Building a new i7 Core system->$700!?

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paco16

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 20, 2007
Messages
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My budget is $700 and I already have all of the "extras"- (i.e.- Case(xclio 380), power supply(Enermax 720), drives(all SATA), sound card(X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion Series), video cards(2x8800 GT's)).

ZOTAC X58SLI-A-E, Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz, OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600, Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit.Total:$713.96

Before I click the "buy" button, I'd like to get your take on the parts I've picked. Keep in mind I want to do triple channel and still stay under close to or under $700. Right now the price-point is fine with my financial adviser (the wife), I just am not sure about Zotac boards...
Thoughts anyone? Issues with this ram?
 
Do you really want to be the first person to review that board on Newegg?
 
Personally, I'd be adding a cooler if you are really going to overclock. Also, do you have a Microcenter in your area? If so, you can pick the 920 up in store, for $220. Additionally, if you are going to OC, i'd look @ the p6t series from asus. I have this board and it OCs like a champ.

(920@ 4.0 Ghz)
 
crackbone said:
Personally, I'd be adding a cooler if you are really going to overclock. Also, do you have a Microcenter in your area? If so, you can pick the 920 up in store, for $220. Additionally, if you are going to OC, i'd look @ the p6t series from asus. I have this board and it OCs like a champ.

(920@ 4.0 Ghz)
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Priority is price first(for now), performance second and then over-clockability. I can buy another cooler later. I'm trying to get an i7 platform up and running ASAP!

Just an FYI to all, this is my current setup:
Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe Socket 939 Nforce4, Enermax 720,
Opteron 185, Corsair 2x1GB PC3200 DDR 400
2x8800GT, X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion Series, SATA drives.

This system still chugs along and even plays Crysis @ 1900x1200 with 85% of the bells turned on and 90% of the whistles on as well!

If I can get this machine put together at a relatively low price, I can then upgrade the cooler later. I just need input on Zotac boards as a whole. I know they put out pretty inexpensive video cards with a ton of ram... that's all I know.
 
Would it make any sense to downgrade to a 1-1-1gig DDR3 kit? I can always get a slightly better board with 6 dimm slots and match them up later... right? The triple channel 3 gig kits are really cheap!
 
moshpit said:
Totally recommend the Gigabyte EX58-UD3R for only 10 bucks more.
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I've heard good things, but does the UD3R support SLi? I just saw you had an ATI there... *note*My 8800gt's in SLi are essential with my Sceptre 24" 1080P LCD.
 
paco16 said:
I've heard good things, but does the UD3R support SLi? I just saw you had an ATI there... *note*My 8800gt's in SLi are essential with my Sceptre 24" 1080P LCD.
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Nope, sorry. I didn't need or want SLI or 6 memory slots so the UD3R was a perfect fit for my needs. If you need SLI, I'd look to the MSI X58 Platinum before I looked to Asrock.

Edit: Crap, researching this thread shows more price drops of boards that go in my Top 10 cheapest list. Off to update it :D
 
Great list btw. I used it for my initial fact-finding research. Way before I started reading reviews...:)
 
paco16 said:
Great list btw. I used it for my initial fact-finding research. Way before I started reading reviews...:)
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Thank you :D

Your the first person who's said anything nice about it. I've got pretty thick skin though so wasn't expecting any appreciation over it. So I'm pleasently surprised to recieve any. Thank you :)
 
moshpit said:
Thank you :D

Your the first person who's said anything nice about it. I've got pretty thick skin though so wasn't expecting any appreciation over it. So I'm pleasently surprised to recieve any. Thank you :)
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I saw some of the whining about certain boards not being on the list. So stupid... make your own damn post and do the research under your own criteria. I swear, there's more and more people on forums in general that only go on to flame the op. And let's be clear here... there's a reason people get called fanboy/girl/person.
 
paco16 said:
I saw some of the whining about certain boards not being on the list. So stupid... make your own damn post and do the research under your own criteria. I swear, there's more and more people on forums in general that only go on to flame the op. And let's be clear here... there's a reason people get called fanboy/girl/person.
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Wow! Hehehe! My thoughts exactly. I was getting outright pissed about the constant whining about EVGA boards. They don't even make the list because of their cost. The list (I like that bolding thing :p ) is about lowest cost, not about which one is "the best motherboard". People get easily confused between the two concepts even though they're not related subjects. The "best" X58 boards all cost well over 300 bucks and don't qualify as "cheap". And "best" is so subjective that I don't think such a list can honestly be compiled without bias.
 
moshpit said:
Wow! Hehehe! My thoughts exactly. I was getting outright pissed about the constant whining about EVGA boards. They don't even make the list because of their cost. The list (I like that bolding thing :p ) is about lowest cost, not about which one is "the best motherboard". People get easily confused between the two concepts even though they're not related subjects. The "best" X58 boards all cost well over 300 bucks and don't qualify as "cheap". And "best" is so subjective that I don't think such a list can honestly be compiled without bias.
Click to expand...
Dale: "OK, name your favorite dinosaur?"
Brennan and Dale: "Philosoraptor."
Brennan: "Alright. If you were a chick, whose the one guy you would sleep with?" Brennan and Dale: "John Stamos."
Dale: "WHAT?!?"
Brennan: "Did we just become best friends?"
Dale: "YEP!"

:)
 
Not to seem totally out of touch with social happenings, even though I generally am, who are Dale and Brennan.
 
paco16 said:
Dale: "OK, name your favorite dinosaur?"
Brennan and Dale: "Philosoraptor."
Brennan: "Alright. If you were a chick, whose the one guy you would sleep with?" Brennan and Dale: "John Stamos."
Dale: "WHAT?!?"
Brennan: "Did we just become best friends?"
Dale: "YEP!"

:)
Click to expand...

philosoraptor-thinks-about-food-full.jpg
 
Let us know how that Zotac works out. That's an interesting price on a board with no reviews.
 
Sorry, that EVGA board was too good to pass up! I've read reviews and checked out BIOS' and everything seems top-of-the-line. I'm just not that interested in being the first to buy/test/review a mobo by a company I've rarely heard anything about in Zotac; boards or video cards.
 
Yeah, the Zotac is going to be a tough sale because of it's unknown quality. I'd like to see the [H] get a sample and beat it up. It may be a real diamond in the rough, or just plain rough.
 
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