Time to upgrade for encoding I think...help?

[Damar]

So I've had a nice and stable E6850 on a 680i EVGA MB running @ 3.6Ghz for some time now, and it's been stellar. Of late however, with the addition of a new HDTV setup at home, I find myself spending more and more time doing encoding work, and not so much gaming as I used to. Knowing that a quad core would do me a lot more favors when encoding, I was looking into getting a few new parts, and passing my old MB/CPU/RAM to my nephew to use as the core for a new system for him (I'm far too nice an uncle in law).

I'm assuming that if I can get an i7 920 D0 and OC it up to a matching 3.6Ghz, it would be a marked improvement over the E6850 when it comes to encoding HD video, and I wouldn't take much of a hit if any in games, even with my older video cards.

So on to the questions required for assistance!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Some gaming, mostly need a machine that can encode and/or stream HD video to a PS3 or other HD device. Light Photoshop work when I do need to use it.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

As I only need a CPU/MB/RAM at the moment, I'd like to see what can be done for $1000 or less, lower is obviously better, but I'd like to not lose performance in the games area if possible (where the C2D served me so well).

3) Where do you live?

Massachusetts (So no real options to purchase locally except maybe BestBuy if I were mentally sick and didn't know any better). Will likely go NewEggAmazon for most of it

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Motherboard, CPU, Memory. I have some concerns with memory as it seems some X58 boards are very picky about it. (Prefer to go X58 due to upgrade options coming in the new year.) I'd also want a new cooler, and was leaning towards the Noctua NH-D14 as noise is somewhat of a concern. Had also considered the Corsair H50 but not sure it would be enough to cool an OC'd 920.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Going to reuse my 2 x 8800GTX's for now as they still work well and I want to wait and see what NVidia eventually does if they ever ship a new part. Power supply is currently a Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W in a TJ-09 case. 4 case fans split between instake and exhaust for good airflow. (I tried to plan ahead a bit when I built this last machine on those 2 items).

6) Will you be overclocking?

I'd like to get the i7 920 to at least 3.6Ghz to match my trusty old E6850, although I do realize that even at same clock speed we're comparing apples to oranges really as the architecture is vastly different in the i7's.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

24" 1920x1200 that I love and will keep until 30" screens get much cheaper

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

As soon as I can settle on a motherboard mostly. Every time I see one I think I'll go with I read something that scares me off. I've been debating between one of the ASUS P6T versions of maybe another EVGA board as the one I have now has been wonderful. Some of what I've read about the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 has intrigued me.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

I'd like at least 6 USB on the rear panel, and board connectors to hook up the front panel ones on the TJ-09. I'm guessing pretty much all motherboards have bootable USB ports nowadays (this EVGA 680i that I have now didn't and it was annoying at times). RAID would be nice but it's not a requirement. SLI support is obviously important as I'd like to keep my 2 x 8800GTX's for now as they've served me very well.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?

TechNet subscription has me covered nicely.

I honestly appreciate any opinions from the folks here, as the landscape has changed so much since I built this 680i system, and the options are almost overwhelming.

 

[obobski]

even an i7 at stock would very likely encode faster than your system does right now (i7 + your current hardware), you shouldn't lose one iota of performance in games/etc either (there isn't really a ton of difference between CPUs at high resolution) and the OC you'd like to try for isn't likely to give you any trouble

so you need an X58 mainboard, the i7, and some RAM

if you just wanna stick with eVGA (Unless someone says otherwise):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188046
and your i7:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5202&cm_re=core_i7_920-_-19-115-202-_-Product
and your memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145220

 

[lt_shiro]

@ obobski - support by 680i is questionable at best for 45nm quads. Getting a stable overclock on it will be near impossible.

 

[obobski]

@ obobski - support by 680i is questionable at best for 45nm quads. Getting a stable overclock on it will be near impossible.

whycome whenever I make suggestions about things that *should* be compatible it just continues to demonstrate how incompatible stuff actually is and makes me lose faith in humanity

in all seriousness, I honestly did not know that, last nVidia chipset I personally owned and OC'd with was nForce 2 Ultra 400, last box I sold with an nVidia chipset was a 750i and it hasn't come back (in two years)

 

[lt_shiro]

I would suggest too Limahl. i7 920 isn't worth the increase in cost to 1156 platform in terms of performance for light photoshop useage.

- Core i5 750 or Xeon 3440 $195-$240
- 4-8 GB DDR3 1600 $90-$180 (I would go with Ripjaws, XMS3 or OCZ Obsidian)
- Gigabyte P55A $135 (crossfire only) $185 (SLi ready).

 

[Damar]

Thanks for the replies so far!

obobski - Thats pretty much one of the setups I was considering, though you picked better memory I think. I just wish one of the X58 motherboards on NewEgg had more than a 70% approval, though I realize the reviews there aren't always the best to go by (hence why I posted here for some insight).

lt_shiro - I'll take a look at those parts and see, but Photoshop will be one of the least things I will be doing. Most of the time the machine will be spent doing video encoding either to or from HD formats, so the extra power in the 920 and X58 set seemed to be more appropriate, especially after talking to some folks on the PS3 Media Server forums who stream/copy HD materials to their PS3. I'd rather have more power than I need than fall short.

As it stands I can stream HD to the PS3 just fine, but the machine is crippled and can't do anything else while it's processing. I'd like to be able to use the machine for light work while conversions or streaming are going on.

Going to keep reading up on as much as I can for now, and try to nail down a MB as that might limit my ram selections a little if I stick to the "approved list".

Thanks again!

 

[defaultluser]

Limahi - have you considered a GPU-accelerated encoder app instead of a system upgrade? A Core i7 would be extremely fast, but even your 8800GT could be faster with the right app.

You could also use this as an excuse to upgrade your GPUs to something beefier, since your dual-core @ 3.6 is plenty fine for gaming.

 

[Damar]

Limahi - have you considered a GPU-accelerated encoder app instead of a system upgrade? A Core i7 would be extremely fast, but even your 8800GT could be faster with the right app.

You could also use this as an excuse to upgrade your GPUs to something beefier, since your dual-core @ 3.6 is plenty fine for gaming.

You do make a good point, and I had almost considered it at one point, but I've got the bug to build something new, along with some gift cards from X-mas to help me do it. Even though I'm out of work at the moment, part of me wants to build a newish rig to mess with, and then I can add i7 experience onto my resume as well.

I know these 8800 GTX's are good and powerful, and thats why I've kept them as long as I have. One was new and one was a refurb and I've never regretted the purchase. I have a sneaky suspicion I'll be going ATI soon the way NVidia is dropping the ball lately, but only a couple more months will really tell.

Right now though, I'm more inclined to build something newer and stretch the old "OC" gene that I didn't really mess with much on this build (a 600Mhz OC on this cpu is pretty tame compared to what I did on some older machines years ago)..

I appreciate the comment, and for making me think about it again before making a purchase. Just proves that the people here are as helpful and I've always believed they are.

 

[obobski]

Limahi - have you considered a GPU-accelerated encoder app instead of a system upgrade? A Core i7 would be extremely fast, but even your 8800GT could be faster with the right app.

You could also use this as an excuse to upgrade your GPUs to something beefier, since your dual-core @ 3.6 is plenty fine for gaming.

you're talking about ENcoding, not DEcoding, and he's got 8800GTX's, as in G80
not a ton of application support, it gets pricey (after all that hot air, I know), and I've really no idea what it'll do with G80, most tests and demonstrations I've seen from the boys in green are using GTX 280's or 9800GX2's

yeah, still worth looking into, but I wouldn't hold my breath, sadly

 

[engiNURD]

... As it stands I can stream HD to the PS3 just fine, but the machine is crippled and can't do anything else while it's processing. I'd like to be able to use the machine for light work while conversions or streaming are going on.

Going to keep reading up on as much as I can for now, and try to nail down a MB as that might limit my ram selections a little if I stick to the "approved list". ...

You'll definitely want an i7 then, since the HT will help with intensive multi-tasking.

For best compatibility, choose RAM that's compliant with JEDEC specs of DDR3 1600 (or lower) @ 1.5v -- I know, this limits your choices, but its for best compatiblity. Intel max vDIMM is 1.65v, so if you go with a kit rated at that voltage, it should work fine, but there's no overhead -- going higher may kill the CPU (imc).

4.0Ghz is easy on a D0 920, so 3.6Ghz should be cake. And since your ambitions are low, you could actually go with DDR3-1333 instead (more choices in the 1.5v range at this speed).

 

[Damar]

You'll definitely want an i7 then, since the HT will help with intensive multi-tasking.

For best compatibility, choose RAM that's compliant with JEDEC specs of DDR3 1600 (or lower) @ 1.5v -- I know, this limits your choices, but its for best compatiblity. Intel max vDIMM is 1.65v, so if you go with a kit rated at that voltage, it should work fine, but there's no overhead -- going higher may kill the CPU (imc).

4.0Ghz is easy on a D0 920, so 3.6Ghz should be cake. And since your ambitions are low, you could actually go with DDR3-1333 instead (more choices in the 1.5v range at this speed).

So the main concern is that if I get memory rated for 1.65v then I can't give it some extra juice to clock it higher, whereas on the 1.5v stuff if I need some extra juice to OC it I've got another 0.15v I can toss on there if I need to.

I only see a few GSkill and GEIL kits at 1600 down at 1.5v, then there are some from Corsair at 1333 and 1.5v that might be doable. I've always used Crucial or Corsair ram and have loved the performance and customer support from both (especially Crucial). Running 4 sticks of Ballistix now and I love the stuff.

Here's the Corsair stuff I found that fits what you mentioned... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145220

Appreciate the advice! Now to work out the MB part of it and make sure the RAM will work with it. I've read about some people having issues using some RAM models on certain boards, so I'm trying to be 100% sure before I match em up to buy.

 

[engiNURD]

Yup, I typically recommend the G.Skill DDR3-1600 1.5v (NQ or Ripjaws, IIRC). Those XMS3 would work fine, too, for your OC'ing goals.

 

[Damar]

Ok so at the moment I've got these in my 'wish list" on NewEgg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039 - EVGA E758-A1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225 - GSkill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ

Pretty sure that's where I'll stay. I keep looking at the ASUS P6T still, and may change to that, but I've had such good luck with EVGA products and their support when I needed it was stellar.

Sorta nervous about not going with Crucial or Corsair on the memory, but I do see a lot of people using GSkill and having good luck with it being stable.

Now to track down a D0 stepping 920 and settle on a good cooler and I'm set for a "rebuild" and some desktop benches I think.

Any other comments from the experts? Probably be another day or so before I pull the trigger on it all.

 

[lightp2]

@LimahL

I meant the following with sincerity.

You are indeed a generous person. After reviewing things in your posts, I honestly come to a conclusion that you should wait until Mar 2010 and build the Hexacore Westmere machine. You will not be dissapointed.

The 6-core i7-980x is rumor to run at 3.33GHz by default so even if you choose not to do any overclocking it will meet any sensible demand without issue.

There are different ways to access buying decision. I just feel in this particular case you belong to the top-flight group eventually per enthusiast (maybe not game score but other things). I understand it will over-budget for couple hundreds, I hope you will eventually feel it worthwhile.

Edit 1 clarification for Deludedor other in case their doubt about oc comment: I take many things in consideration as a whole. Overclocking is just one of them and I have no objection and understand majority i7/X58 can oc 4GHz.

 

[Deluded]

You will be fine. Just about any x58 motherboard will take the i7 to 4Ghz easy. At that speed, the i7 would be eating your old rig for breakfast.

Again, as I said, any aftermarket motherboard can take the i7 to 4Ghz, so the price on that eVGA is rather absurd -- all you're really doing is paying for extra feature such as RAID or stability at speeds beyond 4.5Ghz. It's ultimately your choice, but I'd recommend you look at other motherboards, such as Foxcon Blood Rage or something.

 

[engiNURD]

If the P6T fits your needs, go for it unless you think the support from eVGA is worth the price premium over the Asus (since you don't really need the other extra features it provides).

I doubt there are any C0 stepping i7 920's around unless its extremely old stock.

Yah, upgrading the lower portions of the food chain is a good reason to upgrade yourself. I use such reasoning quite often. It keeps the hand-me-down chain fresh with not so obsolete parts, lol.

If you want, wait for westmere... then when westmere comes out, you may want to wait for sandy bridge... then when sandy bridge comes out, you may want to wait for Haswell... you get my point. You can fall into a never ending wait cycle. The typical advice I like to give is to wait as long as you can, and buy/build when you can't wait any longer (basically when your current system can't handle what you throw at it with satisfactory performance). However, with a hand-me-down chain, you can wait to upgrade until the end-of-the-chain is seeing unsatisfactory performance instead of the top.

 

[Damar]

You will be fine. Just about any x58 motherboard will take the i7 to 4Ghz easy. At that speed, the i7 would be eating your old rig for breakfast.

Again, as I said, any aftermarket motherboard can take the i7 to 4Ghz, so the price on that eVGA is rather absurd -- all you're really doing is paying for extra feature such as RAID or stability at speeds beyond 4.5Ghz. It's ultimately your choice, but I'd recommend you look at other motherboards, such as Foxcon Blood Rage or something.

I can understand trying to not pay more for things I don't need, but from my point of view, at the moment anyway, the EVGA option gives me more SATA ports and more DIMM slots to use over time if I decide to go nuts later on. Granted my case can hold 10 drives and I'm running 6 right now, so being able to add more is something I'd like to have the option of. Same with the DIMM slots. I don't see me needing 24GB right now, but every few months it seems the files I work with are getting larger and larger.

The rest of it is just a "warm" feeling after dealing with EVGA support in the past, and how well they've helped me out. I just have a little more peace of mind with them I guess, and it's worth shelling out a little more for. I usually try to buy more than I need at the time to give a little bit of future proofing. Lord knows when I bought this Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W I didn't need it, but I surely won't need another PSU for quite some time still. Same for the TJ-09 case. It was so overkill when I got it, but I won't need another case for a long time now.

I appreciate the comments, and I get where your'e coming from. If I were going to build a spare machine that Foxconn board doesn't look bad at all really.

My thanks to all the comments. It's given me something to think about and consider and I do appreciate all the advice. Always helps to have another pair of eyes look at something.