xsasquatch Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Quick backstory, I used to build machines ALL the time.. 10 years ago. I haven't kept up to date on anything so I don't know what technology advancements there have been. I'm going to be using this for web/graphic design and some video editing. Processor Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor. MOBO I was looking at purchasing: ASUS Rampage II / Newegg. I was also curious if knows of an intel marx mobo that works.. RAM I only used to buy Crucial. Is there still a huge difference? I was looking at getting 2x2gb or possibly up to 8gb. Any recommendations? Case I wanted to get something as small as possible, but that is still obviously well ventilated and will NOT run hot. I was thinking 2, 3.5 bays or maybe 2.5 and a 3.5. I want to just say thank you for your help in advance. I really appreciate all help and feedback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hangten Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 920 uses triple channel so you should run 3 x 2gig sticks or 6 x 2gid sticks(ram). Its a shame to run that 920 @stock clocks so hope you get some fast memory and crank Blck Read as much as you can about the various tutorials on X58 boards and some offer less headaches than others. Buy stuff that's been ironed out to work in my opinion. I run EVGA X58 and have all of it working including some important stuff to make programs work like they would on a real Mac Pro. Try install silverlight on it and if you've done your home work it should not come up with an installation error. And you should also have full graphics. Not being able really change resolutions is a drag not to mention what might not work or work for video editing. My 2cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 920 uses triple channel so you should run 3 x 2gig sticks or 6 x 2gid sticks(ram). Its a shame to run that 920 @stock clocks so hope you get some fast memory and crank Blck Read as much as you can about the various tutorials on X58 boards and some offer less headaches than others. Buy stuff that's been ironed out to work in my opinion. I run EVGA X58 and have all of it working including some important stuff to make programs work like they would on a real Mac Pro. Try install silverlight on it and if you've done your home work it should not come up with an installation error. And you should also have full graphics. Not being able really change resolutions is a drag not to mention what might not work or work for video editing. My 2cents. Thanks Hangten. I've tried looking around/reading up on the X58 boards, but I couldn't find any MATX boards that are compatible. I found this board: eVGA X58 MATX / I didn't see that it was compatible, is it or do you know of any other MATX / x58 board that is compatible with Snow Leapord? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninetto Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 CaseI wanted to get something as small as possible, but that is still obviously well ventilated and will NOT run hot. I was thinking 2, 3.5 bays or maybe 2.5 and a 3.5. Not sure what you mean by "very" small, but I used this case, "A plus CS-Blockbuster", for a Gigabyte 41M board and I really liked it, it is absolutely quiet and not even expensive: I believe the case might be branded with a different name in the USA. good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Not sure what you mean by "very" small, but I used this case, "A plus CS-Blockbuster", for a Gigabyte 41M board and I really liked it, it is absolutely quiet and not even expensive: I believe the case might be branded with a different name in the USA. good luck! Thanks! It looks like a pretty nice small and compact case. :censored2: Does it have good ventilation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Quick backstory, I used to build machines ALL the time.. 10 years ago. I haven't kept up to date on anything so I don't know what technology advancements there have been. I'm going to be using this for web/graphic design and some video editing.Processor Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor. RAM I only used to buy Crucial. Is there still a huge difference? I was looking at getting 2x2gb or possibly up to 8gb. Any recommendations? Case I wanted to get something as small as possible, but that is still obviously well ventilated and will NOT run hot. I was thinking 2, 3.5 bays or maybe 2.5 and a 3.5. I want to just say thank you for your help in advance. I really appreciate all help and feedback! Any particular reason you decided on the i7-920? I ask because there are VERY few microATX X58 boards (3 out of 44 1366 boards on newegg) In addition, most of the major benefits of the X58 platform seem less than ideal for a mATX hackintosh (2-3 PCI-E 2.0x16 slots for dual/triple SLI support, higher TDP (temp) CPUs, 6 or 12GB of triple channel RAM, etc...) Really its more geared to the extreme gamer/enthusiast/workstation/server/etc... market In addition, with a quick glance at newegg's 3 mATX 1366 offerings; the Asus mobo uses incompatible Audio, the DFI incompatible LAN, and the EVGA does not seem to mention the chipsets used for LAN/Audio, nor does google have any info. I would suggest you go with either a quad core i5-750 or i7-860 instead, and pick yourself out a nice compatible & popular P55 board to go along with it. They use RAM in pairs, there are tons of mATX mobos, and the P55 boards are considerably cheaper too. If you want specific recommendations, I know helped someone with a similar build recently, check my posts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broken Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Unless you already have the i7 920 cpu, personally I would forget socket 1366 and x58 chipsets. I would go with the i7 860 and a socket 1156 P55 board. Something like the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2. Inexpensive (around $109) mATX board and well supported. The i7 860 is by most accounts a faster cpu than the 920 and costs about the same money. Personally if I was today going to replace my Core2Quad machine, I would probably be looking at that combo I mentioned. In my opinion, the socket 1366 platform is a poor value and a general waste of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hangten Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Thanks Hangten. I've tried looking around/reading up on the X58 boards, but I couldn't find any MATX boards that are compatible. I found this board: eVGA X58 MATX / I didn't see that it was compatible, is it or do you know of any other MATX / x58 board that is compatible with Snow Leapord? That should work although I believe its the same as the full EVGA x58 LE and that one as i remember the ones who posted couldn't get the sound to work or lan. I use a D-Link DWA-556 with 64bit Arthros kext. And an IOGEAR Bluetooth both working great. http://www.infinitemac.com/ might get you more in-depth as to getting EVGA boards running. They have also figured out how to patch your sound to get it fully working 5.1 Dolby digital. I have ran my system sense Feb of 2009. P55 was not out so my purchase was based on the fact that i could have a hexacore in the future. I am a gamer so its not a question of expense within reason but if it will run my games correctly. EVGA is located where i live to. The O.C. Heads up on the 1366 the CO stepping when overclocked are like heaters. I know this because I run an IFX-14 Thermalright with dual 120mm fans total price was 140 dollars and yes it blows rather hot air out of the case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Unless you already have the i7 920 cpu, personally I would forget socket 1366 and x58 chipsets. I would go with the i7 860 and a socket 1156 P55 board. Something like the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2. Inexpensive (around $109) mATX board and well supported. The i7 860 is by most accounts a faster cpu than the 920 and costs about the same money. Personally if I was today going to replace my Core2Quad machine, I would probably be looking at that combo I mentioned. In my opinion, the socket 1366 platform is a poor value and a general waste of time. With the i7 860 and P55 and dual channel, what will my performance be compared to the i7 920, X58, and Triple Channel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Thanks guys! Seems like going the i7 860 with a p55 board will be best. i7 860 board? (possibly the one mentioned above) 4x 2gb ram Anyone have any recomendation for a good graphics card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Overall, the 860/P55 just barely trails the 920/X58 at 90% of tasks. (single GPU builds) Just by how much varies on the benchmark, with typical ones showing them within a couple percent of eachother or evenly matched, and memory bandwidth intensive tests showing at most a 5-8% margin. Google will find you dozens of detailed comparisons, Lynnfield VS Bloomfield was a very common question for awhile there Personally, I simply don't find the marginal performance gain to be worth the extra $150ish cost between motherboards & the need to buy more RAM at once, unless you run multi-GPU or have plans on upgrading to Intel's 6-core workstation CPUs down the road. As for a motherboard, gigabyte boards are popular here, mostly because they all use similar compatible audio/LAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 I wanted to get some last advice from everyone before ordering some parts. Processor: Intel i7 860 Motherboard: GA-P55M-UD2 RAM: Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 2x2gb or CORSAIR XMS3 2x2gb Video: I am clueless as what to get. Any recommendations for someone that does graphic/web design? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haney Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I wanted to get some last advice from everyone before ordering some parts. Processor: Intel i7 860 Motherboard: GA-P55M-UD2 RAM: Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 2x2gb or CORSAIR XMS3 2x2gb Video: I am clueless as what to get. Any recommendations for someone that does graphic/web design? That processor is $50 cheaper at microcenter.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 That processor is $50 cheaper at microcenter.com Thanks! I'm actually getting it for an insane price from a friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I wanted to get some last advice from everyone before ordering some parts. Processor: Intel i7 860 Motherboard: GA-P55M-UD2 RAM: Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 2x2gb or CORSAIR XMS3 2x2gb Video: I am clueless as what to get. Any recommendations for someone that does graphic/web design? I have heard that some ram is iffy on this board if its not on the supported memory list: http://www.giga-byte.com/FileList/MemorySu...ga-p55m-ud2.pdf I personally bought the supported G.Skill ram on the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 I have heard that some ram is iffy on this board if its not on the supported memory list: http://www.giga-byte.com/FileList/MemorySu...ga-p55m-ud2.pdf I personally bought the supported G.Skill ram on the list. Thanks Eric! I'll be grabbing this set instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231193 Does anyone know a good video card that would work with this system? I'll be doing zero gaming and all work(design) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 So after looking through the cards, this is the card i'm thinking about getting: GeForce 9500 GT what do you guys think about this one that's re certified: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...LR4A-_-14127469 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 virtually any Nvidia 9000 series card will do fine, and will work with the same drivers. (only difference being graphicsenabler=yes or EFI strings in .plist) That first 9500GT seems expensive for what you get, and I see no reason to go re-certified if you don't need to. Now... Im not saying that MSI card won't do fine, its just the savings aren't worth it, there are new 9500GTs for similar prices. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814162019 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121336 or... a fanless passively cooled one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814261055 or... for only $15 more than that EVGA 9500GT here's a 9800GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121352 I know you won't be gaming, but the card has about 60% more raw processing power, so if anything you will be doing can take advantage of hardware acceleration it may prove useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 virtually any Nvidia 9000 series card will do fine, and will work with the same drivers. (only difference being graphicsenabler=yes or EFI strings in .plist) That first 9500GT seems expensive for what you get, and I see no reason to go re-certified if you don't need to. Now... Im not saying that MSI card won't do fine, its just the savings aren't worth it, there are new 9500GTs for similar prices. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814162019 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121336 or... a fanless passively cooled one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814261055 or... for only $15 more than that EVGA 9500GT here's a 9800GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121352 I know you won't be gaming, but the card has about 60% more raw processing power, so if anything you will be doing can take advantage of hardware acceleration it may prove useful. Thanks again for your help. I'll be buying that 9800GT, great price for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsasquatch Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Does anyone know of a good low profile graphics card that i could use for this build? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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