SB or i7 950?

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   I seem to have more questions then answers. I had my mind set on a SB machine that this community helped iron out and custom to my needs that saved me over $800 from my orignal build. Thank you. Now that my company bonus is in while reviewing the build to purchase I noticed the issue with H67 and P67 boards on the sata 2 controller. It seems also the SB config is slightly more expensive then i7 950 build

Question I have is...

1. Is the SB 2600K that much of an improvement over i7 950. I plan to have it OC but I hear for gaming anything beyond 3.9 GHz will have no affect to current game titles. Will it with future titles? I plan to keep this rig for the next 3 years. If kept under 3.9 GHz will the SB still outperform the i7 950 and if so is it drastic change or just minor?

2. On the subject of SSD the intel 160GB is too small and was considering two but I hear of 3rd gen SSD Intel is releasing soon. I see models only on research as high up as 300GB and 600GB. I do not see a ETA on release but many report Feb 2011. Are these SSD drives coming real soon? I would prefer to get that drive as a primary or if not just settle for 160GB now and add the second later down the road if release is within 6 months. Seeing these new drives I do not see the logic in me to buy two of them if new ones is coming out real soon.

3. Since SB boards are being corrected on the sata 2 issue I hear instead of waiting till April or longer to get the corrected boards this can be bypassed with PCI sata 2 controller. Place two drives on sata 3 and use a sata 2 controller to avoid using the sata 2 on the mobo. Is this an option?

Budget:

Want to keep this under 2800 as California sales tax is a bitch. Over $200 in sales tax. Shipping is not bad at $65 as ground will arrive within state in a matter of days after being shipped. I live in SoCal.

Expectations:

Gaming at 1920 x 1080. Use of Max settings in MMO and FPS titles. Plan to use the rig for about 3 years. Was going to get a 580 but with research and feedback here will settle with 570 and just OC it.

Usage:

Generaly 90% gaming. Mostly MMO titles with use of FPS such as BC2, upcoming DNF, BF3, etc. While I am a hardcore gamer I like to play FPS in all max settings but I am not FPS nut that requires SLI to achieve killer fps.

Special Needs:

I do allot of office documents (word, powerpoint, excel, etc)

Saved Ticket #: $2536 SB setup ticket #486261 : $2421 i7 950 setup ticket #486263

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blackcatfoe Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 69	Quote Reply Topic: SB or i7 950? Posted: 12 Feb 2011 at 2:53pm
	I seem to have more questions then answers. I had my mind set on a SB machine that this community helped iron out and custom to my needs that saved me over $800 from my orignal build. Thank you. Now that my company bonus is in while reviewing the build to purchase I noticed the issue with H67 and P67 boards on the sata 2 controller. It seems also the SB config is slightly more expensive then i7 950 build Question I have is... 1. Is the SB 2600K that much of an improvement over i7 950. I plan to have it OC but I hear for gaming anything beyond 3.9 GHz will have no affect to current game titles. Will it with future titles? I plan to keep this rig for the next 3 years. If kept under 3.9 GHz will the SB still outperform the i7 950 and if so is it drastic change or just minor? 2. On the subject of SSD the intel 160GB is too small and was considering two but I hear of 3rd gen SSD Intel is releasing soon. I see models only on research as high up as 300GB and 600GB. I do not see a ETA on release but many report Feb 2011. Are these SSD drives coming real soon? I would prefer to get that drive as a primary or if not just settle for 160GB now and add the second later down the road if release is within 6 months. Seeing these new drives I do not see the logic in me to buy two of them if new ones is coming out real soon. 3. Since SB boards are being corrected on the sata 2 issue I hear instead of waiting till April or longer to get the corrected boards this can be bypassed with PCI sata 2 controller. Place two drives on sata 3 and use a sata 2 controller to avoid using the sata 2 on the mobo. Is this an option? Budget: Want to keep this under 2800 as California sales tax is a bitch. Over $200 in sales tax. Shipping is not bad at $65 as ground will arrive within state in a matter of days after being shipped. I live in SoCal. Expectations: Gaming at 1920 x 1080. Use of Max settings in MMO and FPS titles. Plan to use the rig for about 3 years. Was going to get a 580 but with research and feedback here will settle with 570 and just OC it. Usage: Generaly 90% gaming. Mostly MMO titles with use of FPS such as BC2, upcoming DNF, BF3, etc. While I am a hardcore gamer I like to play FPS in all max settings but I am not FPS nut that requires SLI to achieve killer fps. Special Needs: I do allot of office documents (word, powerpoint, excel, etc) Saved Ticket #: $2536 SB setup ticket #486261 : $2421 i7 950 setup ticket #486263

Dragoonseal Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS Veteran Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2247	Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2011 at 4:05pm
	Are you really sure you need 300 to 600GB of SSD space? SSD space is expensive, movies/music/media have no business taking up your SSD space, keep that all on a HDD. Beyond that you only need to worry about OS/apps/games, and of those only games are going to take up much room.
	Lilim Intel Core i7 920 @4.2GHz HAF 932 - Dual SLI Nvidia GTX 480s 3x Intel X25-M G2 (80GB) SSD RAID0R.I.P. Sinbad the cat (November 16, 1996 - April 18, 2011)

blackcatfoe Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 69	Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2011 at 5:03pm
	Yes the SSD will be for apps os and games. all my storage will go in 1TB drive. Issue is I play WoW. The game alone takes 30GB plus I have allot of games on steam. BC2 and most other games are around 10GB each. I can settle with a second 160GB SSD just for the games only and settle with the first for my apps and OS. Would the 3rd gen be better to wait if there is a 160GB intel 3rd gen or just get the 2nd gen? Edited by blackcatfoe - 12 Feb 2011 at 5:04pm

Dragoonseal Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS Veteran Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2247	Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2011 at 9:40pm
	Well if it would freaking come out any time soon the G3 will be nice as they're slated to be much cheaper. Assuming they can actually keep up with the demand when they're released at least. (G2s when released where also much cheaper than the G1s, but prices quickly rebounded back to G1 prices or even worse for awhile, as there was a huuuuge demand for them and not enough supply.) I know games can take a lot of space and all, but perhaps you should just learn to restrain yourself some and use a 160GB or smaller for awhile. I use Steam too, and I always have many heavily modded games with additional user content (Oblivion, Fallout 3, L4D, L4D2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, Sven Co-op, Synergy), and I am laaaaaazy about not bothering to uninstall games that I haven't played in even over half a year, yet I don't think I've ever managed to top around 140GB or so (which was OS/apps/games). That's the whole benefit to Steam after all. not playing it anymore then delete the local content. Feel like playing it again a few months later take an hour to download it again. And hell if you really that lazy and anal about having 50 games installed you can just cut/paste the game folders over to a HDD when you're not using them, then just cut/paste them back to the SSD when you want to play them again. Steam even has a built in function specifically for that. Right click game, Backup Game Files, select HDD, done.
	Lilim Intel Core i7 920 @4.2GHz HAF 932 - Dual SLI Nvidia GTX 480s 3x Intel X25-M G2 (80GB) SSD RAID0R.I.P. Sinbad the cat (November 16, 1996 - April 18, 2011)

blackcatfoe Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 69	Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2011 at 10:53pm
	Sounds good. Any word on difference in performance for games from SB to i7 950?

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 13 Feb 2011 at 10:55am
	I like your SB build, SB will do better, difference depends on the game and res, it can be 5 fps or 10 fps or higher at your res, SB also runs cooler, and can easily be oced higher, not much difference in games now, but in oc and apps it makes a huge difference, here is a little comparison: Click Image to Enlarge change your psu to corsair
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

SB or i7 950?

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