Advice wanted on new build

S

SphincterBoy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 24, 2005
Messages
128
As you can see in my sig, it's been 4+ years since I built my current rig. It's treated me well, but it's time to get caught up.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Primarily gaming. Of course web browsing, too, and some video editing possibly.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~$1,000
3) Where do you live?
San Diego
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, Mobo, RAM, PSU, SSD, HDD, optical
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Video card (8800GTS), sound card and peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers). I also have a new Antec 900 and Corsair H50.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
20" Dell widescreen - hope to upgrade to 24" in next 6 months
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Very soon
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I need firewire to connect to my video camera. I don't foresee Crossfire or SLI since a single card best meets my needs and budget
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
I have a Win7 64-bit upgrade ready and waiting

I've done a lot of research and narrowed down the choices:

CPU - i5 750 or i7 860. Is it worth $90 to get hyperthreading?
Mobo - Asus P7P55D LGA or Gigabyte GA-P55-UDP4 or MSI P55-GD65
RAM - 4GB vs 8GB - and if 8GB, will two 4GB sets work or do I need an 8GB set?
PSU - Was going to go PCP&C 750W, but it is discontinued at Newegg, so Corsair 650HX. Or is 650TX good enough. Antec TP-750?
SSD - OCZ Agility 60GB or Intel X25-M 80GB
HDD - WD Caviar Black or Green 1 TB - does it matter? Other brands?
DVD - recommendations?
 
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I could, but honestly, it's not worth the time and effort. I'm married with kids so time is precious.
 
I'm surprised to see a Xeon processor recommended when i5 and i7 are all the rage. Why the Xeon? If it's for hyperthreading, the i7 860 provides that on the 1156 platform (P55).

I found the X25-M G2 for $250, but I'm leaning towards the OCZ Agility for $152 - better $/GB. Although the extra 20GB would be nice.
 
SphincterBoy said:
I'm surprised to see a Xeon processor recommended when i5 and i7 are all the rage. Why the Xeon? If it's for hyperthreading, the i7 860 provides that on the 1156 platform (P55).

I found the X25-M G2 for $250, but I'm leaning towards the OCZ Agility for $152 - better $/GB. Although the extra 20GB would be nice.
Click to expand...

That Xeon is a Lynnfield. The only difference between it and the i7 860 is the stock clock speed: its slower by 266Mhz. The good news is, its $50 cheaper than the i7 version. :p So, if you want HT, you could have it for only $40 more (not $90, like you said in your OP). ;)

With SSDs, the all important spec is its small random write speed. The Intel X25-M SSDs have fast small random write speeds, but have slower sequential speeds. Conversely, the Indilinx based drives have faster sequential speeds, but slower small random write speeds. When you setup the Indilinx drives in RAID0, the small random write speeds increase enough to more than compensate for the single drive's deficiency. Likewise, when you RAID0 Intel drives, the sequential speeds increase more than enough. Small random write speeds are more important for the avg user than sequential speeds. For single SSD usage, the Intel is a better choice because of this. However, Indilinx based drives' small random write speeds are still faster than mechanical drives, so even in a single drive config, it's still a good choice if you can't afford an Intel G2.

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3667&p=6
 
Re: Xeon, thanks for filling me in, I wasn't aware of that.

Also, thanks for the link to today's Anandtech article on SSDs. I've read his longer one from August (?), but I'll read this one now.

Any feedback on the other components (mobo, RAM, PSU, HDD)?
 
gwarren007 said:
Asus $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131404&cm_re=p7p55d-_-13-131-404-_-Product

Intel Xeon X3440 $240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...117225&cm_re=xeon_1156-_-19-117-225-_-Product

Gskill $81 (possibly X2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231278

EA650 $79
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

WD15EADS 1.5TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136351
Click to expand...

The ram is the best for the buck right now, and will allow for a decent amount of overclocking.

The EA650 is the best budget PSU's that has a good quailty build.

The HDD is a 1.5tb , so you can store all of you data on it, just remember to back up vital data regularly.
 
I am kind of surprised no one has brought this up but I will give it a go. If you move to a bigger monitor or not, and depending on what games you play and at what resolution that 8800GTS is going to become a serious issue. It's really time to replace that 8800GTS. You would be much better off with a regular WD black HDD (even a single) and a newer GPU than an SSD and reusing that 8800GTS. With any new CPU it's easily going to be the bottleneck in your system, and will hold you back. You'd be better off if you need to save money going with a AMD X3/X2 and a top notch GPU than going i5/i7 and using your GTS. If Gaming is your primary goal, any of these build's are going to be a let down with the 8800GTS. I don't think I can stress enough you can save money in other areas if need be to replace the GTS for a new gaming build, and you really should. YMMV, and good luck either way.
 
Thanks gwarren007, I didn't mean to ignore your feedback, just looking for additional comments.

I was considering that Gskill RAM - it seems quite popular and at a good price (it's all relative). Is the Antec EarthWatts 650 a better choice than the Antec True Power 750 ($16 more)? And is the WD Green a better choice than the WD Black?

Ghettobox, I should have mentioned that I plan to upgrade the video card when the new Nvidia cards come out. I understand it's the weak link in this picture, but I can wait a bit and hopefully the competition will drive the price of DX11 cards down. The 5870 is too pricey at the moment - not that SSDs aren't...

I have a 20" LCD I have set at 1680 x 1050. I currently play CoD4 and had planned to get MW2, but not any longer (no dedicated servers!). I still have a bunch of older titles to play until Bad Company 2 comes out in March.
 
No, the TP New would be a better choice.

WD Green would be a better choice if its simply a storage drive (ie. you throw a file on it, and leave it there for.nearly.ever). If its your boot drive or you need faster I/O, go with the black if you want to stick with WD. The Samsung F3 and Seagate 7200.12 500GB and 1TB drives use 500GB-platters, making them faster than the cav.blacks that use 333GB-platters (640GB/1TB).
 
SphincterBoy said:
Thanks gwarren007, I didn't mean to ignore your feedback, just looking for additional comments.

I was considering that Gskill RAM - it seems quite popular and at a good price (it's all relative). Is the Antec EarthWatts 650 a better choice than the Antec True Power 750 ($16 more)? And is the WD Green a better choice than the WD Black?

Ghettobox, I should have mentioned that I plan to upgrade the video card when the new Nvidia cards come out. I understand it's the weak link in this picture, but I can wait a bit and hopefully the competition will drive the price of DX11 cards down. The 5870 is too pricey at the moment - not that SSDs aren't...

I have a 20" LCD I have set at 1680 x 1050. I currently play CoD4 and had planned to get MW2, but not any longer (no dedicated servers!). I still have a bunch of older titles to play until Bad Company 2 comes out in March.
Click to expand...

Fair enough boss, just thought it would be worth mentioning. ;) Hate to see you go i7 and end up with around 7fps in some new game you picked up. :p
 
kingston's new SSDNow 40 GB looks like winner with SRP of $119. 2 of these in raid 0 equal to pc on LSD.
 
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