After bouncing more ideas around, I’ve come up with an alternate spec for a new system. This one is built around the same GPU, but with an Intel i7 driving the system. This deserves some explanation.
More after the jump.
By all accounts, with a single GPU, the i7 does not significantly outperform the Quad 9550. Not enough to justify the increased price point. However, if you throw a second GPU into the machine to take advantage of SLI—something I would like to do in the future—then the i7 suddenly becomes a dominating powerhouse.
Here’s a new set of specs:
- Motherboard:
ASRock P55 ProBIOSTAR T5 XE CFX-SLI - Power Supply: hec ZEPHYR HEC-750DR-AT 750W
- CPU: Intel i7 860
- GPU: EVGA GeForce 260 GTX (896 MB)
- RAM: G.SKILL DDR3 1333 (2×2GB)
All told, this system clocks in cheaper than the Quad 9550 build does, too about $110 more than the q9550, but is more “future-proof.”
Update: Turns out the the ASRock P55 Pro board doesn’t support SLI! I’ve swapped it out in the spec for a Biostar board that does. It’s only $20 more.