WC Annihilus
New member
Well, I'm still running on the same CPU+Mobo platform for the past 3 years now and I think it's getting to be time for an upgrade. Now, being the lucky guy I am, I happened to win a Zotac 790i Ultra motherboard at Nvision last month. Thing is, Bloomfield launch is so close (a month or 2), so I'm a bit out of sorts as to what I want to do with this thing. There are several options:
A) Grab a cheapie 45nm dual core high clocker such as a E5200 and 2gb DDR3. Would run me about $100-120 most likely if I buy it used off forums. Perhaps a E72/300 for $20-40 more.
B) Grab a E0 84/5/600 and 2gb DDR3, seem to be perfectly capable of 4+ghz on air. Probably run me a bit over $200.
C) Grab a used 65nm quad and 2gb DDR3. There's someone on another forum selling a Xeon x3210 (Q6600 with 8x multi and Intel rated temp roof of 85C) for $150 that I bet I could haggle down, possibly down to $120-130. Proven clocked to 3.2@1.35v, he never pushed it further. Could probably get to 3.6 or so with some more volts. Another guy has a 2gb DDR3 kit for $45. So, this option would run me < $200.
D) Grab a 45nm quad and 2gb DDR3. Not quite sure how the lower ones (Q9300 or Q9400) clock, but the likes of a Q9550 seem to hit 3.6 no problem, 3.8-4ghz certainly possible. Lower 45nm would probably run me $300-350, Q9550 be more like $350-400 with ram.
E) Sell off the 790i mobo while it's still brand new, unused, and wait for Bloomfield. Would probably net me $275 if I'm conservative, perhaps more. Lowest Bloomfield proccy has Intel price of $284, probably be more like $300+ at launch, plus we're unsure of what motherboards will likely cost, likely $250+, maybe even $300+, and some kit of DDR3. Factoring in the sold mobo, moving to Nehalem at launch would probably cost me $300+, perhaps $350-400
Now, let's go over usage. First and foremost I'm a gamer. However, to be honest I'm quite happy with the gaming performance of my current setup, so gaming performance isn't really the issue here. Main thing here is that I like to do video editing on occasion, so main issue is render/encoding power. Now, this is an area where Bloomfield seems to excel in compared to the current architecture, so that's a plus for Bloomfield. However, the editing I do are AMVs, so the videos I do are generally only 3-6 minutes long. On my current setup, a lossless render takes 15-30 min, and an encode for distribution takes another 15-30 min. Regardless of what I choose out of the above options, I'll likely see a massive drop in render/encode times.
I just started college, don't spend money too often, have money from my summer job. Also, I won quite a bit of other stuff at Nvision that I can sell (CM UCP 1100w PSU, Tagan 700w Modular PSU, Gigabyte 9600GT Passive cooled, Tagan El Diablo Case, as well as a pair of 8600GTS's that I bought before Nvision) to raise more funds.
So, in my position, what would you do?
A) Grab a cheapie 45nm dual core high clocker such as a E5200 and 2gb DDR3. Would run me about $100-120 most likely if I buy it used off forums. Perhaps a E72/300 for $20-40 more.
B) Grab a E0 84/5/600 and 2gb DDR3, seem to be perfectly capable of 4+ghz on air. Probably run me a bit over $200.
C) Grab a used 65nm quad and 2gb DDR3. There's someone on another forum selling a Xeon x3210 (Q6600 with 8x multi and Intel rated temp roof of 85C) for $150 that I bet I could haggle down, possibly down to $120-130. Proven clocked to 3.2@1.35v, he never pushed it further. Could probably get to 3.6 or so with some more volts. Another guy has a 2gb DDR3 kit for $45. So, this option would run me < $200.
D) Grab a 45nm quad and 2gb DDR3. Not quite sure how the lower ones (Q9300 or Q9400) clock, but the likes of a Q9550 seem to hit 3.6 no problem, 3.8-4ghz certainly possible. Lower 45nm would probably run me $300-350, Q9550 be more like $350-400 with ram.
E) Sell off the 790i mobo while it's still brand new, unused, and wait for Bloomfield. Would probably net me $275 if I'm conservative, perhaps more. Lowest Bloomfield proccy has Intel price of $284, probably be more like $300+ at launch, plus we're unsure of what motherboards will likely cost, likely $250+, maybe even $300+, and some kit of DDR3. Factoring in the sold mobo, moving to Nehalem at launch would probably cost me $300+, perhaps $350-400
Now, let's go over usage. First and foremost I'm a gamer. However, to be honest I'm quite happy with the gaming performance of my current setup, so gaming performance isn't really the issue here. Main thing here is that I like to do video editing on occasion, so main issue is render/encoding power. Now, this is an area where Bloomfield seems to excel in compared to the current architecture, so that's a plus for Bloomfield. However, the editing I do are AMVs, so the videos I do are generally only 3-6 minutes long. On my current setup, a lossless render takes 15-30 min, and an encode for distribution takes another 15-30 min. Regardless of what I choose out of the above options, I'll likely see a massive drop in render/encode times.
I just started college, don't spend money too often, have money from my summer job. Also, I won quite a bit of other stuff at Nvision that I can sell (CM UCP 1100w PSU, Tagan 700w Modular PSU, Gigabyte 9600GT Passive cooled, Tagan El Diablo Case, as well as a pair of 8600GTS's that I bought before Nvision) to raise more funds.
So, in my position, what would you do?
And I know that Bloomfield does nothing for games, but from what I've seen it's a complete beast at encoding. I'll probably hold onto this set up until a few months into next year and then switch, unless I find the E7200 to fit my needs perfectly fine
