Please Help Me Decide ... 1055T or i7 920 / 930

[cognitoo]

Hi everyone, I hope I am posting this in an appropriate category, it was the closest one

I am on the verge of buying or building a computer to be used for gaming, surfing, folding, [and some work].

The past few posts I've put out there had to do with systems at newegg and their upgradability, new build configuration opinions, and the like.

Ultimately, I am thinking I want a gtx 470 in the system with 6 - 8 gigs of ram, a ssd for the OS and a solid CPU. Ideally I had my eye set on an i7 930 and was thinking I wanted to stay with intel as I have always had an intel processor. The system I am now considering has the new 6 core AMD but it's the 1055 not the 1090.

This system as it is built is $1500. The parts alone at Newegg are $1700 with the i7 930 ... $1620 if the 1055 was used.

Is there any reason I should not buy the prebuilt system? Is the 1055T a good processor? Is it possible that it will it bottleneck the gtx 470? or more importantly: will it bottleneck a gtx 480 if I decide to upgrade to that?

I would appreciate your comments on the system as built as there are no customer reviews on the system and it already Sold Out once ... but still no reviews. My Birthday is Monday, and I want to buy myslef SOMETHING whether it be similar components or this rig as it stands by that day.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229186

Thanks in advance for your comments,

Cog

 

[goatsword]

Definitely build, that way you get everything you want. Read the review here on Tom's on the Hexcore processors. They aren't good for gaming at this point, actually worse than the Phenom II quad's in some scenarios. For gaming, I would recommend you stay with the i7 930, the GA-X58A-UD3R, 6GB Tri-channel RAM, and a GTX 480. Get a good case like the HAF 922, and a good HSF so you can overclock. Overclocking really has an impact on gaming, and the i7 930 is a great overclocker.

Hope this helps, Good luck.

EDIT, oh and I would skip the SSD for now, and skip the watercooling unless you are going for an obscene overclock. Get a good HSF like the Hyper 212+ and you'll be fine.

 

[cognitoo]

"and skip the watercooling unless you are going for an obscene overclock."

lol ... ok ... I actually had changed my mind to a Cooler Master V8 for CPU cooling. The whole idea of water anywhere in the case is sort of scary anyway

 

[amnotanoobie]

"and skip the watercooling unless you are going for an obscene overclock."

lol ... ok ... I actually had changed my mind to a Cooler Master V8 for CPU cooling. The whole idea of water anywhere in the case is sort of scary anyway

I7-930
- Good for games, and seem to perform better with an SLi or XFire setup
- Ideally you should overclock it, though at stock, it is still a quick proc.
- Costs a bit more than an AMD setup

X4-955
- Also good enough for current games
- Ideally you could also overclock it.
- Costs a bit cheaper (overall) than an I7 setup

X6
- Good for productivity apps
- Cheaper 6-core than Intel's


You could go for water-cooling, though you'd need to check for leaks on initial setup and it does need a bit of maintenance every few months. Air-coolers however only need to be checked and cleaned for dust every once in a while.

 

[mosox]

Here's an idea:

Mobo+case (GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 + COOLER MASTER HAF 922)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.399281
CPU+PSU (AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition + Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.382743
RAM (G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303
DVD-RW (SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188
HDD (SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
GPU (ASUS EAH5970/G/2DIS/2GD5 Radeon HD 5970 2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121357
HSF (COOLER MASTER Hyper 212)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

$1,515.90

 

[spaztick]

I am not a fan of watercooling myself as many of the applications you need don't need it and if you have to push your hardware that hard it will wear out prematurely. That being said you should build the system how you want it. Bite the bullet and spend the extra cash, especially if it will net you a lifetime warranty for an easy replacement if it ends its life early. If you decided to upgrade later you have a part to resell or use in a second machine.

 

[asteldian]

Why go for i7 or 1055? Personally, if gaming is your thing, I would go with an i5 750, a P55 mobo and 4gb RAM.
The money saved will allow you to push for a better GPU, which in performance terms will give you a far greater gain in gaming than an i7 does (which is near nothing)
Someone has given you an AMD build, I will put in an Intel build using the i5 750 (which I believe to be the best gaming CPU due to its amazing performance and decent price). I am sure someone will offer up an i7 build for you too. As another note, more than 4gb of RAM at the moment will offer you nothing for games

i5 750 - $194.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215&cm_re=i5_750-_-19-115-215-_-Product

Asus P7P55D-E PRO - $189.99 (6gb/s, 3.0 USB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621&cm_re=asus_p7p55d-e_pro-_-13-131-621-_-Product

G Skill 4GB 2x2GB RAM - $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231303

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM 16MB Cache - $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&cm_re=samsung_spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-181-_-Product

Antec 750W - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026&cm_re=antec_750W-_-17-371-026-_-Product


HAF 922 - $89.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&cm_re=haf_922-_-11-119-197-_-Product

HSF COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 - $39.99 + $2.99 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103065

Total: $829.90

That leaves almost $700 for your GPU, so you can go with

5970 - $699.99 + $8.50 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121357&cm_re=5970_radeon-_-14-121-357-_-Product

GTX480 - $499.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125319&cm_re=480gtx-_-14-125-319-_-Product

XFX 5870 - $399.99 + $7.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150476&cm_re=5870_radeon-_-14-150-476-_-Product

Personally I would leave out the 470, given the choice of the 470 or the 5870 I would always prefer the 5870 as it performs better, is similar cost, more power efficient, less noise and less hot.

So, the contenders to me are the 3 above mentioned, the 480GTX is better than the 5870 but is plagued by the same issues as the 470, the question is whether the extra performance is worth the greater price tag. You do like to fold and I believe the GTX480 is the king of that.

The 5970 is the most powerful thing around, but it is expensive. Again, is it worth the extra performance over the 480GTX or even the 5870?

The 5870 is the weakest and the cheapest of the cards but it is still a powerful beast and so is always worth considering.

----------------------------------------------

The only downside to an i5 750 build is the mobos are only x8/x8 in Xfire instead of x16/x16, but the loss in performance is miniscule, and when using the cards you will be able to buy it will be a hell of a long time befoer you even consider crossfiring I would guess, and when you do it would be even longer before the tiny performance loss would actually effect your gaming (by then the technology would all be so outdated you are likely looking for a new system anyway).

Of course, you may not XFire/SLI at all and prefer just to buy a stronger card when you upgrade (I always prefer one strong card over XFire/SLI) if this is the case you could save more money on the mobo I picked which is XFire/SLI enabled

 

[4745454b]

If you did want to CF you could switch to the i7 9xx series. I think the 920/930 is around $200 isn't it? Get a cheaper board and move to 3x2GB ram and you should be able to have a CF board that isn't much more then the build listed above. And in case it needs to be mentioned, the 5970 is not a CF setup as far as the board is concerned. You'll still have 16x lanes going to it.

 

[cognitoo]

Best answer selected by cognitoo.

 

[cognitoo]

asteldian,

Thank You very much for you input ... i am very excited about your suggestions leaving so much $$ for the video card ... I have heard that the gtx 480 has incompatability issues with windows 7 ... if this is indeed true i think i might just go ahead and remorsfully abandon nvidia for the time being i.e this build and shoot for the 5870 or the 5970 ... when you say the 5870 the weakest of the top end cards I am befuddled as the 5870 has a higher Passmark-G3D score than the 5970 ... is that something I should not be paying particular attention to?

Passmark-G3D chart:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

Thanks again, and if you read this let me know how to interpret those Passmark-G3D scores if I should do so at all.

I will go ahead with your recommendations ... last thing to decide now is the video card.

Cog

 

[ahnilated]

I have 2 X GTX 480's in SLI and have had no problems with Windows 7 at all. I don't know where you are getting this information but as a user of them I have not had 1 problem with my EVGA's.

 

[cory1234]

i7 build for folding. The i5 750 is a good chip..I have one @ 4ghz. The 920/930 will generally OC a little better at lower volts with HT.

I almost sold my setup for a 1055T build, but changed my mind as their gaming performance was sub par in comparison to intel clock for clock. The one good thing about the 1055T is they generally load at only 50-55C @ 4ghz compared to 70-75C on an intel chip.

Take a look at the thermalright venomous X instead of the V8, better heatsink.

 

[asteldian]

In terms of gaming performance the 5870 is weaker than the 480 and the 5970. The 5970 is a dual GPU so naturally it is the most powerful.

To be fair, the 480 is not a clear winner in all games, the 5870 actually beats it in a few and comes close in others (though as drivers mature I think the 480 will break ahead).

I can't really dictate which is worth getting, is the extra performacne worth the extra price for 480 and 5970? You have to decide that.

I would recommend you google reviews on the 3 cards (Toms Hardware has some great reviews naturally, though Bit-tech, overclockers and Guru3d also have good reviews) and make a decision yourself

 

[cognitoo]

I have 2 X GTX 480's in SLI and have had no problems with Windows 7 at all. I don't know where you are getting this information but as a user of them I have not had 1 problem with my EVGA's.

That's good to know ... I read that incompatability issue Somewhere ... but maybe it was a driver issue and not an incompatability issue they meant to say?? But they did indeed say there were incompatability issues to some degree, and I was shocked.

I guess you can't believe everything you read.