KWSN Orbiting Fortress

shoob · Baron Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 143

So, seriously thinking about getting an i7, but need help getting pushed over the edge. Okay, I'm already over the edge, but those that have an i7 already, what are your impressions, shrubbing-wise? The way I see justifying it (as if justification is needed) is that eight shrubs going at the same time, versus just four is double the production, right? However, I can get a quad core for less than half the price of an i7, so if I got two of them, I would save money (albeit, not that much really). But, shrubbery-for-shrubbery, is there an increase in production per unit?

Sorry if this has been discussed already but I haven't seen anything about it.

nu!
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Yankton · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 8:55 pm Post subject:

Might do better to factor a good gpu card in like the ATI 4890. If you're looking for sheer number of shrubs that is.
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shoob · Baron Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 143

Yankton · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 9:51 pm Post subject:

An excellent choice!

#ni-1

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Grizzly · Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 2:42 am Post subject:

Ni + Hi Sir Shoob !!

Are you going to build your own box ? If so , then a server dual cpu socket set up is maybe the way to go . Half the power consumption of 2 boxes , just one HD and DVD etc , half the space required , and a V8 set up (2 off quad core cpus ) has a lot of bragging rights Cool

)
Of course a server class MoBo is way more expensive (~£300-£600 GB pounds here ) , but will OUTPERFORM any 2 off i7 hands down using an Intel Xeon cpu setup (Look at Sir Furry Marks and Sir Brian in Wieferich to see !) .

Hope this helps , but half the power consumption must factor in there today .

Regds Grizz .
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AND NI !!! Tophat 10e

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Yankton · Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 4:00 am Post subject:

There are some dual I7 boards available too.
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shoob · Baron Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 143

I'm not sure if I'll build or not yet, probably depends on which way I go. I can buy a quad-core for about $450 but the lowest i7's I've seen here are about $1000, which I could probably build cheaper, but I wouldn't want to build it so cheap that other things (MB, memory, etc) are bottle-necking the CPU...then there's the whole cooling thing...hmmm, pre-built is actually looking good right now.

Decisions, decisions...

nu!
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Yankton · Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 7:36 am Post subject:

If you're content to not upgrade it later, you can snag an I7 with a decent gpu from dell's refurb. $700 range. Not the best specs but should do the job for the price. I've been considering it myself but I finally decided to get an elliptical machine instead.
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shoob · Baron Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 143

Welp, I finally did it! I took the i7 plunge and opted to build my own, instead of a pre-built. Here are the brief specs:

CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66 GHz
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme-1366
MB: Asus P6T Deluxe V2
Mem: 6GB DDR3 Triple-channel
Video: BFG nVidia GeForce GTX 260 MaxCore OC 896MB GDDR3
Case: Antec 900
OS: Vista Ultimate 64-bit

It's currently just a "shrubber" but, when Windows 7 comes out, I'm going to replace Vista with Win7, add another 260, and it'll be my main. It's currently shrubbing GPUGrid and OPS...hope to see it's influence soon.

Now all I need is a name for it...hmmmm...
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Yankton · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:10 pm Post subject:

What did ya get for power?
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Adam Alexander · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:11 pm Post subject:

shoob · Baron Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 143

Adam Alexander · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:18 pm Post subject:

Sorry I didn't see this thread earlier. I've been shrubbing with an i7 for 2-3 months. You'll definitely see a performance increase overall, but I've found that when running with 8 "cores" they each run slightly slower than my Q6700's. But, like you said, you've got 8 of them instead of four. I'm using a 650W Corsair power supply and it handles 2 GTX 260's and a 9600 GSO. Just make sure you keep those fans going full blast if you start adding video cards and particularly if you run it in 8 core mode. You definitely want to monitor the temp.

Have fun #ni-1

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Currently running:

Active
Intel Core 2 Quad 9550

Reserves
Now down to one Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 that's in a tiny case and overheats if I actually try to use all four cores at the same time. On the other hand, it makes for a very nice home theater PC
Intel Core i7 CPU 920
AMD Athlon(tm) 7850

shoob · Baron Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 143

Adam Alexander · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:40 pm Post subject:

Sir Papa Smurph · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:47 pm Post subject:

Lloyd M. · Prince Joined: 02 Mar 2007 Posts: 521

Yankton · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject:

ooo. That's cheaper than newegg. How are they on reliability and customer service?
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shoob · Baron Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 143

Adam Alexander · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 9:25 pm Post subject: