New Build Advice CONFUSION!!

J

jpinks

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
65
Ok I am a bit confused as to why the Power Supply Calculator is telling me a 900wt supply is needed. Yes I intend to overclock the system, and I might add a second 6970 later in the year (ie Christmas). Will a SSD drive help overall system speed using it as main drive or will it be negated by having the 1 TB drive for all games and apps?

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc Gaming some video conversions, camcorder to dvd type stuff for family.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? 1000-1500

3) Where do you live? Kansas City

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.

Build from ground up.
Case (Thinking either a Haf X or Haf 932, though I read some dust complaints on 932)
Processor i7-2600K
HD SATA 1TB 7200 RPM
SSD is a maybe, is it really worth it for boot only?
DVD/RW
Power Supply (Corsair 750TX)
Motherboard (LGA1155)
Video Card (6970 Sapphire) Might Crossfire later
CPU Heatsink/fan (Coolermaster Hyper-212 plus
Ram was considering 1866 DDR 3 Corsair but being told not to as its a waste of money on Sandy Bridge chipsets

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Only thing I might reuse is my DVD/RW Drive SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N LightScribe

6) Will you be overclocking? Yes but nothing crazy. Maybe 4.5Ghz

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 30 inch 1900x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Next week to 10 days

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Most LGA 1155 motherboards seem to support most of these, USB 3.0 nice Sata 6gbs great Crossfire at least in future possibly.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Currently have Vista 64 but will probably just get Win 7 Home Premium 64 do I miss anything by not getting pro?

COOLER MASTER HAF X or HAF 932 (heard these catch lots of dust and animal fur?)

MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s
or Asus P8P67 Deluxe (always been Asus buyer but lots of people seem to be having issues with the current crop)

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6970 2GB

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz gonna oc to 4.5

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866

Thinking SSD for main drive Suggestions????

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

2 CD/DVD RW Drives
 
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Some people are telling me that the memory is overkill and not to use it. Some say dont go over 1333 or 1600. Not sure why.
 
Whats the thoughts on SSD's if I just use it for a windows drive? Will it really add noticeable performance if programs are running off the standard disk I have listed?
 
jpinks said:
Some people are telling me that the memory is overkill and not to use it. Some say dont go over 1333 or 1600. Not sure why.
Click to expand...

1866 speed RAM is not needed especially for someone who is not O/C. Even if you O/C with 1600 or 1333,is doable. Depending on what you do, 8GB of RAM is alot. But, you might as well just 8GB of RAM now while its cheap. I would if I was building a Sandy Bridge computer. The 2500K cpu has an unlocked multiplier. Therefore, you can adjust the multiplier setting to O/C the cpu.
 
jpinks said:
Whats the thoughts on SSD's if I just use it for a windows drive? Will it really add noticeable performance if programs are running off the standard disk I have listed?
Click to expand...

Oh yes. The SSD drive as a boot drive with Windows o/s installed will show a noticeable performance. You can't install a program and run it without an o/s.
 
Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST" if you want us to further critique that build list.

jpinks said:
Some people are telling me that the memory is overkill and not to use it. Some say dont go over 1333 or 1600. Not sure why.
Click to expand...
Because with the SB CPUs, there's really no advantage whatsoever by going with RAM higher than DDR3 1333 RAM. No noticeable performance increase, no increased OC capability, nothing. As such, you are wasting your money.
 
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc Gaming some video conversions, camcorder to dvd type stuff for family.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? 1000-1500

3) Where do you live? USA

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.

Build from ground up.
Case (Thinking either a Haf X or Haf 932, though I read some dust complaints on 932)
Processor i7-2600K
HD SATA 1TB 7200 RPM
SSD is a maybe, is it really worth it for boot only?
DVD/RW
Power Supply (Corsair 750TX)
Motherboard (LGA1155)
Video Card (6970 Sapphire) Might Crossfire later
CPU Heatsink/fan (Coolermaster Hyper-212 plus
Ram was considering 1866 DDR 3 Corsair but being told not to as its a waste of money on Sandy Bridge chipsets

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Only thing I might reuse is my DVD/RW Drive SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N LightScribe

6) Will you be overclocking? Yes but nothing crazy. Maybe 4.5Ghz

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 30 inch 1900x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Next week to 10 days

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Most LGA 1155 motherboards seem to support most of these, USB 3.0 nice Sata 6gbs great Crossfire at least.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Currently have Vista 64 but will probably just get Win 7 Home Premium 64
 
jpinks said:
Case (Thinking either a Haf X or Haf 932, though I read some dust complaints on 932)
Click to expand...
Don't bother with the HAF X since it's not worth the money at all outside of a very specific situation which you do not have.

jpinks said:
HD SATA 1TB 7200 RPM
Click to expand...
This Samsung is faster and cheaper than that WD drive:
$65 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

jpinks said:
Power Supply (Corsair 750TX)
Click to expand...
If you are indeed aiming for HD 6970 Crossfire, then I recommend a PSU with a little more headroom. AT's understanding of PSUs and power consumption is very lacking IMO and as such I would take their numbers with a grain of salt. A larger PSU isn't that much more anyway:
$140 - Corsair 850TX 850W PSU

jpinks said:
SSD is a maybe, is it really worth it for boot only?
Click to expand...
Yes.
jpinks said:
Motherboard (LGA1155)
Click to expand...
Go for the MSI mobo you listed in your first post.

jpinks said:
Ram was considering 1866 DDR 3 Corsair but being told not to as its a waste of money on Sandy Bridge chipsets
Click to expand...
It is. So go for this RAM set instead:
$85 - G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
 
What SSD's would be good for a boot drive?? Should I look at a 128 or whats a good size? What cases would you recomend I would like one with good wiring solutions and airflow as I dont water cool, I like full towers but if a Mid Tower will work please give me suggestions?
 
jpinks said:
What SSD's would be good for a boot drive?? Should I look at a 128 or whats a good size? What cases would you recomend I would like one with good wiring solutions and airflow as I dont water cool, I like full towers but if a Mid Tower will work please give me suggestions?
Click to expand...
I recommend these SSDs:
$135 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SSD
$265 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC0128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SSD

64GB is enough for the OS and very critical apps or small sized apps

I recommend these cases:
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$90 - NZXT Tempest Evo TEVO-001BK ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$106 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$165 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$220 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$220 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$290 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
 
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Thats quite a list of cases. The CM 690 and HAF 922/932 I have seen a bit about. The 932 I was told tends to be a dusty case because of all the openings and having a cat and a dog thats a concern for fur build up :) How do the other 2 stack up on wiring runs in your experience(IE tired of spaghetti in my cases). Will do some more checking on them. Nice wiring runs is something I really appreciate.
 
From what I've seen, cable management with those cases aren't bad at all.
 
Have you ever used the CM Hyper 212 plus on a HAF 932 case. Found a deal on it from Tiger Direct for $119 so its ordered. Just concerned as a couple guys I know personally couldnt make it fit in there cases. They have mid towers but I dont remember models
 
jpinks said:
Have you ever used the CM Hyper 212 plus on a HAF 932 case. Found a deal on it from Tiger Direct for $119 so its ordered. Just concerned as a couple guys I know personally couldnt make it fit in there cases. They have mid towers but I dont remember models
Click to expand...

I have not.
 
jpinks said:
Have you ever used the CM Hyper 212 plus on a HAF 932 case. Found a deal on it from Tiger Direct for $119 so its ordered. Just concerned as a couple guys I know personally couldnt make it fit in there cases. They have mid towers but I dont remember models
Click to expand...

I got that same hs/f in my CM690 II case and it fits just fine, I'd imagine that the HAF 932 hsa similar dimensions, if not you can cross reference the dimensions to see if it will fit.
 
Hey Skillz my neighbors son is looking to upgrade his pc (this summer) and to that case. Does it come with the 120 side fans or do you have to buy them seperately? How does it do on wiring both sides of the case come off? Are there more than one 690 II? He said something about the 690II Advanced?
 
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Ok here's what I am ordering, let me know if you see any major errors, problems, or omissions :D

MSI P67A-GD65 Mobo
XFX HD6970 Radeon 2 Gig vid card
Corsair 750TX 750w 80plus power supply
Intel Core i7-2600K overclock here I come :)
Crucial SSD C300 128 GB Sata III
G.Skill Ripjaws 8 Gig DDR3
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB HD
Asus DRW 24x SATA CD/DVD
Windows 7 Home Premium
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

Case coming HAF 932
 
jpinks said:
Hey Skillz my neighbors son is looking to upgrade his pc (this summer) and to that case. Does it come with the 120 side fans or do you have to buy them seperately? How does it do on wiring both sides of the case come off? Are there more than one 690 II? He said something about the 690II Advanced?
Click to expand...
There are two versions: The 690 II Basic and 690 II Advanced. Go for the Advanced.
jpinks said:
Ok here's what I am ordering, let me know if you see any major errors, problems, or omissions :D

MSI P67A-GD65 Mobo
XFX HD6970 Radeon 2 Gig vid card
Corsair 750TX 750w 80plus power supply
Intel Core i7-2600K overclock here I come :)
Crucial SSD C300 128 GB Sata III
G.Skill Ripjaws 8 Gig DDR3
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB HD
Asus DRW 24x SATA CD/DVD
Windows 7 Home Premium
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

Case coming HAF 932
Click to expand...

Looks good.
 
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