IT might be a good idea to wait 2 months for the next intel cpus to ship to get them or a better deal on the existing chips.
This 660Ti is $310. I'd spring for the GTX 670 if I was going to pay that price personally, since you could probably find a GTX 670 for close to that price on sale/with a coupon/gift certificate, and because the 670 outperforms the 660Ti handily (not by a huge margin, maybe 10-15% but it will definitely be worth the extra <$50 you pay for it).
I would not buy refurbished. It's not worth the risk in my opinion, you literally have no clue if it will work flawlessly or be DOA, but I suppose you could check out estimated refurb failure rates if any such data exists. Honestly it probably doesn't exist since it would be in the seller's best interest not to show data like that if it reflected poor performance of their refurbished product.
information over load
^^ This.
This is why you don't ask an entire room of faggy nerds what computer hardware is the best. We have all used different builds/combos with all different outcomes ANNDDD we are all retarded enough to fight over dumb shit and don't know how to just let the client(you) choose.
If you don't have a budget, get the i7. If you need to save $50-100, get the i5. Simple!
And the fact that anyone is suggesting waiting 2 months for another set of CPUs to hit the market is retarded! If you kept waiting for new tech to come out your computer would NEVER BE BUILT! lol. You would just sit there with a case and wait forever.
You have no idea. This set of CPU's isn't just a simple upgrade, it's a fucking new architect. Get a mobo that supports Haswell and the move to Skylake and possibly Skymont and you are good to go for a few years. Getting an i7 in the current 1155 socket instead of waiting for Haswell in the 1150 socket with potential for future upgrades is asinine. You sir, should just leave.
Basic tick tock diagram. I suggest you learn a bit more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Tick-Tock
Make all your last demands for I will forsake you and I'll meet your eyes for the very first time, for the very last.
maynard <ibis>: they are awkward and last 2 damn long. I prefer thinner smaller ones
Okay, that would be great if the client wanted to wait a few months, I'm not sure in this case if she has that luxury. But it's still stupid to suggest in the IT market to wait a few months for a piece of technology that isn't even tested. 3rd gen i7 > 1st gen Haswell. 1st gen anything will have issues and the i7 can and will handle anything thrown at it.
With all that said it's still stupid to wait, if every enterprise level IT group waited until the new tech came out, they would be waiting FOREVER! Three places I work with right now that all work at an enterprise level are JUST NOW getting windows 2008 rolled out to all their servers. Not all are even updated. This isn't just one major company this is THREE. So should I just stop them and tell them to wait til 2012? No, 2008 is tested and it works and is now ready to be released.
Now I know this isn't enterprise level. But even if I was asked to spec out new computers now for my clients I would stay with the trusted i7 rather then asking them to wait a few months.
When suggesting things to clients where YOUR money is not being used Trusted > New. Any fucking day.
Why not offer all available options to your supposed clients? Some consumers prefer to be informed of all their options including new technologies.