Help me make a decision!

[Justin Cider]

Ok here is the situation I have a Gigabyte EX58-UD5 with a I7 920 that will do 4.0GHz and a Crosshair IV with a Phenom II 955 that will do 4.0Ghz, maybe more I haven't really pushed it.I got a really good deal on the Crosshair and I had thought about going to Bulldozer but due to the performance #'s I changed my mind.Now my rigs are generally used for gaming and I run a single 580GTX.

My dilemma is,should I keep the AMD and push it further sell the I7 and buy another 580GTX and SLI them using the hack or keep the I7 and sell the AMD and buy another 580GTX which will probably require some extra out of pocket cash or sell the whole damn works and go with a Sandybridge set up.Now,I do only run one 1900X1200 monitor at this time but I will either be going to a Dell 27' or a multiple monitor setup down the road.I am at an impasse and need some direction please.

[dandelioneater]

If I was in your shoes I think I'd try sell off both the i7 and phenom systems. Then pickup a Z68 board and 2500K chip. Slap the 580 in the SB system and be good to go. At the time of this reply I saw a basically new gigabyte ud5 board in the BST section going for about 200 shipped. I think you could easily pay for the z68 setup using the money you get back from selling the two older systems.

[Killswitch]

Both systems are very capable, but your i7 920 @ 4ghz is going to outperform the AMD system and if you plan on going SLI stick with the X58 chipset. Banking on some SLI hack for the Crosshair IV might bite you in the ass, and you'll be very disappointed. I wouldn't mess with that.

I've tried the physx hack that allows you to mix nvidia and ati cards and it was flaky at best. The system was super picky with drivers. It was a waste of time. I know that's a different scenario altogether but my point is, go with what what's supported by the manufacturers and you're blood pressure will stay at a normal level.

So what I would do is either sell the AMD stuff and go SLI with X58 and i7 920..... or sell the Intel stuff along with your GTX580 and buy an ATI card or two.

[boggtrotter59]

I would keep the I7 920 system and sell off the AMD system... You might be able to pick up a used 580 and break even. Lowfat has one for $500.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...ron-combo.html

[keto]

Same. I went from i7 920 to 2500K for gaming, in video benchmarks I didn't gain very much at all. With my GTX 580, 3DM11 like this:
i7 920 @ 3.6 = P6459
2500K @ stock = P6281
2500K @ 4.0 = 6495
2500K @ 4.8 = 6641 (I'll guess and say your 4.0 920 is here already. My C0 couldn't get 4.)
2500K @ 4.8 + overclock vid core to 850 = P6986

So, you can see for gaming you get lots more out of a vid overclock (or upgrade) than from 920 to 2500K.

Keep the 920, if you only need 1 system that's the one to have. 2 @ 580 would be sweet.

[yycraven]

Originally Posted by keto

Same. I went from i7 920 to 2500K for gaming, in video benchmarks I didn't gain very much at all. With my GTX 580, 3DM11 like this:
i7 920 @ 3.6 = P6459
2500K @ stock = P6281
2500K @ 4.0 = 6495
2500K @ 4.8 = 6641 (I'll guess and say your 4.0 920 is here already. My C0 couldn't get 4.)
2500K @ 4.8 + overclock vid core to 850 = P6986

So, you can see for gaming you get lots more out of a vid overclock (or upgrade) than from 920 to 2500K.

Keep the 920, if you only need 1 system that's the one to have. 2 @ 580 would be sweet.

I agree with keto, sell your AMD system and buy a second GTX 580. You will be fine with the X58 system.