Only pro"s advice needed

[neckbreaka]

I'm about to build my computer in a couple days and I had a few questions about parts.

Whats better for gaming, windows 7 64 bit ultimate or windows xp?

Whats better/faster/difference i7 930 vs i7 930 oc ?

When making a gaming computer, the most important parts are:
cpu, motherboard, graphics card, ram, power supply

are these the main concerns?

The set up im thinking about getting for those categories are:

i7 930 oc
gigabyte x58a-ud3r
6gb samsung ram ddr3
gtx 460 1 gb cyclone or two gts 450 for SLI
700 w power supply

If you have any recommendations please let me know.

[neckbreaka]

oh, and is it better to get 3 2 gb memory sticks or just one 6 gb memory stick?

[Nuclear Krusader]

The X58 chipset is for overclockers and experimenters; if you want a stable computer you want to avoid it for the time being and go with an 1156 chipset.

The order of importance for the parts, for a gaming system, is motherboard, cpu, video card, everything else.

Right now XP has become too bloated and M$ will soon stop supporting it. Your best bet is to go with Windows 7.

[MrDravenX]

I have a X58 chipset and there are plenty of overclocking options but I prefer not to test the limits. Win7 is fine for gaming. I have Win7 Pro 64bit on my desktop.

[Nikon]

theres no such thing as a stock overclocked cpu, just ones that are more apt for it (such as an unlocked multiplier)

gaming rigs priorities go like this:

videocard
...
...
cpu
mobo

the video card is by far the most important thing in any gaming system. period. it should be the single most expencive (and there for most powerful) piece of hardware in the rig. if its not, your doing it wrong. (not to bash anyone here, but it is)

i doubt you can find a single 6gb stick of ram, but if you do, it will cost a small fortune. best bet is just standard tripple channel memory 3x2gb 1333mhz is fine.

go for the gtx 460 1gb, and sli another one in the future if you need more performance. its a great card.

avoid the x58 chipset unless you are really interested in overclocking and tweaking. it is very much the enthusiast product.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by Nikon the video card is by far the most important thing in any gaming system. period. it should be the single most expencive (and there for most powerful) piece of hardware in the rig. if its not, your doing it wrong. (not to bash anyone here, but it is)

Agree, but remember to still keep it balanced. Meaning, 'I' wouldn't put this processor :

Newegg.com - Intel Celeron E3300 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80571E3300

in the same system as this card:

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-R597D5-2GD-B Radeon HD 5970 (Hemlock) 2GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Dual GPU Onboard CrossFire Video Card w/ Eyefinity

[neckbreaka]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader The X58 chipset is for overclockers and experimenters; if you want a stable computer you want to avoid it for the time being and go with an 1156 chipset. The order of importance for the parts, for a gaming system, is motherboard, cpu, video card, everything else. Right now XP has become too bloated and M$ will soon stop supporting it. Your best bet is to go with Windows 7.

ok. so which motherboard should i purchase? i want a really good one where even if i upgrade the vid card in the future, i wont have to change the m/b. i've been reading a lot of articles and for gaming they say x58 or rampage is the best but x58 is more in my price range.

[neckbreaka]

oh yea, is a factory overclocked i7 930 @ 3.2 ghz better than a i7 930 @ 2.8 ghz? the price is the same.

[neckbreaka]

and how is a gigabyte ga p55 usb3L motherboard for gaming?

[glc]

Admin note:

Please use the EDIT button instead of making multiple posts a few minutes apart. Thank you.

The P55 board is socket 1156, not 1366.

The video card is FAR more important for gaming than the minor differences between the 1156 P55 and 1366 X58 boards. It's also FAR more important than the CPU speed.

I'd recommend an Asus P7P55D-E Pro board with an i5 or i7 processor and dual channel ram. That will be your best bang for the buck. I will not build with X58 due to the instabilities and fussiness.

[neckbreaka]

Originally Posted by glc Admin note: Please use the EDIT button instead of making multiple posts a few minutes apart. Thank you. The P55 board is socket 1156, not 1366. The video card is FAR more important for gaming than the minor differences between the 1156 P55 and 1366 X58 boards. It's also FAR more important than the CPU speed. I'd recommend an Asus P7P55D-E Pro board with an i5 or i7 processor and dual channel ram. That will be your best bang for the buck. I will not build with X58 due to the instabilities and fussiness.

so the p55 board being socket 1156, does this mean i cant purchase a socket 1366 gpu (i7 930) for the board? also. which is better, windows 7 home premium 64 bit or windows 7 ultimate 64 bit. is the difference worth the price for gaming?

[Nikon]

bottom line:

videocard = most important
use 1156 socket (p55 chipset) with an lga 1156 core i5 or i7 (800 series, NOT 900)
OS doesnt matter that much, windows 7 home premium is just fine. 64bit is what you want.

once again, i must say there is no such thing as a factory overclocked cpu (processor).

[glc]

so the p55 board being socket 1156, does this mean i cant purchase a socket 1366 gpu (i7 930) for the board?

Think about this for a minute - how do you plan to put a processor with 1366 pins into a socket that has 1156 pins?

[David M]

Here is my non-professional advice...read it or leave it.

There is no one most important computer part. Because if one part fails, the entire computer fails. Ask yourself, which is the most important body part?...the brain or the heart? Both must function in order to live. My point is, buy quality parts regardless of which part you are buying. Perhaps the only part that you can scrimp on is the case. Pretty much all cases work.

Win7 is better for gaming, it is DX11 capable. XP is not. You don't want a brand new computer and then load XP on it. I would imagine that in the not too distant future, new games will be created that do not support XP

Don't waste your money on Win 7 Ultimate unless you need its features.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...oducts/compare

[neckbreaka]

I'm curious. Is it that bad for a up an coming gamer to purchase a 1366 i7 930 with a x58 ud3r? everyone says its only for enthusiasts but what if i want top notch hardware. 1166 seems to be outdated for some reason and when i look at the price for some p55 motherboards, the cheapness makes it look incompetent. (just cause im not a movie star doesnt mean i cant wear gucci and prada and drive a benz)

[glc]

Do what you want, but if you are not an experienced builder, you may never get a X58 running stable. If you have to ask if you can put a 1366 processor into an 1156 board, I doubt that you are experienced.

Now - have you researched other components from a quality standpoint? I'm almost afraid to ask what brand power supply you are going to buy.

You wanted a pro's advice, well, I'm a pro and I'm trying to advise you.

[neckbreaka]

I was thinking about purchasing a Heroichi HEC-Rapter 600WA or a Heroichi CM 700 plus80 bronze . I'm in south korea so the parts are very limited.

As far as the x58 motherboard. Will it still be unstable if i dont tweak any settings? I just want a fast gpu, that is a 1366 and a nice motherboard. What causes the x58 chipset to be so unstable?

[quartet-man]

I am pretty inexperienced, so perhaps I am breaking your rules by even posting here, however I am going to as I may have something to offer. It is not very wise to ask pros advice and not only ignore it, but to do something they advise not to do. Of course as it is your computer and your money, you get the final say, but it is not the wise thing to do unless you want a lot of aggravation and perhaps wasted money.

In some ways this reminds me of the old Dodge 440 engine vs. the 426 Hemi. It has been said that one could get 440s running about as fast as 426s because with the Hemis you had to constantly be tuning them to get the full potential out of them. However, in that case at least the 426 would run decently, just not at full potential if not tweaked and babied. In this case, the "faster" computer may not run much at all if not done just right. Do you really want to take that risk just because if you hold your mouth right, cross your fingers and spend a long time on it you MIGHT be able to even get it running stable (whether it ever gets the benchmarks you are looking for or not)? If people here who build machines left and right will not mess with them, I am not sure why a beginner would. I don't even know how much help people here can and will be able to give if you ignore the advice. Maybe they can or will, I am not sure.
Hopefully when you ask advice of them, you really want advice and don't just want to be told what you want to hear. However, if you go ahead with it, I envision a lot of hassles and trouble and if it takes a long time to get running stable, you might miss out on the return window for parts. Of course manufacturer's warranties might still be in effect (depending on how long it takes), but you still limit your options.

EDIT: I guess I assumed GLC and others do not build with those chipsets. Perhaps they do because they are pros, and perhaps if they don't it is likely because of the aggravation factor and not that they can't. However, it still might be difficult to advise a novice on how to get them running well. If not difficult, time consuming I am sure.

[Raiden619]

I just want a fast gpu, that is a 1366 and a nice motherboard.

There is no such thing as a 1366 GPU...if your talking about CPU then yes,
but GPU uses PCI-E which is pretty much standard across a lot of boards a 1366 or 1156.

[glc]

I'm a bit concerned about Heroichi (HEC) power supplies. In the past, they have had some decent units, but they have also had some real junk. What other brands are available to you?

If you really have your heart set on an X58, there is ONLY ONE motherboard that I would even consider - an Asus P6TD Deluxe. I would also build ONLY with ram that is on the Asus QVL (tested memory list) for the board.

The X58 is like all the previous X-series Intel chipsets - it's designed for hardcore performance enthusiasts and tweakers. It's very quirky and requires an understanding of arcane bios settings to get it running stable. It's far from "set it and forget it" like most mainstream chipsets such as the P55. The extra ram channel and PCI-E lanes really don't do much - nothing that you would even notice in real world computing. You would have to run synthetic benchmarks to see the difference.

When building a gaming machine - if you take the money you would save by buying a P55-based motherboard and apply it to a stronger video card, you will wind up with a better gaming machine.

I am going to say this one more time - the chipset and CPU do NOT make much difference in gaming performance. The VIDEO CARD is what gives you the gaming experience.

My choice for a high end gamer? Asus P7P55D-E Pro, i7-870, 8gb ram, and a Radeon 5970.

[neckbreaka]

ok, GLC you said i should get a radeon 5970. That card costs like 750 U.S. dollars here. Would purchasing that be better than purchasing two gtx 470's and runnning SLI?

[Kidd]

I can't find a recent thread that discussed this more in-depth, but the short version is this:

Running sli or crossfire to improve performance can be tricky, and will never double the performance. You'll get a % gain by adding the second card, but not double. Two $400 cards will not equal the performance of a $800 card. That's fairly arbitrary, and I'm no GPU expert, but the experts will tell you the same: Do not split your Graphics Card budget in half and buy two lesser cards. You'll be less frustrated and get a better performing machine by simply buying the best card your budget will allow.

Originally Posted by glc My choice for a high end gamer? Asus P7P55D-E Pro, i7-870, 8gb ram, and a Radeon 5970.

Unless there is a budget concern, follow the above advice, it doesn't get any better than that.

If there is a budget concern, let us know your budget and it will give some more room for debate.

[glc]

If a 5970 is a budget breaker, then get a 5870 or a GTX 480. Sure, you could SLI or Crossfire 2 cards, but that will increase the cost of your power supply quite a bit and generate a lot more heat. You could also reduce costs with an i5-760 instead of an i7.

[neckbreaka]

ok glc, i took most of ur advice. i just bought these parts:

asus p55 de pro
i7 870
corsair cmpsu 650tx
gigabyte gtx 480
4x2gb samsung ram

oh yea, the dude working at the place was trying to recommend me a gigabyte ud9 board for 800 u.s.. that ****er.

thanks for your help, others too