Need help with PC Build

[darkstarinc]

Well it's been a very long time since I built custom PCs, after browsing Newegg and stuff, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want to build.

I'll post the part's that I think will work out, and it will be 2 different types of configurations..

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
--Gaming, Heavy Graphic usage, rendering
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
--3K Max Tax/shipping included.
3) Where do you live?
--Cali
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.
--This will be listed below
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
--Nothing right now
6) Will you be overclocking?
--Maybe, more than likely
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
--23" right now
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
--Within the week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
--SLI or Crossfire for sure
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
--I have a MSDN license, so it will be 64bit Win 7

Here are the 2 configurations I am thinking about.
Config 1 - From Newegg.com

Tower - Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
HDDs - 2x Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Video - 2x EVGA 01G-P3-1465-AR GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Power Supply - Antec TPQ-1200 1200W Continuous Power
Memory - GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000)
Motherboard - ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU - Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930
Optical Drive(s) - x2 LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu-ray 3D feature SATA Model iHBS112 - OEM
OS HDD - OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Total - $2,940

Config 2 - From Tigerdirect.com

Tower - Cooler Master RC-942-KKN1 HAF X ATX Full Tower Computer Case
HDD's - 2x Western Digital WD20EARS Caviar Green Hard Drive - 2TB, 3.5", SATA-3G
Video - 2x XFX Radeon HD 5830 1GB PCIe DDR5
Power Supply - Ultra X4 1050-Watt Modular Power Supply
Memory - 2x OCZ OCZ3G1333LV8GK Gold 8GB PC10666 DDR3 Dual Channel Memory (2x 4GB)
Motherboard - ASUS Crosshair IV Formula Motherboard - AMD 890FX, Socket AM3, ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, RAID, SATA 6.0GB/s
CPU - AMD Phenom II 1090T Black Edition Processor w/ Ultra ChillTec Black CPU Cooler Bundle
Optical Drives - 2 x LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu-ray 3D feature SATA
OS HDD - OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Total - $2,954

That is kinda what I am thinking, looking to get some feedback on these 2 config's, and what I can change out to something better, or just some general comments on it.

Thanks!

 

[Dangman]

Config 1 is the better of the two choices but still needs some tweaking:

- The Antec 1200 is a cramped and overpriced case. There are significantly better and roomier cases for the money:
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$70 - Cooler Master CM690 II ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922M RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-E8B ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$120 - Thermaltake ElementS VK60001N2Z ATX Case
$130 - Cooler Master Storm Sniper ATX Case
$150 - Antec P183 ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$170 - Cooler Master Cosmos S 1000 RC-1100-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$180 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$180 - Lian Li PC-B25F ATX Case
$210 - Silverstone FT01-B ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$240 - Lian Li PC-V1200A Plus II ATX Case
$300 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case

- That Geil RAM is not worth the cost at all considering that you can get 12GB of RAM for not much more. There's also little to zero performance difference between DDR3 2000 and DDR3 1600 RAM:
$285 - 3 x G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM

- GTX 465 1GB is not that good of a idea considering taht GTX 460 1GB SLI uses less power, provides less heat, and provides the same if not better performance than the GTX 465.
$230 - Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card

- Can you find a reason why that Asus Rampage III mobo would be worth it over these other quality motherboards?:
$210 - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
$240 - Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 ATX Motherboard


Config 2 is just not that good:
- GTX 460 1GB SLI will demolish HD 5830 or even HD 5850 Crossfire

- The 1090T is not worth the $300 price tag at all considering that the $3000 Core i7 930 outperforms it

- Spending more than $160 on an AMD motherboard is defeating the main advantage of an AMD build over an Intel build: Good price to performance ratio.

- The PSU is so-so

 

[darkstarinc]

Thanks for the input. I'll check out some different cases, and see what I like.

I'm a fan of G.Skill, always have been, Thanks for pointing that out, 12GB for that price is a great deal

Motherboard wise, Not sure really, I haven't been a fan of Gigabyte boards.

 

[darkstarinc]

For gaming, is running 1 GTX480 better than running 2 GTX460?

 

[E4g1e]

- Can you find a reason why that Asus Rampage III mobo would be worth it over these other quality motherboards?:
$210 - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
$240 - Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 ATX Motherboard

I echo this question. Even if you purchased the Rampage III just to have an onboard Intel NIC rather than a Realtek (Gigabyte) or Marvell (P6X58D-E) NIC, it still ends up more than $100 pricier than either of the other two mobos (after factoring in the $30 price for a separate PCI-e x1 Intel NIC card). However, the Rampage III might be worth it if you continuously overclock that i7-930 to 4.0 GHz or higher at anywhere close to stock voltages ($200-ish X58 mobos, in my experience, tend to peter out at 3.7 to 3.8 GHz without requiring an increase in the core voltage to higher than Intel's recommended maximum).

 

[cbliss1000]

The 1090T is not worth the $300 price tag at all considering that the $300 Core i7 930 outperforms it

Fixed that for you. $3 grand would be a pretty penny for the 930

 

[darkstarinc]

I've changed up my Config 1 parts list, I've added the following;
Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card x2 of them
3 x G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Comes in at $2,847.

Sucks ordering with Newegg, as I have to pay $214 in taxes!

 

[Dangman]

For gaming, is running 1 GTX480 better than running 2 GTX460?

Not really. GTX 460 1GB SLI will outperform a single GTX 480

Sucks ordering with Newegg, as I have to pay $214 in taxes!

Try to order as many of the parts as possible from Amazon.com. They don't charge tax for CA residents and usually have free shipping on most of the good parts.

Also, do you happen to live near a Microcenter?

@ cbliss1000
Thanks for the fix