Should I sell back my components and started the build over?

I previously posted in this thread as I am trying to finish building my first desktop (I've hit a few roadblocks after starting 1-2 years ago). I did not realize 1155 was newer than 1366 until just now and was wondering if it is advantageous to switch. (I am aware 2011 is out, but it is currently out of my price range)

My goal is to have a computer that would last a few years for gaming (I don't play a ton, but I have noted PC games are much cheaper than xbox and it'd be nice to take advantage of that) and would be good for 3D rendering as I've been dabbling into graphics/animation with programs like daz and Poser and have also done video editing in the past

here are the components I currently have and would consider getting.

Regardless of build I have
patriot pyro SE 120 gb hard drive
thermaltake armor plus case
an 850 W thermaltake power supply

I also purchased a GeForce GTX465 graphics card back when I sarted this, not sure if that even works with my current set up or if it would work with the new on, will have to look into it.

I'm also using my 55 in 1080 p TV to double as the monitor

1366 parts I would have to sell back if switching
Gigabyte G1 assassin I got for $300
core I7-970 I got for $447
(I'm thinking I can make money on the cpu to offset losses for the continue price drop in the mobo)

1155 parts I would most likely get (I've just started looking so this may change)
i5-2500K @$225
Asrock extreme7 @$250 (may consider the more expensive G1 assassin 2 if the advantages seem worth it, I have to look more into that first)

also relating to the previous memory post, 3 questions...

1)Intel told me not to deviate from 1.5 volts, but I see the i7-970 is only listed as being up to 1.35 volts so should I actually be lower than 1.5?

2)If I buy 1.5 volt memory at 1333 or 1600 mhz and underclock it to match the 1066 supported by the cpu, will that lower the voltage?

3)I don't see a voltage range on the 2500K and got widely different results in my searches, anyone know what voltage memory it can support?

Message edited by jmel23515 on 02-07-2012 at 10:20:35 PM

Reply to jmel23515

I think you might have got ripped off on that CPU - most i7-9XX (save for the 990X which is pretty pointless) aren't going for more than $350 now (the i7-960 is retailing for $289 on Newegg).

Anyway to answer your questions:

1. Are you talking about memory voltage or CPU voltage? Those are two totally different things.

2. No. Messing with the voltage on your RAM has the potential to fry your whole system - and you won't get an RMA from Intel if they find out about it. OC'ing your RAM is a big, huge no-no and it can lead to some very bad things down the road and cause your system to behave erratically.

3. Depends on the motherboard - typically most will support 1.5V and 1.6V - a few support 1.35V but if you're uncertain you should check your motherboard's QVL (qualified vendor list) to see what it does and doesn't support.

Message edited by g-unit1111 on 02-07-2012 at 10:24:38 PM

that's about right for the 960, but the 970 has usually been 500+ (often near or >600) and I've not seen it below 500 anywhere else. Last I checked new egg ran out and is not restocking the 970. I'm considering trading down to a 960 or lower even if I keep the 1366 because contrary to what I read before purchase, I'm now reading that it's not much better at all.

Also of note, all of the components are unsused, only one box has even been opened and the mobo was in a seperate (unopened) box within the main box.

related to #1, I thought it was based on VID, or is that the cpu voltage?

I just want to make sure I don't wreck it by buying the wrong stuff (with the current build it'd be the core i7 970 using gskill 1.5 v memory at 1333 mhz and cas latency of 7)

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to jmel23515

jmel23515 wrote :

that's about right for the 960, but the 970 has usually been 500+ (often near or >600) and I've not seen it below 500 anywhere else. Last I checked new egg ran out and is not restocking the 970. I'm considering trading down to a 960 or lower even if I keep the 1366 because contrary to what I read before purchase, I'm now reading that it's not much better at all.

Also of note, all of the components are unsused, only one box has even been opened and the mobo was in a seperate (unopened) box within the main box.

related to #1, I thought it was based on VID, or is that the cpu voltage?

I just want to make sure I don't wreck it by buying the wrong stuff (with the current build it'd be the core i7 970 using gskill 1.5 v memory at 1333 mhz and cas latency of 7)

Most tri-channel kits actually run at 1.6V or 1.65V which is typically what is required for 1366. The 1.5V and 1.35V sets you're looking at are most likely dual channel kits - those are required for 1155 and AM3, respectively.

This is along the lines of what you'd need: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820226194

If you get anything lower than that you'd need to cross-search the part you want against a few from the QVL from your motherboard.

Sorry to disagree with you, g-unit, but the specifications for the Gigabyte Assassin.G1 specifically state 1.5V for memory, so I'd stick with that. This Crucial memory pack should do.

@OP -
As for whether or not to sell your components for newer components, I personally don't think that's necessary. No, your components are no longer the latest and greatest, but that certainly does not mean useless.

btw - The GTX465 shouldn't cause any issues.

-Wolf sends

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Wolfshadw on 02-07-2012 at 11:51:15 PM

------------------------------ All Purpose System Specs: GA-H55M-S2V Intel CoreI5 760 8 Gig RAM NVidia Geforce 8800GTS-640 Windows 7
HTPC System Specs: ASRock 760GM-GS3 AMD Athlon II X2-240 G.Skill 4 GB (2x2GB) Radeon HD4670 Ceton InfiniTV4 TV Tuner
Reply to Wolfshadw

Wolfshadw wrote :

Sorry to disagree with you, g-unit, but the specifications for the Gigabyte Assassin.G1 specifically state 1.5V for memory, so I'd stick with that. This Crucial memory pack should do.

@OP -
As for whether or not to sell your components for newer components, I personally don't think that's necessary. No, your components are no longer the latest and greatest, but that certainly does not mean useless.

btw - The GTX465 shouldn't cause any issues.

-Wolf sends

Huh, I've always used 1.6V and 1.65V for 1366. I don't think that should matter too much but with RAM it's always good to play on the safe side.

this is what I'm currently looking at. It sounds like from your reply that it will be fine and while the triple channel are not on the tested and approvied list the 2x4 gb dual channel of the same type are.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231405

And it's not so much that I think I won't get use out of a 1366 based computer as that a 1155 will probably have greater longevity and it seems I could build one for cheaper that has the same performance.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by jmel23515 on 02-08-2012 at 02:49:34 AM

Reply to jmel23515

jmel23515 wrote :

this is what I'm currently looking at. It sounds like from your reply that it will be fine and while the triple channel are not on the tested and approvied list the 2x4 gb dual channel of the same type are.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231405

And it's not so much that I think I won't get use out of a 1366 based computer as that a 1155 will probably have greater longevity and it seems I could build one for cheaper that has the same performance.

I still have some 1366 components and I get quite a bit of mileage out of it. My old system was an Asus P6T, i7-920 and 12GB Corsair RAM. All the components still work and I'm planning on swapping that with the board that's in my HTPC.

It's a tough spot. Have you considered RMA or just returning the parts to where you bought them. From the sounds of it it's something you've very recently purchased.

If not it brings you to the prospect of selling them used regardless of how new they are. While 1366 can still pull a premium today, you'd still take a bath on it. Of course if you wait to try to unload this stuff a year from now when IB-e is out you can give it up.

Ultimately there's no way I could recommend this route only to side-grade to 1155. the 970 is going to trade punches with the 2500K in lightly threaded apps, while utterly destroying it in multi-threaded apps. You're also going from a socket (1366) that supports 40 lanes of pci-e express, to one that's half that.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=157

I would recommend looking at a SATA 6Gb/s controller if your motherboard doesn't support it. For the cash you're talking about losing you could easily pick up a new gpu.

If you can't rma/return, stick with what you got, at least until Haswell.

Message edited by a4mula on 02-08-2012 at 06:45:56 AM

------------------------------ CM Storm Scout || Gigabyte D3H || i5-2500K @ 4.55 || 8GB Patriot Sector 5 @ 1600 || Sapphire 6950 2GB OC || OCZ Vertex 3 SRT || Seagate 1.5 Green || Silverstone 700w || CM 212+ || Dell 2209wa
Reply to a4mula

ok, I think I'll do that. With my current setup, what do you think will be the limiting factor for performance, or did I balance it well?

my goal was to have the mobo and cpu on the high end for longevity and gradually add/upgrade ram and video cards as the prices drop

Reply to jmel23515

The 465 is your bottleneck atm, but it appears as though you already know this. Personally my biggest concern is the 55" 1080p LCD. While in theory this sounds like a kickass setup, it really creates a less-than optimal situation. The pure size works against it. Consider this:

You've got a cup of water, and a pitcher of water. You've got a single packet of hot chocolate. You can mix that packet with the pitcher, but the outcome isn't so great. Meanwhile if you put that packet into the cup you've got yourself a fine treat.

Monitors are the same exact thing. At 55" you're stretching those 2.1M pixels out to the point where they become not so great. In smaller screens the pixels are more concentrated thus giving a better overall experience.

Just something to consider.

------------------------------ CM Storm Scout || Gigabyte D3H || i5-2500K @ 4.55 || 8GB Patriot Sector 5 @ 1600 || Sapphire 6950 2GB OC || OCZ Vertex 3 SRT || Seagate 1.5 Green || Silverstone 700w || CM 212+ || Dell 2209wa
Reply to a4mula

I'm not worried about the TV setup. I'm currently running a laptop on it that has vastly inferior specs and I'm ok with the appearance of the images I get on here (don't run a ton of video on it though and it would be slow if I did games with a lot of video). It's more the speed/performance I'm worried about. I may buy a monitor down the road (or a smaller TV to serve the dual purpose), but at the moment I don't feel it's worth the money.

In looking at the other gskill offerings on newegg I'm seeing a performance memory kit that has all of the same specs but costs more than the rgular kit, not sure what the difference is. I also noted what I think is odd in that the with a different set, same kit for 6 modules costs more than 2 of the three module kits.

Any problem with going lower voltage? There are some 1.35 and 1.25 sets that appear able to work with x58. From the limited amount I've learned through reading, this should allow me room to overclock the RAM without going over the 1.5V should I decide to overclock.

Reply to jmel23515

I've decided to keep my setup and go with the 1.5 volt 1333 mhz and 7-7-7-21 timing offering by gskill. the sites comparing that to 1600 9-9-9-24 vary as to who comes out on top but the difference is negligable. The 1333 is currently $5 more, but matches the mobo specs even though 1600 appears to work as well per the support list on the mobo site.

I was tempted to go with a single channel of 8 gb after reading an article on the lack of difference between single, dual and triple, but the timings are higher for 8 gb sticks right now so I'm not sure it applies and if I understand correctly I wouldn't be able to necessarily just plug another 8 gb stick in later as it might be slightly different and therefore not run currectly in a dual channel.

If you guys want me to run any tests or report anything back let me know

Reply to jmel23515

2 questions....

can't get one of the ram modules to lock into place. it's not terribly lose, but one end does come out with a gentle pull. any tips?

how to should it be to push down the cpu lever lock. I'm really hoping I didn't break the board/chip. It was tougher than I thought it's be and I triple checked the alignment of all the parts

Reply to jmel23515

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