i think i went ott......

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Hi guys, over the xmas period I thought I'd treat myself to a 'rig'- I splashed out on a massive coolermaster atcs 840 case/i7 920/6gb ram/gtx275 & overall I'm very pleased.

However, when i think about it, I only use this for gaming & web surfing so I've got this niggling feeling that I should have gone for a 775 setup with a decent core 2 quad and I'd be none the wiser?

I'm seriously considering selling my i7 setup and upgrading my e5200 lga775 setup with a core2 quad and pocket the difference & I'm hoping the more tech-savvy of you guys could tell me wether I'd notice the downgrade:p

remember, I have the lga775 setup already, all i'd need is a new cpu and I'd carry on using my gtx275- please advise:)
 
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Yeah it'll just be more hassle later on when you decide to go i7 again and you'll just be annoyed at how much money you lose from the price you paid for the i7 stuff when you sell it on.
 
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yeah i suppose if i'd come to the right decision in the first place grr- i might take up photo/video editing just to feel I'm using the damn thing properly eh?!
 
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Yea, you have a great system. It is quite likely that the i7 is more powerful than you need at the moment - but in the future the extra computing power will be made use of. This means you can delay your next upgrade for quite some time and enjoy better framerates now.

Considering you have already spent the money (and would not get all of it back if you sold it) then I'd definitely suggest sticking with the i7. As you say, if you decide to take up more CPU-heavy tasks like photo/video editing in the future - you have a rig that can make handle such tasks wonderfully.

Have you tried overclocking the i7 920?
 
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Seeing as you already have both setups,it would make more sense to sell the 775 kit.
Just out of intrest,what is the spec of the 775 kit(apart from the e5200)?
 
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yeah i suppose if i'd come to the right decision in the first place grr- i might take up photo/video editing just to feel I'm using the damn thing properly eh?!

Or even better run folding@home and help cure cancer!

The core i7's are monsters at running f@h and score big points (if you care about points). They are also the only cpu's that can run bigadv which are the real complex scientific tasks and require 8 threads which the core i7 can do due to hyperthreading.
 
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Have you tried overclocking the i7 920?

no its always been at stock- been too scared as i'm running an msi x58pro mobo where the ioh sits at 65 degrees at idle:rolleyes:

Seeing as you already have both setups,it would make more sense to sell the 775 kit.
Just out of intrest,what is the spec of the 775 kit(apart from the e5200)?

e5200/asus p5kpro se/2gb ddr2/ati hd4350 (passive cooling for htpc)/lg bdrom/slverstone lc17 htpc case.

Or even better run folding@home and help cure cancer!

The core i7's are monsters at running f@h and score big points (if you care about points). They are also the only cpu's that can run bigadv which are the real complex scientific tasks and require 8 threads which the core i7 can do due to hyperthreading.

ive always wondered about folding@home- maybe I will- sounds like a great reason to keep my rig overpowered for my needs without me feeling too guilty lol
 
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This is a turn up for the books - a downgrade thread!!!!

Personally, I couldn't downgrade after owning an i7. Top quad 775 CPU's are also quite expensive.
 
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This is a turn up for the books - a downgrade thread!!!!

Personally, I couldn't downgrade after owning an i7. Top quad 775 CPU's are also quite expensive.

well, I've recently seen a few core 2 quads sell for around £80 2nd hand & I've read loads on how these are more than capable of running games like battlefield 2 etc as long as you have a decent gpu so it got me wondering wether i could salvage a few bob whilst my kit is still worth something:)
 
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well, I've recently seen a few core 2 quads sell for around £80 2nd hand & I've read loads on how these are more than capable of running games like battlefield 2 etc as long as you have a decent gpu so it got me wondering wether i could salvage a few bob whilst my kit is still worth something:)

I see where you're coming from, but just imagine yourself in a year's time and how your computing needs might have changed. Then you'll be pretty happy you stuck with your rig. As suggested, i you want to make use of it F@H is a great way to do it while giving something back. Maybe sell your HTPC to get some moolah in the bank?
 
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