So I just upgraded the home PC, I still prefer desktops to laptops, to a new Intel Core i7 setup. I also finally picked up some SATA drives instead of the antiquated IDEs, and a 6GB triple channel kit for RAM. So far I have to say this thing is a monster. It is fast, Vista 64-bit boots in 30 seconds give or take. I’m still working to figure out why my bios says my drives are IDE, but they are running fast so I am not complaining yet. I’ll run some tests later this week and see exactly how beefy this thing is. But I can tell you, as a geek who has built several computers, both my own and others, nothing is more satisfying that seeing 8 processors in task manager. Given 4 of those are virtual from our old friend hyper-threading, yes it’s back folks, but it’s sweet.
The CPU is an Intel Core i7 920. The speed is 2.67 GHz, which is slower than what it replaced, a 3.0 GHz P4, but in the long run there is no competition the i7 is a killer. The list of features is insane, level 3 cache, 4 real cores, unlike your Core 2 Quads and Core 2 Duos, etc… The 920 is the cheapest of the 3 CPUs out right now, and I can only imagine what the extreme is like if the low end is this great.
The motherboard I used is an EVGA board, they only make 1 right now but here it is at Newegg, EVGA X58. I have always gone with Asus in the past, but this board said overclocking, and had better features, so I got it. I am impressed with what EVGA packages with the board. They give a nice big color diagram of the motherboard with everything explained, what connector is where, even the pin configurations. Even something small, like how the I/O plate for the case is padded on the back, instead of those razor like metal tabs on most plates, is appreciated. That padding did make getting the motherboard screwed into the case difficult, I had to really push it into place to get the screws in, but it’s worth it. They also included the usuall assortment of cables, 6 SATA, 1 round IDE, some molex to SATA power connectors, and two SLI connectors. One for just your “simple” SLI setup of two video cards, and a nice solid PCB with 6 connectors for a triple SLI. If only I had the income to support a triple SLI setup, and to be honest a need, which I still insist nobody truly has that need. The board is great, nice simple setup, bios is LOADED with options, and the appropriately named “E-LEET” utility makes overclocking and stat watching even easier.
The hard drives are all Western Digital, one high speed 150GB VelociRaptor for the OS, and two Caviar 500GB drives for storage. I didn’t do RAID, I have my reasons and thats final. The drives are fast, but as stated above I need to figure out if I am truly abusing as they should be abused.
Lastly I got 6GB of DDR3 PC1600 RAM in a triple channel setup from OCZ. So far no complaints there, we’ll see how it goes with overclocking later on.
I did not touch the video card yet, honestly I blew the money on the parts above mostly. So for now I am sticking with the gradually aging XFX GeForce 7900 GT. Soon to be replaced with an EVGA 9800 GTX+. Anyone interested in paying for somethign better, please email me. Just kidding ;)
So for now I would have to say the i7 is highly recommended, I know this wasn’t much of a review but this isn’t Toms Hardware. This whole upgrade is a massive leap in performance and technology from my P4 with 4GB of RAM and a single 250GB IDE hard drive running at a whopping 5400 RPM.
Well off to bed for now, feel free to comment and give feedback, whoever is out there in the web world.
