Recommendations please - new rig

[pantherx12]

A core is a physical CPU only though.

Threads are threads, there's some CPU makers that can push 2 threads or even 3 threads per core.

(sun micro-systems for example)

It's qhy the i7s etc are still marketed as quad core.

If they advertised as octocore intel would get in a shit ton o trouble XD

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Regarding the Corsair TX750... I have the corsair TX750 and if I had to recommend a PSU to run your 480 and possibly adding another in the future... don't get the 750w. Go for a 950 or something similar. My knowledge for PSU's isn't the greatest but I speak from experience in using the 750.

I have 2 GTX460's and when trying to SLI "Optimizing best 3d performance" (enabling SLI) my system locks up and freezes. I'm sure the single + 12v single rail with up to 60a is good enough for most but apparently not enough for my setup for SLI. Running 1 GPU (as I am now) is no problem whatsoever but I can't SLI my 2 460's without my system crashing and being very unstable. Maybe a watts shortage ? Really, i'm at a lost for words when trying to figure out my problem. I purchased the 750 thinking it was enough to run SLI but apparently it is not.

My system is as followed..

Intel i7 930
Zalman 9900NT CNPS
Gigabyte X58A-UDR3 (rev 2.0)
12gb Mushkin 1600mhz (6x2gb) 9-9-9-24
WD Caviar Black 64mb cache 6.0gb/s (soon to be raid)
nvidia GTX 460 768mb stock (FPB firmware update: Clock from 675 to 720mhz, Shader from 1350mhz to 1440mhz and memory from 720mhz?? to 900mhz)
Antec DF30 case

i'm not sure if the problem is due to all the led fans and other hardware I have or if it's a faulty psu but without 2 cards my system runs smooth without any issues whatsoever but when I try to SLI my 2 cards, it's unstable and freezes constantly. So from my experience if you ever plan on runing SLI with 2 480's then I suggest you get a more powerful psu. 950 or more should be good.

I'll have get another psu to run sli.

Man, I find it hard to believe that a corsair 750 isn't enough for SLI'ed GTX460 cards. The EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked only requires 24 amps per card. I'd look into other possibilities for your SLI not working before saying it's the PSU. I do agree with needing atleast a 950 to SLI the 480 cards.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Heh, I curious so I had to check. My turbo cool 860 isn't even close to being enough for SLI'ed GTX480 cards, and that's with a single 62 amp 12v rail. You might need a 1200 watt PSU for the 84 amps you'd need for SLI'ed GTX480 cards

 

[GodsFury]

I'm running the i7 930 (930 was just 10$ more expensive than the 920). I've noticed a significant performance increase from my Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550. Also, big increase from Socket 775 to 1366. I can't complain.


*edit*
I find it hard to believe that my TX750 isn't able to run SLI too. I keep being told that even my old Thermaltake 650 could have handled it. The TX750 is listed as capable of sli'ing 2 460's on the nvidia website. But thing is, I have no idea why it crashes. I've tried both cards to see if one was defective but when I put 1 in they both work fine, no issues. I remember now though... When I had both cards in SLI, when I tried to increase fan speed to 60% the 2nd GPU's temperature was showing as being 250c degrees. I'm not sure if that was just a glitch in the evga precision tool or if the actual gpu went scorching hot. But I guess if it really did go that high, it wouldn't work anymore. perhaps the 2nd pci express slot isn't working anymore because of it ?

At this point i'm kind of lost as to why I can't do SLI

 

[fullinfusion]

Dude Im in Canada also and I get a lot of my parts from HERE
ncix is a rip off if you ask me....

 

[GodsFury]

Dude Im in Canada also and I get a lot of my parts from HERE
ncix is a rip off if you ask me....

Prices vary for certain things. My local shop (pccyber.com)'s prices are sometimes better than ncix Canada and newegg.ca but some are more expensive. Bu the directcanada.com seems to have awesome prices for everything so I just might look into buying hardware from there now. Thanks ! =)

 

[fullinfusion]

Prices vary for certain things. My local shop (pccyber.com)'s prices are sometimes better than ncix Canada and newegg.ca but some are more expensive. Bu the directcanada.com seems to have awesome prices for everything so I just might look into buying hardware from there now. Thanks ! =)

alot of items they offer 10 dollar air shipping on certain items. also their great to deal with... I never had any problems what so ever with those guys.

 

[GodsFury]

Man, I find it hard to believe that a corsair 750 isn't enough for SLI'ed GTX460 cards. The EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SuperClocked only requires 24 amps per card. I'd look into other possibilities for your SLI not working before saying it's the PSU. I do agree with needing atleast a 950 to SLI the 480 cards.

Could the 2nd pci express slot be defective then ? I remember seeing my 2nd gpu go to 250c when trying to increase the fan speeds of both to 60%. Maybe that was just a glitch...

But even though it may be hard to believe the 750 can't handle it... maybe there's a shortage of watts to power every thing I have hooked up. Then again, i have a limited knowledge when it comes to PSU and their power abilities.

 

[Dent1]

If the i7 was overclocked at 4ghz I imagine it would be a different story and the PIIx6 can't even reach 4ghz on the stock cooler. And when at 4ghz takes more power than the i7.

If you are spending near $1,000 on the entire why would you be using a stock cooler?

 

[Wulfgar]

Dude Im in Canada also and I get a lot of my parts from HERE
ncix is a rip off if you ask me....

I know that website and their prices are not that good. NCIX is currently the best rated online hardware retailer and you can price match with directcanada.

 

[Dent1]

But look at other games, it trails behind at 20-30fps. Mw2 is the only game where it catches up or beats an i7.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X6_1090T/10.html

Just have a look at Crysis warhead, the PII x6 trails by 20+ fps.

You're exaggerating, on Crysis Warhead there was a 23FPs difference @ 1024x768, no hardcore gamer aspires to plays at that resolution. 13 FPS difference @ 1680x1050, even that is low resolution these days.

Now look at the trend. The i7 870 drops 15 FPS going from 1024x768 to 1680x1050.

Whereas the Phenom II X6 dropped only 5 FPS going from 1024x768 to 1680x1050.

The fact that the i7 suffers a more dramatic FPS decrease shows that its weaker overall, it also shows that if higher resolutions like 1920x1200+ were benchmarked the i7 would of fell way behind the X6 whilst the X6 would of stabilised.

Your link basically shows the X6 is better, even for gaming - providing it’s at a high resolution.

Still, it equates to 8 cores in total, 4 physical and 4 with hyper threading.

A core and a thread are seperate things. A core is physical a hyperthreading "appears" logical. Even with hyperthreading it's 8 logical processors but only 4 physical processors still. The i7 is a quadcore.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Could the 2nd pci express slot be defective then ? I remember seeing my 2nd gpu go to 250c when trying to increase the fan speeds of both to 60%. Maybe that was just a glitch...

But even though it may be hard to believe the 750 can't handle it... maybe there's a shortage of watts to power every thing I have hooked up. Then again, i have a limited knowledge when it comes to PSU and their power abilities.

could be a problem with the 2nd PCIE slot, could be a problem with one of the cards when trying to run in SLI, could be a problem with your SLI bridge for all I know. All I can say is from I've read on the specifications of both the 750 watt corsair and the GTX460, the corsair should be able to power the SLI'ed GTX460 cards. Got a friend with a SLI compatable system you could try them in?

BTW, if your card actually hit 250'c, your whole computer would have melted. That's almost 500'f

 

[fullinfusion]

I know that website and their prices are not that good. NCIX is currently the best rated online hardware retailer and you can price match with directcanada.

Mabey there top rated but I do penny pinch and often check both sites out. But like I said I've had better prices with them... there prices change daily and usually for the better.

 

[GodsFury]

could be a problem with the 2nd PCIE slot, could be a problem with one of the cards when trying to run in SLI, could be a problem with your SLI bridge for all I know. All I can say is from I've read on the specifications of both the 750 watt corsair and the GTX460, the corsair should be able to power the SLI'ed GTX460 cards. Got a friend with a SLI compatable system you could try them in?

BTW, if your card actually hit 250'c, your whole computer would have melted. That's almost 500'f

Thanks for your reply! Actually, I do have a friend that could run SLI so I think that's what I'll try. He has the HX750 from corsair too so I guess that's a good build to try it in since it's nearly the same psu.

Thanks again

 

[Wulfgar]

I heard they're gonna drop the prices on the Core I7 950 by the end of the month so I guess I'm gonna wait a little longer.

 

[Dent1]

I heard they're gonna drop the prices on the Core I7 950 by the end of the month so I guess I'm gonna wait a little longer.

I can not see the price dropping any time soon, the i7 950 is a $600 CPU, even if they drop the price a few dollars its still going to be way overpriced.

If you seriously need that much power get AMD's hexacore its less than half as much.

 

[WarEagleAU]

well newegg.com is usually pretty darn cheap so I imagine the newegg.ca is just as cheap. NZXT Hades is pretty good, its a midtower and around 100 to 130 bucks US. Otherwise if you like Antec, their new DarkFleet cases are very cool. PRoc is good. I'd go with a bit cheaper motherboard from Asus, Gigabyte or MSI if possible. for the video card, try that HX 850 from Corsair. It is rated as a silver psu, but really pulls gold certifications. Sound card, if you want one Auzentech is pretty good but expensive. For ram, I love the GSkill series or Kingston or Corsair.

 

[bpgt64]

Yeah if you leave the x6 at stock speed, they pretty much all do 4ghz with no problems.

Look at gaming results when over-clocked
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X6_1090T/images/mw2oc_1024.gif

Who plays at that resolution?

I have had a i7 920 paired with GTX 470s, and a 1090T paired with HD 5870s. The i7 rig does better performance wise.

 

[DaMulta]

Just think

You could have 12 real cores, and 12 fake cores for a total of 24 cores!!!

http://www.evga.com/articles/00537/

Just think about that a bit lol

 

[GodsFury]

Just think

You could have 12 real cores, and 12 fake cores for a total of 24 cores!!!

http://www.evga.com/articles/00537/

Just think about that a bit lol

Now that is just rediculous! Imagine the technology in 2-5 years... We're going to be up to 100 cores!