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desperately need some warm words about i7 2600k


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Hi!

Recently I decided to upgrade my hardware. I'd like to build something based on i7 2600k

architecture (which is is the mainstream tendency in 3d field today IMHO). But! Our IT man\

hardware supplier is not so optimistic about 2600k root. He would rather prefer to take something more predictable but somehow weaker (ie i7 960). Basically his main anti-2600k arguments are:

1. The built-in grachic chips could conflict with external (dedicated) video card.

2. The Sandy bridge tecnology is a new one and not 100% tested (there indeed were

callbacks in the february).

3.??

So what could I answer him? Please help me- I by no means a geek and feel lost in this case.

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The best thing to do is pull reviews from the internet, but those may or may not swing the votes onto your side.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2374890,00.asp PC Magazine's Review

 

However, it sounds as if you'll still may need a video card. The i7 2600k lacks all directX 11 support. Your IT guy has a point in that this is fresh technology and that last thing they want to do is to invest in it and have it constantly giving your problems.

 

Show them you believe in this technology, do some online research and give them the results.

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The Sandy Bridge issue was not because of the processor themselves but from motherboard manufacturers. It has been all resolved now and no longer an issue as long as you buy a B3 motherboard, which almost all vendors only sale now.

 

There is no issue with running a external gfx card with the setup. To think otherwise is just silly.

 

An i7-960 is old school at this point. If the IT guy wants to keep you on X58 platform(1366 socket) then tell him to get you at least an i7-970, not just because of it having 6 cores vs 4cores but the fact that the 970,980X, and 990X all are 32nm fab, which they run more efficiently.

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A Sandy Bridge system with an addon video card should be based on a P67 motherboard. These don't support the onboard video at all and dedicate those PCIE lanes to the PCIE slots, so there's no possibility of conflicts. As for the rest... well, when the 1366 boards were new we bought those and they were fine. The Sandy Bridge motherboard problem had the effect that after several years some of the SATA ports could stop working - not really such a huge thing. And Intel and the Mb suppliers replaced those boards for anybody who asked. There's no risk inherent in buying a Sandy Bridge system. What you do get is much more bang per buck, so 900 series CPUs are appropriate only for people wanting multiple video cards (they support more PCIE lanes, and the Sandy Bridge chips with the same capacity aren't out yet) or people needing 6-core CPUs (again, Sandy Bridge chips with more than 4 cores aren't out yet).

 

What you want is 2600k on a P67 motherboard with a good video card (ATI 6800 and 6900 series and Geforce 560, 570 and 580 are all popular these days).

 

Also, what Chris said. If they really won't do a Sandy Bridge you want an i7-970.

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I built a new workstation consisting of an OC'd 2600k with a GTX 580 and SSD. I've been running it for almost a month and have been very happy with it. I've had some issues with the SSD actually, but that's the extent of it.

 

Every office needs a good IT tech, but in my experience, they tend to be a little paranoid when adopting newer tech (usually for good reason).

 

I'm running windows 7 with Revit 2012, 3ds Max 2012 and CS3 and the overall performance and reliability feel very solid.

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I have both i72600 (same as 2600K but can't be overclocked) and i7950, which is less than 5% slower than the 960, my 2600 is 20% faster than my 950 and my new box is 450 watts instead of 550 watts, so I am savign 20% electricity too.

my guess the 2600K will be 10 to 15% faster than the 960 in max rendering.

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Xeon= must have ECC ram= more expensive. Also, no unlocked multi for ease of overclocking.

 

Are you sure about that (ECC ram) ?? I compared the Xeon 1230 with the I7 2600 , is it easier to overclock than Xeon 1230 ?

Edited by Superkames
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I just put together a new system today with an i7 2600k. Was going to go for a 6 core at first but since this was half the price, you can overclock the heck out of it, and in many ways (i think) is a better performer than the 1366 chipset, I decided to give it a shot. Just putting it through stress testing right now and so far its doing very well. Overclocked very easily to 4.4ghz using a Corsair water cooling unit. My office right now is probably 80+ degrees and its keeping the temps down below 70c which I understand to be a fairly safe temp. This is also my first time using and SSD drive and I am stunned at how fast it is. Not bad at all for a sub 2k workstation.

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  • 2 weeks later...
@tim

 

Just out of curiosity ~ what motherboard, ssd, and corsair cooler did you use?

 

SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220599

MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506

Coolor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181009

 

So far so good. The pump on the cooler seems to be making somewhat of a buzzing sound. I can't normally hear it but it could be annoying if I was in a totally quiet office. I'd look at the SilentPC website, I think they just reviewed one thats supposed to be quieter than this one.

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