New Build - $1100 Budget

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[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 5, 2004
Messages
1,690
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Work, Light Gaming,
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1100 Including Shipping
3) Where do you live?
Orlando, FL (Tiger and co charge me tax :()
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
I plan on keeping my Antec P160, unless there is some major issue with keeping it.

I will be needing:
  • CPU
  • Motherboard
  • RAM
  • Boot HD
  • Video Card
  • PSU
  • Video Card

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
My Case (P160), Optical Drives, and Storage HDs (Samsung 750GB 32MB Cache)

6) Will you be overclocking?
I would like to, but not immediately. I plan to purchase an aftermarket cooler after the fact.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Acer 22" 1680x1050 resolution
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.
Raid, SLI/Crossfire (1366 boards support both now it seems), i9 support
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 Ultimate 64


After some thought i decided to go 1366 for the longest upgrade path (i think..who knows?). One issue I just found out about but not sure about is that the board I chose cannot support sli/crossfire with dual slot cards. Which kinda screws me with the 5770. I liked this particular board or the i9 support sata3 and usb3.

Heres what I have on my mind at the moment. Again it seems like ill have to make a significant video card or motherboard choice if I want to go crossfire in the future.

$249.00
i7 930 1366

$229.98 Combo (30 MIR)
XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W

$374.98 Combo
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 7-7-7-20 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

$199.00 (30 MIR)
OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX60G 2.5" 60GB
 
I went 1366 cause it seemed the best choice for when I want to upgrade. I plan on keeping this computer for a long long time. I am upgrading from a Pentium D 940 if that puts it into perspective.

What are you thoughts between 1156 and 1366?
 
You don't really need either CrossFire or SLI for your resolution. Yes, two cards in CF/SLI mode would offer comparatively better performance than one card (of the same model, if not brand), but most high-end cards offer excellent performance on their own at that resolution. In other words, it's not really worth the cost to pursue a CF/SLI setup for a 1680x1050 or lower resolution.

I agree with lt_shiro that you should get a Core i5-based system and a Corsair HX650 power supply. The things that Intel's Socket 1366 platform offers over Socket 1156 are six-core CPU support, dual x16 CrossFire and SLI support (many boards support both CF and SLI), and tri-channel RAM mode. Based on your tasks, however, you don't really need a Socket 1366 system. Here's one alternative setup:

$379 - Intel Core i5 750 and OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD combo deal (free shipping on both)
$105 - G.Skill Ripjaws Series 2x2GB DDR3 1600 dual channel kit (free shipping)
$170 - Asus P7P55D PRO (free shipping)
(Keep the XFX HD5770 and Corsair HX650)

If you want a processor with Hyper Threading, choose either the Core i7 860 or the Xeon X3440 instead of the Core i5 750. Since you don't really need CF/SLI support, let alone a second video card, you could save money by going with a P55 board that doesn't have dual x8 CF (and/or SLI) like the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 or the Asus P7P55D-E. A good, relatively inexpensive CPU cooler to consider is the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus.
 
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if you are going for longest upgrade path, go with the 1366.

Also look at getting a SSD. Makes everyday task much faster.

edit - I agree with tiraides fully...
 
The Intel X25-M is a great choice if you're only going to use one SSD.

Let's revisit the Socket 1366 question: Why do you want it? Which features are "must have" for you?
 
Nothing is a must have. I have been using a piece of junk for the last couple years. Just wanting something that will last me a long time. And if in the interim I want to upgrade I can.

I am incredibly uncertain about 1156 and how long it will be support considering Intel has already planned new processors for 1366 and none for 1156.
 
Intel is marketing its Socket 1156 line-up as its "mainstream" line and the Socket 1366 line-up for its more expensive "enthusiast" line. I have heard nothing to date that suggests that Intel plans on dropping its Socket 1156 line-up any time soon (but this is Intel we're talking about...).
 
Le Sigh the ram I was looking at has now gone out of stock. I assume when newegg says OOS then its not coming back in. Cause i see other things that are out of stock but have the option to auto notify.
 
No microcenter around here :-(

I decided to go i7. A friend is donating my his P180 so I will be out of the P160

I am also gonna stick with my 8800GT and get a 5770 when prices go down a bit.

I shall post pictures...though probably not much to see!
 
Good PSU choice. I don't see a reason to not get the 930 if no MC is near you. :confused: The P160 was a nice case for its time. I recently sold mine on CL for $50. ;) If you liked the P160, you should like the P180 -- the most notable negative change is the weight (P160 was all aluminum, lol), but its all due to the sound dampening composition/materials of the case.
 
Thanks Engi. I actually did get a P180 from a friend. He upgraded to the 182 and i build my computer along side his. Its pretty incredibly how much better those 2 digits make for cable management!

Heres the build...with no CPU :-( this weekend is gonna kill me. I managed to run all the SATA cables behind the back of the case as well as power, I think its cabled as clean as a P180 will allow, and still looks messy hehe.

http://img248.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img0038mr.jpg
 
Got my CPU yesterday and just got up and running today.

Made a small change and ended up getting a 4870X2 for $160 bucks. That should last me a while at my res.

Oh my good god its so fast.

Thanks for all the advice guys!

Only trouble i am having now is I have the ICH10R raid controller but i cant figure out how to get it to run in AHCI for my single X25M. Any ideas?
 
What is the controller set to in the BIOS? Choose AHCI (or RAID, if you're gonna setup an array).

Ahh, thats the original P180. The newer version had all the same cable management holes as the P182.
 
you could buy used stuff in the sale section of here, you can actually find pretty good deals on there
 
enginurd said:
What is the controller set to in the BIOS? Choose AHCI (or RAID, if you're gonna setup an array).

Ahh, thats the original P180. The newer version had all the same cable management holes as the P182.
Click to expand...

Its set to Raid and its using the ICH10R. However when I boot the Intel Raid Bios says AHCI Bios not installed. And I havent had much luck with figuring out how to get the AHCI bios installed.

I have 1 X25-M and 2 Samsung Spinpoints running in raid 0.
 
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