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DeathbyPutz

Limp Gawd
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Jan 12, 2009
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I'm building a new computer, and thought I'd run my parts past you all here at [H], since you've never steered me wrong before.

Processor: i7 920 - $279.99 (I can't find anywhere in the specs on Newegg if its c0 or d0... anyone know how to tell?)

Motherboard: EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED - $374.99

Heatsink: Prolima Mega Shadow - $79.99 (I haven't seen any recent deals on this lately, and the black is purely to match the motherboard. I'd go with a regular Megahalem or a TRUE if I can find a good deal somewhere)

RAM: mushkin (3x2GB) DDR3 1600 6-7-6 - $189.99

Video Card: Holding onto the BFG gtx280 in my sig until later this year, I want to see how the dust settles whenever nVidia releases their 3xx line (I'll go for the cheaper ATI or new 3xx at that point)

Boot Drive: OCZ Summit 120GB SSD - $335.00 (I'm not too savvy on SSD's, or HD's in general, I made these decisions based primarily on reviews, but I certainly haven't had a chance to read up on everything out there)
Data Drive: WD Caviar Green 1TB - $84.99

Power Supply: Corsair 850HX - $199.99

Optical Drive: LG Blu-ray Reader, 16X DVD±R Burner (Just want a cheap and dependable DVD burner, the Blu-ray is a nice-to-have)

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate OEM - 189.99

Case: I'm still completely undecided on a case, because the more that I read about different cases, the less sure about any of them I become. Anyone have a suggestion that would hold what I have above (I don't need room for 12 HD's, and I'll probably not go beyond 2 Video Cards).

Display: Keeping the one in my sig.


I plan to OC my processor to 4.0 or so, if I can keep it stable. Budget-wise, I can add a few bucks if needed, but cutting cost is good too (my pockets aren't bottomless). Having something that will last is my main goal, and something that's upgradable when i9 comes out is a plus.

I appreciate any input I can get, thanks!
 
All good parts no doubt about it. But you can easily downgrade/swap out those parts to save $300 and still get the same performance:

The eVGA mobo is not worth the extra $160 for this combo IMO:
$495 - Intel Core i7 920 CPU and Asus P6T Intel X58 ATX Motherboard Combo

Your setup doesn't need a 850W PSU. You'll be fine with this $95 cheaper and equal quality modular PSU:
$105 - Antec Truepower New TP750 Blue 750W PSU

You honestly won't notice a difference between the Mushkin and this Corsair RAM in real world apps and games:
$150 - Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1600C9 3 x 2GB

For a 4Ghz OC, you can easily save $40 by going with this HSF:
$40 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF

That's $300 saved right there for the same performance and similar overclock capability.

SSD wise, I highly recommend reading this:
enginurd said:
Intel X25-M 80GB and toss your current laptop drive into an external enclosure for extra storage.

[Anandtech] The SSD Anthology: Understanding SSDs and New Drives from OCZ
[Anandtech] The SSD Update: Vertex Gets Faster, New Indilinx Drives and Intel/MacBook Problems Resolved
[Anandtech] The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD

The Intel X25-M SSDs have fast small random write speeds, but have slower sequential speeds. Conversely, the Indilinx based drives have faster sequential speeds, but slower small random write speeds. When you setup the Indilinx drives in RAID0, the small random write speeds increase enough to more than compensate for the single drive's deficiency. Likewise, when you RAID0 Intel drives, the sequential speeds increase more than enough. Small random write speeds are more important for the avg desktop user than sequential speeds. For single SSD usage, the Intel is a better choice because of this. However, Indilinx based drives' small random write speeds are still faster than mechanical drives, so even in a single drive config, it's still a decent choice if you can't afford Intel.

All Indilinx based drives perform similarly, regardless of brand. The 120GB versions are about 15% faster (sequential speeds) than their smaller brethren. Indilinx based drives: OCZ Vertex/Agility, SuperTalent UltraDrive ME, Patriot TorqX, G.Skill Falcon. The Agility uses slower speed flash, and the Vertex Turbo uses an overclocked controller, IIRC. TorqX drives have a 10yr warranty vs the standard 2 or 3yr. OCZ and SuperTalent are typically the first to get firmware updates from Indilinx.

Another option would be the Samsung-based drives, but I have less experience with those, so I can't comment much on them (aside from the fact that you need to make sure its the newer gen, and not the old one, since the old gen is slow, while the new gen is fast). Hopefully someone can shed some light for you.
Click to expand...
 
Totally agree with Danny's suggestions. A few of those parts did seem a bit overpriced. Also, what cases have you liked in the past? It's tough to pull one out of thin air. What features are you looking for?
 
Thanks for the input. I tend to get a little carried away with some choices, so I appreciate the price-performance suggestions.

I haven't really picked out cases before, since I tended to buy bundles or take left-over cases off of my friends' hands. I'm looking for a case with good airflow (since I'll be cooling with air only), and I'd like it to be as quiet as possible. Size-wise, it would be nice if it wasn't huge, but I don't need to squeeze it into a small space. It also doesn't need to look uber leet or anything, my wife will just laugh at me. I think the problem is that I don't have a real limiting factor to help pare down my case choices.
 
Some case recommendations:
$60 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - ABS Aplus Black Pearl Full Tower ATX Case
$105 - Thermaltake ElementS VK60001N2Z ATX Case
$135 - Antec P183 ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$200 - Cooler Master Cosmos S 1000 RC-1100-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$200 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$220 - Silverstone FT01-B ATX Case
$250 - Lian Li PC-V1200B Plus II ATX Case
$240 - Lian Li PC-A71B ATX Case
$285 - Silverstone TJ09-B Full Tower ATX Case
$320 - Silverstone TJ10-B Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case
Cases (ATX w/PSU):
 
DeathbyPutz said:
I'm building a new computer, and thought I'd run my parts past you all here at [H], since you've never steered me wrong before.

Processor: i7 920 - $279.99 (I can't find anywhere in the specs on Newegg if its c0 or d0... anyone know how to tell?)
Click to expand...

You can only tell after it arrives. NewEgg will not check for you. i got my i7-920 last week from NewEgg and it's S-Spec is SLBEJ (on the i7 retail box).

http://processorfinder.intel.com/DetailsPrinterFriendly.aspx?sSpec=SLBEJ

As you can see, it is a D0 and the "desirable" stepping for overclocking.

----

For my mobo, i picked the Gigabyte EX58-UD3R, from NewEgg for $174 after $15 MiR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375

i am not sure what you require in a motherboard, but you are spending $200 more for one with extreme overclocking tools and a lot of nice 'extras' you may not use.

Blu-Ray seems a bit overpriced for now. i am waiting on it to drop. 850W is somewhat overkill if you only run one video card and DDR-3 is starting to get sales and rebates.

For a decent case, Cooler Master's Gladiator 600 is only about $70. Mid Tower.
 
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I also agree with all of Danny's suggestions. Otherwise a very good build.
 
A couple further questions...

Is the Cogage TRUE Spirit enough to keep the 920 cool at 4.0? I was under the impression that it was a pretty hot chip. I was steering toward the full TRUE or Mega (6 heatpipes vs the 4 on the TRUE Spirit) to be on the cooling safe side. If they're overkill, then I'm definitely in agreement that the Spirit is more cooling for the money (just wanted to make sure it was enough cooling)

For the power supply, I was thinking 850 for the future... Although I'm only going to be running my single gtx280 for now, the plan is to through 1 or 2 new gen cards, and possibly keep the 280 for physics. I estimated 850 as enough for my most-card scenario (I don't plan on trying quad-CF or 3-way SLI). This is another example of my "conservative over-kill," like the heatsink, probably.

Thanks for the case suggestions, I'm probably going to go with the HAF 932. It seems like it will get great airflow (I would hope so, since its in the name). I don't move my system around much, so I'm not concerned about weight. I also like the placement of the front-panel USB/etc.

I agree on the Blu-ray, I'll probably grab a $40 DVD burner. The optical drive was never overly important to me, and I'm not sure what compelled me to throw it in there, honestly. I doubt that it would have made it into the final purchase.

I forgot about possibly adding a fan controller. Any suggestions? Overkill?

Again, thanks for all the help you guys have already given me.
 
DeathbyPutz said:
For the power supply, I was thinking 850 for the future... Although I'm only going to be running my single gtx280 for now, the plan is to through 1 or 2 new gen cards, and possibly keep the 280 for physics. I estimated 850 as enough for my most-card scenario (I don't plan on trying quad-CF or 3-way SLI). This is another example of my "conservative over-kill," like the heatsink, probably.
Click to expand...

If you need headroom for the future, consider the Corsair 850HX (modular) and the Corsair 850TX (non-modular). Both are excellent units.
 
PC_User said:
If you need headroom for the future, consider the Corsair 850HX (modular) and the Corsair 850TX (non-modular). Both are excellent units.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the 850HX is what I had in my OP... it seems very solid, but I always overestimate my needs, so if 750 will be enough to run whatever I throw in my box over the next year, there's no point in throwing an extra 50 bucks at an 850. Also, wasn't sure if the 750's out there would have enough PCI-e connectors.
 
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DeathbyPutz said:
A couple further questions...

Is the Cogage TRUE Spirit enough to keep the 920 cool at 4.0? I was under the impression that it was a pretty hot chip. I was steering toward the full TRUE or Mega (6 heatpipes vs the 4 on the TRUE Spirit) to be on the cooling safe side. If they're overkill, then I'm definitely in agreement that the Spirit is more cooling for the money (just wanted to make sure it was enough cooling)
Click to expand...

The Cogage TRUE Spirit is more than enough to keep the i7 920 at 4.0GHz cool. If you check this review where the Cogage was tested with a 3.6GHz OC'd i7 920, you can see that the Cogage actually performs better than the TRUE:
http://hardocp.com/article/2009/10/18/thermalright_ultra_extreme_120_revision_b_c_review/4

Asssuming a linear increase in temperatures from the review above, with a i7 920 at 4Ghz, you're probably looking at max temps of 49C to 50C at full load.

DeathbyPutz said:
For the power supply, I was thinking 850 for the future... Although I'm only going to be running my single gtx280 for now, the plan is to through 1 or 2 new gen cards, and possibly keep the 280 for physics. I estimated 850 as enough for my most-card scenario (I don't plan on trying quad-CF or 3-way SLI). This is another example of my "conservative over-kill," like the heatsink, probably.
Click to expand...
If Nvidia pulls something like ATI did and offer faster cards that uses less power, then the Antec 750W PSU I recommended is more than enough.
 
I'm going to start ordering some of these parts... looking forward to getting it all pieced together, thanks again for the help guys.
 
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