Time to start this process again (2 Viewers)

Ted

muddlin'
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http://srarchives.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1896013#post1896013

I notice that I'm page filing a good bit so I was looking forward to moving from XP to Windows 7 an cramming a bunch more RAM into my system as with XP, I can't take advantage of more than 3.somethingGB of RAM. Alas, mu MB can't handle more than 4GB.

So, what's the deal with chips/motherboards these days? there's too much to sift through on Tom's Hardware and all of the chips seem to have 4.5+ ratings on newegg.

Again, no gaming, lots of processor/memory/HDD intensive data crunching, video now as I'm using DirecTV2PC, but that works OK on my current system, so I suppose I'm OK there.

This AMD looks cost effective. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103692 But I'm willing to drop more money for more power and longevity.

$$$$ to sr.com upon success.

Thanks in advance for the :worthy::nerd: help.
 
I always have been the best bang for the buck. I think Intel has the edge right now but Amd is coming up. The only thing I ever get is an nvidia graphics , Ati left a bad taste in my mouth years ago and I have never gotten past it.
 
second buzd's i7 recommendation - I've got the i7-920 running the system I just built a couple months ago. 6GBs DDR3. I haven't gotten my copy of Windows 7 yet, so I can't take advantage of all the RAM just yet. But it's been an amazing performer - of course, I did upgrade from an AMD Athlon 3700+ so a hamster on a wheel would probably have netted me a performance gain

the motherboard was a bit tougher of a decision - in the end I went with the Asus P6T and it's been rock solid. But it's only seen a few scant months' use so take it for what it's worth

if you don't want to sift through Tom's, check out the forums at hardocp: http://www.hardforum.com/

I've been there almost 5 years now and it's the number one place I go for pretty much anything computer related
 
I'll third the Intel sentiment. If you can get an I series, go for it, and th Asus P6 series is also good. If money is an issue, a dual or quad core core two duo is still a viable option, especially with 3 or more drive setup in RAID, and oddles of ram. My quad core 6600 on an Asus p5Q-E with a max of 16GB of DDR2 and RAID 5 still does quite well. Windows 7 flys on it.
 
IIRC, the diffferance between the two is the chipset(the board you picked is p55 the P6 is X58), and were not talking too much here. The p55 supports faster memory, while the X58 seems to support more (24GB over 16GB) The P6 has 3 PCI E, the one you picked has 1.

Id say if you dont need all the bells and junk, you don't have go with the p6 board. and youd be saving some coin.
 
thanks, I'll read up on that. I'd think I'd want the faster memory.
 
I'm another i7 920 + Asus P6TD + 6GB RAM user. Been running it since January with no problems on Windows 7.
 
OK, y'all have me convinced on that chip. BUt :dunce: me, isn't the socket for the i7-860 chip LGA 1156 and the P6TD is socket LGA 1366? Are those the same?
 
OK, y'all have me convinced on that chip. BUt :dunce: me, isn't the socket for the i7-860 chip LGA 1156 and the P6TD is socket LGA 1366? Are those the same?

The i5 and i7 8?? lines use LGA 1156 and the i7 9?? use LGA 1366. The 860 is a newer chip which is essentially the same as the 920 but with a higher clock and lower power consumption. There are differences like triple channel memory, SLI, i9 support, etc, but those don't really matter for your needs. The 860 would be a bit cheaper and perform slightly better for most tasks, see this Anandtech review for bechmarks.
 
The i5 and i7 8?? lines use LGA 1156 and the i7 9?? use LGA 1366.

to complicate this a bit further, you really do want to consider which socket you're getting if you are thinking about potentially upgrading down the road

whether you are considering the i5 or i7, you want to make sure you have the socket you want. The new Lynnfields from Intel are i5 and i7 (incl the 2.93 GHz i7-870, the 2.83 GHz i7-860, and the 2.66 GHz i5-750) and run on that socket 1156. That socket is not compatible with the 1366 - so make sure that you look at the socket rather than just at the i7 designation.

If cost is the biggest issue, you're still getting a good chip with the 1156 socket. There are limits with it that aren't present for the 1366, though (and we're talking hexacore potential and 12 thread hyperthreading, for example - so it's down the road)

Also, the i9 Gulftowns are supposed to be rolling out in the next 3-6 months I think which might drive the price down on the i7 further.

Still, for the socket and the performance, I'm more than satisfied with my i7-920.

Just another consideration while shopping...
 

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