Looking to go i7-960 w/ Gigabyte mobo

[gtfoxy]

Hello all. Im currently an MSI user, but with the underwealming support I have recieved thus far I & considering I am considering changing my system configuration. I have used G-drand mobos in the past & they have always performed flawelessly.

Currently I have an i7-860 machine running right @ 4Ghz on liquid. I would like to move to an i7-960. This means I am looking for a board to go with it.

I am considering a X58-UD7. I dont need more than 8Gb in dual channel & I would like no less than 4.2Ghz with liquid solution. My future plans call for adding another Sapphire HD 6950 running 2 x16.

I am open to any comments/ suggestions regarding this combinaton & what RAM would be best.

[Aussie Allan]

   Welcome Gtfoxy

  Here's a 3 way comparison chart of what I would be looking at if all you want to do is swap a new high end board in with a 1366 engine block.... Have not tried this before so see if it works for me please ......http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/comparison/list.aspx?ck=2&pids=3870,3527,3450

   If the wallet is deep enough the OC would be to die for under water ....

  Aussie Allan

[gtfoxy]

Hey man, thanks for the warm welcome and the comparison link. It's nice to see them side by side like that. Oh believe me, I've eyeballed that bad boy & I haven't yet ruled out the OC board... It's more pricey, but dang that red scheme would look just boobies in my red-schemed HAF-922 case!  Way better than the blue anyway...

I read this review:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/268228-30-windwithme-review-part12-gigabyte-x58a-review

Is the heat-pipe system that is pictured included with the board or is that some add on deal?

Oh, & I have an older pioneer receiver with optical input & the UD7 has it on the I/O where as the OC doesn't from what I can tell.

[Aussie Allan]

  If you're referring  to the heat-pipes on the 3 way comparison ....yes their just part of the whole shebang .... the water-block in the review link you supplied.... don't know .... I would have to make an inquiry .... looks like the mutts nuts though ...... I would guess the water block would be an add on but I've been wrong before

  If you click on the 3 way comparison link .... then click on the the board name tag ..... then click on the photo ..... you can get a close up of the board in question and what's on it

  Aussie Allan

[gtfoxy]

Yeah could ya try & find what that is? It's got G-brand all over it, it appears to me, it seems. It looks billy Bad-A$$ 4 sure!

Hows your UD3 w/ mushkin RAM?

[Fatman]

If you have some cash to burn then I think you would wasting it within the same chip series (X58) imho. I would be giving some real thought into moving up to the 2011 socket with the 3930K processer to future proof yourself for some time yet. Having said that if you can hold off I would wait until the Ivy bridge is released and see what it will bring to the table and the price it will have on the the current I7 2700K 3930 etc.

[gtfoxy]

I hear ya man. I've been contemplating the lga 2011 route. I'm just not looking to plop over $500 large on a 3930k, or any cpu for that matter. I feel the 3920 would be more than adequate, according to recently released data on benchmarks, but most boards i've looked at do not seem to list that partially unlocked cpu in their processor lists, atleast none of MSI boards didn't. At only $285, it is only bested in cpumark/$  by the i5-2500 by the narrowest of margins... A real bang up unit for the money!

Here's where I'm at in my reasoning and you tell me if I'm off the mark...

The only reason I am considering goin from my i7-860 is for the afforementioned desire to run x-fire HD 6950's in 2 x16, & the fact I "borrowed" that processor from a OEM system & I feel I should get it back together & sell it while it can still bring some decent $$$. I could then go to a i7-870 that I found new for $230. Thing is the same place sells i7-960's for the same price, so why not make the move from my H55-GD65 to a decent 1366 board (even a x58-UD3), that will only give me x16/ x4 in x-fire. That would be leaving too much performance on the perverbial table for what i'd have into it. It makes no sense to me to by another $250 2Gb gfx card only to get a portion of the performance when I can make the change now to utylize most, if not all, of it. Even x16/x8 would be better.

I'd even consider a used i7-965 for about $350 if it is worth the extra 1.6GT/s QPI, in your opinion...

Hey Aussi, "uses" or "posseses" & "exhibits", the fundamentals, lol...

[Fatman]

Then I would seriously consider a 2600/2700K and a Z68-UD7 board, the vengence ram is cheap and very good. That 2600K processor will trounce that I7 965 on most things bar video encoding and rendering and less power to run.

I had a X58-UD7 running a I7 965E and I now have a 2600K running a GA-Z68XP-UD4 with 16 gig of corsair vengence ram running beautifully @4Ghz with just the multiplier raised to 40.

Now with the I7 965E you need to bump more settings and can be a pain to get stable at anything above 4ghz 24/7, not to mention the power draw by upping VTT, IOH Core etc.

I have no regrets selling my X58 that was totally watercooled and going to this. I lost no money in the change over and I actually don't need to go water with this set up as it runs very cool indeed. For me I consider this a good upgrade as the 2600K competes very well against the mighty 980X chip, I still have a little cash (shh don't tell the wife) left over from my sale to upgrade to ivy bridge when it shows itself.

Take a look at what Gigabyte have coming soon MUHAHAHAHAHA

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/22181/next_gen_gigabyte_ivy_bridge_boards_including_z77x_ud5h_shown_off_in_las_vegas/index.html

[gtfoxy]

Thank you for the honest input.  I did some more research and the 965 route doesn't seem worth it. I have considered the 1155 route. I will be doing some video encoding but maybe not enough for it to matter... I have one person I know personaly that has his 2600k @ 5.5Ghz, so yeah, they got some wheaties for sure! Took him three processors before he found one that would reach it, so there is certainly some luck, or trial & error, to be had in that regard, but if I get it where he works, he said I could keep exchanging them until I found one that I am happy with... nice guy!... Then factor in the replacement plan if I happen to fry it...

I am usualy leary about getting techy stuff fresh off the cabbage truck, as it seems it always takes vendors a while to iron out the first few bios 'and I am not one who much enjoys headaches with non-functioning pc stuff.. Plus I'm not much of a gambler, as I tend to prefer "sure bets"... I was consideding holding out till persons, such as youself, start dumping their 1155 stuff, but there again I'm taking the luck of the draw.

I will check out the vid when I get a chance.

[Aussie Allan]

Yeah could ya try & find what that is? It's got G-brand all over it, it appears to me, it seems. It looks billy Bad-A$$ 4 sure!

Hows your UD3 w/ mushkin RAM?

  Excellent ! it can give me an audable buzz when I'm tinkering in BIOS but I learn't to control this by lot's of playing......when the board is in balance, as in all the overclock setting are in total harmony...... it's just stable as and quite.... .... I'll be updating myself soon but that a whole new story .... the "Mushkin (24 GB) gave me no problems at all ... yes it is a lot but CS5 loves it.

  Aussie Allan

  UPDATE:  Besides the GA water block on the board in the review link you supplied .... the

  GA-EX-58-Exteme rev 1.0 and the

 GA X58-UD9 rev 1.0 ....

  Both have the Gigabyte water block in question as standard .... as far as I can find .... these are no longer available as a separate purchase ....... although if your serious re an inquiry ..... the system administrator "runn3R" would be contactable through the PM service on the forum and more than willing to answer the question on availability I'm sure .

[Aussie Allan]

  Forgot to add ...... the difference between running 16x16 ... or ... 16x8 ... or even 8x8 lanes on the the board is next to nothing .....like less than  0.01% ...... want proof...........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFMzRZqFh-w

           Enjoy 

  Aussie Allan 

[Rolo42]

I put Mushkin 1600s on a client's UD3 build and it works perfectly.

I have Mushkin 2133s in my and my wife's UD4s.  I had one stick go bad after two months (I can say the same for other brands in recent history) but otherwise they are awesome and inexpensive.

A x16/x8 will still only run at x8 since the x16 card would have to wait on the x8 card.  The difference is negligible-to-imperceptible, especially with cards with enough VRAM.  x16/x16 is definitely not worth the price difference, which would be better spent on any other kind of upgrade (better video cards, better CPU, SSD, save it for the next build...)

[Aussie Allan]

   Spot on Rolo ..... where you been hiding ... to bad you're across the pond but a Karma anyway 

  Aussie Allan

[gtfoxy]

Thanks again guys. I believe I have decided my next move. So to keep from goin off topic I'll leave it at that.

Was really great chattin with you guys! Cheers!

[Aussie Allan]

 
    Was really great chattin with you guys! Cheers! ..... hahahahahahahahahah

  gtfoxy

  Sorry buddy ..... so is it the 1155 ?   I meant to cover the memory a bit more for you ..... DDR3 is just so cheap at the moment and anything from 1333 to 1600 is ...... well a bargain ...... I put 24 Gig in not too long ago for about £100 UK from memory

  I'm from your camp as to holding off till the platforms settle down in price as well as glitches ..... truth is ..... looks like I'll go from 1366 to 2011 the way things are panning out ...... it's going to be a really interesting 12 to 18 months for sure.

  If you don't mind running a little behind the cutting edge curve, pay at least half of the launch price, ....and buy stable B3 - B4+ stable kit ...... 1155 could be for you.

  Aussie Allan