From AMD 3400+ Clawhammer to i7

[Tietun]

Im planning to move from my ancient PC bulid to new Core i7 rig this summer.

My Specs now:
AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Clawhammer @ 2.65Ghz
ATI Radeon 9550 @ 430/207 (AGP)
Asus K8V-MX
512MB RAM
350W PSU
80Gb HDD 5400RPM
Stock cooled

Okay, GPU is 5 generations old and CPU is 3 or 2 generations old. What is the performance increase? Now I can play TES:IV 800X600 with avg 10FPS
I will be using my new bulid for some serious overclocking/benchmarking on H2O and 1600X1200 gaming.
Budget will be <1500 euros (Finland prices: price in US$=Price in euros) and I am trying to buy everything from Finland (Jimm´s PC Store has everything from Classified to phase change cooling).
Also I have opportunity to buy two MSI 3870X2 OCs and waterblocks for them for 310€, Should I buy them? DX11 is coming so I will upgrade to DX11 GPU next year. I have monitor and all other stuff ready.

3870X2 CF Vantage score with watercooled i7 920 @ 4.2Ghz is 18354 ranked 2nd @ HWBot (Best score is 19128)

Stock 295 GTX score 18631

Single 285GTX best score @ HWBot is 16923 on LN2

Two MSI 3870X2 OCs + EK Acetal Waterblocks = 310€
Cheapest 285 GTX (EVGA) = 329€
EVGA 275 GTX FTW = 309€
Sapphire 4890 Toxic = 219€
Cheapest 295 GTX (Palit) = 457€
Cheapest 275 GTX (Gainward) = 219€
Cheapest 260 GTX (Palit) = 159€

What GPU I should take (About 320€ max.)

Suggested specs:
Asus Rampage II Extreme with NB+SB and MOSFET waterblocks or X58 Classified with EK Full board block
Core i7 920 D0
G.Skill 1333Mhz CL7 Tri-channel 6Gb kit
Nvidia GTX 285 on air or 3870X2 Crossfire on H20 or GTX 260 SLI on air (XFX 4770 with Classified)
Silverstone Strider/Decathlon 1000W
HAF 932
Custom water with 12mm tubing and Hardware labs GTS 360 Lite
=1500€

Any alternative suggestions?

[jcmaz]

Drop the Asus mobo for a gigabyte one, don't use 3870X2 in cf, but 4890cf, and oc the bejeebus out of that i7.

[Tietun]

4890Cf is too expensive at +450€

[jcmaz]

i live in canada so i'm not sure about the european prices, but you could buy one 4890 and cf one the the 5-series cards later on...

[upcoast604]

Depending on prices in Finland you could look into a Q9550 set up and overclock it. I would also look into the gtx 275 or 285 and sli down the road. The 3870 gpu line was a bit of a bust IMHO. What ever cpu u go for will be a huge upgrade.

[Amon]

I'm just here to say that I had a very similar system to you for several years: 4000+ San Diego, 9600 SE, A8V. Our Athlon 64 were classic :)

[Tietun]

Originally Posted by upcoast604

Depending on prices in Finland you could look into a Q9550 set up and overclock it. I would also look into the gtx 275 or 285 and sli down the road. The 3870 gpu line was a bit of a bust IMHO. What ever cpu u go for will be a huge upgrade.

Prices in Finland are pretty like this:US$=€ because of shipping costs and 22% tax. I have waited for i7 processors because I want to have more futureproof system and be able to switch between SLI/Crossfire without changing mobo. GPU doesnt have to be futureproof as I will have it for only 6 months and then I will upgrade (hopefully) to DX11 GPU.

[gingerbee]

get your self the I7 and a used 4870 until you upgrade to dx11 then go crossfire or sli you can see at that time what is the better bang for buck

[Tietun]

OK, but 4890 is cheaper than 4870 here so I would buy it.

[gingerbee]

of course if it's cheaper buy a 4890