I7 or q9550 for gaming/video editing

[roadkillfever]

Hey, quick question (i know i've got another thread open, but need a quick answer)

What would be more cost effective/future-proof for a gaming/video editing computer: the i7 or the q9550?

i'm on a budget of £1000 (approx $1400), and need the computer to last me til sept 2011.

Play Empire total war, left4dead, and diablo 3 when it comes out....and do video editing with vegas 8 pro.

I was wondering how the 2 systems would compare with each other, and if it was worth the extra to go for i7.

 

[MykC]

With the i7 your getting more processing power and your on a socket that is just starting rather than ending.

 

[easymoney9]

New build? Yes. Definitely I-7!

 

[aevm]

i7 indeed. It will do better in video editing. For gaming it's about the same, depending on whether you overclock and how good you are at it.

 

[roadkillfever]

Awesome, thanks for the help! I'll get working on fine-tuning my spec

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-101-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=160 £50.59 inc VAT
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-035-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098 £63.24 inc VAT
OCZ Fatal1ty 550w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-159-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1283 £181.69 inc VAT
Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-265-IN £229.99 inc VAT
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - OEM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-004-OC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395 £34.49 inc VAT
OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 754/755/939/AM2/LGA775)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-OC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395 £8.04 inc VAT
OCZ Vendetta 2 Socket LGA1366 Mounting Bracket

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-129-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1389 £114.99 inc VAT
OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Gold (3x2GB) Triple Channel DDR3 (OCZ3G1600LV6GK)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-180-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=939 £143.74 inc VAT
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (11133-00-20)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-244-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940 £63.24 inc VAT
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-090-LG&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat= £18.39 inc VAT
LG GH22NS40 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-037-MS&groupid=33&catid=20&subcat= £91.99 inc VAT
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (66I-01939)

Total: £1,000.39

 

[aevm]

That's a great build.

You can make it more future-proof with this PSU, if you have £17 more:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/750W...e-Quiet-Quad-12v-Rail-ATX12v-22-EPS12v-86-Eff
(60A, 4 PCI-E connectors, will handle two HD 4870 cards if needed)

The OCZ Fatal1ty has 37A and two connectors and it's perfect for one HD 4870.

 

[roadkillfever]

Ahh thats encouraging! It's pretty similar to the spec I put together

The only differences i had were:

MOBO = Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P Intel X58 Socket 1366 DDR3 Motherboard (193.19)

Don't know what the difference is between the 2 motherboards...but for £10 price difference, if this is any better i'll get it.

RAM = OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Platinum (3x2GB) Triple Channel DDR3 (114.99)
OR OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Gold (3x2GB) Triple Channel DDR3 (£114.99)
OR OCZ 6GB 1800MHz DDR3 PC3-14400 (3 X 2GB) Reaper Low Voltage Tri-Channel Kit (£111.99)

I wasn't sure at all about the ram...how do you tell which one is better value? (i know it involves clock speeds and the frequency, but i didnt know what exactly to look for)

GPU = Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (£164.99)

It's too late to change this choice now, as i've already bought it...hope the 1gb version was worth the extra £20.

CPU Cooler = Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V 3 Heat Pipe Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (£34.39)

Heard that this cooler was well recomended, and comes with it's own bracket (it does fit in this system doesn't it?? went on the website and it showed compatability)

PSU = 650W TX Corsair PSU, single 12V rail, energy efficient, quiet & cool, fully compatible, 5yr warranty (£80.10)
OR 750W TX Corsair PSU, single 12V rail, quiet & cool 80%+ Eff (£100.84)

Saw these 2, and saw both are ati certified, but if your choices are just as good i'll go with them for the price.

Also regarding the PSU's...i'm planning on trying my hand at overclocking the system (not done it before now) and possibly adding some case fans. Would this make any of the PSU choices more favourable? (guessing i might need a higher wattage psu)


I'm ok for optical drives (using the ones from my old system)

Oh, almost forgot about thermal paste as well. I know that arctic silver 5 seems to be a favourite here...but from looking at this review here the ocz freeze seems to fair better, and is half the price (£3.44)!

Thanks for all your help so far...once I get confirmation on these last few items, I'll start buying the rest 😀

 

[rescawen]

Make it 3 Gigs of ram because the average gain from 6 gigs from 3 is only 10% in gaming and get slightly better video card and PSU. Id wait til the HD5000 and GTX300 come and then buy a new rig though.

 

[roadkillfever]

What would be more cost effective/future-proof for a gaming/video editing computer: the i7 or the q9550?

Was this really a serious question or some boring joke?

You want to know if a new socket with a new processor is more future proof than a old processor on a dead socket?? LOOOOL I mean get a clue man.

Alright, calm down!!! No need for the sarcastic comments. I'm new to the whole computing thing. I meant would it be the right choice for my circumstances.

From browsing the forums, I know people are still building systems with the old duo's because they're better for gaming. So how long til theyre going to need to upgrade again??? They're on the old socket after all.

I need this computer to last me about 2 1/2 years....and in that time i dont really plan to upgrade much; maybe crossfire in about a year if there are games that require that little bit extra/prices come down enough. By the time i come to massively upgrade my computer (about 3 1/2 years from now....i'm out of the country for a year with uni), I expect there will be bigger, better motherboards out there for better processors.

From what I've seen...i7 builds are a bit more expensive, due to it being latest technology ect. Therefore, if i could get away with a Q9550 without too much of a performance loss, and it'd last me until i needed it, then why not go with that and save myself a bit of money???

But i'm just starting out in computing, and dont really know my stuff...which is why I came here to ask for help and advice (which i've received plenty of, and am very thankful for).

 

[aevm]

From what I've read, the i7 line only accounts for about 5% of Intel's CPU sales.
Even in a better economy I doubt they'd be more than 10%. They're not really meant to kill the Core 2 line. They're just a high-end product for the richer enthusiasts. So yeah, the Q9550 and E8500 and others are still a good solution for a lot of people.

If you're going for the Q9550, I'd recommend a GA-EP45-UD3P and the 750TX. That would let you Crossfire the HD 4870 without needing to buy adapters. With the 650TX you would need 2 molex_PCI-E adapters.

 

[radiowars]

But i'm just starting out in computing, and dont really know my stuff...which is why I came here to ask for help and advice (which i've received plenty of, and am very thankful for).

It's fine. We love to encourage new builders and truly hope to help out. This guy is just one of the few a**holes on the site. I'm glad you're getting help.

On another note, I think the system looks pretty good. Dish out for the better PSU (very important in PC builds) and keep the GPU for now. Later, if you want, you can update the card without having to update the PSU. 200$ now, or 400$ later. Right?
Show pics and specs when you're done building