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Looking for Some Build Help (~$3250)

M

mantra002

n00b
Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
9
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, Photoshop, and 3D CAD
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'm shooting for $3000-$3500 excluding tax and shipping.
3) Where do you live?
Corvallis, OR
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case, CPU, RAM, HDD, SSD, DVD-Drive, Videos Card(s), Motherboard, PSU, Misc Cooling.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Nothing to reuse.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Maybe a little bit, like the motherboard auto-overclock stuff.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I have 2 monitors running at 1920x1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Over the July 4th Weekend
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I don't have any particular motherboard needs.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I'm planning on buy Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

Currently on the Wish List:
CPU: i7-980X
Video: ATi 5970
MB: Asus Rampage III
PSU: Antex TPQ-1200
RAM: Corsair XMS3 12GB
SSD: OCZ Vertex 30gb
HDD: WD Caviar 1.5TB
DVD: Lite-On Generic-y DVD Drive
I'm not sure what to go with for a case...

Any help, critiques, suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I used to be a lot more current on hardward but fell behind over the last year or so. I'd love to get some advice from the experts!

Thanks!
 
How badly do you want to overclock? You don't need the very expensive Intel Core i7-980X or the Asus Rampage III for decent overclocking gains.

Likewise, if you only plan on running one video card, you don't need a 1200 watt power supply. Look for a lower powered (600 to 750 watt) yet still reliable power supply from Antec (but avoid the Basiq line), Seasonic, Corsair, Silverstone, or Enermax (among other brands).

Which games do you plan on playing? At which level of visual quality?

You're going to spend over $3000 CAD but you're only going to pick up a 30GB SSD? Look for a 60GB to 120GB Vertex 2 or Intel X25-M SSD (another good reason not to go with the i7-980X, at the least).

Which Caviar HDD were you considering?

What features do you want with your case? How big do you want it?
 
How badly do you want to overclock?
Not that badly, the other CPU I was looking at the i7-960, do you think this would be a suitable option? I was drawn to the 980X just because it's a fancy new model to be honest (and six-cores!). As for as the motherboard goes... I'm not really sure why I want the Rampage III, I'd be happy to select an alternate.

The reason for the big PSU was I was thinking of maybe sticking in another 5970 eventually, but I figure this might just be a ridiculous thing to do...

Which games do you plan on playing? At which level of visual quality?
As of right now probably the most intensive games I would like to play at max visual quality (only 1 screen, 1920x1200) are:
  • ARMA 2
  • Dawn of War II
  • Supreme Commander 2

I wasn't sure what the use for SSDs were, from what I remember the thing to do is load on the OS on them, and then use them for scratch disks and that sort of thing. If you think it's worthwhile to get a bigger one I would be happy to do so!

Which Caviar HDD were you considering?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136592

What features do you want with your case? How big do you want it?
I'm pretty ambivalent on case features, I guess the main two criteria I'm looking for are good airflow and quiet. I couldn't care less about anything else really.
 
I wouldn't get the Core i7 960 at 3.2Ghz. At $560, I think you should invest the money into other components like a larger SSD drive(s). You can O/C the Core i7 930 (2.8Ghz) priced at $280 to 3.2Ghz speeds and beyond that. A Radeon 5970 would be monster for 1920x1200 gaming. I'd get the XFX brand if you're going to get that card due to the better warranty.

I also think it's crazy to get 2 x Radeon 5970 cards for 1920x1200 res. I would just stick with 1 until a new video card outperforms it.

Stick with a good 750W power supply with 60A on the +12V. It will be enough to power a Radeon HD 5970 graphics and for O/C your cpu. Corsair 750TX, Corsair 750HX, Antec Truepower New 750 or XFX BE 750. An 850W is not too far off in price range also. The Corsair 850TX is priced at $130 on Newegg. Anything more than this is really unnecessary.
 
Okay, so, I've shifted down the i7-930 and tacked on the Noctua NH-D14 cooler.

I've also dumped the SSD I had and switched to:
OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Do you think this is large enough?
 
everyone likes spending money when they get it. but you're paying big premiums for the highest end stuff. so unless you actually need all that stuff, it is kind of wasted. and unless you have more money on top of that to spend on upgrades next year, your new computer will seem old very quickly when you read people talking about their pentium 7 with radeon 6000.

if you want a really good computer next year AND next month, you need to be prepared to spend big money regularly, not just REALLY big money once. spend $1500-$2000 on your computer now and use the rest later when the excellence wears off.

get a WD black 2tb now, make a 300gb partition at the start, and move that partition onto a $600 SSD next year. there, half your 2011 upgrade path already planned out
 
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