should i upgrade my rig? 775 -> 1155

[iakovl]

i have my rig for the past two + years...
E8400, Asus P5Q pro, 2*2gb G.skill PI DDR900, Perc 5/i - HD103UJx4 RAID5 , SSD OCZ 60GB vertex 2, HD4850, P180, VX450W, audigy 2 zs platinum pro

i was thinking about moving to an itx rig and on the way upgrade myself to 1155 but! this thing ain't cheap, i do have the money but i'm a student in college so... money is a problem

so i started thinking and ended up looking at this board: Zotac G43ITX-A-E
http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-geforce-g ... board.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813500042

why this one? need the sata ports. have a raid right now of 4*1T with a perc controller and want to move to a softraid (itx, dont have room for the perc) and use 4 of the itx sata's for raid and the 5th one for ssd

what do you think i should do?

[ces]

Hold your breath and wait for a z68 1155 ITX motherboard. It will be able to run both sandy bridge and ivy bridge. Then get the least expensive sandy bridge or ivy bridge available at that time. Don't invest any more in 775.

[iakovl]

the G43 is rather cheap, 80~90$

[ces]

Here are some US prices.... for a CPU that is 2 generations newer than the 775:

Intel Core i3 2100 LGA 1155 3.1GHz Boxed $99.99
http://www.microcenter.com/single_produ ... id=0361415

Biostar H61ML LGA 1155 H61 mATX Intel $54.99
http://www.microcenter.com/single_produ ... id=0361810

GA-H67N-USB3-B3 LGA 1155 H67 mini ITX Intel Motherboard $109.99
http://www.microcenter.com/single_produ ... id=0361415

[iakovl]

move to itx 775 = only cost is the new itx
move to 1155 = cpu, mobo, mem = lot more

[Jim G]

move to itx 775 = only cost is the new itx
move to 1155 = cpu, mobo, mem = lot more

I wouldn't sink any more money into a 775 setup... just save until you can afford to upgrade to 1155. Money much better spent, imho, and it's not vastly more cash either for a lot more power.

[ces]

move to itx 775 = only cost is the new itx
move to 1155 = cpu, mobo, mem = lot more

Understood.
move to itx 775 = mobo, new ITX case, and maybe/likely new DDR2 memory
move to 1155 = mobo, new ITX case, cpu, DDR3 mem,

Why make the move without some benefit? In 6 months it is likely to be a decision you are not going to feel so good about as the Ivy Bridge chips start rolling out.

[CA_Steve]

Is there something you want to do that you can't with the current setup? Or do you just want to change because you can? If the latter, save your $'s.

[iakovl]

just want to change into a smaller rig

[CA_Steve]

Found a mini-review on the Zotac
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2070983

[ces]

just want to change into a smaller rig

What case are you getting?

[ame]

i have my rig for the past two + years...
E8400, Asus P5Q pro, 2*2gb G.skill PI DDR900, Perc 5/i - HD103UJx4 RAID5 , SSD OCZ 60GB vertex 2, HD4850, P180, VX450W, audigy 2 zs platinum pro

i was thinking about moving to an itx rig and on the way upgrade myself to 1155 but! this thing ain't cheap, i do have the money but i'm a student in college so... money is a problem

so i started thinking and ended up looking at this board: Zotac G43ITX-A-E
http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-geforce-g ... board.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813500042

why this one? need the sata ports. have a raid right now of 4*1T with a perc controller and want to move to a softraid (itx, dont have room for the perc) and use 4 of the itx sata's for raid and the 5th one for ssd

what do you think i should do?

Its tempting ... but if I am to be on point, its not really needed. Haven't seen a game or an app that runs too slow on e8400+HD4850 yet. (Look at my sig - I was tempted, but I kept my old Q6600 intact for gaming). A couple of freinds of mine are still running 775 Quads + ATI 4850 with all the new stuff, no complaints.

As for upgrading to an ITX 775 - I tend to agree with the guys. Its pointless to invest in a new rig that is outdated. If anything you should get a new ITX 1155 and keep the old P180+775 for other uses.

BTW if you are looking to ditch the P180 I might wanna buy it. I'm in TLV, PM me if you do ...

[thejamppa]

If your 775 is fine and you don't need to upgrade it, it might be wiser to keep 775 in P180 and build 1155 ITX. It costs more but its good to have back up machine. Hpwever what do you plan to do with the mini ITX? If you keep 775 rig its perfectly able to play modern games no sweat and then you don't need serious horse powers for imi ITX and you can save money for building core i3 system and use budget card for video if integrated isn't enough.

Mini itx Z68 + Core i3 might be all you need with ram. Keeping 775 for gaming and ITX for other builds. Just hold your breath till Z68 comes in ITX variant Z68 are almost here and they might be very considerable choice over H67 boards.

I did upgrade my E8400 and P5Q Pro set-up to Sandy-B and I am satisfied.

[iakovl]

just want to change into a smaller rig

What case are you getting?

1. modding an itx case i have, Mustiff MX 31
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/ ... up_16.html

2. Lian Li Q08

BTW if you are looking to ditch the P180 I might wanna buy it. I'm in TLV, PM me if you do ...

my P180 is one of the old "original" p180, half dead right now (my uncle kids are small demons)