Review of new computer.

[texasboy]

  And yes Billy, I put it all together myself.
One thing that turned out to be extremely important was the application of thermal paste.
List of ingredients as follows.
Intel Smackover DX58SO Extreme mobo.
Intel i7 920 processor stock 2.67GHz.
Coolermaster haf 932 full tower case.
3x2GB OCZ3X1600lv2g memory.
Vista 64 Ultimate SP2
Coolermaster 700w Silent Pro Modular PSU.
Scythe Mugen 2 heatsink cooler (was a bugger to install properly).
2xATI  HD4870 512MB  in Crossfire x.

Easily overclocked (Stock volts). Had to mess around with fans for a while. Removed mobo 5 times to get heatsink and paste properly secured.
So as it stands tonight, Overclocked to 3.4GHz on CPU. all temps at idle are 29-36deg. Of the 2 graphics cards that I am using (PowerColor and Sapphire, the PowerColor comes out well in top for OC).have both on same settings.
Had to use 30% manual fan control on Sapphire card. (after reading through various forums it seems to be a common problem on auto fan control).
Ran many tests on 3D Mark Vantage and last result was.
P16,511
GPU--15,688
CPU--19,594

Results were  in the 13,000 range before I got the silver thermal paste correct'.

And yes Quantum you may ask why I didnt go with 1GB cards or even HD4890. Basically I have saved as I went along/very little free time to get to where I am today. Room for upgrades.

If anyone can post any Vantage test marks  to help me know where I am, it would be appreciated.
cheers

[billyfridge]

yer blinding me with science Tex.....lol

[texasboy]

yer blinding me with science Tex.....lol

Only  an old man having a bit of fun. Wish I had started earlier.lol.
Not what you have ,but what you do with it. Wish I had have learned to play these  games  yesterday.
Time to retire
cheers

[TheNightWatchman]

The i7s any good? They sound like they would process video rendering better and therefore I would like one, but don't know of anyone who has actually bought one yet..?

[texasboy]

 
http://www.intel.com/performance/desktop/consumer.htm
Hope this helps NWM.
cheers

[TheNightWatchman]

Comparison of After Effects processing is interesting... but it is the Intel website! Of course they were going to say that 

[texasboy]

Comparison of After Effects processing is interesting... but it is the Intel website! Of course they were going to say that 

Is there any program that I can run which might give you somew numbers???
cheers

[TheNightWatchman]

It's all relative though tex, I mean you're not running video encoding specific video cards, and it would also depend on the kind of footage/effects you would need to process.

It's just nice to see Intel actually think about video processing when making a CPU (but I wonder if there are going to be i7s for a Mac? Considering most editors, including myself, use Final Cut on Mac)

Edit - a quick check sees the newest Mac Pros used Xeon "Nehalem"s which uses the same architecture as the i7

[texasboy]

  Just messing around again tonight. Will have to look into it more.
Again running at 3.40GHz standard voltage, tried 3D MARK VANTAGE again. P16,905, GPU 15,882 CPU 20,956.
Not getting any feedback from other members if these figures are decent.
cheers

Increase to 3.42GHz (on stock 2.67GHz) CPU gives an increase on CPU readings,but a slight reduction on GPU.
p16,596  GPU 15,507 CPU 21,024.

[billyfridge]

Just messing around again tonight. Will have to look into it more.
Again running at 3.40GHz standard voltage, tried 3D MARK VANTAGE again. P16,905, GPU 15,882 CPU 20,956.
Not getting any feedback from other members if these figures are decent.
cheers

Increase to 3.42GHz (on stock 2.67GHz) CPU gives an increase on CPU readings,but a slight reduction on GPU.
p16,596  GPU 15,507 CPU 21,024.

It's all double dutch to me Tex,I just use PC's not build them......lol