i7, 2 x 5850, 6GB DDR3 and Mobo - Would be very grateful for your advice.

Hi All,

Following on from a thread I started not so long back about 2 x 5850's vs GTX 480. I am now in a position to purchase. And not just GFX,... core components of a system overhaul. I'm looking to get something that will see me good for about 3 years. Maybe a little longer.

I'll be playing the likes of Bad Company 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R Call of Pripyat (and Clear skies which I couldn't play previously) and similar types of games. I'll also be doing a significant amount of photo editing in Photoshop.

Therefore the proposed components are:

Intel i7 CPU and Appropriate Mobo such as an Asus Extreme or something.
6Gb Corsair Dominator Tri-band
2 x 5850's

Now here are the main questions.

Out of the following two CPU's, which one really is the better one? Same price, two different codenames and a few different stats. Is the Bloomfield the more powerful of the two, better for my requirements, or the Lynnfield?

Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield 45nm Quad Core
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...tio-95W-Retail

Or

Intel Core i7 930 D0 SLBKP Bloomfield
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...io-130W-Retail

Out of the following two sets of video cards, I see there is XFX Black ed. and XXX Ed. The XXX has a slightly slower GPU but faster Memory. It's a little cheaper too. Out of these two cards, which one would you consider to be the better? It seems they have given with one hand and taken with another regarding the GPU and Memory differences. I'm considering two 5850's based on the benchmark tests run right here on Hexus.

However, can anyone still argue why I shouldn't get a single GTX 480? I can't see that much of a valid argument myself but it's always worth while asking.

TWO 1GB XFX HD 5850 Black Editions
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-X...-DL-DVI-I-HDMI

Or

TWO 1GB XFX HD 5850 XXX Editions.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-X...-DL-DVI-I-HDMI


Motherboard and Ram I can pretty much select myself however if any of you have any recommendations that would compliment the CPU/GFX setup I'd be happy to consider.

Finally, I have an 800w TAGAN Dual Engine PSU (Model TG800-U25) with two 6 pin connectors on it and a whole boat load of SATA power connectors. Looking at images of the 5850's I'm going to need TWO 6 Pin connectors PER CARD.
Specifications here - http://www.firingsquad.com/hw/7990/T...l_Engine_800w/

I know I'd have to use one (or would it be two?) of the SATA "drive" power connectors for one of the GFX cards. Can I safely say that this PSU will be able to carry the load of all the new hardware and 3 SATA HDD's / 1 x DVD-RW? Or will I need a new PSU?


For anyone who mananges to scramble through all of this and is able to give me advice, I am extremely grateful in advance :)

Ian

If you want triple channel memory then you have to go bloomfield/socket 1366. lynnfield is socket 1156 and dual channel only (ie different motherboard too).

Carrying on from the above; the i7 860 is a different socket to the i7 930.

Not terribly impressed with the xfx warranty through scan tbh. You could always try one 5850 and see how it goes. I think you are best off hunting for the best deal on any 5850. You can always overclock them yourself; the premium should really go on a card with a better cooler imo.

3 years is always wishful thinking!

Any reason why you want to go with XFX there warranty really is not that good

Plus i would want to wait for AMD to launch there next CPU as it might be worth considering and could pull down some of the Intel prices.

Ps with your GPU this could be a better choice.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...h/nov-5850.jsp

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sparhawk

However, can anyone still argue why I shouldn't get a single GTX 480?

---

Yes. Read this Hexus review which pits crossfire 5850s against the GTX480 and sees them hammer it hard. They also match or beat a 5970 on pretty much every benchmark, which is remarkable considering the 5970 runs at the same speeds and has more shaders. The equation is simple. 2x 5850 costs about the same, has much higher performance, draws less power, and runs cooler. If you can get a motherboard that supplies x16 to two widely spaced PCIe slots (e.g. the first and third) you'll get even better results than Hexus because the top card will have more room to "breathe". The only real risk of 2x 5850 is that you hit a game with poor crossfire scaling.

Ok, so Bloomfield it is for the CPU. I must admit, I'm going to purchase very soon. I've actually put it off for about 2 months and getting a bit frustrated with the current setup which I've had for 3.5 years. As for the CPU, I'm a bit of an Intel person. Just me :)

I was thinking XFX mainly down to their Black ed. cards etc. Are the brands really different? EVGA, BFG, XFX, ASUS etc.. any point in choosing one over the other aside from Warranty.

I'll have a read through the Card on Novatech.

I know 3 years is wishful but I can easily stretch the usage 3 - 3.5 years if I need to. :)


Scary Jim, yeah it's that review I saw which made me edge towards Xfire 5850's. makes sense to me.

Any thoughts on the PSU questions?

Thanks for the replies so far all :)

I would wait until the Phenom II X6 is launched in the next two weeks. Prices of the Core i7 920 are already starting to creep downwards.

TBH,the Core i7 920 is far better value for money than a Core i7 930:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...io-130W-Retail

I'd be tempted to find a 5850 with custom cooling too - like Saphire's Toxic or Vapor-X editions or Powercolor's PCS edition. You end up with quieter cards than overclock better.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199769

Cheers again... I can wait 2 weeks :)

Hopefully it'll knock the 920 down evern more.

I'll certainly have a good nose over the Phenom II X6 though... 6 cores sounds nice.

Just had a look at the Sapphire Toxic... Seems to tick all the boxes.

I assume the warranty procedure is better than XFX's?

You seem to be building the exact same machine as me :D although I was going to go for a single 5870 and then crossfire that in a few months time.

The I7 930 isn't that much more expensive for the benefits you are gonna get.

What price is the PSU?

Hi Snail,

At the moment, a PSU isn't on my list. I currently have a Tagan TG800-U25 which is an 800w PSU with two 6pin PCI-E connectors and a whole bunch of SATA connectors.

I was hoping to be able to use the two 6 pins on one card and then use the adapter that should come with a card on one of the Sata connectors.

Would someone be able to advise if this will be viable? Will 800w carry the load of two 5850's, 3 SATA HDD's, a Core I7 & Mobo? Also, the connection to the GFX cards, is that viable? ideally I need 4 six pin connectors on there but as it only has two, I'm hoping to be able to use an adapter.

Thanks again for any advice given :)

I might consider getting just one 5870 myself at this time but I gotta admit, I'd be worried about not being able to get the same card in a few months time.. I know you can mix them (well at least that's what I've been advised) but is it wise?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sparhawk

Hi Snail,
I might consider getting just one 5870 myself at this time but I gotta admit, I'd be worried about not being able to get the same card in a few months time.. I know you can mix them (well at least that's what I've been advised) but is it wise?

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I don't see any reason why you won't be able to get a 5870 a few months down the road, my guess is that it will increase with availability as fermi becomes more mainstream and it's prices go down, failing that there is always ebay :)

I guess it's not so much the risk of not getting a 5870, more the risk of not being able to get the same card.

E.g I'm now very much interested in the Sapphire Toxic cards. If I have to change PSU, this might mean I can only get one card at this time so I would hope to be able to get the Sapphire Toxic second card further down the road..

On a side note, does anyone have any advice at all on the PSU.. it's the only question not yet answered :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sparhawk

On a side note, does anyone have any advice at all on the PSU.. it's the only question not yet answered :)

---

It's certainly got the "oomph" for all that stuff, but I note you haven't got all the connectors you will need. That may be a problem for the second graphics card. You can get molex to PCI-e adaptors, but I am not sure quite how good a solution that is.

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/product/2-...ble_19768.html

Thanks Ghee,

As it's simple converting one connector into another, there would hopefully be no degradation in performance or stability.

I suppose I could always email Tagan too :)

Cheers