Your Guide to a Magic PC - Guide in First Post [2012/03/05]

[Wraith]

So reviews for the Core i3's and new i5's are out.

• Processor -- Core Clock -- Cores / Threads -- L3 Cache -- Max Turbo -- TDP -- Price
• Intel Core i5-670, 3.46GHz, 2 / 4, 4MB, 3.76GHz, 73W, $284
• Intel Core i5-661 3.33GHz, 2 / 4, 4MB, 3.60GHz, 87W, $196
• Intel Core i5-660 3.33GHz, 2 / 4, 4MB, 3.60GHz, 73W, $196
• Intel Core i5-650 3.20GHz, 2 / 4, 4MB, 3.46GHz, 73W, $176
• Intel Core i3-540 3.06GHz, 2 / 4, 4MB, N/A, 73W, $133
• Intel Core i3-530 2.93GHz, 2 / 4, 4MB, N/A, 73W, $113
• Intel Pentium G9650 2.80GHz, 2 / 2, 3MB, N/A, 73W, $87

The Clarkdale Review: Intel's Core i5 661, i3 540 & i3 530 (AnandTech)

With the i3s you get a great dual-core chip that is competitive with AMD's Athlon II X4 line in many multi-threaded applications. AMD sacrificed its L3 cache in order to bring four cores down to reasonable price points. Intel's Core i3s start with two cores, a complete cache hierarchy, and give you Hyper Threading to improve performance in those multi-threaded scenarios. If you're doing a lot of video encoding or 3D rendering AMD's cheap quad-cores are going to be a better option, but for nearly everything else (gaming included) you'll be better off with the Core i3.

...

These things also overclock ridiculously well. We got 3.8GHz out of the i5 661 at stock voltage and I'd expect similarly sweet results out of the i3s. Turbo isn't really important for two cores, it's only with quad-core that it really starts to matter - so just grab an i3 and overclock the heck out of it.

For a HTPC there's simply none better than these new Clarkies. The on-package GPU keeps power consumption nice and low, enabling some pretty cool mini-ITX designs that we'll see this year. Then there's the feature holy-grail: Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA bitstreaming over HDMI. If you're serious about building an HTPC in 2010, you'll want one of Intel's new Core i3s or i5s.

...

The other issue is that its pricing at the high end just doesn't make any sense. There isn't a single Core i5 I'd recommend, but the i3s are spot-on. To Intel's credit, though, if it priced the Core i5s more aggressively, I'm not sure there would be much room for AMD to compete. Perhaps killing competition isn't what Intel wants either....

Intel Core i5-661: Clarkdale Rings The Death Knell Of Core 2 (Tom's)

Intel Core i5-661 & Core i3-530 CPU Review (bit-tech)

Intel Core i5-661: A 32nm CPU with Integrated Graphics (Silent PC Review)

The Core i5-661 is more than just a dual core version of the Lynnfield core processor. A die-shrink from 45nm to 32nm gave Intel the space to fit both a dual core processor and their latest onboard graphics chip, GMA HD, onto the same package. This combination is very energy efficient, rivaling the power consumption of a low speed Core 2 Duo, despite the Core i5-661's much higher clock speed and overall performance.

...

If you're a more casual user but you still value snappy performance, a dual core like the i5-661 is an excellent choice, particularly if you have no need for discrete graphics. In many instances the higher clock speed is actually more useful. In addition, the i5-661 is very energy efficient and runs fairly cool, so you don't need an enormous, expensive heatsink/fan to make it a quiet computing experience.

[anakin876]

So I keep coming back here for help - getting close to ordering. Anyone have an opinion on this Power supply? OCZ 700W StealthXStream

[LiquidRain]

I've heard opinions around here (I think mainly from Grifter) aboout OCZ power supplies. Namely, you should avoid them.

[Vigil80]

I've used OCZ in my last couple of builds without problems. I generally heard/read the opposite, that they were quality components. Of course that could have changed, like it did with Antec.

That's hardly a glowing review I suppose.

[crazyD]

I love OCZ memory, never used one of their power supplies. I always stick with PC Power and Cooling, who is owned by OCZ, though. They make some great power supplies.

[RandoM51]

Originally Posted by LiquidRain

I've heard opinions around here (I think mainly from Grifter) aboout OCZ power supplies. Namely, you should avoid them.

Like any company that OEMs power supplies---which is the majority of them---you have to decide on a model by model basis.

I don't buy power supplies by brand name(though I do give the nod to PC P&C).

[LiquidRain]

Just don't think that OCZ's cheap power supplies are done by PC Power and Cooling.

edit: Random51, yes, largely true. However finding the OEM of a particular model can be extremely difficult.

[RandoM51]

My last power supply was a PC P&C power supply and I would not buy it again.

[RandoM51]

Originally Posted by LiquidRain

Just don't think that OCZ's cheap power supplies are done by PC Power and Cooling.

Nope, the power supplies for both companies are done by Seasonic, for the most part.

[anakin876]

My Final Build. I tried to make sure this power supply would be able to supply sufficient wattage - but the specs on a lot of the devices lacked the data I was looking for.

CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Model ADX250OCGQBOX - Retail
GIGABYTE GV-R467ZL-1GI Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM

If you could help me spot any embarrassing mistakes I'd appreciate it. I almost bought a power supply without the 8 pin power connector that I'd need for this motherboard.

[LiquidRain]

Looks good to me.

[RandoM51]

Plenty of breathing room with that power supply.

4670 + a core 2 quad 9450 is around 65watts idle, 140 watts at load, total system power.
9450 max TDP is 95w, whereas the 3GHz Regor is 65w, so your numbers will be even lower.

Even have enough leftover for crossfire'd 4670s if you wanted to go that route in the future*.

*you'd need a new mobo for that, though, it appears.

[LiquidRain]

Updated first post. I shortened and all but eliminated mentions of LGA 1366 - there's simply no point in buying that platform. I updated the AMD recommendations, and in doing so broke down the price ranges a bit more.

[bryan]

Thanks all the hard work Liqqy!

[Savok]

Originally Posted by LiquidRain

Updated first post. I shortened and all but eliminated mentions of LGA 1366 - there's simply no point in buying that platform. I updated the AMD recommendations, and in doing so broke down the price ranges a bit more.

Whoops, too late

[Khrymsyn]

Liquid, can you expound on your recommendation against LGA 1366? My understanding is that while currently it's a bit "overkill", it has a much longer upgrade path lineage as 1156 is not intended as a "long term" socket type. (i.e. the majority if i7 series chips will come out on 1366, with a limited upgrade path via 1156).

[LiquidRain]

1366 and 1156 are two completely different platforms, with two completely different upgrade paths, on two similar-but-different architectures.

The majority of i7 chips are coming out on 1366 only by name. If you replace "i7" with "Xeon" things make a lot more sense all of a sudden. Gander at the benchmarks, in some cases, the i5s are actually faster at desktop applications.

1366 chips only really comes in to play when you start looking at extremely heavy memory workloads, e.g. high-performance clusters for database or rendering. Intel figured that desktop loads did not need the multi-CPU oriented QPI technology or triple channel memory. They were right.

The "upgrade" path does not go from i5 to i7. It starts at i3 and ends at i5. Consider i7 to be the Xeon line, which generally means they're the first chips to get new features (e.g. upcoming six-core i7) and other updates at a high cost. The i7-branded LGA 1156 chips are Intel's marketing department being absolutely stupid. They should be branded i5s if you ask me.

When the first quad-core chips hit the market as Xeons, the Core 2 Quads came eventually as well. The story is not the same here, as the chips aren't nearly as identical as the Core 2 family, but the lesson is the same. I firmly believe you won't benefit by buying LGA 1366 now.

[Khrymsyn]

Fair enough Liquid.
Actually on doing some further research, it looks like both 1156 and 1366 may have similar "long term" upgrade paths as it appears Intel is planning "Sandy Bridge" for 2011 and both LGA sockets seem to stop there on their roadmap. What that means? No idea.

I've actually been flipping back and forth between a 1366 and 1156 system myself, so I appreciate the input. =)

[Savok]

I prefer the 1156 simply from an engineering standpoint, but went with 1366 after the whole Foxconn mess.

[LiquidRain]

WD's new 500GB platter disks come out in the next couple of weeks; I'm expecting them to be stellar. Should offer improved performance over the current 333GB platter drives. Pending benchmarks I'll likely make the 1TB (2x500) WD Black my HDD of choice.