Upgrading From Q8200 System to Core i7 9xx

[Cuffz]

I've been itching for a new system in a long time, the 3Gb Ram limit (no memory hole remapping) (even 4gb is not enough.. and I think that's the limit with DDR2?) lack of NCQ for my SSD, total lack of any overclock ability with my current motherboard has really been holding me back.

Current build:

Corsair 600W CX [retaining, replacing with a Corsair 400w when selling]
Foxconn G31MX V1.0 Series (Socket 775)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz Yorkfield 45nm Technology
4.0GB Crucial DDR2 [Limit to 3.3gb because of motherboard]
MSI GTX 460 Cyclone OC Edition 768MB GDDR5 [replacing with a silent PowerColor HD4670 when selling]
Corsair 60GB Force SSD 2.5" SATA-II Read = 285MB/s, Write = 275MB/s 50,000 IOPS [retaining]
Samsung HD502HJ 500gb SATA
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS50
3TB of external storage [Samsung F1's + Buffalo] retaining and putting internally later]

Recommendations I'd like
Some questions too

Case: Large, 100% tool-less case lots of air flow, enough for a substantial overclock
Motherboard: Best overclocking options, performance, stability, NCQ, can handle lots of Ram
Ram: 12Gb of the best... maybe I can get away with 8Gb.. if there is no performance lost..
... Is it the case that using 3x (instead of 2 or whatever)sticks of DDR3 ram will result in better performance with this new system?
Cpu+Cpu cooler: Good for OCing, I'm not sure whether to get Core i7 920/930/850
New optical drive..

An idea of the eBay selling Value of my Q8200 system when I flog it soon.

Goals: 4Ghz+ Stable CPU OC that doesn't overheat too much.. my budget idea was £500-600 hopefully within that. xD


Thank yoooou~~~~

[Tattysnuc]

That's quite a broad spec.

Personally I'd go for an i7 950 combo that's on http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Inde..._icmp=AkaIX3H4 with just 6Gb of 1600Mhz Corsair memory. I use my machine as a file server, media streamer, Folding machine, and I've still got 2 of my 6Gb free when in 100% use.

The Sandy Bridge arhitecture is out VERY soon, so a socket 1156 processor will be out of date VERY soon, so I'd steer clear of that range. The 1136 sockets are not due to be refreshed for several more months, so you could pick up a 970 at a later date and still actually get an upgrade rather than just be trying to squeeze a few more megahertz out of the same number of cores/threads.

I have Corsair 700D and Coolermaster HAF 932 cases which are both massive and very good, especially if you want to MOD/watercool, and I'd recommend either. There's been a durge of cases out this year, so that's probably more down to taste than anything.

[Cuffz]

Admittedly I do actually need 8-12gb of Ram
Up to 3 web browsers(about 1gb cus of flash videos, many tabs open )
Second life (1gb ), Blender, Photoshop, Lightroom, Dreamweaver, Skype, MSN,iTunes
a random game (up to 2gb)
Various ms office files
Various other utilities
All open at the same time :]

[c.ruel]

If you have held on until this long you can hold on until sandybridge. Bare in mind that there has been talk that you won't be able to overclock in the traditional why on the sandy bridge processors and you WILL need a K processor to overclock. Therefore if overclocking is very important to you look into it first ... might be that a 950 does sort your needs better. Also out of all the 9xx the 950 is currently the best in terms of the money.

[Cuffz]

I can certainly wait another few months for sandy bridge to see how the bang per buck will work out with the OCable K versions.

If the K versions are over £300 it might be pretty questionable.

[Cuffz]

That's quite a broad spec.


The Sandy Bridge arhitecture is out VERY soon, so a socket 1156 processor will be out of date VERY soon, so I'd steer clear of that range. The 1136 sockets are not due to be refreshed for several more months, so you could pick up a 970 at a later date and still actually get an upgrade rather than just be trying to squeeze a few more megahertz out of the same number of cores/threads.

Does this mean the 970 will soon likely fall to less than £300 ? .. It's like £700 right now.