Building a Gaming Rig

D

drstk

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Aug 26, 2009
Messages
4,384
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
*** Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
*** < $1500 inc shipping to Hawaii
3) Where do you live?
*** Hawaii
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific. Everything
***
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
*** None
6) Will you be overclocking?
*** Yes (1st time OC'er)
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
*** 24" 1080p LCD
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
*** asap
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
*** Need some teaching on RAID and Firewire ;p I want crossfire and sli support for future upgrades
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
*** yes


Current Cart from Newegg:

CASE: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119197
$109.99

DRIVE: Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Item #: N82E16827118030
$29.99

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136218
$69.99

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
$139.99

CPU HS: COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835103055
$54.99

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115202
+
GPU: EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130475
Combo: $499.98

MOBO: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131365
+
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8 G - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145236
Combo: $399.98

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Item #: N82E16835100007
$6.99

Rosewill RFA-120-K 120mm Case Fan - Retail
Item #: N82E16835200048
x2 $8.98

UPS Ground shipping to Hawaii: $148.53

Total: $1469.41
(I'm hoping the BING Newegg 10% CB dont die on me when I order to drop the price)

I'm new to this OC'n stuff. And I dont know that much about hardware. Should I wait for the new gpu's that amd is releasing this september?

Thanks in advance
 
- Spend the extra $5 for the WD6401AALS since it has an extra two years of warranty over the WD6400AAKS:
$75 - Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

- GPU wise, even with the combo, the GTX 275 isn't that great of a choice considering that the HD4890 is slighlty faster but $20 cheaper:
$190 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-E Video Card

I'd personally wait until Sept 10 when the new AMD GPUs are supposedly being released. It's only two weeks away.
 
^^^^ thx for your input

ill upgrade to that HDD. im getting the gtx275 still, since it comes with a free game, lol. i was thinking about waiting for the new evergreen gpus, but I think I can wait for nvidias next line up of gtx300s.

how do you know if the i7 you get is a D0 stepping model?
 
Wait for the new video cards to arrive. If nothing else, they should drop the prices of video cards in general.

There's no guarantee that NewEgg will give you a Core i7 920 with the D0 stepping. At best, it's a crapshoot.
 
ive been reading that the i7 920 D0's might be incompatible with the asus p6t deluxe v2 because of older BIOS.

is there a way to get around this and update the bios if I do get the D0 stepping? I dont want to get a D0 and need to RMA it to a C0 just to make it work with the MOBO...... unless all the v2's are compatible nowadays.....
 
drstk said:
ive been reading that the i7 920 D0's might be incompatible with the asus p6t deluxe v2 because of older BIOS.

is there a way to get around this and update the bios if I do get the D0 stepping? I dont want to get a D0 and need to RMA it to a C0 just to make it work with the MOBO...... unless all the v2's are compatible nowadays.....
Click to expand...

Haven't heard of this issue before TBH.
 
drstk said:
ive been reading that the i7 920 D0's might be incompatible with the asus p6t deluxe v2 because of older BIOS.

is there a way to get around this and update the bios if I do get the D0 stepping? I dont want to get a D0 and need to RMA it to a C0 just to make it work with the MOBO...... unless all the v2's are compatible nowadays.....
Click to expand...

I also haven't heard of this issue, but even if they aren't compatible on arrival, it shouldn't take more than a BIOS update to solve.
 
ok cool.

i just paid for my parts from newegg(i miss living in the cont. USA, shipping sucks to hawaii). still had the 10% CB. hopefully I dont get any DOA parts ><

oh yeah, does the coolermaster v8 hs come with i7 brackets or do i need to order some?
 
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115202
+
GPU: EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130475
Combo: $499.98

is that a deal??
 
^^^^^

kinda i guess, lol.

newegg prices:
i7 920: $279.99
gtx275: $239.99

saved $20 and gpu came with batman videogame ($49.99)
and the 10% CB from bing ($28 from i7 and $24 from gpu)
 
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^^^^

yep, thats why its better if you buy a bunch of things at once, instead of one at a time....
thats why i hope i dont get any DOA's because rma shipping is pricey from hawaii.
 
Wow, that is crazy. And here I was complaining because Newegg wanted to charge me $27 to ship a case.
 
got my case..... but the rest of my hardware aint coming in till friday, lol. what a tease..... newegg has different warehouse locations :(
 
Good luck in your build! I built 2 very similar machines earlier this year using the CM v8. It does have style points galore. Make sure you take your time and read the directions carefully on the installation of the CM v8. At one point you do end up threading some of the anchor screws in a counter thread manner simply because of how the thing ends up bolted together in its finished format.

I would bet that you end up with a d0 chip too, I would be surprised if newegg still had c0s in stock. My first build in May got a c0, second build in July got a d0.

EDIT: Oh yeah, make sure to post pics! :)
 
I would have waited for the new GPUs. :p

Google for RAID learning. ;) Its basically using multiple drives as one, but there are different levels, the 3 most popular being:
0 (striping, fastest, but no redundancy, so higher failure rate),
1 (mirrored, no performance gain, high overhead), and
5 (striping w/ parity, best of both worlds).

For desktop usage with mechanical drives, you really don't need RAID unless you need fast sequential I/O. If you're using SSDs, RAID0 benefits greatly, to a point (around 3 SSDs maxes the throughput of the onboard SATA controllers).

Firewire is an alternative to USB, typically found on video cameras.

Crossfire and SLI are typically only needed if you're using a 24" monitor or larger, otherwise, not really worth it, depending on current GPU pricing.
 
k, i got parts. everything is put together. i got the 920 DO stepping ^.^

i think i need to reinstall V8 Heat sink (thermal paste). im getting 70c-75c on prime95 at full load on stock speed and settings >< ive been running it for about an hour. idle is at 40-45c -.- does being in a hot climate matter, lol? (hawaii)

ill post pics after i get the right temps i want.
 
The climate outside doesn't affect your temps unless your house is open-air.

You have the temperature in the room (which is the coolest a computer can be, when it is off or if it had 100% efficiency cooling... which is a pipe dream).

Then the air goes into the computer case, where components are producing heat, consequently heating the air in the case. Things continue to get warmer.

About your problem: I would agree it sounds like bad thermal contact, I think we've all had that happen. Check out this post from [H] Overclocking & Cooling.
 
Yah, temps are about right.

LucidDream said:
The climate outside doesn't affect your temps unless your house is open-air. ...
Click to expand...

Even if you don't have an open air house, the outside climate will still somewhat affect the natural indoor temps (not accounting for A/C nor heating). :p If its 85ºF outside, it will be a lot hotter inside than if it was 70ºF outside. ;)
 
so at stock speed and no OC, 40-45c is normal for a 920 D0? should i still try and reapply my thermal compound?
 
i just OC'd it to 3.3. im getting up to 77c on full load with prime95. running for about an hour....
 
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^^^^^ im using ur sig layout, heh

yeah, i just started reading that thread. it looks like my idle temps dropped when i turned on my AC, lol. im getting 32c-37c idle now
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42230560@N07/

i posted some pics. i dont know where to hide all them wires, so i stick them under the hard drive, lol.

my dam PSU failed, so im running on a shitty LSP 750w for now (with the PSU it crashes once in a while in prime95 so im not testing my comp anymore till i get my new PSU). gonna RMA the corsair ($$$shipping$$$) ><

thx for all the help guys.
 
What do you mean the PSU failed? What happened exactly?

Yeah the LSP 750W is a pretty shitty 400W PSU.
 
Danny Bui said:
What do you mean the PSU failed? What happened exactly?

Yeah the LSP 750W is a pretty shitty 400W PSU.
Click to expand...

i was just doing some prime 95 tests and my comp just shutted down (heard a weird sound). i was freaked out, hoping it wasnt anything serious. no power was going to mobo. so i just connected my old psu to check it out, and everything powered out.
 
Do you have a surge protector? or a UPS? If not, it sounds like you need one. If so, it sounds like you need a better one, lol.
 
i have a belkin surge protector. I also thought about this and i already ordered a better protector. just in case it was the problem.
 
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