[Nightmare]

Hi Guys,

I will be going to buy a new build tomorrow. But i have some questions i wish to clarify before i get the new build.

1) I heard there is something like normal i7 920 and i7 920 DO Stepping. How do i know the one i will be getting is a DO Stepping version? Anything i can check? (I am scared the salesman cheat me on this by giving me a normal/old version and claim to be a DO Stepping.)

2) I plan to install Window 7 beta as my main OS. Is this recommended? (Won't install Vista since i do not want to waste money on this OS. I have Vista installed on my laptop and i am really not happy with this OS.)

3) Me will get Corsair Dominator 1600MHZ CL 8, 6 GIG Ram, but also thinking may be will spend more money to get the 2000MHZ version. The price difference is around 110usd. Will 2000MHZ makes significant performance boost compare to the 1600MHZ one? If no, i will save some money and go with the 1600MHZ version.

4) Since i plan to use Window 7 Beta, so that means i will be installing all the games for this OS, so far any comment on playing games on this OS? Will games run fine on this OS? (Devil May Cry 4, Lost Planet, Crysis, Gear Of War,etc).

5) What cpu clock speed should i overclock to so it won't be bottleneck for the GPU? (GTX 295)


Thanks!

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

S-spec: SLBEJ = D0 / SLBEW = Xeon w3520(all 3520's are D0, and are higher binned i7 920's)
FPO/Batch, 3849A832 = Batch A, decent overclockers, but later Batch B's are also decent.

2. Install RC2, (Leaked 7201) or RC1, RTM will release in a couple of weeks. (and probably leak)

3. the Dominator 2000 is not an official spec, so you will need to overclock the system to get there. 1600 on the other hand, has multiplier settings available in most bios's. only the Xeon w3520 (D0 spec) requires overclocking to access the 160mhz ram settings.

4. All those games should work on win7, there is a known issue for some older Dx games, but that was fixed in Pre RTM 7122+

5. The i7's aren't a bottleneck for the gpu period!. infact they provide upto 20 more fps in games over a similarly built Core 2 system when using multiple gpu's, indicating that the inability to reach double the performance, with sli was actually a cpu limitation.

With decent cooling, the D0 is capable of 4Ghz at 1.28v, though i'm going to be keeping mine closer to 3.5Ghz.

 

[Nightmare]

Hi Squall-Leonhart,

Thanks a lot for all the information! :thumb:

For cooling, i will get a Xigmatek Thor Hammer + a fan, not sure this one consider as decent or not, but i will try to overlock the CPU to around 3.3-3.4Ghz

I probably will have more questions when i got the new built, probably will ask some overclocking questions :emb:

p/s The ram i have changed to 1866MHZ since it is just 14USD more expensive than the 1600MHZ version.

Thanks again!