Core i7 Build.. need some final advice

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earnstaf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
163
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Gaming/web browsing/etc
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? 2100 for everything
3) Where do you live? AL, USA
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific. Case and everything that goes in it
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? No
6) Will you be overclocking? Yes
7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have? Dell 2408WFP current.. might splurge for Dell 3007 in the next 2-3 months
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Now
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc. Maybe RAID?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? Going to use Win7 beta for now

Here is the build I am looking at now:
UPDATED #2:

Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP
SILVERSTONE ST70F 700W ATX12V
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB
True 120 HSF
EVGA 132-BL-E758-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
2x (12GB) G.SKILL DDR3 1600 6GB (3 x 2GB ) CL8
2x (RAID0) Western Digital Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200rpm 32MB
Western Digital WD1001FALS 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB
Samsung SH-S223F 22X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW SATA Drive
EVGA 01G-P3-1285-AR GeForce GTX 285 SC Edition 1GB
SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader
=~$1850

- Do you see anything that could be improved?
 
the only thing i would maybe do is get the evga x58 sli motherboard and COMBO it with the evga gtx 295 and it might save you a little money. plus the evga motherboard has lifetime warranty and AWESOME customer support. i've never used raid either but i'm sure you would see a pretty good improvement.

nevermind about the combo deal...they must have removed it today. they do have combos for the 285 or 260 tho. check out any other combos you can find tho to save money.
 
Look at newegg. There's actually 2 different versions of the EVGA board now. One of them just came out yesterday. There is no difference between the two other than the warranty length. The one that came out yesterday is the cheaper one and the warranty is 2 years on it. Check out the other one and you'll see it has over 300 reviews on it.


Here's a thread here at hardforum discussing the new board

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1395080
 
largefarrva said:
Look at newegg. There's actually 2 different versions of the EVGA board now. One of them just came out yesterday. There is no difference between the two other than the warranty length. The one that came out yesterday is the cheaper one and the warranty is 2 years on it. Check out the other one and you'll see it has over 300 reviews on it.


Here's a thread here at hardforum discussing the new board

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1395080
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I trust newegg reviews :) I'm finding some reviews now...

Hardware Canucks?
 
Found some other reviews from some reputable sites... it does sound pretty nice.

Any other opinions on it's superiority to the Asus board?
 
Only bad thing that I've heard about it was that early on people were hitting a brick wall when trying to go past 3.8 ghz...but that's apparently no longer a problem. People are getting like 4.2 ghz now on it.

How high of an OC were you going to go for?
 
I would have bought the cheaper version of that board in a heartbeat if it had been out at the time I ordered my computer from Max. One of the reasons I didn't go with EVGA was because of the cost between it and the P6T non deluxe...and I guess the fact that I have a lot of confidence in ASUS' motherboards...been using them exclusively for like 10 years now. But I've heard really good things about EVGA's tech support...so it was really temptiing but I decided to go with the less expensive board.
 
I'll give the evga board a shot, especially since it's cheaper.

Anyone have any input on RAID?
 
earnstaf said:
I really have no intention of ever going tri sli :) ...it's my understand that isn't even an option with the 295 is it?
Click to expand...

even so, placement of the 16x slots is horrible on the deluxe. If we were to add a second GTX 295. It would block the the third slot.
 
earnstaf said:
Anyone have any input on RAID?
Click to expand...

While RAID0 would decrease load times, a RAID0 setup would not increase FPS or anything like that. Even the decrease in load times is measured in seconds, not minutes.
 
Danny Bui said:
While RAID0 would decrease load times, a RAID0 setup would not increase FPS or anything like that. Even the decrease in load times is measured in seconds, not minutes.
Click to expand...

Well, that sounds worthwhile to increase capacity while also increasing speed for a pretty small fee.

I think I can add another AALS and another 6gb of RAM and stay under budget.

I wish Newegg had the 295 in stock .. :(
 
earnstaf said:
Well, that sounds worthwhile to increase capacity while also increasing speed for a pretty small fee.
Click to expand...

Just make sure you have a backup of all your important data since RAID0 does have a higher chance of losing your OS install as well as any other data over a single drive.
 
buy.com and provantage.com both have them... I would have preferred to order everything from newegg, but it doesnt look like that is going to happen.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm about to pull the trigger on this, but I'd like to see some of the experts around here put together a build... if you had 2100 to spend on a gaming machine for yourself, how would you do it?
 
earnstaf said:
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm about to pull the trigger on this, but I'd like to see some of the experts around here put together a build... if you had 2100 to spend on a gaming machine for yourself, how would you do it?
Click to expand...

Hmmm if I had a budget of $2100 for a gaming PC, I'd go with this for my own personal system:
Intel Core i7 920 CPU and GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P Intel X58 ATX Motherboard combo - $529
2 x G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM - $220
eVGA 01G-P3-1281-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB PCI-E Video Card - $340
Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $80
2 x Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $220
Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner - $25
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 1366 RT - $70
Corsair 850TX 850W PSU - $140
Antec P182 ATX Case - $130
----
Total: $1754 plus tax and shipping

Some notes:
- Yes I am being a budget concious with my setup being about $340 cheaper than the planned $2100 budget but meh. Old habits die hard :) I honestly can't think of any performance increase or upgrade worth spending the extra $346 on.
- I tend to upgrade my video card every 1 1/2 to 2 years. Hence why I would have went with the cheaper GTX285. Also I personally don't trust dual-GPU cards due to potential scaling and support issues so hence why I would go with the single GPU GTX285.
- Don't really have a need for RAID so I just went with one single fast OS drive and two slower but larger storage drives for most of my data.
- Really big fan of Gigabyte motherboards so I'd definitely go for another Gigabyte mobo in a new system.
- Case wise, I love my P180 original case and so would definitely get the slightly better version of that case, the P182. It's quiet, has sufficient cooling and is well built. Though, if the Coolermaster Stacker 810 was in stock though, I might go with that case instead. Yes the HAF 932 case is far better in terms of cooling and cable management but I can't stand how ugly it looks to me.
- Remember that the above build is tailored to my needs, wants and logic. So it may not be a good choice for you.
 
Thermaltake ElementS isn't as fugly as the HAF but has just as good as cable management and pretty close to air flow inside the case.
 
earnstaf said:
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm about to pull the trigger on this, but I'd like to see some of the experts around here put together a build... if you had 2100 to spend on a gaming machine for yourself, how would you do it?
Click to expand...

I'd pocket the money and not go overboard. Got other stuff to spend on y'know :D

But if I've got a gun pointed at my head and had to spend $2100 of someone's money I would (and this is also assuming I have to pick an ATX build, as I'd be shot if I went with my preferred mATX..)

Case - Silverstone TJ-10BW, Lian-Li X2000 $340-$400
CPU - i7 920 $295
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 $290
Ram - Patriot Viper 12GB DDR3 Ram (to match the Gigabyte's color, 6 filled ram slots look better than 3) $230AR
GPU - XFX 2xGTX285 (XFX sticker looks best; 2 cards also look better than 1) $700
PSU - Silverstone ST85F $170AR
HD - WD6400AALS $80
HSF - Noctua U12P $60

Parts picked to match colors, theme and for aesthetics... can't stand a circus of colors and emptiness. The above's a blue-ish theme :D A practical build would be drastically different; I care way more bout looks than usability for myself.
 
I notice both Danny and lowteckh suggest the GTX285. I really respect ya'lls build advice as I've seen you offer up some great systems, but I've seen you tell countless people that the 285 isn't worth the price premium. Why the change of heart on this one?

edit: Some how missed Danny's thought process on the 285. That's probably good advice on just upgrading the vid card sooner than I would everything else. I always fall into the trap of wanting the best now when buying, knowing full well that it won't be the best anymore in 3-6 months.
 
lowteckh said:
Cuz' we're given $2100 to screw around with.
Click to expand...

Gotcha.. if we are just "throwing around money", is it not worth it to jump to the GTX295?

edit: Also interesting that you chose a 400 dollar case and only 1 HD :) But I guess if aesthetics is your driving factor, that makes sense.
 
earnstaf said:
Gotcha.. if we are just "throwing around money", is it not worth it to jump to the GTX295?
Click to expand...

Well like I said, 2 cards look better than 1, so I chose 2 GTX285s. 2xGTX295s would run over the budget. With a $2100 sum, it becomes a challenge to piece a build since there's too much freedom.

In the eyes of practicality, you can easily build a similar system that will run everything beyond perfect with a budget of like $1200, or less..
 
lowteckh said:
In the eyes of practicality, you can easily build a similar system that will run everything beyond perfect with a budget of like $1200, or less..
Click to expand...

I agree, but it's not very often that I get the green light to drop 2 grand on a computer, so I'd like to maximize it's longevity. This is not an attempt at "future-proofing" but rather just an attempt to make the machine hold on as long as possible.

I've tried to do cost analysis of making a "good" system now (~1200 bucks) which may not need to be upgraded for 2-3 years or a "top of the line (nearly)" system now that may not need to be upgraded for 4-5 years.. it's all works out about the same so I think I'm going with the best I can get now.
 
How'd you come up with a cost analysis, cuz' video cards all head into obscurity around the same time, extended by another half a year with dual GPUs. The rest of the components are the same - dunno how you figure one i7 920 CPU is gonna outlast another i7 920 CPU. Y

You say you're not looking to futureproof, but "attempting to... long as possible" is just a long phrase for it, as is the second paragraph. You "maximize longevity" by buying when new releases are out, not by buying the best right now and hoping it'll last for another whatever time frame.

-------------------
By example of my statement in paragraph 2 of this post, your "cost analysis" is therefore flawed as: E.g. a GTX295 costs $500, a GTX260 costs <$200. Keep in mind a GTX295 does NOT provided a 100% increase in performance, not even close in some situations. In a forecasted 1 year, a GTX260 equivalent that costs <$200 will not only outperform the GTX260, but match the GTX295 (see 3870X2 and 9800GX2, and compare newer single cards that are not even a year apart from releases). Purchasing a GTX260 at <$200 and its replacement at <$200 totals ~$400, whereas the GTX295 is $500. Again, a GTX295 is NOT 100% of a GTX260.

Extend that by 2 years, and the GTX295 is obsolete by then, as is the GTX260 - the $500 GTX295 is now worthless, same with the <$200 GTX260. But with a GTX260, you're not stuck with a $500 paperweight, just a <$200 paperweight.
-------------------

The chipset platform should last a while, if Intel keeps supporting it. That's nothing new, and a "high end" system both equipped with a X58 and i7 platform will depreciate in value/performance at the same rate. Video cards are a different story as I've illustrated.
 
lowteckh said:
How'd you come up with a cost analysis, cuz' video cards all head into obscurity around the same time, extended by another half a year with dual GPUs. The rest of the components are the same - dunno how you figure one i7 920 CPU is gonna outlast another i7 920 CPU. Y

You say you're not looking to futureproof, but "attempting to... long as possible" is just a long phrase for it, as is the second paragraph. You "maximize longevity" by buying when new releases are out, not by buying the best right now and hoping it'll last for another whatever time frame.

-------------------
By example of my statement in paragraph 2 of this post, your "cost analysis" is therefore flawed as: E.g. a GTX295 costs $500, a GTX260 costs <$200. Keep in mind a GTX295 does NOT provided a 100% increase in performance, not even close in some situations. In a forecasted 1 year, a GTX260 equivalent that costs <$200 will not only outperform the GTX260, but match the GTX295 (see 3870X2 and 9800GX2, and compare newer single cards that are not even a year apart from releases). Purchasing a GTX260 at <$200 and its replacement at <$200 totals ~$400, whereas the GTX295 is $500. Again, a GTX295 is NOT 100% of a GTX260.

Extend that by 2 years, and the GTX295 is obsolete by then, as is the GTX260 - the $500 GTX295 is now worthless, same with the <$200 GTX260. But with a GTX260, you're not stuck with a $500 paperweight, just a <$200 paperweight.
-------------------

The chipset platform should last a while, if Intel keeps supporting it. That's nothing new, and a "high end" system both equipped with a X58 and i7 platform will depreciate in value/performance at the same rate. Video cards are a different story as I've illustrated.
Click to expand...

Nice response.. thanks for writing that up, and good catch on my "clever" rewording of future-proofing haha.

That really does change my perspective on things, but I guess my only hang-up is that while the 295 might not be 100% better than the 260, it may be 40-50% better and that 40-50% may be the difference between playing a game maxed and not.

...and I guess if I'm really being honest with myself, it probably comes down to e-peen and wanting to say I have a 295 when a 295 is top of the line... I'm really trying to break myself of that mentality.
 
Well if you're going for the e-peen then there's not much to do to stop you.

Benchmark reviews, esp the ones on [H] will show you everything you need to know about framerates between cards (even if they require opening multiple reviews since only select cards are compared... one of my biggest gripes about [H]'s reviews)
 
earnstaf said:
I notice both Danny and lowteckh suggest the GTX285. I really respect ya'lls build advice as I've seen you offer up some great systems, but I've seen you tell countless people that the 285 isn't worth the price premium. Why the change of heart on this one?
Click to expand...
And the corrct answer is this :D:
lowteckh said:
Cuz' we're given $2100 to screw around with.
Click to expand...

ROCKETR said:
Just curious, why would he need 12GB of memory for gaming/web browsing?
Click to expand...

He probably doesn't but as lowteckh has said: Dude has $2100 to play with so why not? Besides since you quoted my system, I'll tell you why I need 12GB of RAM: Virtual Machines.

I've tried to do cost analysis of making a "good" system now (~1200 bucks) which may not need to be upgraded for 2-3 years or a "top of the line (nearly)" system now that may not need to be upgraded for 4-5 years.. it's all works out about the same so I think I'm going with the best I can get now.
Click to expand...

While it may be the same cost, you do end up with more performance for the future with a 1200 system being upgraded every 2-3 years than a system not being upgraded for 4-5 years. A little anecdote: In early 2007, one of the best mid to high range card was the 8800GTS 320MB for $300. However, rather than go with that card, I bought the $120 7900GS instead since I was a bit cash strapped. In mid 2008, a year and half later, I bought the 8800GT 512MB for around $160. As a result of buying a cheaper card earlier, I now had a faster card later. The 8800GT outperforms the 8800GTS 320MB by at least 15 to 20% and runs cooler. Considering that by 2008 there are a few games that the GTS 320MB was struggling with (Fallout 3, WOW, Crysis Warhead, etc), the 8800GT was a good buy.

So it all comes down to this: High performance now, relatively low performance later or relatively low performance now and high performance later when it counts.
 
Thanks to everyone for your replies and for helping me to "see the light" in regards to my desire for all top of the line components just for the sake of saying I have them. On that note, I've scaled back a couple of my choices, namely the vid card.

Obviously I didnt go much lower, but combined with an EVGA combo deal (thanks to auceny for the find), it cut the cost by a couple hundred. Also changed the power supply to one that lowteckh has been suggesting all over :) Modular sounds great as my cable management skills are lacking.

I'm obviously still a little overboard on a couple of the options (12GB of RAM :) ) but, since the money is there... why not?

Here's the new build.

Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP
SILVERSTONE ST70F 700W ATX12V
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB
True 120 HSF
EVGA 132-BL-E758-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
2x (12GB) G.SKILL DDR3 1600 6GB (3 x 2GB ) CL8
2x (RAID0) Western Digital Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200rpm 32MB
Western Digital WD1001FALS 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB
Samsung SH-S223F 22X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW SATA Drive
EVGA 01G-P3-1285-AR GeForce GTX 285 SC Edition 1GB
SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader
=~$1850

Thoughts?
 
Solid, now $300 leftover for the lap dance.. or two or three or four
 
Damn that's cheap. My GF requires 1 handbag per... AHAHAHA I better fucking run now.
 
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