Intel® Core i7 920 vs Intel® Core 2 Quad Q9650

Computer Forum CPU, Motherboards and Memory
1

Hi, well i am considering to buy the new customised by me home pc… so i am not sure which pc should i pick here is the full pc’s infos:
any explanations why to choose one or other are welcome.

1 - price £2,524.79

Customizations:
CPU: - Intel® Core i7 920
CPU Cooler: - Coolermaster V8 LGA1366
Motherboard: - Asus P6T Deluxe V2 (Intel X58 chipset, SLI/Crossfire)
Memory: - 12.0GB Corsair DDR3 1333mhz XMS3 CL9 (6x 2GB)
Hard Drives: - 1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s - QTY: 2
Optical Drive: - 20x DVD±RW DL S-ATA Lightscribe
Second optical drive: - 20x DVD±RW DL S-ATA Lightscribe
Graphics card: - 2 x ATI Radeon HD 4870X2 2GB
Sound card: - Creative X-FI Xtreme 7.1 Audio
Operating System: - Microsoft® Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Software: - Nero, PowerDVD, Avast Antivirus
Internet: - Wireless 802.11G PCI card
Peripherals: - Wireless keyboard and mouse
Monitors: - Asus 22" VK222S Widescreen LCD
Accessories: - 30-in-1 USB Media Card Reader
Accessories: - Firewire Card
Accessories: - PCI Digital TV Tuner Card
PSU: - 1200W Thermaltake ToughPower Modular
Case: - Antec Nine Hundred
Warranty: - 3 Year Gold Warranty

2 - price £2,315.58

Customizations:
CPU: - Intel® Core 2 Quad Q9650
CPU Cooler: - Thermaltake Golden Orb II
Motherboard: - Asus Striker II Extreme (nForce 790i Ultra chipset, 3-way SLI, DDR3)
Memory: - 8.0GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz DHX CL9 (4x 2GB)
Hard Drives: - 1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Hard Drives: - 1.5TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: - 20x DVD±RW DL S-ATA Lightscribe
Second optical drive: - 20x DVD±RW DL
Graphics card: - ATI Radeon HD 4870X2 2GB
Sound card: - Creative X-FI Xtreme 7.1 Audio
Operating System: - Microsoft® Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Internet: - Wireless 802.11G PCI card
Peripherals: - Wireless keyboard and mouse
Monitors: - 22’’ Widescreen LCD
Accessories: - Firewire Card
Accessories: - PCI Digital TV Tuner Card
PSU: - 1200W Thermaltake ToughPower Modular
Case: - Antec Twelve Hundred
Gaming extras: - Killer K1 Gaming Network Card
Warranty: - 3 Year Gold Warranty

also if u know the place where i could find similar spec pcs cheaper pass the link for me. i appreciate it

2

first question:

what are you planning to use this hi spec system for ?

3

hi there, i would go for the core i7, more recent tech that rules out fsb by using qpi ( quick path interconnect) solid boards as well intel. The nforce chipsets seem to generate alot of heat compared to intel chipsets. i had to replace both my northbridge and southbridge heatsinks on my Evga 680i because of chipset heat problems. also i wouldnt go for the asus striker 790i because thats when they started to go bad, i had one, failed on me straight away with " cpu init" error, board was duff basically and lots of people reporting the same problem with them series of boards.

Graphics cards i would go for gtx 260s, two or even 3 way sli, pick the cards up for about £180 a piece. them ati radeon 4870 suck up more power than the 260’s.

Motherboard: possible switch to EVGA X58 3X SLI, X58, (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard, don’t know if it has SAS ports like the Asus has but this board is a good overclocker, with reports of the i7 920 going from 2.66 to 3.8 air cooled. http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?evg-x58

power supply: i recommend Enermax PSU’s really high quality. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Enermax-Galaxy-1000W-EGX1000EWL-ATX2-2-Modular-PSU_W0QQitemZ160317133332QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_PowerSupplies_EH?hash=item160317133332&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

cpu heatsink: thermalright ultra extreme, thats a bad boy heatsink BANDAR288 - Link Login Situs Pesan Makanan Korea Secara Online .

Internet: switch the wireless G card to Wireless N card more future proof.