New CPU for DCS

[Paco]

All,

 

I blew my I7-950 due to a cooler failure. Now I'm shopping around for a new CPU and/or Moboard. I'm debating between a I7-2600 or a I7-950/960/970 series. I will keep the GTX 295. Any suggestions? Also will I have to replace my hard drive if I go with a I7-2600 and consequently new moboard? Thanks in advance.

 

/r,

[EtherealN]

Depends, really. i7 2600K is definitely the better performer, but you would have to replace your motherboard and, potentially, your RAM. (1.65v DDR3's should work, but they generally recommend 1.5v modules. The big deal in Intel's recommendation is the difference between CPU and memory voltages, which should not exceed .5v if my memory serves.)

 

A 950 or 960 is probably the most economical option - I'd only go for a 970 if video encode performance (and similar tasks like decryption/encryption, comreppsion/decompression, rendering etcetera) is a big deal for your usage pattern. Otherwise the high price is such that you'd be much better off using the same money to get a 2600 or 2500 as well as a motherboard.

 

If gaming is the only "heavy-duty" job you have in mind, an i5 2500K will give you roughly the same performance as an i7 2600K, but it does suffer noticeably in heavilty multithreaded tasks (most specifically due to not having HT). As far as performance goes, this is probably the best option - an i5 2500K or i7 2600K will be better than your old 950 - especially if you overclock it.

 

Regarding HDD, depends. If your current hard drive is an old IDE drive, then yes. (This would apply to old IDE DVD-readers as well.) For SATA2 drives which is most likely what you have (IDE interface for hard drives was phased out a long time ago), you should be fine with just a straight transplant. Some driver issues might crop up in your windows install, but this should be solveable through a cleanup where you just remove all hardware-related drivers completely and then install appropriate ones for the new components, allowing you to keep your other data.

Edited October 24, 2011 by EtherealN

[Rhinox]

...I blew my I7-950 due to a cooler failure...

I wonder how this could happen. First, there is some kind of thermal-protection in CPU itself: if temperature exceeds some limit, cpu starts throttling down (reducing frequency) and can even turn itself completely off (the same holds true for modern GPU). You could even take cooler away and CPU should survive it (never tested this personally but I've seen some video about this, not sure where it was, tom's or anand?).

 

And as a backup, most of today's motherboards have similar function in bios: they can turn PC off if cooler-speed or CPU-temperature goes below/above given limits. So I can't imagine how someone could roast CPU today...

[EtherealN]

Those functions are sometimes turned off for overclocking purposes.

[EtherealN]

Same here. The only good reason I ever heard was competition OCing where spare parts are cheap and safety features end up blocking you from that "little bit extra"...

 

That said - safety features can fail, too. No such thing as a true failsafe.

[Paco]

I went with an I7-960. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Paco]

So I buy an I7-960 chip and H80 cooler. This is good, so keep reading.......I didn't have time to do the install myself, so I take it in to a computer shop and they do. Guy calls me back and says the computer is ready and it's running like a champ. Great! I go back in and there's my HAF932 sitting on the counter with the side panel open. The technician is "tweaking" the overclocking....while I'm standing there, my rig catches on fire! Yes, Fire! I'm not talking sparks...I'm talking flames coming out of the PCI slot where my GTX295 was plugged in. Now it's a motherboard replacement and a graphics card. That's in addition to the i7-960 and cooler I bought. This sucks.

[hitman]

Their posession, they broke it, they bought it. I would sue.

[EtherealN]

O.o

 

And hell yeah, they should definitely pay for that. If you bring your car in for a look-over and they cause it to explode...

I'm impressed though. It takes skill to make a computer burn. :D (Or the extreme incompetence required to work in a live electrical cirquit... If the computer was turned on and he was working inside it, that's such gross negligence and incompetence that the guy should be fired and issued a court order to never, ever, have anything to do with computers beyond reading facebook. Before you work inside the case, your make sure to remove power and bleed all caps... That's not optional, especially if you get paid to handle other people's hardware.)

Edited October 29, 2011 by EtherealN

[Paco]

We'll work out a settlement of sorts. Had I not been there, I would've not believed it. Yes, it takes some effort to make a computer burn. Not just spark....burn. I'm just glad it wasn't in our house when it did this.

[Pilotasso]

If you can, get a totally new machine as possible. You can buy a really cheap sandy bridge machine if your willing to value only what you really want.

 

It starts with your mobo and the CPU.

 

Say an Asus H61 MOBO plus an I5-2500K. Its faster than your previous CPU and hugely overclockable and cool. Its great value for money too. Plus you got option for upgrade with nexts year Ivy bridge using the same socket. :)

 

http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/PCIe3_Ready/

 

GFX something in the range of GTX560

Hard drives are expensive now as the factory that produces the electrical motors has sufferend from large flooding in the region and prices went up 2X. Try re-using the old one.

[Paco]

Well, see that's the kicker. Had I known the motherboard was going to fry, I would not have bought the I7-960 and just gone with a Sandy-bridge and i5-2600. But I elected to just replace the i7-960 and keep it at that. After I buy the chip the motherboard and GTX-295 go up in flames, while at the shop. So now it would be more expensive to switch over, since I would now have to buy a chip, and moboard.

[EtherealN]

Well, in my opinion, the shop should have two options: they either replace all parts they broke with something that is equal or better than what they broke, or they give you a credit to the value that would achieve the same.

 

No way you should be in any way paying for any of that.

[hitman]

They should replace everything outright anyways. Thats 800 bucks almost worth of parts they destroyed by their overclocking. Unless you signed some sort of waiver stating you wont hold them liable for overclocking it, theres no way in hell they cant be held liable for this. Even the waiver can be argued against in court.

[Bodo]

Just built an i7 for some mates and I ran the intel burn test...

 

87ish GFlops...

 

My OC'd Q9550 @ 3.4Ghz (same speed as i7 out the box...) maxes at around 45 or summit.

 

Wow, I want! :)

[Pilotasso]

The score per core is higher but its smaller than that test seems to indicate, remeber the I7 can run more threads in tests with hyperthreading but most apps dont use them. This is partly the reason why Sandy bridge CPU's are faster with just 4 cores than AMD's 6 and 8 cores.