P-55 Motherboard and cooling for i7 860

[$SOLID$ Necro]

Looking to help build a socket 1156 with the i7 860 2.8ghz (3.46ghz turbo mode) gaming system for a friend, with either a GTX 275 or possibly ATI 5850 if they feel they want a DX-11 card (They seem like the best values right now)

I have been looking at the ASUS P7P55 LX (119$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131604

Or the GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3R (139$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128401

I am trying to keep the cost under 150-175$ or so, but that COULD go up if it's truely worth it...reliabilty is the most important thing I am looking for.

SLI and XFIRE support are not needed, but I would not complain if it had them.

I doubt my friend will Overclock it, unless its with software (I built a Gigabyte UD3 Q9550 775 system for a friend and used the software to run it at 3.6ghz, worked like a champ!)
So max OC is not a top priority either, but good software OC'ing would be nice (Had not had much luck with it in the past on my 775 Asus boards or on my DS-3, but all were great in manual OC'ing)

Also, Zalman seems to have one of the top coolers for socket 1156, but it's 75$, are there any other solutions that will still be adequate for stock or mild OC's that are 50$ or so? Otherwise I imagine the stock intel cooler would do just fine for stock clocks, I will tell them to save there money.

Any comments or recomendations would be appreciated on any of the hardware, the budget is roughly 1000$ (+or-200)

I have a wish list, but even this is open to debate.

Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz
ASUS P7P55 LX LGA 1156 Intel P55
SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Win7

[akshayt]

MSI P55 GD65 without a shadow of doubt. It is an awesome overclocker and amazing performer. At the price of a low-mid level board it is actually an enthusiast board and almost the equivalent of the highest boards for the P55 chipset and it costs just around $150.

As for the cooler, you can go for the following:

Thermaltake spinx around $80
Coolermaster V8 around $50
Thermalright ultra 120 around $30

[Erklat]

If the purpose of this rig is gaming exclusively, go after i5 750 since games do not benefit from HT to justifiy the greater price.
Price difference either spare or invest in better motherboard. A 300$ CPU and 120$ mobo is not the most reasonable combination, imho.

[zsamz_]

If the purpose of this rig is gaming exclusively, go after i5 750 since games do not benefit from HT to justifiy the greater price.
Price difference either spare or invest in better motherboard. A 300$ CPU and 120$ mobo is not the most reasonable combination, imho.

+1

you wont need the ht get the 750 i wish i did
dont get shafted with a foxconn socket like me
get the evga sli or ftw

[$SOLID$ Necro]

MSI P55 GD65 without a shadow of doubt. It is an awesome overclocker and amazing performer. At the price of a low-mid level board it is actually an enthusiast board and almost the equivalent of the highest boards for the P55 chipset and it costs just around $150.

As for the cooler, you can go for the following:

Thermaltake spinx around $80
Coolermaster V8 around $50
Thermalright ultra 120 around $30

Not real fond of MSI's RMA service, I had an 8800Ultra and got so frustrated by all the BS from them, In the end it never did get replaced. Could nto understand the broken english, goofed up RMA numbers, etc. I do like there products, but that was a HUGE turn off....I will definately consider it, but OC is not the main purpose with this build, reliablity and features are more important (And RMA service)

The Thermaltake Ultra I believe is more then 30$ though? and does it fit P-55 without having to buy an adapter? It's also quite a large cooler, I don't think they are gonna want one of those uber monster sized ones (I would use it though myself!)

If the purpose of this rig is gaming exclusively, go after i5 750 since games do not benefit from HT to justifiy the greater price.
Price difference either spare or invest in better motherboard. A 300$ CPU and 120$ mobo is not the most reasonable combination, imho.

I am prety sure it will be 90% used for gaming, but unless they do video editing or some crazy server type app, your right, the HT isnt needed. I was more looking at the base clock speed, and Turbo speed for 80$ more 2.66ghz vs 2.8ghz and 3.2vs 3.46ghz. Though I suppose 3.2ghz should be more then adegquate for a mid range gaming rig...I will pass that along.

+1

you wont need the ht get the 750 i wish i did
dont get shafted with a foxconn socket like me
get the evga sli or ftw

I have read about the crappy foxconn socket that burn out under mid and heavy OC loads, I would hope they OK at stock speeds though! (And turbo mode)

I was hoping to hear more good things about any of the sub 200$ P-55 Gigabyte or Asus boards, I have had such good luck with them in the past, Evga and MSI, not so much....I would definately like to avoid the Foxconn sockets, so if that is what they use, I will take them off my list.

[zsamz_]

I have read about the crappy foxconn socket that burn out under mid and heavy OC loads, I would hope they OK at stock speeds though! (And turbo mode)

I was hoping to hear more good things about any of the sub 200$ P-55 Gigabyte or Asus boards, I have had such good luck with them in the past, Evga and MSI, not so much....I would definately like to avoid the Foxconn sockets, so if that is what they use, I will take them off my list.

gigabut have foxconn socket and lotess clips i wonder who they foolin
my board died while i was runnin 2 cores not 4
do some readin they are dyin @ stock
most people dont need hyperthreading so ...
you can get a used 920 for cheap

[$SOLID$ Necro]

Thanks for that info..just what I need to know!!!! I was afraid that the foxconn socket MIGHT cause problems even at stock speeds, so any board using them is definately off the table now! (+Rep for you..even though they don't have that system on XS, lol) Anandtechs article made it seem like it was only a problem when overclocking over 4ghz.

I have always kept up on the new hardware, but since I am happy with my current 775 set up, I have not been reading much in the forums lately to see exactly wich parts are the "Hot setup" and what to avoid.

My friends thread is over at our game clan website...if you or anyone feel like taking a peak at it, and post comments here, we will be sure to read and reply to them.

http://dasrebellion.com/phpBB3/viewt...p=86342#p86342

[OC Nub]

+1 for the EVGA P55 FTW board. Very happy with it, has software for overclocking and no foxconn socket.

[zsamz_]

Thanks for that info..just what I need to know!!!! I was afraid that the foxconn socket MIGHT cause problems even at stock speeds, so any board using them is definately off the table now! (+Rep for you..even though they don't have that system on XS, lol) Anandtechs article made it seem like it was only a problem when overclocking over 4ghz.

I have always kept up on the new hardware, but since I am happy with my current 775 set up, I have not been reading much in the forums lately to see exactly wich parts are the "Hot setup" and what to avoid.

My friends thread is over at our game clan website...if you or anyone feel like taking a peak at it, and post comments here, we will be sure to read and reply to them.

http://dasrebellion.com/phpBB3/viewt...p=86342#p86342

they shoulda be commin here to learn

[$SOLID$ Necro]

LOL!

I did link him to this thread, he is a pretty smart guy and used to have a business building computers...he knew I was always on top of the latest and greatest hardware and asked me to look over what had picked before he pulled the trigger, but I have not built a core i5 or i7 yet.

Unfortunately...I haven't kept up on things as much lately (Other then reading Anand) since I quit writing for PCApex in 07(Formerly known as PimpRig) I have always defered to you guys are the true experts. I have not been into it much since my last "Big" build in 07.
(QX6800 ES LN-2 cooled, and 8800 Ultras on a Striker Xtreme I bought from Mickey Mouse..was good enough for # 20 on the orb in 3D06 when the insulation leaked and killed the board....before that was a AMD64 4000+ DFI LP with 6800 Ultra's that made it to #7 on "Chilled" air in 3D05)

Again..thanks for all your input guys, I am a bit rusty these days!

EDIT: updated list


PC Power and Cooling S75QB 750W $169.99
MSI P55-GD80 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard $209.99
XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB $409.99
G.SKILL ECO 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL9Q-8GBECO $204.99
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s $69.99
LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Combo LG Blu-ray Reader $119.99
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core $279.99
ZALMAN CNPS10X Extreme 120mm CPU Cooler $75.03
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound $6.99
Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan $149.88
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit $139.99

Total
1839.81

[$Jester$]

Hi all,

I'm the one Necro was helping and he lead me here. Been all over the site reading and learning. You guys (gals too) know a lot!! Thank you for all the help.

I feel comfortable enough with the knowledge I've gained to pull the trigger on the above. But Newegg is out of these:
XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB $409.99
G.SKILL ECO 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL9Q-8GBECO $204.99

Any suggestions on sutible substitues? or should I wait?

V/R

[Meaker]

The sapphire or Asus ones they have in stock are fine (for the 5870). Not looked into ram recently so can't comment.

[Erklat]

G.SKILL ECO 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL9Q-8GBECO $204.99

You should go after CL7 kits.

[zsamz_]

You should go after CL7 kits.

nope
he should go after the 2k cas9 or 2k+ cas8

[Erklat]

nope
he should go after the 2k cas9 or 2k+ cas8

Haven't seen this before - I was talking about CL7 ECOs instead of CL9 ones he was pointing to.

[snoro]

2k hz cas 9 kit should cost him about 20-30$ more than the normal 1600mhz cas7 but it will way much more better for overclocking but i dont think they will really need that possibility.

[mhx]

just curious what reviews/links you have on cpu cools for 1156 sockets?
I keep reading that the Prolimatech Megahalem is best in 1366 sockets. I cant find any solid 1156 reviews for cpu coolers

[Erklat]

You can't find any reviews because whichever works best for s1366, is surely going to work for s1156 since they have a lower heat output.