Matx rig for 1000$

[snoro]

I currently slowly building up my first watercooled rig and i need some advice on some parts. The build log is here: silly rad towaar matx project

So my main need is a decent gaming cpu but i want also to get into folding and crunching so i want so very good cpu for that. The motherboard absolutly have to be matx one.

I need msotly some advice for the cpu and the motherboard. I am not afraid of going either intel or amd route, i just need 2 pci-e 16x slot so its either 1366 i7 setup or amd 890fx. Usb3 and sata 3 is not a necessity for me so i can live without it.

The budget is about 600-1000$ for the memory,mobo and cpu

[zanzabar]

what are u doing that u need 2 16x slots, for folding 8x slots work fine. the dfi x58 matx for 16x16 matx is the only one that i know of

[snoro]

2 16x slot is for the gaming part for when i go for crossfire or sli. I know that the evga,asus,dfi and msi all have 2 x16 pci e slot but there might be also some other mobo that could interesting in amd section or that are upcomming and that i dont know of. Something like a possible future rampage III gene or crosshair IV gene

[zanzabar]

for xfire or sli with single gpu cards u dont need 16x16, 8x8 is fine and for ati cards ur looking at a 2% difference then since its for folding u would want an i7

so
mini p180 white
ocz modXstream 600W
860 i7
evga p55 e652
xfx 5850, get the one labeled cypress pro
4GB ocz obsidian
$995

that dosnt have a dvd or HDD (and f3 500GB is $44 now) but it dose have $85 in rebates, ocz and evga are quick with rebates

[snoro]

zanzabar, i just need the mobo cpu and maybe memory kit if i go the i7 1366 route for 600-1000$. I already have the case, most of my watercool stuff is either at my home or on the way to my home, i have a 1kw silverstone strider plus psu comming also and if i get a good matx p55 mobo, i already have a 4gb trident 200mhz kit. As for folding and crunching amd cpu are no good ?? If there was a 890fx matx mobo comming , i would be tempted to buy that and a phenomII x6 thuban cpu. Or for folding or crunching with amd i need to forget about gaming with the rig and simply get a workstation with 2processor board and some hexa or octo core cpu to have decent folding or crunching number ?

[zanzabar]

im not sure on matx for an amd setup that will do xfire or if there is an 890fx coming, but the 1156 is faster than the 1366 and it saves u a good $100-130, and if u dont use dual gpu cards then 8x8 is fine and the 1156 is lower latency on the pci-e than the 1366 so it will be better especially since it also has the better IMC so their dual channel is close to the tripple channel on the 1366 in bandwidth but its better in latency

if u wanted a work station i would get a 2p socket g34 mangy core so u had 24 cores

[snoro]

no i wont get me a workstation, was just asking if desktop amd cpu are good for folding or its only the server and workstation amd cpu that are worth the money for folding and crunching. For p55, there is a big thing that bug me and its 32nm cpu.There is no evidence that intel will make available for p55 a real 4 core 8 thread 32nm cpu while with x58, well i just gotta wait for march 16 and they will be there waiting for my credit card number.

[zanzabar]

the 6 core amd should be the same as a current i7 (4 cores 8 threads) for crunching, for gaming it dosnt matter

[snoro]

yeah since most game still use just 2 core. As for the p55 setup vs x58 setup the only difference that would mean to me is that i would have to buy a 6gb memory kit which is around 200$ here. I7 860 + asus maximus gene or evga p55 micro is about the same cost as a 920 + asus rampage III gene or dfi jr or evga sli micro. So there is not a big difference in price.

[illuminatiASUS]

Hello Snoro,

I would go with a P55 solution like the Maximus III GENE, i would not overall really be concerned about limitied cpu headroom ( in regards to upgrading ) considering a 860 is already a very strong performer ( and great clocker and because of that you really have no real reason to upgrade). If you do really want to ensure the best possible upgrade path as of now go with a Rampage II GENE just ensure you are able to cool the southbridge effeciviitly. Otherwise it will serve every aspect/function you are looking for.

Zanzabar makes a good point though that P55 chipset and CPU clock overall smoother than X58. Although Gulftown changes that rule as the IMC was been reworked from a more workstation implementation to a consumer/enthusiast one. In the end if you see you self spening another 500 dollars on a cpu within a year go with X58 if you do not i would go with P55.

Hope this helps and please enjoy the rest of your day.

[snoro]

what i am doing is that instead i ill get me a i7 860 for my current rig which is in my sig and i am getting part so that i can fit a regular atx board in my monticle 18 even with a 360, 1 240 and 1 120 rad. For the monticle 18 build i will just wait for sandy bridge and buldozer to come since they will mostly use completly new socket from what i have seen. X58 rig would not be worth the money for just 6-8 month lifetime and even a phenom II rig would be useless with the soon to arrive bulldozer. When both bulldozer and sandy bridge ( workstation and extreme enthusiast version) come, i will see wath i get.

[zanzabar]

3d work stations and gaming need the same stuff so u cant optimize a cpu or chipset for one of the other. the bulldozed without the igp is also supposed to be am3 and the 1p 1366 motherboard should work with all 1366 chips.

but 2 cpus smashed together or a 6 core intel will not benefit gaming, a die shrink would help ocing though

[snoro]

well those kind of information have no way of making sure they are true, so i will simply wait for them to come and while that i get me a i7 860 and learn how to overclock memory and might try back some 3d benching with my hd5770 on air.
the 2 more core and maybe 4 more thread will be mostly be used for the folding/crunching usage of my rig.