790i Ultra vs new i7

[RipChord929]

Q: Has anyone had any real experience with both of these
motherboards?   Can you make any comparisons?
Is the i7 a big leap forward in performance? Is it worth it?
What is the reliability, by comparison?

Bought a new game machine 6 months ago... My wife has
been using it off and on, because her's is getting pretty glitchy..
So have wifeack clearance to build a new one for myself.. Then
she can have my current game machine... She likes it ALOT!!!
Mmmmm, what a deal!!!  I'M LIKIN IT!!!

Just took delivery of an Ultra M998 case, and X3 1000watt PSU...
Now perusing MOBO's and CPU's..

Advise from this BB really helped me out last time..
Helped me get a sweet machine.. Would greatly appreciate
more input, from you PC savvy guys..

  and thx in advance!!!
RC

[BaldEagl]

I can't speak to those but I've got a 780i and it's really very nice.  It's got a lot of flexibility both in terms of hardware (tri-SLI capable, etc.) and in terms of overclocking both CPU and RAM.

If I were building now though I'd prbably go with the I7.  I'm guessing over time the socket 775 will go the way of the slot 1.  On the other hand if you can build again in a few years you might get more bang for the buck now with the 790i and an E8500.

[RipChord929]

Yes, I'm looking at the EVGA 790i Ultra, FTW, and the ASUS StrikerII Extreme..
CPU's E8500 or 8600, or an equivalent Quad core...

But the i7 is really interesting, and not that much different in price..
But wow, the 1366 socket CPU's are spendy...

Trying to get all the info I can..
Decisions, Decisions, but the fun kind..

RC

[BaldEagl]

My 780i is eVGA.  They seem to work closest with Nvidia of all the manufacturers and, until they released the 1366 socket board for the I7 were exclusively Nvidia.  They seem to be first to the table with BIOS and driver updates.  Beyond that, TilDeath had recently stated that he's been seeing a lot of problems recently with ASUS boards.  Nvidia has a lifetime warantee.

As to quad core vs dual core most benchmark tests show the Wolfdales outperfoming the quads (including the I7's) in virtually every game application.  The I7's beat the Wolfdales hands down in other apps (virus scanning, business apps, etc.).  At least until the advent of the I7 I would have said that, unless you were doing a lot of professional video or graphic editing, get a Core2Duo but the I7 performance isn't that far behind the Core2 in gaming.  Most gaming apps don't take advantage of quad core but I'm sure that will change over time.  In case you weren't aware of it tomshardware generally has pretty up to date benchmark charts for both CPU's and video cards although there are others if you search.

The biggest problem I see with the I7's right now is the package price of the CPU and motherboard vs a Core2Duo or quad but that's what you get if you want to be on the leading edge  .  I also haven't seen an aftermarket CPU cooler for a socket 1366 yet.

[TilDeath]

I have real life with both chipsets (1366: ASUS Rampage II, P6T, EVGA X58 | 775: Evga 790i FTW, 790i Ultra, ASUS Striker II Extreme, Striker II Formula)  Both chipsets have their advantages and disadvantages.  If your looking for stock settings any of the boards will do.   If your looking for high 24/7 Overclocks this cuts the field, if your looking for mild over clocks again any of the boards.

1366: Stock or Mild OC's All 1366 boards. Since the memory controler is no longer on the NB but now on the processor itself overclocking has a direct relation to the memory speed via the QPI.  Mild overclocks are not to hard to achieve as long as you set the voltage and timings manually and adjust your QPI acordingly.  I have gotten 920's to 3.8 stable 24/7 on air with very little tweaking. 

1366: High Overclock Using the ASUS P6T (Not Deluxe or anything plain model) The 920 can be run up to 4.2 ~ 4.5 on air with lots of tweaking (24/7 on air) using OCZ's Blade series memory stock @2000 but actually running @ 23000 part #  OCZ3B2000LV6GK.   This was the best board, processor and memory combo to achieve the stable settings.

775:  I have the Striker II Extreme with a Q9550 with OCZ SLI Memory #OCZ3N1800SR4GK running at 2000 FSB and just under 3.9 GHz stable on air great board, mem and processor combo.  The 790i FTW has a E8400 @ 3.8GHZ with the exact same OCZ memory running at 1850 FSB.  The 790i Ultra has a Q9450 @ 3.9  running a 1950 FSB and again the same memory.  This processor in using the Swiftech H2O Compact CPU waterblock and pump combo with a duel 120mm rad and fan.

If you need specific questions answered feel free to ask here or PM me

[RipChord929]

Cool, sound like my choices can't go wrong, whichever
way I go...

I don't have any experience with overclocking yet..
So I will be running them stock at first... But I do plan
on trying OC'ing out as I learn more about it..

Forgive me, if I ask some elementary Q's in the future..
Just never paid much attn to the guts of a PC till recently..
I've learned a boatload over the last 6 months.. By building
this PC, I'm sure I'll learn much more...

This is going to be very interesting for me..
Looking forward to it!!!

Thx guys!!
RC