New core i7 build help

[dhtran]

Hey guys, I'm looking to build a new computer within the next month or so. I'll be getting the i7 920 from Microcenter for around $200 which is included in my budget. I'll be doing some gaming, youtube, and general usage. I want a computer that I won't have to worry about upgrading for a while. Any help and suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm also open to AMD suggestions. Thanks in advance.


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming,Utorrent,Youtube,Homework,General Usage
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around 800-1000 w/ tax and shipping
3) Where do you live?
Southern California, Frys is 10 minutes away and Microcenter is about 1 hr away
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything except dvd drives
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
LG Lite-ON dvd+dl drive
6) Will you be overclocking?
maybe?
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2 21" dell monitors
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing in particular
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes

 

[Dangman]

$200 - Core i7 920
$205 - Asus P6T SE Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
$155 - Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$155 - Sapphire 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$70 - Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$75 - Antec Earthwatts 650W PSU
----
Total: $860 plus tax and shipping.

Still enough leftover for a case plus tax and shipping.

 

[dhtran]

Thanks. Any other suggestions?

 

[Shalafi]

nix Sapphire as your 5770 vendor and go with XFX instead for better warranty

costs $20 more though

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447&cm_re=5770-_-14-150-447-_-Product

 

[dhtran]

How does that motherboard compare to GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 and ram to G.SKILL Trident 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) ? (was suggested by a friend) . Would I even need Raid 0? Sorry for all the noob questions, looking to build this asap. Thanks in advance.

 

[Dangman]

How does that motherboard compare to GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 and ram to G.SKILL Trident 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) ? (was suggested by a friend) . Would I even need Raid 0? Sorry for all the noob questions, looking to build this asap. Thanks in advance.

Mobo wise, the UD5 is geared towards more hardcore overclocking enthusiasts and those that need SLI and Crossfire support. The Asus p6T SE only supports Crossfire. I'm fairly sure that you wouldn't need the features of the UD5.

As for the RAM, the G.Skill DDR3 2000 RAM is a waste of money as you wouldn't notice an iota of real world performance between that G.Skill set and the lower clocked Corsair set that I recommended.

As for RAID 0, if you want the fastest loading times possible and have a backups of your critically important data, then yes RAID 0 would be a good idea.

 

[dhtran]

Thanks a lot! I'll probably be going with your suggestion above.

 

[PC_User]

Danny's suggestion is good.

I would suggest:
- Buying the components from Amazon to avoid CA sales tax
- Getting the WD 640GB Black instead of the Blue. There's a good deal on the WD hard drives which I posted in this thread.