Thread: New Build

Okay, so after tinkering with the Intel Qx9650, I was not happy with the thermals. When I purchased the CPU, it was listed as "New" on Amazon, but when it arrived, the box was open and the CPU showed clear signs of use. There was some clear compound burning going on. I was able to get some good clocks out of it, but only at high voltage and high heat. This will not work for me as I like my stuff running fast, but stable and cool. The Qx9650 is being returned.

That being said, I decided to upgrade my entire platform. Here is what I ordered:

CPU
Intel Core i5-760

Motherboard
ASUS P7P55D Deluxe

Memory
OCZ Reaper 4GB DDR3 1600

CPU Cooler
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

After rebates, the total cost with shipping is $512.61 and it came with a free jump drive and HDMI cable!. Not bad considering I needed to start from the ground up. I really couldn't warrant dropping the extra $80 on a Core i7-930 and the extra $100 for an LGA 1366 motherboard when the Core i5-760 overclocks and runs games like a champ. I would rather put that money towards a new graphics card lineup come Christmas time. I will probably get another 4GB of memory some time next month. Everything should be here on Monday/Tuesday of next week.

Heavy, are you waiting for the new 6000 series by ATI to stick in that setup?

Originally Posted by iamjohnnyrico

Heavy, are you waiting for the new 6000 series by ATI to stick in that setup?

At this point, I am not sure. I was planning on waiting for the next big game before upgrading my GPUs. I am getting great performance out of my ATI 4850 cards. I have my 4850s currently overclocked from 625 MHz to 750 MHz (20% overclock) on the GPU and from 993 to 1130 MHz (13% overclock) on the memory.

To put this into perspective, here is a chart for an article I am writing (sneak preview):



Sure, this is just one benchmark, but it says a lot seeing how these are the budget cards of 2 years ago. I have modded the BIOS to unlock the max GPU and Memory clocks (previously maxed out at 700 GPU/1000 Mem). If I were to purchase a new graphics card at the present time, I would more than likely go with dual ATI 5850 (the Sapphire ones with 2GB of video memory look tastey!)

Here is a comparison chart from Tom's Hardware listing the performance of dual 5850s, single 5870, dual 4850s, and a single 5850:

ATI Comparison

I put the dual 4850s in this setup since that is what I own, but in reality, my cards are clocked much higher than the ones used in this test, so it isn't an apples to apples comparison. Either way, yes, the dual 4850s in CrossfireX come close to performing as well as the 5870, and out performs a single 5850 card in some benchmarks. The dual 5850s in CrossfireX just blew everyone away in the benchmarks. So my options would be:

• 5850 - $300 - little performance gain
• 5870 - $400-450 - decent performance gain
• Dual 5850s in CrossfireX - $600 - large performance gain

For the extra $150 it would cost for me to get the dual 5850s, I would much rather do that than go with the lower performing single card platform. I simply can't justify spending the $300 for a single 5850 if it won't out perform my current dual 4850s. I plan on upgrading the GPUs around Christmas time, so we will see what the best deal will be at that time.

The new build is underway. I added a couple WD Black 640GB drives that I will be running in RAID 0.

Hardware build is complete. Post was successful. All drives (4 hard drives, 1 optical) recognized perfectly. Currently installing Windows.

Looks like a bad ass rig! What version of Windows you running? And you got my attention with the word article.

I went with Windows 7 Professional 64 bit as that is the best OS I currently own.

So I have the system up, running, and overclocked. I am testing temps and stability with Prime95. Benchmarks coming soon.

So far so good with the new build. I am enjoying the performance boost from my overclocked i5. I had to purchase a new side panel for my case as my CPU cooler was too tall for me to fit the Cosmos S Black side panel (the one with the big ass fan on the side). I had to purchase a new side panel with a window. It looks pretty sweet!

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-...4103109&sr=8-1

I also see a couple of these being added to my case in the near future:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-881-_-Product

I am going to wait for the prices to drop as I simply can't warrant spending over $600 on some graphics cards at the time when I don't really "need" them. Maybe as we get closer to XMas!