Guys

this is what i have currently a 1000watt psu ,a Zotac 460gtx, windows 7 ultimate.
A thousand bucks to buy an Intel CPU, Motherboard, and Memory.
The HD I've got covered.
I've been an AMD man since the beginning, now however, I need the best bang for those bucks for Intel.
Yes, i'm jumping ship.

I want to go as fast as $1,000 dollars can make me without overclocking.

Thanks for the help.
Jaeger

That's about what I spent on this rig.

Hi speedbump,
thanks for the info on your 'rig'.
I have copied it to paper for when i go looking.

I also found this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGxMdwJ1Rjk

Trouble is i'll have to wait a few weeks for the 1155 MB
to be restocked.
No problems about the wait though, i was 11b20 back in the day.

Jaeger

jaegermeister - Have you looked at this processor?
Intel® Core™ i7-740QM Processor
(6M cache, 1.73 GHz) about $375
Not sure about the motherboard
You'll probably want from 4-8GB RAM either DDR3 1333 0r 1600
I am by no means an expert on this so take it with a gain of salt and check out your options.
Good Luck!

I'm also looking for a complete new rig - would like to spend about $800

Hi Torque,

thanks for the info: it's going into my research book.
I've still got about two weeks to decision day.

Jaeger

Torque,
I must be missing something. How fast is your processor. I mean right out of the box and, not overclocked. I've searched but since you own it...
My current CPU runs at 2.68 not over clocked.

O.K. I see it (6M cache, 1.73 GHz)

Jaeger

I think I'm buying tomorrow Saturday.

If the 1155 MB aren't in the store tomorrow when i get there, i'll go with speedbump's setup.
Thanks for the advice guys.

MSI P55-GD65 with i5-750 @ 4.0Ghz
G.SKILL Ripjaws 2x4Gb DDR3 1333
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout
Several big fans moving a lot of air very quietly



Jaeger

OK, when i got to the store: no sandybridge MB.

So for $900.00 i bought this instead:

Intel core i7 950
Evga x58 sli3 triple channel ddr3
12GB 2000Hz Viper tri (3x4GB) chips
CM storm scout tower
CM hyper 212 plus cooler
Thermaltake TPK 775m single +12v rail
DVD PIONEER BLACK 22X DVDRW

What do you guys think?

Jaeger

That should be a super nice system. I have the same case and it's really nice being able to hide all the wires on the back side with a little careful routing. The PSU being isolated in the bottom of the case and the cutout for installing an aftermarket heatsink with a back plate are nice too.

Thanks speedbump,
it'll take me a few days to get started.
Jaeger

P.S. where is Edgewood?
I was stationed at both Ft Bliss (Blister) and Ft Sam Houston
in the early '80s. Man Texas women are something else.
Jaeger

Edgewood is about 50 miles east of Dallas on highway 80. Ft Bliss is close to El Paso. Ft Bliss is only 700 miles from here.

Yeah you could take Dyer(spelling?) street from Bliss straight into El Paso.
Those city blocks in El Paso were huge. I got adopted by a Korean madam on Dyer street.

Jaeger

Damn,
I must be getting old: instead of spending $1,000.00 I wind up spending over $2,000.00.
i've got the toys i listed above and today,
bought a core i7 2600k,
an MSI P67A -GD65 B3 S1155 and,
2x4GB DDR3 2000 MHz Gamer series ram.
I guess i wont be needing a back system for a while.
I just had to have the core i7 2600k
Guess i'll use one for gaming and one for graphics.

Jaeger

jaegermeister,

Sorry for the delayed response. This was a recommendation from a friend of mine...




... an avid gamer with his own computer repair business. Sorry I can't vouch personally for this but my friend loves it! It sounds like you are all set now though...

Let us know how you like your new rig.


~Torque

I'm prolly a bit late, but while I was looking for some speed-specs and rankings of current CPUs, I found this:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

Go to the "High End CPU"-chart. Looks like your i7 2600K is right up there with the big boys...

BTW: The listed results seem a bit "conservative". I ran their CPU-benchmark and got a score of a little over 4000 (in their list it's rated at around 3500). Pushed FSB-speed from 333 to 360 for a 2.5 -> 2.7 GHz overclock (so far very stable) and now it's rated at 4500.

Hi Torque, sascha,

thanks for the pointers. I basically have everything now. But, i want the best air-cooler for the CPU.
I'll have a few days over the next two weeks to build the i7 2600k system so, i need to order a cooler in the next few days or, buy one at Frys: what would you recommend: i'm not going to overclock, i'm
just looking at longevity.

Jaeger

I've just installed this one on my aging CPU:




EKL Alpenföhn "Brocken"


Review here:
http://www.technic3d.com/article-894,4-ekl-alpenfoehn-brocken-cpu-kuehler-im-test.htm

(German only - temps and test-setup)

A bit overkill with my current CPU, but I wanted to be on the safe side when I'll upgrade my CPU later this year.

Compared to the boxed Intel-HS and the Scythe Shuriken I had installed before, this thing *really* cools down the CPU. And it's even pretty quiet both at idle and under load. Weirdly enough, only CPU-temperature is way lower now. Core-temps at idle are slightly lower but still get up as high as (but never higher than) 65° under heavy load (30 mins of Prime95 or playing A-10C).

According to their website, EKL have a distributor in GB, dunno about non-EU-countries though.



Having said all that, I would've installed another Zalman heatsink (out of sheer brand-loyalty) if I could've found one here in Munich.
I've been using the CNPS 9500 for years and I was very pleased with it. Their new CNPS 9900 is supposed to be very good (see link to heatsink-ranking below), even though it's a bit on the pricey side. In my, limited, experience you can't go wrong with Zalman-products.


And here's the link to the ranking (I do like HW-rankings ):



http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm






S.

Danke sascha,

Meine Deutsch ist heute sehr schlecht. So, i won't be able to read it. I was stationed in Germany during the early 1970s and 1980s.
I loved it. I have a half German daughter. Back then I could speak German very well. Good enough in fact that during the 1980s I was on the liaison team to Boehringer Mannheim for my unit. I had changed my MOS by then and I was then working inside. My first tour i was an infantry soldier.

Back on topic. Newegg doesn't carry that brand so, I'll get the Cooler Master Hyper N520 from Frys and start building this weekend.
Again thanks for your help.

Jaeger

Jag: Übung macht den Meister



Sounds like your German is a bit like my French: Used to have it in school as an advanced class and did speak it very well. But over the years I had fewer and fewer opportunities to speak it (whenever you need to converse with someone who doesn't speak German, use English) so now my French is all but dormant. If you want to brush up your German, try this: Buy German DVDs and watch the movie in its original language. Activate German subtitles (not the English ones) and whenver you're lost, quicky glance at the subtitles. I'm currently trying to revive my French that way and it does seem to help. Only problem is that there aren't that many great German movies...


Have fun installing that thing and don't forget to post temperatures here ...


S.

Danke,ich verstehe schon . I didn't feel like driving down the 605 Fwy today so,
I went to Best buy and bought a Corsair A70. Any opinion on the A70?
I can always return it. It is Spec'd for the socket 1156 so it is compatible
with the Sandybridge socket 1155.
Thanks
Jaeger.

As it happens, a friend of mine has that monster and he's very pleased with it. It's a bit on the noisy side on full RPM (2 fans and all), but supposed to be very efficient.

Here are some temperatures I found on the web:






Note the difference in delta-temp compared to the boxed fan. IMO every review of a heatsink should include that comparison. After all: If a HS isn't much better than the boxed version, why bother with it?

and their noise-readings:



Seems to me you'll be fine keeping the RPM at 75% if you want cool *and* quiet ..

Hi sascha,
the A70 doesn't work with the MSIP67-GD65 board.The CPU fan connector is wrong.
I'm going to Frys tomorrow to pick up a Cooler Master N520 Universal i7 CPU Cooler.

Thanks for the info on the A70.
Looking at those results, it's a wonder my CPUs have never burned.
I've always used the stock cooler but, I never overclock and,
only once have I gone with Intel. I've been computing since the Comodore64, the TRS-80 etc.
Oh yeah I've been building my own since parts were first offered for custom building.

Jaeger

Hmmm ... How can the fan connector be wrong? Those things are standardized.

I don't know your board, but looking at it here:



I think it's safe to assume that the white 4-pin-connector at the very top and just left of the leftmost DIMM-socket is your CPU-fan connector. Looks just like every other 4-pin-fan connector I've ever seen. I took the liberty of downloading your board's manual from MSI and on the board's layout drawing (page 14), this connector is indeed identified as the CPU-Fan-connector. The connector should also be labelled as "CPU FAN" (or something similar) directly on the board.

Reading through a review of your HS, I think you should have gotten some adapter-cables with the HS. (the 3 black, short cables in the lower left corner of this shot (sorry bout the pic-sizes).



I think the problem is that your fans use 3-pin-connectors (standard for any case-fan) while the CPU-fan needs a 4-pin connector, right? Check out those adapters: I'm 99%sure that even if you only install a single fan on your HS, you'll have to use one of the adapters to plug it into the mainboard (3 pin to 4 Pin). If you install both fans, use the Y-shaped cable (2* 3-pin to 1* 4-pin). Also: Consult your HS's manual (it should mention how to use the adapters) and check this Corsair-blog-entry on how to mount the A70 on an Intel-based-board:

http://blog.corsair.com/?p=4310


S.

Hi sascha,
ich verstehe aber, the MSI board has 4 pins and, Pin #4 is used by the "Control center" utility.
The fan that came with the CPU also has 4 female connectors. The A70 has 3 female pins.
I have all of the accessories that you posted in the screenshots, plus the manual.
The Coolermaster hyper 212 plus also comes with this bigger 4 pin connector, my problem
with the hyper 212 plus is the mounting onto the motheboard is a little messy.
So i ordered this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057&Tpk=n82e16835103057
from Newegg last night.
COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 compatible
Average Rating

5/5(340 reviews)

Compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge

P.S. I just saw that it also has a 3 pin connector.
Danke

Jaeger

NP .. just thought I could save you the additional drive to the HW-store.. Hope the new one works out better ..


S.

Danke sascha,
I really appreciate your help. I'm gonna send the 520 back to Newegg: I just got thru' mounting
a Zalman CNPS9700 NT Ultra quiet. Like I said before, I've been using AMD since the beginning and,
I've always used the stock cooler, since, I don't overclock. The only reason I wanted an aftermarket
cooler is 'cause these CPUs are running higher temps out of the box and, while I have no doubt that
the stock is O.K., for the price, I'm looking for longevity.

Here it is http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=suggest&query_string=Zalman+OR+CNPS9700+OR+NT+OR+Ultra+
Jaeger

Liftoff, liftoff...Discovery 'go for throttle up'
This puppy is quiet and fast, as is!
Tomorrow begins the long journey into system and program installation.
Guys thanks for all the advice along the way to final hardware installtion.
Thanks

Jaeger

Sounds great!

Be sure to post some benchmark-results and/or temperatures...


CNPS 9700 is a very good heatsink. You shouldn't have trouble OCing with that thing - if you decide to do so. And since you bought the 2600 "K"-version which has no fixed multipliers, I really think you should OC ...

You do eh? I'll definately try something as, this is my
first serious foray into intel territory

Jaeger

I've always been too "conservative" (read: scared/lazy) when it came to OCing. Then I came across DCS:A-10 and it created an instant need for more CPU-power. Since I didn't want to upgrade the whole system just yet, I started reading up on my current CPU and found tons of people running it a *lot* faster than the default speed. Started with a mild OC @2.7 then upped it to 3.0 GHz yesterday. And that's still a pretty conservative OC, since other examples I found had people run the 9300 between 3.4 and 4.0 GHz. After an hour of Prime95 followed by 3 or 4 hours of DCS:A-10 without trouble, I think it's safe to say that my system is stable @3.0GHz.


But anyway: Since I am planning on upgrading at some point this year, I got interested in that i7 2600 of yours. Right now it seems to mark the "sweet spot" (read: very good performance at a reasonable price of around 200-250 €uros). Now, I may be misinformed, but all I read on the web indicates that the "K"-version's only difference to the regular 2600 is its lack of fixed multipliers (just like the "Extreme"-versions of older Core2-CPUs). Which means that OCing with the K should be a lot easier and flexible. So in a way it would be counter-productive to dish out the extra $$ for the K and then not OC...

If you want to give it a go, try these links for some basic pointers. I'm sure you'll be able to find lots more information on various OC-/HW-forums. I'd especially search for OCing-posts for your specific CPU and/or your specific CPU/MoBo-combination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overclocking

http://www.wikihow.com/Overclock-a-PC

However: If your new system runs your most demanding programs (games/sims) at a good or even great framerate, I probably wouldn't bother with OCing. I wouldn't care if my favourite game ran at 55 @stock speed or 60 FPS overclocked, so long as it *did* run at 55 all the time.

Danke sascha,
huete, ich bin sehr müde. Ich nur heimgegangen von die(?)Krankenhaus fur meine augen problem.
I will probably venture a little into overclocking the 2600k: aber nicht zu viel

Jaeger

Close... "Krankenhaus" is "das" (neuter).

Hope it's nothing serious, get well first before you think of OCing. And don't stare at a PC-screen if your eyes are acting up!



S.

[quote=sascha]Close... "Krankenhaus" is "das" (neuter).

Hope it's nothing serious, get well first before you think of OCing. And don't stare at a PC-screen if your eyes are acting up!



S. [/quote

Danke, Ich verstehe, es ist 'das Krankenhaus'.
I have fully installed windows7 Ult 64bit and updated the O.S.
Installed DCS A-10 last night and running it at 1920x1080 full screen
no stutter. I did ,however, buy an Gigabyte 570 Gtx HD and am using 8GB G. SKILL
X Turbulence II DDR3 2133 PC3 17000 MEM. The board will only boot if if set it to 1866MHz
If I set it to 2133MHz it reboots.
By the way I have no clue, other than setting the freq directly in the bios on the board, how to
'manually' adjust the mem-speed/freq change in the bios to get it to 2000 or 2133MHz. It defaults the 2133MHz memory to 1600Mhz.
Increasing cpu speed is easy, i changed it to 4.0 to see if it would do it and, it did. I ran real temp for about 1 hour
and the temp averaged around 34c with distance to TJMAX as 47c IIRC. However i did reset the bios/cpu to defaults.
So now I'm running it @3.4.
If you're familiar with this MSI P67A-GD65 board? would you tell me how to manully manipulate the MEmory timings: i've
searched for info on the net, but I've found no step by step for the MSI. The guy who sold me the package said I should be
able to overclock the MEM n the bios to get to 2000MHz.
Sorry for the long post.

Thanks again.
Jaeger

O.K., Erai over on the MSI forum has successfully gotten his/her ram
on the B3 boards to run at 2133MHz. They did it by updating the BIOS
to v1.10b1 (beta).Link http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=146968.0

Jaeger

I flashed the BIOS last evening and, everything works as advertised.
Mem running at 2133MHz, no rebooting this time: however, I do think that MSI
has some work to do on this board to make it a little more user-friendly.
CPU temp is averaging around 21C. at idle.

Jaeger

P.S. After flashing the bios I had to reactivate win7 Ult 64.