Originally Posted by
OleBoy
to make this configuration perform at it's FSX best?
Here's a starting base I've considered going with.
Motherboard: Gigabyte X58A-UD5
Processor: Intel i7 950 @ 3.8GHz (w/ Scythe Mugen cooler)
RAM: 6Gb's OCZ Gold Series @1810MHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 470 w/ OC profiles ( GTX480? )
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB (partitioned for OS) (What's the best approach?)
PDD: Lite-on Multi DVD Burner
PSU: 800W Rosewill Libertas Modular (Bigger for future upgrades?)
Cooler Master HAF 932 Black Edition case
Cost= $1,500.00 (upgrades not included)
Read this...it is a fact we tested and verified that that is heatsink and fan created in 2007 beat the whole bunch. Our unit on a i7Core 980X at full tilt never exceeded 39C. I switch that CPU heatsink for this one Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Exposed Copper Heatpipe(small than the Scythe but much better) or this one Noctua NH-C14(it's large but wow does it cool)
Under full load, the
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 began to create tremendous heat. The little Intel OEM cooler, despite its inserted copper base, gave the worst results anyone could suffer recording, registering 59° C at full load while the room's ambient temperature remained 23° C. But that's what you come to expect from a bundled cooler, right? Sadly this must be the case, because I still hear of many users (even some gamers and hardware enthusiasts) which still use the stock reference cooler. I feel for those of you in this situation, I really do...
...but there are some very good reasons to evolve, or at least save up your money and upgrade. Previously, the very expensive
Ultra ULT33186 Chilltec TEC CPU Cooler held the crown for cooling, if only by a very small margin. In all honesty, the
Zaward Sylphee ZCJ003 CPU Cooler was the real king of the hill prior to these tests, since it is roughly half the size of everything here. current champion "Champion of Cool" is the
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Exposed Copper Heatpipe CPU Cooler, which defeated all challengers with a maximum recorded temperature of only 39° C in a 23° C ambient room temperature and at full load. But what about the Scythe Mugen?
To my disappointment all of that extra cooling surface and those five copper heatpipes were not enough to secure a top-three position in our rankings. While the Scythe Mugen was not a top finalist, it certainly was good enough to rank among the top-ten. I think this is all the proof I needed to be convinced that Heatpipe Direct Touch designs are going to be the next standard for CPU coolers. If coolers like the
Zaward VIVO PCJ004 and
OCZ Vendetta can outperform the Mugen with half the footprint or more, it seems evolution has made up its mind.
I'm not an OCZ fan I perfer Corsair Dominator 1600mhz over everything else based on our test for reliability, speed, and OCing ability.
The rest is fine. The new GTX 580 is more expensive but it is a screamer if you can spare the bucks. If not, your choice is fine. The best 470 was the EVGA models for speed, cooling and reliability
Hope this helps ya Amigo. By the way I do like your motherboard ignore some of the stupid ratings at newegg, those are mostly noob wannabes knocking Gigabyte. I will put in plug for the ASUS Sabertooth X58...cheaper and competes with the highest level boards for OCing and dependability.
I have the i7 950 clocked as high as the 960 (4.0Ghz)and I can't see a noticeable difference in benchmarks. So your choice is fine. With great cooling they perform much the same
Enjoy
Ted
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