New SFF build

[monst0r]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming, photo editing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
i'd like to stay around ~1200USD

3) Where do you live?
NJ and NY

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.
CPU, mobo, case, cooling, ssd, dvd drive (sata), ram. I haven't been looking into AMD much and I'm not sure how they would fair against intel in the mATX department. I'll go either way though.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
5870 vapor-x v2 (its 257mm compared to 282mm of ref. 5870, Auzentech Bravura (soundcard PCIe), possibly Corsair HX520, peripherals

6) Will you be overclocking?
yup

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
reusing Dell U2311H 23" eIPS

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Probably around mid-december to january unless someone thinks this would be a bad idea (Maybe wait until Q1 next year? idk)

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
would like USB3, at least 6 SATA ports, two PCIe slots (one at least x4, other x16)

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
mhm

I think its about time that I build a new system. I'm getting tired of my trusty P182 case even though it's served me well over the past few years. It's always a pain to pack and bring to college or a LAN, etc. so I was thinking SFF. I was parting things together recently on newegg and performance-pcs, and came up with a decent build. if someone has any input on the config i chose or has a better valued one, please chime in. I didn't get a WB for my 5870 because it's not really in my budget right now. I'll see how it is after I get this part running. It's very possible that I left something obvious out here.

REVISED LIST 9/25/10

 

[Dangman]

How much photo editing do you actually do? Like enough to require a crap ton of RAM?

Oh and your build list is missing the CPU. Since you live in NJ and NY, there's a Microcenter in both states so you might be able to get the i7 930 or 950 for $200 to $230. Which makes your grand total a total of ~$1400 to $1450. If a MC is not close to you, then the total will be around $1500.

Is that $1500 total ok for you? If not, we can definitely cut back.

Oh if/when you're buying parts from Newegg, ship and charge from a New York address. Since Newegg has a warehouse in NJ, that means that they have to charge sales tax to NJ residents.

 

[monst0r]

How much photo editing do you actually do? Like enough to require a crap ton of RAM?

Oh and your build list is missing the CPU. Since you live in NJ and NY, there's a Microcenter in both states so you might be able to get the i7 930 or 950 for $200 to $230. Which makes your grand total a total of ~$1400 to $1450. If a MC is not close to you, then the total will be around $1500.

Is that $1500 total ok for you? If not, we can definitely cut back.

Oh if/when you're buying parts from Newegg, ship and charge from a New York address. Since Newegg has a warehouse in NJ, that means that they have to charge sales tax to NJ residents.

I would say that 6GB of RAM should be enough for now. I shoot semi-professionally (getting some paid gigs) but the rough parts that I selected should do great with my workflow (at least from what I can tell). It wouldn't be that hard to add another 6GB kit if I really find it lacking. Photoshop runs pretty decent even now on my 4GB of RAM so 6GB should be great. Yeah I realize that about newegg, so I am planning on shipping to my NY address (my university). Oh about the CPU, I was thinking of an i7 930 from microcenter ($199 with 3.5% tax in NJ). I would like to hover more around the $1200 mark so if you can find a way to trim off $200 without a huge hit that would be great. I'm thinking of ditching the SSD since I have a WD 1.5TB EARS drive currently and it runs great. Another thing that could be possible is reusing my 2 year old HX520, does anyone know roughly how much this system would pull at full load? (I keep my computer on 24/7 with the F@H SMP client running, no GPU client though).

I was also wondering how much an TRUE120, E8500, Asus P5Q Deluxe, 2x2GB Corsair DHX and a beat up P182 might fetch me. I was thinking of putting up on craigslist as a whole system (i would throw in the other missing components, nothing special though). Would it be smarter to part the thing out? If this isn't the right place to ask this please tell me.

 

[Dangman]

You're not going to be able to reuse that 520HX. Simply not enough power for your planned setup. Hell even the 650HX is borderline sufficient for that setup. But we can do this:

Ditch that RAM and Corsair PSU for this combo instead:
$235 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM + XFX Black Edition P1-750B-CAG9 750W Modular PSU Combo.

Saves you $25 while getting the same performance in RAM and a larger PSU.

Swap out the mobo and DVD burner for this combo instead:
$232 - Asus Rampage III Gene Intel X58 mATX Motherboard + Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner

Saves you $20 while getting a fairly similar DVD burner.

Finally, drop the SSD and reuse your hard drive. After all that, you're looking at $180 in savings, meaning only $20 over budget.

In terms of power usage, at full CPU load, the i7 930 + mobo + single HDD, at stock, will use up 189W. An OC'd i7 930 however can use up to 317W at full CPU load. The HD 5870 1GB will use aout 265W at full load by itself. Thus the 520HX is not enough due to your planned overclocking and barely enough for the system at stock.

 

[monst0r]

I had a feeling that it wouldn't be enough (especially with the pump and i7), but I have never heard anything about XFX's PSUs. I would really like to go with a Seasonic, PCP&C, or Corsiar model as I've never had a problem with any of them. That mobo combo looks like a good way to save $20, plus dropping the SSD.

 

[monst0r]

Another thing that I guess I could consider would be buying a few parts used. I saw the same pump for 35$ used for 1.5years. Even if the thing craps out on me a little early I have a feeling it would be worth it anyway.

 

[Dangman]

I had a feeling that it wouldn't be enough (especially with the pump and i7), but I have never heard anything about XFX's PSUs. I would really like to go with a Seasonic, PCP&C, or Corsiar model as I've never had a problem with any of them. That mobo combo looks like a good way to save $20, plus dropping the SSD.

The XFX PSU I recommended IS made by Seasonic. So you're still getting Seasonic quality no matter what. Oh and PC P&C is no longer that good of a PSU company these days as a result of the OCZ takeover/purchase.

 

[monst0r]

The XFX PSU I recommended IS made by Seasonic. So you're still getting Seasonic quality no matter what. Oh and PC P&C is no longer that good of a PSU company these days as a result of the OCZ takeover/purchase.

Ah I haven't been up to date with this stuff since the wolfdale days. The PSU looks like it has decent specs, any reason why its cheaper than the 750HX? Is it just price markup? About the RAM, from what I've heard the ripjaws are crazy OCers. I revised my WCing list a little and noticed I had ~30$ of extra stuff. Here's my revised list so far. I might go for that XFX PSU not too sure yet.
I revised the list, see OP.

 

[Dangman]

Ah I haven't been up to date with this stuff since the wolfdale days. The PSU looks like it has decent specs, any reason why its cheaper than the 750HX? Is it just price markup? About the RAM, from what I've heard the ripjaws are crazy OCers. I revised my WCing list a little and noticed I had ~30$ of extra stuff. Here's my revised list so far. I might go for that XFX PSU not too sure yet.
I revised the list, see OP.

Price markup mainly.

Even if you were trying to hit 4.2Ghz with the i7, ANY DDR3 1600 RAM set will allow you to do that. In other words, RAM overclock capability does not matter that much.

 

[monst0r]

Ah, so with i7's, BCLK is more important? I just remember when Core2's where around nice memory was a must to get the most out of a system.

 

[Dangman]

Ah, so with i7's, BCLK is more important? I just remember when Core2's where around nice memory was a must to get the most out of a system.

Yeah BCLK is important.

Even back in the C2D days, RAM wasn't thatimportant in overclocking depending on the CPU's multiplier and how high of OC you wanted to get. Even at stock speeds, high speed and low latency RAM didn't make that much of a difference for C2D/C2Q setups.

 

[monst0r]

Does anyone have any experience running an i7 and 5870 from an XSPC RX240 plus an RX140 or something similar? I'm hoping that this setup would provide enough cooling for a decent OC on both parts.

 

[monst0r]

Does anyone have any experience running an i7 and 5870 from an XSPC RX240 plus an RX140 or something similar? I'm hoping that this setup would provide enough cooling for a decent OC on both parts.

bump, still curious.