philbar71
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+1 to that. with a $2000 budget you can def afford to go i7
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- Thread starter rainbrain
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+1 to that. with a $2000 budget you can def afford to go i7
I completely disagree, as a media user having two monitors to have many things open at once is efficient, and besides, I'm a gamer too, remember?
Anyways, the case I've been contemplating for a long time, you see I liked it for aesthetic reasons, buy yeah it has lots of issues concerning efficiency. Buuut im about ready to give up on it any day now.
It looks like a transformer!
You guys are gonna have to elaborate on why I should get the i7, I did a good amount of research and many different forums recommended the P45, they said If I was going to use cross fire with two gpu's, then I should get the i7, otherwise no. I've also read a lot of problems people have had with the i7.
Don't be afraid to go in depth, I didnt know anything about hardware, but i took it upon myself to learn how each component works.
myowngod
In Runtime
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As a freelance graphics and webdesigner.. gamer... mutlitasker.. etc... I must say I love two monitors.. although it's not really needed if you have a 24", two 22's are awesome.. since I got my 24 I find myself not using 2 as often, but enough that I will miss it if I went down to just one... I would say go for a cheaper set of monitors... like the ASUS 2ms 22" models.. to save you some money.... or buy one toc22 and buy another later.. OR.. buy that new 25.5" asus... and just use one... which is what I think i'm going to do...
meat_helmet
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Problems with i7...like what??? The price. There are no specific problems with i7 chips that i know of.
Now, if you are using 3ds Max, there is a very strong reason for going i7. It is the main 3d program i use and i7 benifits alot from both the faster chip and because it uses HyperThreading (look it up if you dont know what i mean). The reason this is good for 3ds Max all comes down to rendering. An i7 will render 30-40% faster than a comparable Core 2 Quad. Now if your anything like me, that will mean ALOT of time saving.
Now if you dont plan to go with i7, thats fine, but i would at least go for a quad core. A quad core will see basically double the performance in rendering compared to a dual core. If you use the Mental Ray renderer you will notice that a dual core will use 2 rendering buckets, a quad core would use 4, and an i7 would use 8 rendering buckets (4 cores with HT = 8).
So to break it down, in rendering performance:
Core 2 Quad would be ~ 90% faster than a dual core,
i7 would be ~ 30-40% faster than Core 2 Quad and,
i7 would be ~ 150% faster than a dual core.
As for the dual monitor setup, i can totally understand your position. I have used two monitors for the last 4 years and there is no going back for me. They only give my 1 monitor at work and its annoys the crap out of me not having an extra one for graphical work.
So the sweet spot for you might be to go for a Q9550 or something. If you dont do much rendering, then i guess its not necessary then.
TheOtis
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Why would you tell someone they don't need something to combat ESD? At least recommend an anti-static matt.
I would like to see any bad things you have read about the Core i7 series or the X58 chipset. I haven't read one bad thing about the Core i7s from any reputable computer hardware publication or from anyone who has one. The only thing I can see raising and issue for someone who doesn't know much about them is how hot they run, which isn't a problem, they can handle a lot of heat. Stock coolers do their jobs and aftermarket heatsinks are just fine for overclocking. Everything about the i7 is an improvement over the previous architecture from Intel. The on-board memory controller which greatly reduces lantency, the increased bandwidth for memory, hyper-threading(which greatly helps out for programs that can take advantage of it), turbo boost for people who don't overclock, and the option to run dual channel or tri-channel memory. And for those who do overclock, you have a good chance of getting a 50% increase over stock speeds, and that's with the C0 stepping, not even the D0 that's starting to roll out.
Anyone on here is going to tell you to go the i7 route. You could go the 775 route, which is all good and fine. Still have plenty of life in them. But this way you'll be getting a new socket and the new DDR standard so you'll be golden for a few years. And for what you want to do and will be doing, an i7 is the best route you can take.
Because they are absolutely useless. All you have to do is touch the metal on your case and you will be absolutely fine. I have built several computers and I have never once had any problems. Just don't work on the rug and don't walk around with your components wearing wool socks sliding your feet on the rug. I have never heard of a single person who has ever shocked their components.
Well I guess I didn't think you would need them as a 19 year old student. It seems like something that you should look into getting later down the road when you have more money. I think it would be best to get a solid computer with one monitor and then make the next thing you get a second monitor. Its up to you though.
Like meat_helmet described, the i7 will outperform the core2duo immensely. I can vouch for that from experience too. Also, I don't know where you heard bad things about i7. I think its pretty much the best thing to come to the computer world since the 8800GTX. I have not had one single problem with mine. It overclocks like a champ and its stable as a rock. I got the 3rd highest superpi 1m time on this forum with my i7 @ 4.23GHz. It is definitely worth it
TheOtis
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Yes you're right, you can simply touch your case. That works just fine, it's just more convenient to have something else handy. Tell the folks who write the A+ Exam books, CompTia, the techs at the comptuer repair shops around here, and my basic Computer Hardware teacher from back in high school they're useless. I'm just saying, it might not have happened to you, but that doesn't mean ESD can't kill a component.
TheOtis
Daemon Poster
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I hate to drag this on, but you can build up at least 3000 volts by walking acorss your carpet with the right weather outside. You don't even have to feel anything, it's still there. I'm just saying, I wouldn't tell someone who may not know anything about it, that something's useless because you haven't ran into a problem with it.
Thats why I'm saying use common sense. Don't work on the carpet. Make sure you touch you case first before touching any components. Touch your case often. It does the exact same thing as a wrist strap. They are also very annoying to work with and get in the way
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