborate video card/monitor setup. I have a tough time selling gifts, myself, so I'd take the 24GB and 975 and have some fun with items I otherwise wouldn't be able to ever, ever afford or at least justify buying! And I only do enough gaming to where I could just make do with that GTX 260 and my current 22" CRT, anyway... Heck, my Phenom II X3 and HD 4830 are great for everything I do now, I couldn't imagine how awesome an i7 rig like that and a nicer video card would be! We'll see if my opinion stays that way, since I'm in the process of downloading STALKER Shadows of Chernobyl and Clear Sky, along with Resident Evil 5 right now...

Also, are we to assume that the 24GB of memory is in six 4GB modules? If it's three 8GB modules... well, that'd just be something very special.

The favor involved something along the lines of flying half way around the world with about 3 hours notice.

Sorry, it is 6 4GB modules.

Everyone keeps on saying "If you are sticking with air". Should I not be? Is what other (relatively) inexpensive option do I have?