Another $1500 gaming build -

S

ShockValue

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 27, 2001
Messages
1,641
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
PC Gaming, Adobe Lightroom, Streaming Pr0n.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500
3) Where do you live?
USA (WA)
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
All Hardware except the monitor. No software neccesary.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Not re-using any parts except my monitor.
6) Will you be overclocking?
LIght overclocking if possible, but won't want extra hardware.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Have 2x19" Samsungs.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next 30 days.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Probably SLI or Crossfire
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Windows7 64 bit bought and paid for already.

This is what I have so far... Any opinions or alternatives (cheaper ;)) would be dandy. What do you guys think of the 2x 260 video cards as opposed to ATI Crossfire or single card alternative?

All prices reflect Newegg online:

CPU Intel i7 920 $289.00
Motherboard Asus P6X58D $285.00
Graphics GIGABYTE GV-N26SO-896I $205.00
Graphics GIGABYTE GV-N26SO-896I $205.00
Memory Kingston HyperX CAS8 3G $135.00
Memory Kingston HyperX CAS8 3G $135.00
Sound On Board $-
Network On Board $-
Power Antec EA750 $110.00
Case CoolerMaster Centurion 534 $55.00
Hard Drive WD Raptor WD1500HLFS $170
Total $1589.00
 
 
Last edited:
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What I need is some decent video proccessing power to play games at 1280x1024 with the settings cranked up to 11 :)

On the Samsung hard drive - I'm looking more for performance over size. I have 6 Terrabytes of storage in the basement. So basically I need Win7 + Office + GameXYZ. Anything over 60GB would do me fine :)
 
The samsung F3's are the fastest drives short of the raptors. Normally we would recommened 2-500gb in raid 0, but currently they are out at newegg.

The 5850 is more than enought for both monitors on high.
 
I would get another PSU beside the EA750 as the fan on these units are not the quietest on the market.

New TP 650 or 750 or Corsair HX650 would be a better pick.
 
gwarren007 said:
Antec 300 $59
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Three-H...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264002758&sr=1-3

Antec EarthWatts EA750 $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD5 $270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128422

5850 / 920 Combo $624
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.313354

212 Plus $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&Tpk=212 plus

Gskill 1600 $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&Tpk=212 plus
Click to expand...

$360 for a 5850???

Might as well go with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.313365
 
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Tweaked a little... Added 2 SDD drives, and low CAS RAM.

APEX Vortex 3620 SGCC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - Retail
$34.99

XFX HD-585A-ZNBC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB Black Edition 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported ... - Retail
$359.99

Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC ... - Retail
$109.99

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 998691 - Retail
$244.99

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$209.99

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
$288.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long ... - Retail
$29

Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail
$259.98 ($129.99 each)

$1,538.91
 
You're wasting money on low CAS RAM. You would not notice an iota of real world performance difference between that Mushkin set and these RAM sets:
$155 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$160 - Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM

So save your money and go with any of the above recommended RAM sets. Use that cash towards a better case or something.
 
Well I could save $100 on the RAM and put it towards a 5870 instead maybe.

What do you guys think about 1600 vs 2000 speed ram?
 
ShockValue said:
Well I could save $100 on the RAM and put it towards a 5870 instead maybe.

What do you guys think about 1600 vs 2000 speed ram?
Click to expand...

For an overclock of 4GHz, the DDR3 1600 is more than enough. Keep in mind that no overclock is guaranteed. 1600MHz is also the sweet spot when it comes to DDR3.
 
Tweaked v3.8 :)

1 CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8 G - Retail
Model #:TR3X6G1600C8 G
Item #:N82E16820145236
$154.99

1 XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card ... - Retail
Model #:HD-587A-ZNF9
Item #:N82E16814150443
$399.99

1 APEX Vortex 3620 SGCC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - Retail
Model #:Vortex 3620
Item #:N82E16811154098
$34.99

1 GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #:GA-X58A-UD3R
Item #:N82E16813128423
$209.99

1 Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC ... - Retail
Model #:EA750
Item #:N82E16817371026
$109.99

1 Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Model #:BX80601920
Item #:N82E16819115202
$288.99

2 Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail
Model #:SSDSA2MP040G2R5
Item #:N82E16820167025
$259.98

1 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long ... - Retail
Model #:RR-B10-212P-G1
Item #:N82E16835103065
$29.99

Subtotal: $1,488.91
Shipping: $17.47
Grand Total: $1,506.38
 
Are you buying any of the above items in combos?

Are you buying the mobo for the sata 3.0 and usb 3.0?
 
The case more than likely won't fit the long HD 5870. Get a more roomier or larger case to accommodate that card. Then again, at 19" and 1280x1024, a HD 5870 is total overkill. It's like setting fire to your house to kill a few ants. So I recommend dropping down to the HD 5850.
 
Danny Bui said:
No real performance difference, even when it comes to overclocking. So DDR3 2000 RAM is a waste.
Click to expand...

Well, I don't think you can entirely say that its a waste. It has some advantages such as more headroom for overclocking, and this particularly helps if reaching overclocks beyond 4GHz. However, such overclocks are not guaranteed so someone would be buying the RAM with the intention of seriously overclocking (and potentially going beyond 4GHz) at which point it would be beneficial
 
ShockValue said:
What's wrong with setting my house on fire? ;)
Click to expand...
So if you want to set your house on fire, at least get a case large enough to fit that video card. Still strikes me as funny that you would spend close to $1450 on parts alone but go with a cheapy case that can barely fit your parts and provides pretty bad cooling for parts of that caliber.
PC_User said:
Well, I don't think you can entirely say that its a waste. It has some advantages such as more headroom for overclocking, and this particularly helps if reaching overclocks beyond 4GHz. However, such overclocks are not guaranteed so someone would be buying the RAM with the intention of seriously overclocking (and potentially going beyond 4GHz) at which point it would be beneficial
Click to expand...
But does the OP sound like a serious overclocker to you? In addition, judging from his budget, DDR3 2000 RAM would not be a good idea. So in this particular case, I'd say it's a waste.
 
I see your point about the case. Here's my slant.

I need something that will hold the parts and provide adequate cooling. That's it. The particular case I picked out was cheap and had decent reviews (but I didn't really take into acount the size.) I don't care what it looks like, has nice smoothed edges, and I don't mind taking out my screwdriver if I need to.

By getting a cheap case, I can spend more on the parts of the computer that actually make it run :)

Overclocking - Used to be into it (pIII and early p4 days) but just don't have the inclenation any more to fk with it much. If I get a stable system, i'll turn up the knobs a bit if it stays stable to eek out a little more performance, but I'm not going to buy extra hardware to pull it off. I'd just like a nice fast box that will last me a few years that will play all the games at max settings without screwing around much.


I appreciate everyones comments so far. It's been fun re-learning what some of the hardware is out and about these days. We have a contract with Dell at work, so my buying decisions usually amount to "do I want model X or model Y.." I know, boring :)
 
Danny Bui said:
But does the OP sound like a serious overclocker to you? In addition, judging from his budget, DDR3 2000 RAM would not be a good idea. So in this particular case, I'd say it's a waste.
Click to expand...

In this particular case, I agree. It just sounded as though you were saying DDR3 2000 is a waste in general.
 
nah... my personal favorite last words. I am sure my powersupply can handle it. Its a 700watt PSU.

But seriously $25 more ain't going to kill the bank.
 
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