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Need input on my i7 build

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Dr. Herbert West

n00b
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Messages
27
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~900
3) Where do you live?
US
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Motherboard, Ram, PSU, GPU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Hard Drives ( can not remember model numbers but they are WD raptors 10k rpm )
6) Will you be overclocking?
At some point.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
30"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I am ordering parts in a few days.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
USB 3.0, Crossfire/SLI, SATA 6gb/s
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Win7 Pro x64


Here is a list of items I am getting:
i7-960 ( I already have this cpu, will not effect the budget )
$199.99 - ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$159.99 - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMP6GX3M3A1600C7
$119.99 - SILVERSTONE OP850 850W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
$349.99 - GTX 570

Subtotal: $829.96

I have a few questions I am wondering if I should be putting more money into a motherboard and psu, should I also buy a different heatsink even if I don't plan on overclocking right now? I am not sure which brand GTX 570 to buy either any input here would be helpful. Right now I don't have plans to use SLI but I know I will later on. Which is when ill end up adding water cooling and overclock, when that is I am unsure. My current case is a PC3-725BK which has built in water cooling. I was planning on removing the koolance water cooling kit, and adding my own in. Or would it be better just to buy a new case?
 
6) Will you be overclocking?
At some point.
- Dr. Herbert West

Might spend a little more on the RAM, I wish someone would have recommend this to me when I built mine. I run 1600 and with my OC I am now OCing my memory which I don't care to do. If you dont plan on going crazy with the OC then that RAM you have would be fine.

Recommend:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145292
 
How soon do you want to order parts? Sandy Bridge "officially" arrives on Wednesday, January 5, and it's supposed to be a good overclocking platform.

You don't really need a Core i7 build for gaming. Depending on how far you plan on pushing your overclock, you may or may not need to get faster (than DDR3 1600) RAM.
 
He already has the 960... I guess he could sell it but really not worth it imo... I would wait for sandy bridge to come out just for the parts to lower, but not to get it.
 
I only went with the i7 960 because I got it for $99 with Intel retail edge, otherwise I would have gone with AMD most likely. My main goal is to build a computer that will be able to handle current games and ones coming out in 2011. The GTX 570 did better then any of the GTX 400 series in 2560x1600 gaming. I looked in to some of the ATI cards as well, but I have always had bad luck with ATI cards and their drivers.
 
Don't get a ATI card... imo. I have two and the drivers are annoying. People keep telling me that both have driver issues but I don't believe NV does as much, I use them at work and don't have issues like I do with my home PC
 
I would pick up a different HSF just to avoid the hassle of tearing down the PC later on to install a new HSF.

As for which GPU brand, out of the currently available brands on Newegg, I'd go with Gigabyte.

The PSU and motherboard you chose are fine purchases. However the RAM is a poor choice considering that you can get the same real world performance and more RAM with this set:
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9S-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM

$50 cheaper but 2GB more RAM and the same real world performance in games.
 
Thanks for all the info, I should be ordering my parts today. Newegg has GTX 570 EVGA cards in should I go with that over the Gigabyte? If so should I go with the superclocked if I can?
 
With an i7 I would go with tripple channel ram. So while I dont like your original corsair dominator because its way overpriced, I would still do more then dual channel. If it were me I would go with G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) for 160 using promo code EMCZNPY55.. This ends today though so if your going to do it grab it with the extra 40 bucks off..
 
bastage said:
With an i7 I would go with tripple channel ram. So while I dont like your original corsair dominator because its way overpriced, I would still do more then dual channel. If it were me I would go with G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) for 160 using promo code EMCZNPY55.. This ends today though so if your going to do it grab it with the extra 40 bucks off..
Click to expand...

I saw that last night as was thinking the same thing...I did research in dual channel vs triple also and some people say there is no gain why others say there is, but I had planned on sticking with triple channel. Why does everyone buy the Corsair Dominator ram then? I have always had good luck with Corsair, and the cas is 7, the last time I bought ram was DDR2.
 
Another question with the heatsink, H50/H70 seem to be at the same price as most other heatsinks should I go with that or stick with just air for now?
 
Dr. Herbert West said:
Another question with the heatsink, H50/H70 seem to be at the same price as most other heatsinks should I go with that or stick with just air for now?
Click to expand...

In general, I believe the Prolimitech coolers are beating out the H50 in benchmarks by a small margin, and they are cooler too. Of course, they also take up much more room, so you should probably consider that as well.
 
Dr. Herbert West said:
I saw that last night as was thinking the same thing...I did research in dual channel vs triple also and some people say there is no gain why others say there is, but I had planned on sticking with triple channel. Why does everyone buy the Corsair Dominator ram then? I have always had good luck with Corsair, and the cas is 7, the last time I bought ram was DDR2.
Click to expand...

People buy it because its corsair dominator.. No other reason.. It isn't better performance or cost compared to the alternatives..

Edit: Infact comparing it to the g.skill ripjaws the corsair even at equal price is a lower grade product due to being 1.65v instead of 1.5v
 
A 30 inch monitor could be a little expensive. I would recommend a 23 inch if you can do it since that seems to be the sweet spot today.
 
I already own the 30" monitor, I have had it for a while now. Thanks for the info on the ram bastage. With the H50 I saw that it was no getting as great as temps as a few air heatsinks, but size is one thing I think the i7 stock heatsink is large I can not imagine how large some of the other ones get. I was thinking of going with H70 it does better has a bigger rad and two fans, I could do a push/pull setup I think that gets the best temps.
 
$359.99 - EVGA GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 012-P3-1570-AR Video Card EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I think that's worth it just because of the lifetime warranty, anyone know if I take off the stock heatsink and put on a waterblock if that will void the warranty?
 
Dr. Herbert West said:
I already own the 30" monitor, I have had it for a while now. Thanks for the info on the ram bastage. With the H50 I saw that it was no getting as great as temps as a few air heatsinks, but size is one thing I think the i7 stock heatsink is large I can not imagine how large some of the other ones get. I was thinking of going with H70 it does better has a bigger rad and two fans, I could do a push/pull setup I think that gets the best temps.
Click to expand...

Yea the hx0 series are good for moderate over-clocks, but there not as good as some of the massive tower coolers. I am however a fan of them as long as the case has a good mounting spot for them. if it doesn't then its counter productive.
 
Dr. Herbert West said:
$359.99 - EVGA GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 012-P3-1570-AR Video Card EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I think that's worth it just because of the lifetime warranty, anyone know if I take off the stock heatsink and put on a waterblock if that will void the warranty?
Click to expand...

Last I checked it shouldn't void the warranty doing so.
 
I was thinking of adding in an SSD, is there one someone can recommend? so far I just am going with this one.

$134.99 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
 
$109.99 - G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI

Would this ram be alright if I did not plan on overclocking?
 
Dr. Herbert West said:
$109.99 - G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI

Would this ram be alright if I did not plan on overclocking?
Click to expand...

It's actually overkill and poorly priced. The RAM I recommended earlier was a far far better choice. Note that the Core i7/X58 route works just fine with dual channel sets of RAM and that the difference between triple and dual channel RAM is only noticeable in synthetic benchmarks.
 
i went triple simply for the amount of ram. (this was 2yrs ago btw, 6GB for $85 IIRC)

stick with that crucial ssd unless you want to wait for the new stuff, which should be out in a few months (announced at ces this week).
 
Turns out after looking at my old DVD Burners they are IDE, any recommended brands or models? I am still stuck on the SSD C300 64GB's write speed is rather low I know as a boot drive it won't make to much of a difference, but I look at OCZ Vertex 2 it almost seems like a better option, but they seem to have far to many problems. Then is 64GB even enough for a OS/Apps/Games. I think I might see if I can't just get the C300 128GB. Thanks for the help!
 
Nowadays, virtually any SATA optical drive should work for you. That said, I'd advise against a Lite-On drive as it's comparatively louder than other brands.
 
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