i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by CrAkD

ok couple questions I already got my i7 processor from microcenter about to pull the trigger on the rest. couple questons my buddy that uses my studio as much as I do is going to buy the ram. I found the same brand ram some of you guys are using but faster (3x 2gb 1866mhz ocz platinum) was wondering if this would work fine with a timing of 9-9-9-28.

Also im inbetween mobos. I was going to get the same gigabyte mobo but I kind of want the 6 ram slots for when Windows 7 is available since I probably wont be upgrading again for a long time. Shoud I get the GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P


for like $60 more to get the extra ram slots or just get the

ASUS P6T


for only like $35 more. also as far as power supplies go whats the smallest I could go with i7? Im going to get a very small video card its going to only be a PT system. I do have a usb hub thats packed full of stuff like midi interfaces midi controllers printer etc but the hub is powered. do I need a specific type of power supply? the guy at microcenter said only some of them are i7 compatible but I wasnt sure. Thanks in advance for any replys guys I cant wait to get this going.

my 2cents...faster ram looser/slower timings or slower ram with tighter/faster timings. hard one to call at this point IMHO because the QPI technology is so new. i would probably look for the fastest ram with the tighest timings. i saw some OCZ ram that looked good and had great reviews from users.. also check out the nehalem ram link i've got in my 1st post. it could shed some light on things for ya

also, i'd go with the mobo that offers the most in dimm slots. Shane is in the lab and will have some impressive things to share. so for those that run big sessions, you'll want to hear what he has to say between the 2 mobo's you listed, go with the one that has absolutely everythin' you need on the southbridge. personally, i'm an ASUS cat. but guitardom and kris are realtime users with GIGAs and ain't complainin' one bit!!!

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by CrAkD

ok couple questions I already got my i7 processor from microcenter about to pull the trigger on the rest. couple questons my buddy that uses my studio as much as I do is going to buy the ram. I found the same brand ram some of you guys are using but faster (3x 2gb 1866mhz ocz platinum) was wondering if this would work fine with a timing of 9-9-9-28.

Also im inbetween mobos. I was going to get the same gigabyte mobo but I kind of want the 6 ram slots for when Windows 7 is available since I probably wont be upgrading again for a long time. Shoud I get the GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P


for like $60 more to get the extra ram slots or just get the

ASUS P6T


for only like $35 more. also as far as power supplies go whats the smallest I could go with i7? Im going to get a very small video card its going to only be a PT system. I do have a usb hub thats packed full of stuff like midi interfaces midi controllers printer etc but the hub is powered. do I need a specific type of power supply? the guy at microcenter said only some of them are i7 compatible but I wasnt sure. Thanks in advance for any replys guys I cant wait to get this going.

as far as motherboards, do what will make you feel more secure. if you want more ram slots, then go for it. this is my second machine with a gigabyte board, been very happy with them, but my previous 2, including the most stable computer i ever built were asus boards, i dont have issues with either. you can also keep in mind that 4 gb sticks of ram are available and even this lower end gigabyte board can hold 4 of these to support 16gb of ram. i would also be careful about buying some ram now and some down the road. ultimately you want exact matching sticks of ram if possible and these companies are always discontinuing stuff and revamping it.

as far as power supplies, i would choose wisely, you dont want an underpowered system! ram will take around 2v or more a stick, amount of fans, hard drives, dvd drives, the processor, video card, pci cards, power for usb, this stuff can add up fast. i would think anything below 500 would be pushing it. plus higher quality power supplies will give more stable and consistent power, to keep you at the advertised voltage and not actually be fluctuating around that amount.

most power supplies will be compatible, but you will have to make sure you have a 8 pin or 2x4 12v connector on it. this will be the one factor not all will have.

[sunburst79]

I'll be using the P6T, a 920 and 3GB of the OCZ 7-7-7-20 memory

I like the P6T because

A) I can reuse my Socket 775 CPU cooler (why aren't all the mobos offering dual CPU cooler mounting patterns like this)

B) I suspect 6 slots are ultimately going to offer more bandwidth in the future than 4.

Sunburst79 Tip of the day....If you bought a noisy ol Zalman CNPS 9700 or 9700N (like I did) you might be interested in this here adaptor thang. If Zalman would actually use a quiet fans and a PWM plug on all the stuff it would be great.

[mykhal c]

yep, what guitardom said!! also, look at how many rails the PSU has. it makes a difference as to how the power is delivered

[guitardom]

hey mykhal, could you give a quick explanation on the ram timings when shopping for it.

you might see ddr3 1600 or ddr3 2000 and then see numbers like 7-7-7-20 or 5-5-5-24. then variances in voltage like 1.8v or 2.4v

thanx

[CrAkD]

Originally Posted by guitardom

hey mykhal, could you give a quick explanation on the ram timings when shopping for it.

you might see ddr3 1600 or ddr3 2000 and then see numbers like 7-7-7-20 or 5-5-5-24. then variances in voltage like 1.8v or 2.4v

thanx

yeah I dont really know what tight timings are.

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by guitardom

hey mykhal, could you give a quick explanation on the ram timings when shopping for it.

you might see ddr3 1600 or ddr3 2000 and then see numbers like 7-7-7-20 or 5-5-5-24. then variances in voltage like 1.8v or 2.4v

thanx

no problem...will do my best

for example if you have a triple set of ram DDR3 1600 with timings of 7-7-7-24 and another set of DDR3 1600 at 8-8-8-28 the 7-7-7-24 timings have less latency which is what you want. the problem is, as you choose faster ram, the timings (typically) are loosen so now there is more latency introduced, to allow the ram at a faster speed. make sense??? that's why it's always important to look at the timings at the same time you are lookin' at ram speed. and for the real tweakers out there, the bios in these mobo's allows one to really tweak the timings manually. but that's a whole other topic!! and always look at the voltage too. you want the fastest ram, with the tighest timings that will run at the lowest voltage for its' specs. that way your mobo runs cooler/lower temps. hope that helps

[CrAkD]

Originally Posted by mykhal c

no problem...will do my best

for example if you have a triple set of ram DDR3 1600 with timings of 7-7-7-24 and another set of DDR3 at 8-8-8-28 the 7-7-7-24 timings have less latency which is what you want. the problem is, as you choose faster ram, the timings (typically) are loosen so now there is more latency introduced, to allow the ram at a faster speed. make sense??? that's why it's always important to look at the timings at the same time you are lookin' at ram speed. and for the real tweakers out there, the bios in these mobo's allows one to really tweak the timings manually. but that's a whole other topic!! and always look at the voltage too. you want the fastest ram, with the tighest timings that will run at the lowest voltage for its' specs. that way your mobo runs cooler/lower temps. hope that helps

Yeah I did some research before you replied and realized that most likely ddr3 1600 with timings of 7-7-7-24 will be faster then ddr3 1866 with timings of 9-9-9-28 the lowest timings I can find for 1866 is 9-9-9-24. so maybe ill just go with the 1600 memory.

[guitardom]

after some poking and proding by a couple duc residents, i have started the over clocking process. bumped up from 2.66 to 3.6 ghz and the results are amazing. still in the middle of testing, will post when all are revealed, lets just say breaking 500 dverbs......its possible.......

[Shan]

And wait until guitardom posts his results.

I'm floored.

Shane