New PC / Motherboard Combo - any tips ?

[andys]

Looking to upgrade my spare (render slave PC) and i'm - as always confused as hell about all the new CPU options. Currently it has an older Q6600 chip at 2.4Ghz, so I want something much quicker.

My other main PC is an i7 920 - bought just after the i7 was introduced. It's quick - and the 4 cores (8 with hyperthreading) are great for my 3D rendering... but can I get similar rendering speed from a cheaper i5 these days or is the i7 still the way to go?

Anyone know which chip / board combo is best 'bang for the buck' at the moment - UK prices too please:)

Ta.

[cigbunt]

you want it for rendering?

i think you better off with the AMD 8 core processor as your rendering it'll take advantage of the extra cores but if you wanna game get the i5

[levontraut]

gigabyte 990fx ud3 ( am3+ )

wait till the pile drives comes out and then get the 8 core cpu

bulldozer is ok but a little over priced.





my current setup is
cpu -1055t - 6 core
8 gig ram 1333
gigabyte 990fx ud5


and i got a very mild overclock and it is brilliant.

the 8150 ( i think it is) is really over priced and so are the rest of them but i really think if you can get your hands on a old AMD Phenom II 1055t or higher for cheap as a temp cpu and then when piledriver come sell the old cpu and replace it with the new one.

they top of the line philedriver is aparently going to be dirt cheap with at least a 15% gain in performance over the BD



graphics cards, i would go for the evga 650 sc at 100 pounds they are brilliant and bloody stong - if you are on a budget

if you are not on a budget the evga 670 sc with back plate and depending on your res the 4 gig or just the 2 gig