Widescreen Gaming Forum

Fate has nudged me to upgrade some of my system.

I need a new mobo, CPU, and RAM. I only run a single GPU(GTX 460) to a 1920x1080 display. The possibility of two SLIs in the future is appealing which is why I got a new 660W PSU.

I am thinking of an ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 for the mobo.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665

A i7 960 for the CPU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115224

And 3x2GB DDR3 1600 sticks for the RAM.



I have questions.

1. How comparable is a single core i7 960 to a p4 3.73 EE for applications that only use one processor core(Like Gothic 3 for example)? Please keep this tidbit from Wiki in mind.

The new 3.73 GHz Extreme Edition had the same features as a 6x0-sequence Prescott 2M, but with a 1066 MHz bus. In practice however, the 3.73 GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition almost always proved to be slower than the 3.46 GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, which is most likely due to the lack of an L3 cache and the longer instruction pipeline. The only advantage the 3.73 GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition had over the 3.46 GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition was the ability to run 64-bit applications since all Gallatin-based Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processors lacked the Intel 64 instruction set.

i7 http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=37151
p4EE http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27492

2. If I am just looking for one or two NVIDIA GPU setups how good of a choice is that motherboard? It seems to me more expensive boards are for more GPUs and server functionalities.

3. The motherboard lists "DDR3 1866/1800/1600/1333/1066" for RAM but there are very few options for 1800 and 1866. Is it a stability issue? In otherwords, should I look for 1800/1866 RAM or stick with the 1600?

4. I am currently running XP. I will be getting Windows 7 for a dual boot setup. Is 6 GB enough? Or should I get 6 sticks for 12GB? Will I see any benefit with games?

1. It's hard to even compare the two, it's just that much better.

2. Go with Intels new Sandy Bridge (second gen 'Core i#' technology). An i5-2500k outperforms a i7-960 in most tasks while being nearly $100 cheaper.

3. 1800MHz is not in the JEDEC spec, 1866 is though. In the end it's not worth getting anything more than 1600 @ 1.5v with 9-9-9-21 though. They are rare because its a niche product.

4. Why dual boot XP? I think that you will find that it is a severe waste of time and energy, Just go straight up Win7. 6GB is enough, but you would want 2x4GB for a total of 8GB with a sandy bridge processor, 8GB is like the sweet spot right now since its under $100.

First off, thanks for the reply.

2. Go with Intels new Sandy Bridge (second gen 'Core i#' technology). An i5-2500k outperforms a i7-960 in most tasks while being nearly $100 cheaper.

When you mean most tasks do you mean gaming? :mrgreen: Cause if not, well...

How about one of the i7 Sandy Bridges? They seem better than than the i5s.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115071
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

I cannot find any of the LGA 1155 mobos on Newegg. Wasn't there a problem with them?

4. Why dual boot XP? I think that you will find that it is a severe waste of time and energy, Just go straight up Win7.

I was thinking about application compatibility issues.

There is a prob with Sandy Bridge boards, you need a B3 Rev board that fixes the SATA problems.

And the i7 has hyperthreading that the i5 doesn't although IMO for gaming it is a waste of time. For other tasks it is useful.

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

what do you think?

mushkin enhanced blackline 1.35v 9-9-9-24 100$

corsair vengence 1.5v 9-9-9-24 100$

corsair vengence 1.5v 8-8-8-24 140$

all are 2x4gb


also looking at asus sabertooth lga 1155. love look. anyone find any revised boards yet?

I would get the 1.35v set.

And I don't believe that the B3 boards are shipping yet.

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

thanks again for the replies.

anyone have any recommendations for a reliable lga 775 955x express or 975x express motherboard?

going to throw the old cpu into a salvage build to upgrade the folks pc.

Anything from a well known brand should be fine, I have a personal fetish with Asus stuff, although I like the Mrs Gigabyte P55 chipset board.

Hope that non helpful answer helped!

_________________
P8Z68-V Pro | 2600K | HR02 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 128GB M4 + 6TB | X-Fi > HD595 | AX850 | Tai Chi | PB278Q | G110 + Deathadder 2013
P8Z77-V | 3570K | Mugen 2 | HD5850 | 2x4GB Vengeance LP | 500GB | X-750 | Fractal R3 | U2212HM | G110 + G400
P8H77-I | G860 | 4650 | 2x2GB XMS | 320GB | CX500 | Prodigy | T22B350EW | MX518
DC3217IYE | 1x4GB Vengeance | 64GB M4 | TX-42VT20E

the old mobo that kicked it was an asus but i guess i can blame that on the psu. :mrgreen:

Just sitting here with some boxes waiting for a revised mobo. Retailer return window steadily closing. ETA end of March. Hope that processor is good.