i7 worth it?

[F32Fleet]

I'm thinking of building a new rig for ~$1k. I do this about every 6 yrs so.

Do you guys think I can build an i7 w/ a SSD (OS)+ HDD, and either ATI 5870 or GTX 470?

[Freakazoid]

if you can't, you need to learn how to shop.... you can almost buy an alienware with those specs for that price (slight exaggeration..but not really)

[mrgoochio]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

if you can't, you need to learn how to shop.... you can almost buy an alienware with those specs for that price (slight exaggeration..but not really)

How do you figure? SSDs are still really expensive. He didn't state the size of the drive and still needs to include a case, ram, mobo, PSU.

To the OP, not sure what you are really asking. Price? Specs? What are you on the fence about?

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by mrgoochio

How do you figure? SSDs are still really expensive. He didn't state the size of the drive and still needs to include a case, ram, mobo, PSU.

To the OP, not sure what you are really asking. Price? Specs? What are you on the fence about?

Basically wondering if going with an i7-9xx is worth it (Socket 1366). The I'd have 3 GB ram with an adequate PSU and plain jane case.

The SSD would be ~60GB just for the OS and then I'd have a dedicated HDD drive for all my junk.

[Chefcg1]

Originally Posted by Socom

I'm thinking of building a new rig for ~$1k. I do this about every 6 yrs so.

Do you guys think I can build an i7 w/ a SSD (OS)+ HDD, and either ATI 5870 or GTX 470?

you sure could. But I would ask what you use your computer for? Gaming, applications, do you plan on over clocking? What is you cpu now? If you are looking at ovver clocking the i930 or E5620 is a good bang for the buck, both can easily do 4Ghz. If no over clocking the SSD alne would help with load time on start up and applications. It all just depends on your end goal and needs.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by mrgoochio

How do you figure? SSDs are still really expensive. He didn't state the size of the drive and still needs to include a case, ram, mobo, PSU.

To the OP, not sure what you are really asking. Price? Specs? What are you on the fence about?

As he stated SSD for OS only, I'm assuming a 60GB SSD (as he reaffirmed), you can get these for about $100 bucks anymore. Get a 2 TB drive for 90 bucks on a good day, and there's your drives.....i7 920 processors are cheap , $250 or so, you can get 8 GB of decent ram for a couple hundred, that's $650. $100-$150 for a harddrive. I'm assuming he already has an OS or has the means to get a cheapo one.... so $1000 is quite reasonable.

OP, go for it

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by Chefcg1

you sure could. But I would ask what you use your computer for? Gaming, applications, do you plan on over clocking? What is you cpu now? If you are looking at ovver clocking the i930 or E5620 is a good bang for the buck, both can easily do 4Ghz. If no over clocking the SSD alne would help with load time on start up and applications. It all just depends on your end goal and needs.

Gaming and applications. I was not going to OC. My current rig is a P4 2.4 w/ a couple of GB of RAM, and a Radeon 9700 Pro. I built it back in 2004 or so.

Thanks,

[ragingclue]

Yes that's definitely possible. I know you don't plan on overclocking, but the overclock.net forums have plenty of "budget builds" to look at, and feedback on the available components out there.

[1speedbike]

Get an i7 quad! I have one, and while not all programs are compatible with quad cores, it's still great. I'd skimp on RAM (I already did) because it's easily upgradeable and put that money towards the i7. If you're keeping the computer for 6 years, I'm sure the i7 will really shine with programs optimized to take advantage of a quad core, and if you got a duo core you'd be way out of date well before the 6 year cycle repeats.

[Chefcg1]

from a p4 it would be a huge improvement. SSD's are fast, but if you are willing to wait I really think they will drop in price come spring time. I always try to plan my new builds in January and start to buy the new stuff when the new stuff hits the market early spring and the older stuff drops in price. I also would consider overclocking a budget system. You can get away and save lots of money and have a safe stable system very easily. Hell, I have been runing a E4300 at 3.4ghz for 2 years now with no problems.