Which i7 to get?

Duffman · Jan 19, 2010

The time has come for a system upgrade. I am making the switch to i7.

So far this is what i am looking at:

evga EA758-a1 mobo
ASUS 5870
Corsair Dominator DDR3

My big quandry is this: Is it worth it to pay $200+ more for an i7 940 or higher vs the i7 920? Also, any input on the other components would be appreciated as well.

Rakesh95 · Jan 19, 2010

I would by the 920 and buy a very nice cooler, eg dark knight and Overclock it to match if not beat the 940. I don't see the 200 difference between them

MRCL · Jan 19, 2010

Rakesh95 said:
I would by the 920 and buy a very nice cooler, eg dark knight and Overclock it to match if not beat the 940. I don't see the 200 difference between them

^What I would do. OC like a madman, and you'll have performance equal to a 940 + 200 bucks saved for bacon.

Duffman · Jan 19, 2010

That's kinda what I was thinking.

Thinking of going with this cooler:
Prolimatech Megahalems
with two of These

MRCL · Jan 19, 2010

Duffman said:
That's kinda what I was thinking.

Thinking of going with this cooler:
Prolimatech Megahalems

Heh I just ordered one. Gonna cool an i7-860 with it. Alternatives would also be the top Noctua coolers.

Asylum · Jan 19, 2010

The Evga 758 and the 920 is a great combo.
I have one myself and can run 06 and Vantage @ 4.5Ghz.
You can pick up a used 758 for about $180 (unless you want new.)
Also if you can find a pre 3900 batch DO chip they clock better than the new ones.

Duffman · Jan 19, 2010

I love my current Noctua cooler. It is staying strapped to the 9450/Formula Maximus combo and will be transplanted into the wifey's machine.

From what i've read, the Prolimatech is the current king of the hill for air coolers. That with come Noctua fans should be kickass and quiet.

PaulieG · Jan 19, 2010

It's rarely if ever worth buying a higher end chip, as long as the lower end chip has a decent multiplier.

madswimmer · Jan 19, 2010

yea id go with a 920, they are cheap and overlock great. for cooling options u can refer to frostytech.com
they do reviews of tons of heatsinks. they also compile a list of the top 10. the megahalem is in there and should be a good option. another good cooler would be the sunbeam core contact freezer. it was $25 after rebate and cools like a beast.

SystemViper · Jan 19, 2010

+8 on the i7 920, it's still top dog for the everyday user.

Duffman · Jan 19, 2010

sweet, 920 it is.

Is the Dominator Ram overpriced? is there a better option in the 2000 trip channel ddr3?

kid41212003 · Jan 19, 2010

I'm guessing you want a mild-OC (3.8-4GHz) for 24/7 setup?

If so, just get a cheap 1333 kits from your favorite brand, X58 already have alot of memory bandwidth compare to older sockets, even at 1066 memory speed.

Duffman · Jan 19, 2010

You got it pegged.

So 2000 would be overkill?

DaveK · Jan 19, 2010

Isn't the 940 just an overclocked 920? It's not worth the extra money anyway since you can easily overclock the 920 an extra 300MHz or whatever it is.

I think it's criminal what they're charging for it, the 920 is €249 here the the 940 is €500. Twice the price for something you can just overclock for free.

The Xigmatek Dark Knight is a good cheap cooler too.

kid41212003 · Jan 19, 2010

Duffman said:
You got it pegged.

So 2000 would be overkill?

Totally over kill.

Duffman · Jan 19, 2010

Ok, i think i'm going to split the differnce and go 1600

Asylum · Jan 19, 2010

Heres a good deal on CPU,Heatsink and Ram.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1487736

Duffman · Jan 19, 2010

Lookin at Corsair

Duffman · Jan 20, 2010

Next question. Would it be worth upgrading to the Classified from the EA758-A1?

Fitseries3 · Jan 20, 2010

i7 940 is a totaly POS chip. get the 950 if you must get something "better" than a 920.

honestly.... after having 14 1366 chips now...

xeons are alot better in the long run.

xeon w3520 is great but you can get a w3540 if you want a higher multi.

Duffman · Jan 20, 2010

don't even see the 3540 on the egg. what exactly makes the xeon's better nowadays?

Fitseries3 · Jan 20, 2010

xeons are hand picked to be better chips than i7s. they have lower temps and lower volts for same clocks.

your best bet is to buy used.

Duffman · Jan 20, 2010

Thanks for the advice and the Classified MB Fit. Can't wait to get it.

Now the Megahalem is not available on the Egg!! argh

afw · Jan 20, 2010

Duffman said:
Thanks for the advice and the Classified MB Fit. Can't wait to get it.

Now the Megahalem is not available on the Egg!! argh

I bought one from Frozencpu .... awesome cooler .... :rockout:

.... but if you dont mind the noise
get high CFM fans... probably around 2000RPM/above 80CFM fan ....

link : http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8...k_LGA_775_1156_1366_AM2_AM2_AM3_Hot_Item.html

EDIT: check this one as well ... http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...Ultra-120_Extreme_Successor_.html?id=S2gyHByK

Asylum · Jan 20, 2010

Heres a meg for $40.
Offer him $35.
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=108708

System Name	Black Knight
Processor	Intel Xeon W3520 @4.2Ghz
Motherboard	evga Classified 760
Cooling	Prolimatech Mega Shadow with Dual Noctua NF-P12 fans
Memory	6GB Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 (3gb x 2) 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 5870 Vapor-X
Storage	Corsair P128 SSD for OS, 4 Samsung 500GB in RAID10 For Storage
Display(s)	Samsung SyncMaster T240HD
Case	Corsair Obsidian 800d Twin Zalman ZM-MFC Plus fan controllers
Audio Device(s)	HT\|OMEGA CLARO
Power Supply	Antec Truepower 1000
Software	Win7 64bit ultimate

System Name	Cant think of one
Processor	Intel Core i7 930 D0
Motherboard	Gigabyte EX58A-UD3R
Cooling	3x 200mm, 1x120, 1x120 push for megahalem
Memory	Kingston OC DDR3 1600MHz Cas 6
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 275 896mb
Storage	1x WD AV-GP 1 Terabyte(OS/bkup) 1x WD Caviar Green(Data) 1x WD Caviar Blue(MAC OSX 10.5.5
Display(s)	Dell 22"
Case	Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Audio Device(s)	ALC889a
Power Supply	Coolermaster Utimate Circute protection(UCP) 700
Software	Wndows 7 and MAC OSX leopard

System Name	Fractality 1.0
Processor	Intel Core i7-860 @ 3.6GHz
Motherboard	EVGA P55 SLI
Cooling	Prolimatech Megahalems and four Fractal Design 120mm fans, sleeved
Memory	16GB Kingston Hyper RAM
Video Card(s)	PNY GeForce 580 XLR8
Storage	64GB and 180GB SSDs / 1TB and 2TB HDDs
Display(s)	24" Acer V243W
Case	Fractal Design Define R2, sleeved all I/O cables
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair HX750W modular, sadly only stock sleeving
Software	Win 7 64bit

System Name	Black Knight
Processor	Intel Xeon W3520 @4.2Ghz
Motherboard	evga Classified 760
Cooling	Prolimatech Mega Shadow with Dual Noctua NF-P12 fans
Memory	6GB Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 (3gb x 2) 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 5870 Vapor-X
Storage	Corsair P128 SSD for OS, 4 Samsung 500GB in RAID10 For Storage
Display(s)	Samsung SyncMaster T240HD
Case	Corsair Obsidian 800d Twin Zalman ZM-MFC Plus fan controllers
Audio Device(s)	HT\|OMEGA CLARO
Power Supply	Antec Truepower 1000
Software	Win7 64bit ultimate

System Name	Fractality 1.0
Processor	Intel Core i7-860 @ 3.6GHz
Motherboard	EVGA P55 SLI
Cooling	Prolimatech Megahalems and four Fractal Design 120mm fans, sleeved
Memory	16GB Kingston Hyper RAM
Video Card(s)	PNY GeForce 580 XLR8
Storage	64GB and 180GB SSDs / 1TB and 2TB HDDs
Display(s)	24" Acer V243W
Case	Fractal Design Define R2, sleeved all I/O cables
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair HX750W modular, sadly only stock sleeving
Software	Win 7 64bit

Which i7 to get?

Duffman

New Member

Rakesh95

New Member

MRCL

Duffman

New Member

MRCL

Asylum

Duffman

New Member

PaulieG

madswimmer

SystemViper

Duffman

New Member

kid41212003

Duffman

New Member

DaveK

kid41212003

Duffman

New Member

Asylum

Duffman

New Member

Duffman

New Member

Fitseries3

Eleet Hardware Junkie

Duffman

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Fitseries3

Eleet Hardware Junkie

Duffman

New Member

afw

Asylum

System Name	KILLER
Processor	Intel Core i7 4790K
Motherboard	MSI Z87 G45 Gaming
Cooling	Water Cooling
Memory	2x8GB Gskill 2400mhz
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 980
Storage	SSD Samsung 500GB
Display(s)	24" Asus 144hz
Case	Cooler Master HAF
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Platinum
Power Supply	Antec 1200 Watt Modular
Software	Windows 10 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores	3DMark Vantage 51342

Processor	5800x(2)/5700g/5600x/5600g/2700x/1700x/1700
Motherboard	MSI B550 Carbon (2)/ MSI z490 Unify/Asus Strix B550-F/MSI B450 Tomahawk (3)
Cooling	EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory	32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
Video Card(s)	Asus Strix RTX3060/EVGA 970(2)/Asus 750 ti/Old Quadros
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s)	Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case	(2) Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D /Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Be Quiet Pure Base 500/Bones of HAF
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 850G(2)/EVGA Supernova GT 650w/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w
Mouse	Generic Black wireless (5)
Keyboard	Generic Black wireless (5)
Software	Win 10/Ubuntu

System Name	first build
Processor	amd phenom II x4 955 3.2Ghz
Motherboard	asus 790x EVO
Cooling	sunbeam core contact freezer(120mm)
Memory	G.Skill ripjaws 2x2gb DDR3 1333(PC3 10666) 8-8-8-24
Video Card(s)	BFG GTX 275
Storage	WD 750gb caviar black
Display(s)	HP w2216h
Case	Coolermaster CM 690
Power Supply	Antec Truepower 750w blue
Software	Win7

System Name	The Beast
Processor	Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE
Cooling	Stock
Memory	4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600MHz
Video Card(s)	1GB Sapphire Radeon HD4650 Ultimate Edition
Storage	60GB Corsair Force LE, 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1, 500GB Seagate
Display(s)	22" Samsung T220HD & 19" Acer X193W
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	StealthX
Processor	Intel i7 2700k
Motherboard	Asus SABERTOOTH z77
Cooling	Prolimatech Genesis
Memory	CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB DDR3
Video Card(s)	ASUS GTX 960 2GB black edition
Storage	CORSAIR FORCE GT 120GB SSD + Samsung Spinpoint F3 (1TB + 2 x 500GB)
Display(s)	Acer G235H 23" (1920 x 1080)
Case	Silverstone Raven RV02
Audio Device(s)	OB
Power Supply	Seasonic x650 GOLD
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit