Need help making a decision

[TheGreatSatan]

Here's what I have:

Intel QX6850 3GHz
Foxconn mobo
8GB DDR2-800
Two Radeon 3870 X2's (yep, 4 GPU's)

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp143/TheGreatSatan/P1040093.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp143/TheGreatSatan/P1040097.jpg

I work in retail and will soon be able to order a new (Micro ATX) mobo, the Core i7 920, Vista Ultimate for $280.

Should I?

Apparently the i7 blows away the QX6850 in performance, but the QX6850 goes for more $ on ebay. I think the i7 boards are all DDR3; Which means I'll have to buy a new full ATX mobo for my video cards and new (more expensive) DDR3 RAM too.:think:

It doesn't seem worth it to me. I don't even play games either.:eek:

[xRyokenx]

If you don't need the power boost you'd get from replacing a good portion of your computer, then there really isn't any need to spend the money.

[Luke122]

+1 on Ryoken.. dont bother. :)
Save your money, or spend it on something else. :D

[progbuddy]

I would just keep it like it is for now. The i7's don't seem like they are worth it to me. In reality, nobody has 82 windows open, running multi-threaded applications, a bunch of games, and autoCAD at the same time.

Also, a full ATX motherboard seems in order, as you have two GPUs.

[nevermind1534]

I would just keep it like it is for now. The i7's don't seem like they are worth it to me. In reality, nobody has 82 windows open, running multi-threaded applications, a bunch of games, and autoCAD at the same time.

I do. Sometimes.

[bartvandenberg]

what i would do in your situation is, sell your ram, and get 4gb's pc8500. there is no program or any reason fo 8gb's of ram. you would get more of a boost from higher frequency ram, than anything over 4gb's of pc 6400.

or sell those power hunger age old GPU"S and go for a couple of 4890's in crossfire instead. should see better performance out of those, since a single 4890 outperforms the 3870 x2.

and since people love to overpay for computer stuff on ebay, you shoudl be able to sell those 3870's and get the 4890 for the same or just a bit more.

as far as the cpu goes, i dont think you would even notice the performance difference. i personally wont consider i7 until its 'mainstream'.
the next gen of i7's will be cheaper and faster, driving all the prices down.


I personally wouldnt ever suggest a micro-ATX board no matter what kind of pc you're building. just to save a couple bucks, its not worth loossing half a board. plus, they rarely come with a decent chipset, and if they do, they are expensive again.

buy a better board for that cpu, and overclock the hell out of it. That will give you almost on par performance with an i7 920.

look at this link. check out the pages. the 920 places 4th in almost all the test, and your chip places 6th in almost all. Its not a huge step up.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/824/5/

[Sarra]

I would just keep it like it is for now. The i7's don't seem like they are worth it to me. In reality, nobody has 82 windows open, running multi-threaded applications, a bunch of games, and autoCAD at the same time.

Also, a full ATX motherboard seems in order, as you have two GPUs.

Lol, this is me.
And that's why I'm getting the i7.

I want 50 Firefox tabs, Adobe Photoshop CS4, iTunes, Streaming Video, Gaming max settings, Digsby... and more,all at once. Ideally. =)

[FuzzyPlushroom]

Lol, this is me.
And that's why I'm getting the i7.

I want 50 Firefox tabs, Adobe Photoshop CS4, iTunes, Streaming Video, Gaming max settings, Digsby... and more,all at once. Ideally. =)

I don't have a problem with a bunch of Firefox tabs, minimized Photoshop, moderate gaming (it's an x1950Pro, c'mon), Pidgin/Carrier, XChat, so on, so forth... on my dual-core with two gigs of DDR2. More RAM would help, on occasion, but more CPU power would be a waste. Nothing wrong with futureproofing, though.

[progbuddy]

I don't have a problem with a bunch of Firefox tabs, minimized Photoshop, moderate gaming (it's an x1950Pro, c'mon), Pidgin/Carrier, XChat, so on, so forth... on my dual-core with two gigs of DDR2. More RAM would help, on occasion, but more CPU power would be a waste. Nothing wrong with futureproofing, though.

The only problem is that future-proofing generally costs more in the beginning, and prices drop by hundreds of dollars on CPUs within about six months.

[Crazy Buddhist]

Should I?

....

It doesn't seem worth it to me. I don't even play games either.:eek:

It all depends on what the machine will be doing.

- Not playing games indicates you have enough video power for just about anything already unless you are designing skyscrapers.

- Your CPU will clock at over 4 Ghz on water and up to about 3.5 on good air so I see no shortage there either.

My suspicion is the machine is good for your porpoises but maybe you are planning uses for it beyond the usual?

Selling old second hand hardware to invest in new hardware usually doesn't pay off so .. as I say .. depending on intended usage you look good to go.

CrazyB

[haha49]

I did that intell retail edge deal for a friend building his computer I run a q9550 and it blows it away.. now the ram price is the catch but its a good deal for what it is..