Advice needed on i7 build

M

MrSloppy

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
130
I plan to do some moderate amount of OCing on my i7 build for purpose of gaming. I wanted a system with a decent amount of expansion for future addons. I'm running a bit over budget at the moment though, with my ideal budget being around $1600 for a full PC system.

Here is the list of my currently planned items.

i7 920 - $359.99
OCZ Platinum OCZ3P1600LV6GK 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 - $129.99
Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM - $133.98
XFX Radeon 4890 1 GB 850 MHZ - $319.99
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme 1366RT - $77.81
ASUS P6T Deluxe - $390.49At the moment I'm at $1422.25. I still have yet to pick up a case, PSU which I'm planning to get [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Corsair HX1000W CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ($319.99), and a DVD burner.

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What kind of options do I have at the moment?

Also, is the P6T Deluxe the right choice for someone who's new at OCing but has aspiration for it, want some room for future expansions?



1) I plan for my computer to be used for heavy gaming.
2) My budget, tax and shipping included, is around $1800 or so.
3) I live in Toronto.
4) I'm hoping to have components that has good performance to price ratio as well as ease of overclock.
5) With the possible exception of a DVD Burner, I don't plan on carrying anything else over from my previous computer setup.
6) My knowledge with overclocking is very low, I plan to read up and understand it more. I prefer a system that is fairly easy to overclock, but still has potential to be very competitive given that I learn enough about it.
7) Monitors, keyboards, and mouse is something I don't have to worry too much about in my budget. I do eventually plan to pick up a 20"-22" monitor.
8) I plan to have my PC built within the next two weeks.
9) I don't know much about the benefits of RAID, but I'd like to have the possibility of utilizing it if I am interested in it once I learn more about it. I have considered the possibility of utilizing Crossfire if I do find my set up to be underpowered, but at the moment I don't have the money to buy a second 4890. If I find a single 4890 to be capable of running well on things like Crysis, Farcry 2, Starcraft 2, Diablo 2, etc, then I'll stick with only one GPU solution.
10) I don't have any legitimate transferable OSes at the moment. Is it still possible to use the Window 7 beta?
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A 1000W power supply is overkill unless you're planning an SLI or a CrossFire setup. And unless you plan on getting a(n) CF/SLI setup right away, it's not really worth it in the long term.

Please answer the questions listed in the sticky labeled "Asking for Build Help?" as we need more details as to what your plans are for this system.
 
Thank you for the quick reply. I have updated my original post to include the information that I should have included right off the bat. Sorry for neglecting that earlier.

What power supply would you recommend me picking up beside the Corsair 1000W? I heard that it isn't wise to go cheap on PSUs. What other options are there for me that would be a quality buy? I sort of assumed that it would've been wise to have left a 1000w PSU in just in case I do decide to utilize a CF setup.

By the way, why is it not worth it in the long term to overkill on the PSU if there might be a moderate possibility to utilize CF in the future?
 
CF and SLI are an "all or nothing" type proposition; either you go all out at the start with two or more top end cards, or you're better off (generally) selling the first card and buying a newer, faster single card by the time you're itching to upgrade vs. buying a second of the card you already own.

Given you only plan on a 20-22" monitor, you aren't at all likely to be running higher than 1680x1050 resolution, possibly 1920x1080, as this seems to be increasingly popular with 22"s. A single 4890 will handle pretty much anything at 1680x1050. CrossfireX and SLI are really only useful when a single card won't do what you want it to -- namely, when running a 30" LCD at 2560x1600, which is much more difficult to drive than 1680x1050 or 1920x1080, and even 1920x1200. Really, below 1920x1200 they are generally wasted.

What you're looking for in a PSU is ~50-60% load when your machine is pulling its maximum wattage. This keeps the PSU nice and cool, allowing it a longer service life, and also generally allows it to keep in the highest portion of its efficiency curve.

If you're dead-set on a high wattage PSU so that you're "safe" regardless of upgrades, what you need to look at is BFG's 1200w. It has a very unique design that allows it to be more than 80% efficient from 10% loaded all the way up to 100%. It's around $250, assuming you can find one. Unfortunately for the time being they are sold out everywhere.
 
I see. In that case what PSU would be most appropriate for me? I could definitely slash some price somewhere.
 
The BFG ES 800 is very nice if you're willing to pay a bit more, as it uses the same frequency conversion technology as the EX 1200, allowing it to stay 80+% efficient pretty much all the time. It is pricey for its wattage however, and non-modular.

The Corsair TX 750 is a good option at around $90 AR, bur it too is non-modular. The PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad is very similar and around the same price range. Its build quality is arguably a bit better than the TX 750's, but it can be louder and many have been breaking during shipping lately due to poor packaging.

Thermaltake's Toughpower 750w modular is a bit more, but if modular is important to you it is a good choice.

Silverstone also makes good supplies.
 
On another note. I'd like to have a quiet PC and have decided to go for the Antec series because from what I've read it seems like the best choice for people like me who don't know a thing about modding.

With the components that I have selected, would it be better to buy a P182 or P183? Maybe a P192 or P193?

Also, is my choice of motherboard appropriate? Would I have more difficulty with placement, should I ever want to go Crossfire or SLi with the P6T Deluxe compared to the P6T6 WS or R2E?
 
The P182/183 would be plenty large. The P192/193 is insanely overpriced -- if you're willing to spend that much there are far better options available.
 
MrSloppy said:
On another note. I'd like to have a quiet PC and have decided to go for the Antec series because from what I've read it seems like the best choice for people like me who don't know a thing about modding.

With the components that I have selected, would it be better to buy a P182 or P183? Maybe a P192 or P193?

Also, is my choice of motherboard appropriate? Would I have more difficulty with placement, should I ever want to go Crossfire or SLi with the P6T Deluxe compared to the P6T6 WS or R2E?
Click to expand...

I love my P180. Didn't even know that P183, 192, 193 existed. I'm behind on cases...
 
Well I've decided to go for the Cooler Master HAF 932 instead of the Antec 1200.

I think I might need a new monitor as well. I wasn't able to spend too much time on the comp since my last post but I was able to find out that 22" are fairly common place now. I should definitely raise my standards.

A few questions now.

- Are there anything else that can be critiqued about my system?
- What kind of gaming monitors within the $200-$400 range are there that can be recommended?
 
MrSloppy said:
- Are there anything else that can be critiqued about my system?
Click to expand...

Do you honestly need the P6T Deluxe? What features does it have that you need that justify spending the extra cash over the cheaper Asus P6T or Gigabyte GA-X58-UD4P motherboards?

Same criticisms about the Corsair 1000W PSU for your system: You don't need it unless you fit the setup that silent-circuit brilliantly described. Which you don't. The BFG ES-800, Corsair 850TX, Corsair 750TX, and the PC P&C 750W PSUs are what I'd recommend for your setup.
 
Did you buy the 4890 yet? If not, I don't know if ewiz.com ships to Canada, but you might want to try them. They have the XFX 4890 for $217 shipped after a $25 promo code (no rebates) right now.
 
Danny Bui said:
Do you honestly need the P6T Deluxe? What features does it have that you need that justify spending the extra cash over the cheaper Asus P6T or Gigabyte GA-X58-UD4P motherboards?

Same criticisms about the Corsair 1000W PSU for your system: You don't need it unless you fit the setup that silent-circuit brilliantly described. Which you don't. The BFG ES-800, Corsair 850TX, Corsair 750TX, and the PC P&C 750W PSUs are what I'd recommend for your setup.
Click to expand...

Agreed about the motherboard, you should skip the Deluxe and get the "vanilla" P6T. The price you listed is for the OC/Palm Deluxe which is complete waste of money. Trust me, I have that board.
The standard P6T is priced at $307.99 and offers both SLI and CrossFire support, whereas none of the Deluxe models do SLI.
As I said I have the Palm Deluxe, and I also have the Rampage 2 Extreme. The standard P6T is based on the R2E and will do everything that the more expensive boards do as far as overclocking goes.
 
I was told that the P6T Deluxe had 16 phase power which was good for providing clean power for overclocking, I don't understand too much about it I figured it was a good idea. That and also that I've been reading that ASUS has been dragging their feet when it came to updating the sleep mode issue with their board whereas the Deluxe has already gotten an update. I was concerned that the P6T won't be getting the attention needed, something that I've read from a few people when it came to ASUS support for things. I also read that SATA performance on the P6T is 10%-15% slower than other boards.

I didn't know that the Deluxe can't do SLi though. D:



BTW, I've downgraded my power supply to the Corsair 850 TX already, I forgot to mention that.
 
MrSloppy said:
I was told that the P6T Deluxe had 16 phase power which was good for providing clean power for overclocking, I don't understand too much about it I figured it was a good idea. That and also that I've been reading that ASUS has been dragging their feet when it came to updating the sleep mode issue with their board whereas the Deluxe has already gotten an update. I was concerned that the P6T won't be getting the attention needed, something that I've read from a few people when it came to ASUS support for things. I also read that SATA performance on the P6T is 10%-15% slower than other boards.
Click to expand...

Single drive or non-RAID multi drive setups perform just fine on the P6T. You'll hardly notice the extra 10%. In addition, that 16 Phase power is just a marketing gimmick.

As for the attention thing, that's just an irrational line of thought. Asus will still support the mobo regardless. Don't worry about long it'll take.
 
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i7 920 - $359.99
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The i7 920 etails for around $280 USD. Via current currency conversions that should be about $346 CAD, I'm not sure what taxes are in Canada but I trust you'll look around to maybe save $15?
 
Thanks for the quick replies, Danny. One other thing I wanted to ask now that I remembered. I was told the Deluxe had a lot of heat fins... I think, or was it heat sinks, positioned around all the board. Will that make a noticeable difference when I attempt to overclock?

Also, I also heard that P6T has JMicron controllers, apparently there are some bad rep about that controller. What is it? Is it something I should be concerned about?

Finally. Out of curiousity, how is the P6T PCI-E slots positioned? Are there plenty of room to put in 3 GPUs eventually?

Also, are there any negatives to the P6T that I should be worried about?


---EDIT

The new bios for the P6T is out as well! That definitely puts a lot of worry off my shoulders!

Very sorry for tossing out so many questions. I will do my best to look up answers as well, but I just sent a message over to NCIX to put my order on hold for the time being and I don't know how much I can delay before I get into a sticky situation.


BTW Crispy. I live in Canada, and thus far the cheapest price I've found so far for the i7 920 is $359.99. T-T

If anybody knows of any cheaper place though, I'd totally appreciate it if you let me know!
 
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MrSloppy said:
Will that make a noticeable difference when I attempt to overclock?

Also, I also heard that P6T has JMicron controllers, apparently there are some bad rep about that controller. What is it? Is it something I should be concerned about?

Finally. Out of curiousity, how is the P6T PCI-E slots positioned? Are there plenty of room to put in 3 GPUs eventually?

Also, are there any negatives to the P6T that I should be worried about?
Click to expand...

- No
- Don't worry about it. The JMicron controller controls the IDE ports as well as some SATA ports depending on the mobo. Traditionally JMicron controllers are a slight pain for Linux but nothing you should worry about.
- You can see for yourself how the PCI-E slots are positioned by looking at any picture of the mobo. There is enough room to fit in 3 GPUs. Again, LOOK AT THE MOBO PICS!
- None that I know of.
 
Thank you so much, Danny, and everyone else here. I've saved ~$200 thanks to all of your advices. I will be picking out the P6T instead.

Just one last thing though. Which of these memory should I get for good OC capability and the ability to retain its timings if I were to purchase a second set?

- OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=35711&vpn=OCZ3P1600LV6GK&manufacture=OCZ%20Technology

- OCZ Gold OCZ3G1600LV6GK 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL 8-8-8-24 Triple Channel Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35710&vpn=OCZ3G1600LV6GK&manufacture=OCZ%20Technology&promoid=1029
 
Either set would work. Do note that you would not notice the difference between the lower timings.
 
Because of a certain order error, I lost the opportunity to buy the platinum, but during that time someone else suggested to me to buy the G.Skill. He mentioned that he was able to get that speed at 1.54v compared to 1.6v that the other RAMs need.

Should I go for the G.Skill one then despite it's lower timing or should I spend the $10 more to get the OCZ Gold?

G.SKILL F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Triple Channel Memory Kit
- $100.49

OCZ Gold OCZ3G1600LV6GK 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL 8-8-8-24 Triple Channel Memory Kit
- $114.99
 
Looks like a $15 difference to me. :confused:. Go with the G.Skill and save that $15 if it matters to you.
 
Which one out of the two has the best overclockability though or are they close, just like Platinum and Gold earlier?
 
MrSloppy said:
Which one out of the two has the best overclockability though or are they close, just like Platinum and Gold earlier?
Click to expand...

With DDR3 1600 RAM, you don't really need to OC the RAM. So overclocking with either of those sets of RAM would yield about the same OC.
 
I'd go with the G.Skill kit because it runs at 1.5v. Actually, I did go with that kit... ;)
 
Thank you two again. In that case I'll go with what you said, PC_User. It's cheaper, uses less voltage (so there's probably a less likely chance I'd fry my setup), and... it's on back order.

orz

But hey! I'm ordering it anyways!

Now I just need to find a good monitor.



There's seems to be strong support for the BenQ's G2400WD. NCIX has it on sale but no dead pixel return policy is offered on that. The NCIX staff there said that they exclude the policy on monitors that are returned often.

This is kind of frightening. Actually. Very frightening. The thing is. There's a lot of people recommending this monitor. NCIX is offering it at $299.99 CDN which is apparently a very awesome price. I just don't want to go in there naked and without backup.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of traffic going on in down in the Display forums so it's hard to get a second opinion. Should I wait for a better deal to come by? Should I go for the BenQ G2400WD despite the lack of dead pixel return policy? Is there an equally good alternative?
 
Well the sale on the BenQ G2400WD is done, I couldn't bring myself to buy that monitor without any protection after all.

Some people have suggested the Samsung T240 as a possible alternative to the BenQ G2400WD. Are there any more alternatives as well? Also I live in Canada, does anyone know if there is any other place that offers zero dead pixel return policy besides NCIX?
 
MrSloppy said:
Some people have suggested the Samsung T240 as a possible alternative to the BenQ G2400WD. Are there any more alternatives as well? Also I live in Canada, does anyone know if there is any other place that offers zero dead pixel return policy besides NCIX?
Click to expand...
Answer to both questions: Dunno.

Even though the Display subforum doesn't have that many people there, it's still your best bet for display advice. Do a search through it for display advice.
 
CPU i7 920

Asus P6T DE

GF295 SLI

Ocz 12 /1600 Triple Channel DDR3

Seagate 1TB

ThermalTake ToughPower 1200

SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Serie

Coolermaster Cosmos 1000

Logitech MX5500 Combo

Vista Ultimate 64bit
 
nicky.82uk said:
CPU i7 920
Asus P6T DE
GF295 SLI
Ocz 12 /1600 Triple Channel DDR3
Seagate 1TB
ThermalTake ToughPower 1200
SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Serie
Coolermaster Cosmos 1000
Logitech MX5500 Combo
Vista Ultimate 64bit
Click to expand...

Please stop posting this parts list with no other text. We're not mind readers.
 
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