To i7 or not to i7?

[zizux]

So my system now is ok.

E3110
4gb 4.4.4.12 G.Skill
750i FTW
9800GTX SSC

I haven't overclocked it much as I sold / gave my watercooling setup to my little brother and haven't got around to replacing it.

I could overclock my current setup and hope that holds me over for a while. Which the early adoption of new hardware usualy isn't the greatest idea in terms of price / performance.

But for some of the stuff that I actualy work on besides games, a quad core would be helpfull, I am just wondering if I can get some personal experiances from people who have made the jump.

Are you happy with your purchase, do you wish you would have waited? What did you come from and what spacific areas did you notice improvements over your old setup?

 

[ozzlo]

If your overhauling your entire system then go i7. If not, then just get a core 2 quad.


even if your doing a complete system overhaul I'd wait at least a couple months before purchasing an i7. IMO Ram and motherboard are too expensive and Intel may do an early price cut in the first half of next year.

 

[ChinStrap]

i would stay with s775.

imo, the gains (the few that may be) don't = the cost of i7.... yet, that is.

 

[glock19owner]

Just buy a 8500/8600 E0...that way your good on air cool and OC that...cheaper then overhauling the complete system...i7 is overkill for what little you honestly do that would truely need quad let alone 8 threads...

 

[jstutman]

so far the gains of the i7 are minimal considering the cost. new MB/CPU

 

[juane414]

The gains of a core 2 quad over a core 2 dual aren't even that great in most cases. The core i7 is just so absurdly advanced that there isn't anything that can use its power. Especially for gaming, the core i7 is a waste of money. An E8500 can perform as well as a core i7 in most games.

 

[zizux]

I do want to move to a crossfire setup, thus new mobo and video cards so if good overclocking 775 crossfire friendly boards aren't that much cheaper then the i7 stuff from what I've seen, and while the cpu's are more money, that might be offset by the costs of buying new 775 now and then moving to i7 in six months.

 

[jason4207]

Why not just get another 9800GTX for SLI? It seems fruitless to side-step into a X-fire rig w/ all the associated costs, and time involved.

I personally prefer the Intel boards, but I'm still not sold on multi-GPU setups for gaming (great for benching, though).

I'd stick w/ what you got, and maybe get another card for SLI. Then in 6-12 months look into i7 a little more.

 

[radi4fun]

The core i7 is just so absurdly advanced that there isn't anything that can use its power. Especially for gaming, the core i7 is a waste of money. An E8500 can perform as well as a core i7 in most games.

I like the way you think. very true. for now you'd better off saving your money and stick with the E8500 or heck even a very good OC'ed E8400 can last you up to 6-9months until you finally decide to take a plunge into the new i7 crave.

 

[zizux]

Well you guys have talked me into it. Keeping and overclocking till I just have to upgrade.

I had considered getting another 9800GTX but I am sorry nvidia's rendering of stuff just doesn't look as good IMO then ATI's. Maybe I'm just too picky, but honestly my HTPC with a 3450 hybrid crossfire looks better (although way slower) then my main desktop.

Another thought about going SLI is I would still need to replace my motherboard. I use a hardware raid card that is currently taking up my other pcix slot.

 

[jason4207]

Well, you could get a 260/280GTX (or wait for the 270/290GTX) and sell your current card. That would give you the best gaming bang4$ given your current setup.

You've already got an E3110 (same as E8400). Is it OC'd? Is it an E0 stepping?

 

[myststix]

Spend the bucks and get an i7 if for nothing else you get to see 8 CPU's under Device Manager. *drool*

 

[JaY_III]

Just drop a faster core 2 into the thing if your on a budget.

If you dont mind spending
$750 CAD for a 940
$400 CAD for a Mobo
$300 CAD for 6GB of ram
get the core i7

But i think core i7 is overpriced right now.

 

[zizux]

The spending money part doesn't bother me as much as not seeing value in the money spent.

If I don't spend the money I have to pay taxes on it. So long story short I've got about a month and a half to spend my "fun" money that I get from my side business.

Or pay taxes on all of it. So if I spend it before the end of the year, I get to keep from losing 15-20%.

Computer stuff is easier to justify then other things.

 

[zbo]

You could be really boaring and buy vouchers to where ever you get your computer stuff from.

That way you spend the money before you get texed and buy the stuff when its cheeper.

 

[JaY_III]

Well IMHO the RAM price is not bad at all.
Nor is the motherboard I have the Gigabyte EX58-EXTREME and it comes with enough cooling to justify the price i think. NB comes with a water block....

CPU is a little pricey, few hundred over priced for what you get i think....

So the question now becomes how much cash do you need to burn?
Does the Core i7 fit into the cash to burn range knowing its a few hundred overpriced?

 

[Lukee]

Just drop a faster core 2 into the thing if your on a budget.

If you dont mind spending
$750 CAD for a 940
$400 CAD for a Mobo
$300 CAD for 6GB of ram
get the core i7

But i think core i7 is overpriced right now.

I would either get the 920 or 965extreme. for the minimal gains from the 920, the 940 is upsurdly overpriced.

 

[Brolloks]

I would either get the 920 or 965extreme. for the minimal gains from the 920, the 940 is upsurdly overpriced.

I would recommend the 920 period, the 965 will not give you anything over the 920 unless you have extreme cooling and that won't be 24/7 in any case.

The 920 can do 4 Ghz comfortably on air and that is more than enough to do whatever you want.

 

[Lukee]

I would recommend the 920 period, the 965 will not give you anything over the 920 unless you have extreme cooling and that won't be 24/7 in any case.

The 920 can do 4 Ghz comfortably on air and that is more than enough to do whatever you want.

I agree, personally, I think that 920 is enough for me, but you know there are people that want the extreme stuff out there. At least the 965 has some differences that the 920/940 doesn't have.