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Uelander
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re: New computer for Mallie!

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Mallie,
We ended up with almost the same rig. I ordered an i5-2500k instead of the i7. Same case, I think the same boot drive, I splurged for a 750w ps (the first upgrade Id do is xfire - and the addl' juice makes that easier), and found a 6950 2g that comes with an improved cooler and factory OC - for the same price - so I picked that one up - we will see if it works as well as advertised. I went with a gigabyte Motherboard - but I think they are virtually the same. I think the same memory as well.

It came out to $1160 US after I mail in $45 in rebates. I didn't buy a new DVD or storage drive. I only have a single 120gb drive today! I'm interested in seeing if the i7 makes a difference in gaming. The i5 turbo's to 3.7ghz - so it should move right along even with a 6mb L3 cache and not OC'ing. I struggled with that decision - but ultimately decided that was where I'd save a little in this build.

I ordered it last night - so maybe sometime mid-week, Ill be getting the components.
Ekard12379
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re: New computer for Mallie!

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Uelander wrote:
Here is what Im learning so far...

I thought the i7 had 6 cores? This, a slightly faster clock and a larger L3 Cache are the advantages of the i7 v i5.

So the cpu attempts to execute the program from the info in the cache residing on the chip- primarily this is the L1 and L2 cache (although the LGA-1155 socket only supports 2-channels- so L2 and L3) If it "misses" it has to go back to memory - involving the FSB speed and the speed of the memory to retrieve the information necessary to complete the calculations. Because the time it takes to access memory is sooo long relative to processing from the cache, the chip is designed to make additional calculations to keep busy while the bus is bringing info back to the cache. This way- the impact of "misses" on processing time is minimized. The speed of the memory is involved when this happens as well (i thought i had picked the faster memory - doah).

The type of information stored in each cache is not the same - the L3 stores indexing information rather than executable stuff. It is much less subject to "misses" so the impact of 6 v 8 mb in that cache isnt quite as great as saying "bigger bites= faster processing".

Anyway- because the processing is intended to be done on the chip - the events that slow things are - misses, memory access and HD access at times. There is latency associated with pushing info thru the wire to the card (i think the peripheral controllers are on the chip too) as well as across the MB. Greater memory on the vcard can minimize that as much as the app will allow (wow is limited to 512k right?) but once the info is on the card, speed=speed.

The bigger limit, from what I've learned is the 1155 socket doesn't support the highest end crossfire (16x16) or Sli technology - which will limit extreme video performance long before CPUs effective processing speed does. From what I'm reading - i thought the video processing speed of even the best single card (or 8x8 Xfire) are going to be slower than what the i5- with all of it's relative inefficiencies - will be able to push to it. So - i invest it the fastest card I can get. Or I get a better cpu/mb and make 2 cards do the work to keep up. Obviously, this option blows the whole budget - but it would really cook.

So the i7 is without question better (faster clock, more cores, bigger L3) but its advantage is very limited until we run into apps using 6 v 4 core multi threading.
In any event - 12 months from now i could prolly pop an i7 in there for $100 when/if I run into that game that uses 6 cores.

I think im just gonna buy tetra's case. The extra cooling looks soo worth it and like I did zero research into physical set up.

Im not 100% sure I've got all of this right - Im not being defensive. Feel free to rebut - Im not married to this design - in fact - ima give u a call... this is outgrowing the forums.


Most i7's are still quad's, but there are some that are a few 6 and I believe 8's. I'm working with processors on servers that have 8's already and 3-6 channels for RAM, so trying to keep them all straight is confusing. I incorrectly initially stated that Tetra's was an 8-core, hence my Friday edit after your initial response.

Yes, you are correct in the way the data is processed. I was trying to quickly sum it up in lay terms (though I did it rather poorly on the processor explanation) and hoping to get you before you purchased. As I stated on the phone, I was more concerned with the RAM speed and Case selection and how those affected your choices vs anything else and then trying to get quick explanations of how everything else related.

There's 2 different trains of thought going here as they relate to future upgrades and both work. In either scenario RAM can be upgraded later at little cost.

1.) Get a great video card initially and a good MB that supports a better processor later.

2.) Get a better processor/MB with a good video card that can be upgraded later.

I personally tend to find it easier to compare and upgrade video cards vs processors and MB's as the compatibility of socket types and supported processor speeds on MB's tend to change a lot more frequently than the PCI-E card slot. Any of these 3 rigs is going to work well and crank out some serious gaming capability for a couple of years. cheers


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