Help me complete my build

AlexJann23

n00b
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
26
Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking here for quite a while. After 5 years, its finally time to build another rig.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (First Person Shooter) and Video editing using Sony Vegas 8.0
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$700 including tax and shipping
3) Where do you live?
California
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
I need Motherboard, Video Card, Power supply, Memory, CPU cooler and Optical drive
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?
I never done this before but I want to try to overclock the I7 920 to 4.0Ghz max
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24" 1920x1080
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.
Raid and Crossfire
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes, Windows 7 Pro 32 and 64bit

I already bought the following
CPU: I7 920
HDD: 640gb WD Caviar Black (2 for Raid 0)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout
Keyboard - Mouse: Logitech

For Mother Board I prefer EVGA and XFX for the video card. I appreciate all the help.
 
How badly do you want an EVGA motherboard and/or an XFX video card? Even looking at Amazon's prices (Amazon being one of the few places that don't charge CA residents any sales tax), building a system with those requirements covered, plus a 3x2GB DDR3 kit and a 750 watt PSU, would go over your $700 budget.

Do you live near a Micro Center B&M store?
 
The reason that I like EVGA and XFX is their superb customer service. But with a tight budget, I guess I can't go wrong with the other brands. Micro center is about 20 mins from here, I bought the I7 920 and the Storm Scout from them 2 weeks ago.
 
Get any 6GB RAM kit at DDR3-1600 CL9 or lower, and 1.65v or lower. For best compatibility, get closer to 1.5v as possible (G.Skill and Mushkin).

You should probably wait for the HD5850 to get back in stock.

For a single vidcard system, the TP-New 650W would be more than enough.

Any optical drive w/ free shipping under $30 should do fine. I prefer Samsung or Asus, since they're typically more quiet than Lite-On. Some LG models are loud, some aren't.

For cooling, check out the Cooler Master Hyper 212+.
 
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yhpm.

Get any 6GB RAM kit at DDR3-1600 CL9 or lower, and 1.65v or lower. For best compatibility, get closer to 1.5v as possible (G.Skill and Mushkin).

You should probably wait for the HD5850 to get back in stock.

For a single vidcard system, the TP-New 650W would be more than enough.

Any optical drive w/ free shipping under $30 should do fine. I prefer Samsung or Asus, since they're typically more quiet than Lite-On. Some LG models are loud, some aren't.

For cooling, check out the Cooler Master Hyper 212+.

enginurd thanks for your inputs. I'm planning to use my brother in law's 8800GT and wait for HD5850 prices to come back down. I checked the reviews on Cooler Mastery Hyper 212, seems like a good CPU cooler with a good price.



Nick those are the parts that I want for this build. Congratulations on your build. I'm jealous.
 
Here's an Amazon build with the parts that you've requested (per question 4):

$26 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (free shipping)
$204 - Asus P6T SE (free shipping)
$150 - OCZ Gold 3x2GB DDR3 1600 kit (free shipping & $30 mail-in rebate)
$32 - LG GH22NS50 SATA DVD burner (free shipping)
$140 - XFX HD 5770 1GB video card (free shipping)
$115 - Corsair TX750 750W PSU ($10 mail-in rebate)
=====
$672 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

As alluded to earlier, the reason why I went with Amazon was because there's no CA tax. However, this is a "best available" setup, as you'd probably want an HD5850, a more powerful PSU for a CF setup, and DDR3 RAM that runs at 1.5V. Those things would probably require a trip to NewEgg and/or for you to ignore your budget limit.

If you omit the video card purchase (for now) and/or are willing to go over your $700 budget a bit, you could get an EVGA X58 board -- the 141-BL-E757-TR. But that particular board doesn't offer CrossFire support, only SLI.
 
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Guys here it is. It took a while because I have to save more money to get the XFX 5870. I had problem with CM Hyper 212+, its causing a short on the motherboard causing it not to boot. I actually RMA'd the first EVGA motherboard thinking it was defective. EVGA replaced the board, no questions asked. I had to use the stock CPU cooler for now. I cut a small piece of metal on the optical drive cage using a dremel to make room for 5870.

Picture001.jpg


with stock CPU cooler
Picture004.jpg
 
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