Critique my build options...

[jmbgator]

So I am planning to build a rig and thought of two potential options:

1) i7-930 with the 1366 socket ($288)
or
2) i7-860 with the 1156 socket ($279)

With the 860 and the 930 only being $8 apart, I am wondering if it is worth spending extra for a 1366 socket over an 1156 socket? I know that the main difference between the 1156 and the 1366 is dual channel vs tri channel memory and there might be a few other changes but I am wondering if you guys recommend it?

I am mainly going to be using it for gaming and general application / web browsing...

Anyways, here are my potential builds below....What do you guys think? And would you go 860 or 930 on the CPU?

Option 1:

or

Option 2:

What are your thoughts and what do you think of the parts?

 

[engiNURD]

The main reasons to go for LGA1366 are:
- future cpu upgrades (hexcore)
- higher RAM capacity
- higher multi-vidcard performance scaling
- higher OC'ing capability

If none of those affect you, then go for LGA1156 and save your money -- in fact, spend the money saved on an SSD instead (Intel, Sandforce, or Indilinx based). If the money saved is negligible to you, then go for the LGA1366 build. Remember, LGA1156 is mainstream, while LGA1366 is enthusiast level.

 

[E4g1e]

I would pick a different power supply. The EA750 has only 56A (672W) of total +12V capacity - and even with free shipping, it is only slightly less expensive than the better-performing TP750 New Blue. In other words, the EA750 is a merely OK power supply and a mediocre value (at the Egg's going price). And just because jonnyGURU recommended it does not mean that it's outstanding for its class.

And I would pick a different case as well. The Antec Nine Hundred something cases are notorious for being cramped on the inside (despite looking big on the outside) with less-than-ideal cable management features. And with several cheaper cases having more room on the inside and better cable management, the Nine Hundred Two is significantly overpriced.

Third, I would pick a different hard drive. That 640GB WD Black still uses two 320GB platters which deliver noticeably lower sequential transfer speed than any of the 7200RPM drives with 500GB platters. As such, the 640GB WD Black is one of the very slowest performing WD Blacks on the market.

 

[lt_shiro]

EA750 fan is noisy as hell.

 

[jmbgator]

So I'm going to go with the i7-860 model

I took your recommendations and thinking of making the following changes:

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $99.98

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - $109.99

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $54.99

Do you guys think the Corsair 750W is overkill for my system? Or can I just go with this model:

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Thoughts?

Total comes out to $1387.88

The rest remains as is from Option 1 in the original post... http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/8232/build2hc.jpg

 

[Dangman]

The Corsair 650TX will be sufficient for that setup. Besides, the Corsair 750TX isn't that good of a deal since for $10 more you can get the better quality Antec TP-750 Blue PSU:
$120 - Antec Truepower New TP750 Blue 750W PSU]

So you can go with either the Corsair 650TX or the Antec TP-750 Blue. Either of those PSUs will be better buys for the price than the Corsair 750TX.

 

[bastage]

Spend the extra 20 bucks on your motherboard & go with the GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4. That way if you decide to crossfire later you would be able to since it can run at 8x 8x instead of dropping the 2nd slot all the way to 4x.

As for the PSU I Think if your going to for sure stick with a single video card then then 650 should be fine. But if you May pop in a 2nd 5850 then get the 750.


Lastly why bother with a ATX case when your building a MicroATX system. If it just happened by chance later I could see it (like why I have a MiniITX mobo in a Antec 300), But if your purpose building from the start why not start with a little smaller case. For what your trying to put in it I would get the Lian Li V351 which is the same cost as the CoolerMaster you selected & it will still hold all the hardware you listed & then some fine. But its considerably smaller (Dimensions(L x W x H) The haf922 22.20" x 10.00" x 19.70" & The v351b 14.69" x 10.98" x 10.31" so that's 8" shorter & 7" shallower & only 1" wider).

 

[engiNURD]

... but if you do want to go CFX later, the bigger case would be better for more airflow.

BTW, the Xeon X3440 is $40 cheaper while only being 266mhz slower than the 860.
$240 - Intel Xeon X3440 Lynnfield 2.53GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156

 

[bastage]

... but if you do want to go CFX later, the bigger case would be better for more airflow.

Except there would be less airflow in that Haf 922 then there would be in the v351. Look at the fan placement. The v351 has a 120 that would be literally breathing down the cards where the haf has a single 200mm on the other side of the drive cages with obstructed airflow & lower in the case. Thus No direct airflow to the cards. The only advantage the larger case would have is that due to the larger volume it would take longer before the extra components heated the ambient temperature, But since either case would have good enough airflow the internal case air should be constantly changing anyhow thats neither here nor there.

Dont get me wrong though I am not saying that the Haf is a bad case. I Just dont see the point in having a case larger then needed when it serves no purpose.