Does this i7 build make sense?

S

subliminl

n00b
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
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Hello all. First time poster to the boards. I was hoping you could give me a sanity check on the system I'm putting together. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
- Gaming (COD, Crysis, WoW etc), Occaisional video editing and photoshop

2) What's your budget?
- Around 2k

3) Where do you live?
- NV

4) Planned parts:

- Case (Antec 900) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

- Motherboard (Evga 132-BL-E758-A1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

- Processor (i7 920 planned overclock) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

- Heatsink (Cooler Master V8) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055
*Note: I would like to water cool this system. If anyone can recommend a fairly easy to do water cooling system. I would be interested in that.

-Power Supply (Raidmax Hybrid 2 730W) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152036

- Memory (G.Skill 6gb) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

- (2) Hard drives in Raid 0 (WD Caviar Black 500gb) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

- (2) LCD Monitors (Acer X223wbd) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009145

-Video Card (Evga GTX 260) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

-DVD Burner ( Samsung 22X ) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
- 10 GB 7200 RPM IBM HD to run primary OS

6) Will you be overclocking?
- Yes

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
- 2 X 22''

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
- Less than a week

9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
-RAID, Firewire, SLI, and integrated audio.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
- Yes multiple copies of XP and Vista ultimate 32/64

I have built a few computers, but the last build was over 9 years ago. I'm sure there may be some issues that I don't know about. Thanks again for all the help you can provide.

-Sub
 
1. The Cooler Master V8 is a bit of an expensive cooler. I'd go with something like the Thermalright Ultra-120 instead.

2. Swap out that power supply for the Corsair 750TX.

3. The Western Digital 640GB Black drives are only $7 more per drive, so they're a better deal. I'd suggest getting them from ZipZoomFly because Newegg does not always do a good job of packing OEM drives.

Everything else looks ok.
 
How long have you had the IBM hard drive for? Is it a SCSI drive?

Unless you pare it down beforehand, the average Vista install takes up around 15GB-20GB of space.

PC_User, the V8 over at NewEgg is only $5 more than the TRUE 1366RT at Directron. Then again, the TRUE has never really been called cheap.
 
tiraides said:
PC_User, the V8 over at NewEgg is only $5 more than the TRUE 1366RT at Directron. Then again, the TRUE has never really been called cheap.
Click to expand...

I know, but isn't the TRUE-120 better than the Cooler Master V8? If so, wouldn't it be better to save $5 and get the trusted 'classic' HSF?
 
both the TRUE 120 and V8 are pretty close to eachother in terms of performance, don't think you can go wrong with either one.
 
Solid build there. The only exceptions are the power supply and that LCD's price. Amazon has the Corsair 750w TX for $86 A/R Shipped. Staples has a good 23' LCD for $180 before tax and shipping. The coupon for $30 off $150 can be found for $1.20 by Googling.
 
If you intend to watercool the Antec 900 is a poor choice of case. Consider the Cooler Master HAF 932 instead.
 
tiraides said:
How long have you had the IBM hard drive for? Is it a SCSI drive?

Unless you pare it down beforehand, the average Vista install takes up around 15GB-20GB of space.

PC_User, the V8 over at NewEgg is only $5 more than the TRUE 1366RT at Directron. Then again, the TRUE has never really been called cheap.
Click to expand...
The IBM DTLA Hard Drive I've had for a looooonnnggg time. I guess it's time to get rid of it. I've never had a Raid setup. What would be the best way to run the raid? I was thinking a small fairly inexpensive drive to run the bootup and OS, and a Raid 0 setup for handling games and video editing.
 
silent-circuit said:
If you intend to watercool the Antec 900 is a poor choice of case. Consider the Cooler Master HAF 932 instead.
Click to expand...
Can you recommend a water cooling kit to go with this case? I dont have any experience with water cooling, but know there is some kits that will cool the CPU as well as the GPU.

I like this case and I'll more than likely swap it out with the 900. Thanks!
 
Kyo said:
Solid build there. The only exceptions are the power supply and that LCD's price. Amazon has the Corsair 750w TX for $86 A/R Shipped. Staples has a good 23' LCD for $180 before tax and shipping. The coupon for $30 off $150 can be found for $1.20 by Googling.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your input!

The LCD's are $40 dollars off so buying for $159.

Is this the LCD you mentioned? http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/p1_AOC-2217V-22-Widescreen-LCD-Monitor_247939_Business_Supplies_10051_SC3:CG4:DP2000:CL142219

I don't know much about this company. Is it a good brand?
 
subliminl said:
Can you recommend a water cooling kit to go with this case? I dont have any experience with water cooling, but know there is some kits that will cool the CPU as well as the GPU.

I like this case and I'll more than likely swap it out with the 900. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Well, about how much are you willing to spend on watercooling? It can get expensive quickly, and buying a kit is rarely if ever the way to go.

Here is an example of a starter loop you could mount internally in the HAF that would handle your CPU and GPU. Prices are approximate, but pretty close to market.

$65 - EK Supreme LT or Heatkiller 3.0 LGA1366 CPU waterblock
$80 - Laing D5 or Laing DDC (+ aftermarket top) pump, or one of their Swiftech rebranded equivalents
$60 - Swiftech QuietPower 3x120 radiator
$15 - 3x Yate Loon medium 120mm fans (for the radiator)
$20 - Swiftech micro-reservoir
$20 - Masterkleer 7/16" ID tubing

That's just the CPU loop, though there is plenty of extra tubing there, for if you mess up, or want to add to the loop. Total is ~$250, maybe a little more with shipping.

Adding your GPU, you'd want at least another 120mm radiator ($30), 120mm fan ($6), and the GPU block itself ($50 + $30 for a D-Tek Fuzion GPU v2 block and D-Tek UniSink, or ~$80 for an EK or DangerDen full coverage block). That's an additional $120 or so after shipping.

In the end there are two major questions; first, can you afford to watercool? If these prices are too high for you, or you simply aren't willing to pay them, there's really no reason to consider it further. Going cheap only results in disappointment here. Secondly, what is your goal in watercooling: silence, speed, both? If you're just going for higher OCs, I'd strongly suggest leaving the GPU out of the loop and maybe getting an aftermarket heatsink for it instead. Watercooling the CPU can give you a strong OC advantage over air, all while keeping things quieter if you use the right fans and a large enough radiator. Watercooling the GPU on the other hand offers comparatively little performance gain and is generally done if you find the stock cooling to be too loud. So long as you have space in your case -- make sure it won't interfere with expansion cards or multi-GPU setups if these are concerns for you -- aftermarket air cooling is generally a better choice for GPUs.



Also, I know someone already mentioned it, but stay the hell away from that PSU. It is trash. It'll kill your machine.
 
Thanks for the info!

I would like to watercool for the reasons you mentioned. 1.) reduce the noise and to improve OC performance on CPU. I can afford it, and if i decide to go this route, i'll leave the GPU out of the loop.

I'll deffinately change out that PSU for the Corsair 750

Thanks again!
 
as unreliable as hard drives can be these days (high failure rates) I would not recommend raid 0. otherwise things look pretty good
 
sdadept said:
as unreliable as hard drives can be these days (high failure rates) I would not recommend raid 0. otherwise things look pretty good
Click to expand...

Don't know where you got this -- HDD reliability is going up, not down. I've never had a drive larger than 120GB die on me. Nothing in the last 4+ years.
 
If I want to use this system to run movies on the family room 59'' LCD, will this video card be a good choice for all that I want to do:

- Gaming
- Video editing
- Photoshop
- occaisional computer programming & CAD drawing

- Playing movies for Family room LCD HDTV (approx 35' away)

Thanks again for your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks again.
 
subliminl said:
If I want to use this system to run movies on the family room 59'' LCD, will this video card be a good choice for all that I want to do:

- Gaming
- Video editing
- Photoshop
- occaisional computer programming & CAD drawing

- Playing movies for Family room LCD HDTV (approx 35' away)

Thanks again for your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

If you're talking about the GTX 260, yes the GTX 260 is good for all of your usage scenarios. However for playing movies in the family room, you might want to make sure that the fan on the card is set to low as to not drown out or annoy movie watchers.
 
it always makes me so happy to read about someone building a new computer with a top of the line Intel processor and a top of the line Intel chipset.

Why? Because I own 400 shares of Intel. It just keeps going up and up. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
 
Thanks! I'll be running the video cable into the next room (about 35' up into the attic and back down) so hopefully they wont hear the fan. Thanks again for the post!

-Sub
 
I'm not completely sure, but you might need some kind of amp to keep a clean signal after a 35' run. Again, not sure, but something I'd look in to were I you.
 
subliminl said:
If I want to use this system to run movies on the family room 59'' LCD, will this video card be a good choice for all that I want to do:

- Gaming
- Video editing
- Photoshop
- occaisional computer programming & CAD drawing

- Playing movies for Family room LCD HDTV (approx 35' away)

Thanks again for your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Regarding the HDTV, they're relatively low-resolution compared to standard PC monitors. 720p is basically the equivalent of widescreen 1024x768, which is a standard 15"/17" resolution. 1080p is about the equivalent of an average 20" monitor's resolution. The HDTV has a bigger screen, but a relatively small amount of pixels in that screen.

That's also why for the same price, you can get a lot bigger TV than a PC monitor (at least at the bigger end of the scale).

As stated, you might need a booster to run the signal that far. I'm not sure what the limit is, and I'm not sure how that's affected by HDMI/DVI vs. VGA.
 
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