Been ordering my parts and while the graphics card and PSU won’t be ordered until next week, this is what we’re going to look like.
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8MB Cache
Asus PT6 Deluxe Intel X58 Motherboard
6GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC10666 CAS 9-9-9-24
BFG nVidia GTX 295 1752MB GPU
Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatality Edition
500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue SATA-II 7200rpm
LG GGH-H20L Blu-Ray/HD DVD/DVD/CD Super multi drive
Corsair HX 1000w PSU
Windows Vista 64 Ultimate
Treated myself to a MS Sidewinder X6 Keyboard to match my mouse and probably going to replace my monitor in a couple of months as my current one won’t go higher than 1280.
There we have it – away from the old X2 4800 dual core and onto quad core. It also marks my return to Intel and leaving ATi behind.
There are 940 and 965 i7 chips as well, but the performance difference between the 920 and 940 is so small it simply isn’t enough to justify the extra £200. For the price and performance it throws out, the 920 is stunning. The GTX 295 didn’t come cheap however and I was originally going for the 4870X2, but while either card can run at high frame rates with AA/AF enabled at resolutions most people’s monitors can’t even display, the ATi cards seem to be more dependant on their driver updates this time and while there’s not much in it, the 295 is regarded as having won the performance crown. Due to the amount of RAM in the system (i7 chips require the RAM fitted in sets of 3 rather than pairs – and they run at lower voltages into the bargain) a 64 bit OS was necessary this time.
Looking forward to seeing how it flexes that horsepower with Fallout 3 and in general – if all goes to plan and the parts arrive on time, I should be good to go next week.
