# Looking for advice on a new computer



## A-Thousand-Lies (Aug 11, 2008)

I'm looking to get a new computer which will mainly be used for high-end gaming (and able to keep up with new games for the next couple of years) as well as media editing using the entire Adobe CS4 suite, mainly Premiere, After Effects and Encore. I might also be doing audio editing and recording down the track, but that's less of a priority.

My budget's around $2000 AU, give or take a couple hundred. That equates to about $1800 US at the moment, however, I'm not sure if the strengthening of the AUD against the USD would've actually made that significant a difference to the price of computer parts here, so it might end up being a little closer to $1600 US instead.

From what I've researched I'm guessing I'll need a couple of 1TB hard drives, a GTX260 graphics card, Intel Core i7 (or possibly i5, not sure if there's that significant a difference), 4 gigs of RAM and ~750W power supply and Windows 7 64bit. I'm not too sure about the motherboard and I'm not as computer savvy as I really should be so I'm kinda in the dark here but I'm doing it through this place in Australia called Netplus, and leaning towards this quote:

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/402/netplus.jpg

My main question is, will that be sufficient, is the i7 worth it over the i5, and will the motherboard/CPU/RAM be compatible?

The online quote function they've got is here:

http://www.netplus.com.au/online-quote.asp


Thanks.


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Change the power supply to either a Corsair or a Seasonic.


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## t_funke (Feb 4, 2008)

Mate you might wanna check out this article regarding your CPU:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410.html

I'm looking to build a new PC soon but I am limiting myself to a much smaller budget than you (AUD$1200 max) so my pick would be the i5 750.

There shouldn't be any compatibility issues between your CPU/RAM/MB based on your choices but you may want to think about upping the ante for your RAM choices as well - I would choose at least 1600Mhz instead of 1333. Maybe choose the cheaper i5 750 and use the change to double your RAM?


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## t_funke (Feb 4, 2008)

Actually now that I think about it, i7 860 might be better for you since you're using Adobe CS4 suite and you might be multi-tasking a lot - i5 is not Hyper-Threading enabled, whereas the i7 is.

In saying that, I would still reconsider your RAM choices.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I would also suggest changing the PSU selection to a Seasonic or Corsair and OCZ-G.Skill-Corsair for the RAM. Kingston is OK for value RAM but lacks for performance RAM.


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## A-Thousand-Lies (Aug 11, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestions. I've made a couple of changes and this is what I've come up with (though this shop doesn't currently have any Corsair power supplies in stock):

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/1613/netplus2.jpg

Will that be adequate?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Looks good to me. Does that retailer handle Seasonic PSU's? They are also high quality units.


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Tyree said:


> Looks good to me. Does that retailer handle Seasonic PSU's? They are also high quality units.


....And, about as quiet as it gets!


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## t_funke (Feb 4, 2008)

Guys, the i7 920 is a LGA1366 CPU, and the motherboard takes LGA1156 - it won't physically fit. What happened to the i7 860 you had in mind before?

The i7 860 is a newer CPU - I'd probably stick with that.


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## A-Thousand-Lies (Aug 11, 2008)

Oops, didn't see that. I'll go with the 860.

I've got a question about the i7 and the RAM it can handle:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410-2.html

On this link it shows that the i5 can't handle DDR3-1600 and that the i7 1366 can't even handle DDR3-1333. Why is that? I was going to go with DDR3-1600 as you had suggested, t_funke, but this tells me that the best it can handle is DDR-1333.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The RAM would be dependent on what the Mobo will accept. Personally, I would stay with the 1600.


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## tomsutton (Sep 24, 2009)

I agree just go wiht 1600


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

t_funke said:


> Actually now that I think about it, i7 860 might be better for you since you're using Adobe CS4 suite and you might be multi-tasking a lot - i5 is not Hyper-Threading enabled, whereas the i7 is.
> 
> In saying that, I would still reconsider your RAM choices.




The hyper threading aspect of things is "worthless" their is little to no software that makes use of what hyperthreading delivers

a much better question to ask the OP and anyone else thats thinking of building a new system ..............which do YOU value and expect more from your next system ...........Stability or do you prefer new technology and are willing to wrestle with the hick-ups which will be plenty?


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

linderman said:


> The hyper threading aspect of things is "worthless" their is little to no software that makes use of what hyperthreading delivers


Video editing, CAD, 3D modeling, numerical crunching, vritualization, some database software. There's lots of stuff out there that uses hyperthreading; most users just won't use it.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/cpu/ci7-turbo-ht-p2.html



Despite its new reincarnation, Hyper-Threading is still as controversial as in times of NetBurst. This technology yields zero performance gains according to our overall score (rounded), even though some tests demonstrate significant performance gains or drops. The reasons are lying on the surface: it's not easy to optimize software for virtual multiprocessing. What concerns Intel, this company abandoned this field, having rolled out truly multi-core processors -- and software developers immediately followed suit. To all appearances, Hyper-Threading is being revived now. However, developers already accumulated negative experience -- HT had been actively advertised at first, and then it was forgotten because of more popular market tendencies. So those developers, who have already mastered this technology in its first reincarnation, will hardly welcome the revival of HT.


One thing is clear: having analyzed its previous (mostly negative) experience in promoting the "progressive" NetBurst architecture, Intel learned its lesson well and does not risk promoting its architectural concepts in the might-makes-right way anymore. Now the company is more gentle, offering its users not only two birds in the bush tomorrow, but also a bird in the hand today. *We've already appreciated Turbo Boost. Thank you. Hyper-Threading is still in the bush. We'll wait and see.*


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

That article is ten months old; I know for a fact that AutoCAD and VMware use it, and I've heard that many popular programs/tools in the fields I listed do too.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

perhaps there are software revisions which are more recent & advanced than the results contained in that review?


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

Yeah; AutoCAD 2010 vs. 2009, for instance.


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## A-Thousand-Lies (Aug 11, 2008)

Tyree said:


> The RAM would be dependent on what the Mobo will accept. Personally, I would stay with the 1600.


I don't quite understand. Do you mean that the maximum memory rate in the link from my most recent post is referring to the processor not the motherboard? If that's the case won't I have to go with a motherboard that is lesser than the one matched for i7 LGA 1156?


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Phædrus2401 said:


> Yeah; AutoCAD 2010 vs. 2009, for instance.


The information is true that some applications use Hyperthreading. However, to the average user, it actually is "Much Ado About Nothing" as our friend Shakespeare said. I would bet that less than 10% of users (probably less than that) even use applications that call upon Hyperthreading. While the applications mentioned do use hyperthreading (another name that sells), but what you will find is that about 90+% of users (except speciality users) don't give a diddly squat about that type program, so therefore not much use to a normal user at this point in development.

Even those applications that use Hyperthreading (remember, that few who use it) won't see a big difference. We are talking about small tweaks in real world enhancement with some of these things and I put Hypertrheading in that category. 

Therefore, to me this is a hype selling word and not too much more. 

Now, if I were a design engineer, then it might mean something and I would jump all of a sudden on the hype band (or even hyperthreading) wagon. 

This is my personal opinion on this topic.


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## A-Thousand-Lies (Aug 11, 2008)

Okay, getting back to the original topic:

Contary to what this article says about the maximum memory rate of the i5 and i7, will I be able to use DDR3-1600 if I go with the LGA1156 motherboard and i7 860 LGA1156 CPU?


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Probably, with my board and ram, I just load the xmp and the ram runs at 1600Mhz. When you select ram, use the ram manufacturer's configurator, it will tell you the exact models they produce that are guaranteed to run on an exact motherboard. Unfortunately, all boards are not always listed, the brand you look at may not show the board you are getting. Then you have to wing it, look around forums, see if anyone else has used the kit, etc.


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## A-Thousand-Lies (Aug 11, 2008)

Alright, one more revision

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/916/netplus3.jpg

What do we think of that?


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