Please critique my i7 build...

G

g|aSsJaw

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 24, 2003
Messages
262
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I do very little PC gaming these days. The only game I'm planning on playing is Starcraft 2 when that comes out, and possibly the new Diablo. I do some work in Photoshop, but not enough to build a computer around using it. A majority of my time is spent web browsing, listening to music, and watching a majority of my television shows and movies. I have always built comps based on "gaming computers", even though I hardly play anything on PC these days.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Hopefully somewhere in the $1500-$2000 range. I use a computer for years without many upgrades during that time, so I like them to be nice enough to last. As it stands right now, I'm at about $1800 on the wishlist below, without a few accessories added in yet.

3) Where do you live?
I live in California

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
The wishlist has the case, motherboard, CPU, RAM, new main HD, and new storage HD's (I want A LOT of space, my friends have a file server with a lot of movies/tv shows/etc. and I'd like to have plenty of space to get files off it). The wishlist does not currently have a graphics card. I based my build off of Origin's Genesis gaming system, but that system comes with dual ATI Radeon HD 5970's, and I don't even think I need one HD 5970. So I will need a graphics card that fits my needs (my friend has a lot of high-def movies, so the ability to play those is important, as well as the games I listed above). I also think the RAM might be more than I need, but you guys tell me. If dropping down to 4gb hardly effects the price and hurts the performance, than I'll stick with the 6gb listed. I will either use onboard sound on the new motherboard, or the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 that I have in my current set-up. I also have a 1200w Thermaltake power supply on the wishlist, but if that's overkill let me know and I can drop that down as well.

I also need a heatsink/fank combo that works with that motherboard (I read that there's only a select few that work with that EVGA board), as well as case fans (whatever is best for the case).

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I may reuse my mouse and keyboard, or I may buy a new set (wired, not wireless), so any recommendations in that area are welcome. I may reuse my SoundBlaster Audigy 2, or just use onboard sound, it depends how good onboard sound is these days. I have a Samsung Syncmaster 940B 19" monitor right now, but I'd like to upgrade to something larger that suits the modern graphics cards better. Speakers are currently Klipsch 2.1, and I'll probably keep those. I will most likely reuse my DVD-RW as well because it works fine and I rarely burn CD's/DVD's anyhow.

6) Will you be overclocking?
I doubt it. I know the set-up is fully capable, but I don't do anything that really requires it, and I don't like to mess with that stuff in the first place because I'm not very knowledgable in that area.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I currently have a 19" Samsung SyncMaster 940B. My brother got a Dell U2410 that is really nice, so that could be an option, unless there is something better on the market.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I'd like to build it in the next few months if I can get the money together, or by summer at the latest.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
RAID is a nice option just in case I ever wanted to try it, as is Crossfire or SLI for the same reason.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I have a legit copy of XP Pro, but I will probably get Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit because I still have a valid .edu e-mail address and can get it for a good price.

Newegg Wishlist:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=17475788
 
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Scrap the build in favor of an 1156 socket. If not going to purchase dual videocards, no need right now.
Get
i7-860 From Frys or microcenter
212 plus CPU Cooler
Gigabyte mobo from same (sata 6.0, usb 3.0)
4gb ram
SSD (one you chose is good)
650 PSU - Antec New TP-650, Corsair 650tx
1tb hd
I would get a Lian Li for the $100 case
 
gwarren007 said:
Scrap the build in favor of an 1156 socket. If not going to purchase dual videocards, no need right now.
Get
i7-860 From Frys or microcenter
212 plus CPU Cooler
Gigabyte mobo from same
4gb ram
SSD (one you chose is good)
650 PSU - Antec New TP-650, Corsair 650tx
1tb hd
I would get a Lian Li for the $100 case
Click to expand...

I don't have a Fry's or Microcenter in town, so I'd like to just order online if possible. If you don't mind, could you go into a little more detail on why you suggest these changes?
 
Yeah, you're not gonna need a 1200W PSU unless you're actually going for HD 5970 Crossfire. In addition, Corsair Dominator RAM is never worth the costs for them. Never.

In addition, for your needs, a Core i7 920 + 6GB of RAM is unnecessary. The Core i5 750 + P55 mobo + 4GB of RAM will be enough for your needs. GPU wise, the HD 5770 will be enough.

Will come up with a full list later. But so far, it really sounds like you do not need a $1500+ build.
 
The 860 is a Hyperthreaded cpu just like the 920 you chose.
212 plus is an excellent cooler for the 1156
The gigabyte mobo has proven track records of performance and reliability. sata 6.0 and usb 3.0 will give you some performance in terms of hd speed and transferability to other devices
4gb is the amount of ram routinly recommened 1600 speed is good for overclocking and is usually cheaper
650 psu - enough power for 2 videocards
Lian Li case - I feel for the $100, the aluminum case is excellent
 
Danny Bui said:
Yeah, you're not gonna need a 1200W PSU unless you're actually going for HD 5970 Crossfire. In addition, Corsair Dominator RAM is never worth the costs for them. Never.

In addition, for your needs, a Core i7 920 + 6GB of RAM is unnecessary. The Core i5 750 + P55 mobo + 4GB of RAM will be enough for your needs. GPU wise, the HD 5770 will be enough.

Will come up with a full list later. But so far, it really sounds like you do not need a $1500+ build.
Click to expand...

Okay, sounds good, I look forward to seeing the list. The reason I went with the i7 920 and the 6gb or RAM is because I keep a computer for so long and once it's built I really don't mess with the hardware. I built the PC I'm currently on at least 6 or 7 years ago (whenever the Abit IS7 was a brand new motherboard), so I like to have stuff that's going to carry me through several years of use. If that can still be accomplished with your set-up, I have no problem with it and I appreciate the help so far!
 
g|aSsJaw said:
Okay, sounds good, I look forward to seeing the list. The reason I went with the i7 920 and the 6gb or RAM is because I keep a computer for so long and once it's built I really don't mess with the hardware. I built the PC I'm currently on at least 6 or 7 years ago (whenever the Abit IS7 was a brand new motherboard), so I like to have stuff that's going to carry me through several years of use. If that can still be accomplished with your set-up, I have no problem with it and I appreciate the help so far!
Click to expand...

For your needs, a $2000 PC would not last that much longer than the $1000 or so base line PC that gwarren007 listed.
 
Danny Bui said:
For your needs, a $2000 PC would not last that much longer than the $1000 or so base line PC that gwarren007 listed.
Click to expand...

Okay, sounds good. Just so it's on here, my current PC is:

Intel P4 2.8ghz
1gb RAM
Abit IS7 motherboard
ATI Radeon X850XT gpu
Creative SB X-Fi soundcard

So you guys can see how much of an upgrade this will be :D
 
I was going to get a similar build next month with the 1366 platform. I wanted to get it for potential 6 core upgrades later.

You can get 2 Intel X25-V drive in RAID 0 for $260 with slightly better read performance than the one you were looking at and save $30.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/NewPr...167025&cm_re=intel_ssd-_-20-167-025-_-Product

You can also save $83 on the RAM by getting some RIPJAWS since they seem to have some good performance from reviews and forums I read.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/NewPr...306&cm_re=ripjaws_2000-_-20-231-306-_-Product

And this NEW gigabyte motherboard has USB 3 and SATA 3 support for $60 less with the same features from what I see.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/NewProduct.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

I was also looking into the Radeon 5850 in crossfire for good performance and price around $600 since the radeon 5970 is hard to find and I already have 3 monitors.
(edit to mention that for games mentioned and one monitor a single 5850 would be a great start and keep you near the price listed)

Just my opinion...
 
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"The Core i5 750 + P55 mobo + 4GB of RAM will be enough for your needs."

This is light years ahead of your current setup. A single core cpu to a quad core cpu upgrade is a major upgrade. For what you do, it doesn't look like you really do intensive things on the pc. Not enough of it anyways.
 
HardwareGuru said:
"The Core i5 750 + P55 mobo + 4GB of RAM will be enough for your needs."

This is light years ahead of your current setup. A single core cpu to a quad core cpu upgrade is a major upgrade. For what you do, it doesn't look like you really do intensive things on the pc. Not enough of it anyways.
Click to expand...

The most intensive thing I'll be doing that I don't currently do is watch HD movies that my friend has. The rest of my time will be spent doing what I currently do on my computer, which is web browsing, playing music, and watching movies/television shows. There's only a couple games I plan on playing, which I listed in the first post. If you guys have any other questions, feel free to ask.
 
Again, you don't need a Socket 1366/X58-based system for your needs. Go with the Socket 1156/P55 system instead. Here is a system similar to what Danny Bui was talking about earlier:

$285 - Intel Core i5 750 and Cooler Master CM690 II combo deal (free shipping on processor)
$135 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
$97 - Patriot Gaming Series 2x2GB DDR3 1333 dual-channel kit (free shipping)
$290 - Intel X25-M 80GB SSD (free shipping)
$110 - Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EADS 1.5TB HDD (free shipping)
$230 - XFX HD5770 and Antec Earthwatts EA650 combo deal (free shipping on both)
=====
$1147 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Since you aren't overclocking, there is no true need for a third-party CPU cooler like the Hyper 212 Plus. For cheap yet good case fans, choose either the Scythe Slipstream fans (available at NewEgg) or the Yate Loon D12SL-12 fans (available at Jab-Tech for around $4 per fan, not including shipping).

The onboard sound is good enough for your needs. If you want to cut corners a bit, go with a 1TB-2TB HDD (ideally, a WD Caviar Black HDD or the seemingly OOS Samsung F3 HDD) and omit the SSD. One of the newer 7200RPM HDDs available today can perform at near-VelociRaptor speeds.
 
I agree with tiraides. I mean.. I know you have $1800 budget but, doesn't mean that you have to spend a majority of the amount when a PC build for several hundreds less can deliver.
 
I agree with tiraides, too. Spend a bit more than half of that $2000 and just upgrade sooner. :p I used to build computers every 5yrs or so and spend $2k - $3k, but I've found that I get better overall performance by spending half that and upgrading more often; I've also found that selling your old parts helps to offset the costs of frequent upgrades. If you wait too long, you won't get much for your old parts. It's up to you, though. I definitely believe tiraides' build will last you as long as an i7 build would, considering your usage.
 
tiraides and enginurd - I see in your sigs that you are both running the i7-920, how much different are your needs than mine? Just curious to see why you'd suggest an i5 build when you went with i7's.

I want to be sure not to cut any corners. I want something that will last me for the next several years, not a base model that I can add new hardware to for the next several years. I don't keep up with this stuff enough to know when new stuff is coming out.

I appreciate all of the information so far, I have a lot to look at and think about.
 
Using the recommendations in this thread, I put together a new wishlist that is roughly $400 less than the one originally posted. What do you guys think of this build:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=17487308

I might also drop the SSD for now and use one of my 250gb Western Digital SATA drives I have in my current set-up as a main HD for a while, which would take off another $300 and bring the price down to right around $1000.

Your thoughts?
 
g|aSsJaw said:
The most intensive thing I'll be doing that I don't currently do is watch HD movies that my friend has. The rest of my time will be spent doing what I currently do on my computer, which is web browsing, playing music, and watching movies/television shows. There's only a couple games I plan on playing, which I listed in the first post. If you guys have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Click to expand...

For your needs an i5 750 will be rocking. 4GB of DDR3 1333 or 1600, 3x 1.5 TB hard drives, ATI 5850, Blu Ray burner, maybe an IPS monitor like your brothers.. Then you will make it another 5+ years for shizzle.

EDIT: About your build. If you're going i7 you need low voltage RAM, try for 1.5V. Also the 5770 is an okay GPU, but I'm guessing Diablo 3 may lag on that at the highest settings so I'd recommend a 5850. The SSD is your call, 80GB is more than enough for an O/S keep in mind. You could probably save some money on a 40GB or 60GB model ... I don't own Win 7 so I'm not sure how much space it requires.
 
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g|aSsJaw said:
tiraides and enginurd - I see in your sigs that you are both running the i7-920, how much different are your needs than mine? Just curious to see why you'd suggest an i5 build when you went with i7's.

I want to be sure not to cut any corners. I want something that will last me for the next several years, not a base model that I can add new hardware to for the next several years. I don't keep up with this stuff enough to know when new stuff is coming out.

I appreciate all of the information so far, I have a lot to look at and think about.
Click to expand...

The primary role of my system is to be a multi-OS virtual machine system. Because VMs are very resourse-intensive, I went with 12GB of RAM and a somewhat unique storage "system" (I have a 1TB "primary" drive and one 2.5" notebook drive, with another one on the way, that would be used solely for VMs) in place. I also started planning and building my system, which is a SFF system built around a microATX board, long before viable P55-based boards were widely available.

If you were using Photoshop 24/7, then I could easily recommend something similar to what I'm using. But, as you've said yourself, you don't use Photoshop enough to justify building a computer around it. To be honest, for your primary uses -- web browsing and HD video playback -- you could get away with using a Phenom II-based tri-core system. But with the system that I recommended earlier, you easily have more than enough power for all of your tasks, as well as room for future upgrades -- like more RAM if you wanted to use Photoshop more, or a better video card for increased gaming, or even a better processor that has Hyper Threading (that allows the processor to perform tasks like it as twice as many CPU cores available).

Having said all of that, I have a few questions regarding your updated wish list:

- What's going to be the primary purpose of this machine?
- Why did you choose the parts that you chose (instead of, say, going completely with my recommendations)?
- Which resource-intensive games/program do you anticipate using?
- Are you going to overclock?
- Do you plan on making future upgrades throughout the "lifespan" of this system?

The last two questions are somewhat important, as you could easily perform all of the tasks you've mentioned in your OP with my system just as well as you could with your updated wish list.
 
My system is mainly used for video encoding (movies, slideshows, etc) and photo editing w/ photoshop -- not a pro, just a hobbyist. I also multi-task like crazy. I, like tiraides, built my system last summer, before P55/LGA1156 was released (when you could get 6GB of DDR3 for $85, lol). Another reason was that I was able to sell my old parts for enough money to make the upgrade costs minimal (~$200 total for the upgrade; MC's $200 i7 920 was also a key reason, hehe).

I got an i5 750/P55 FTW SLI/4GB DDR3 combo for really cheap late last year, and was about to sell my Q6600/P35-DS3R/4GB DDR2; but it was easier to sell the i5 combo than to take apart my system, lol (I was injured at the time, and couldn't really do much).

If I was building a system right now, and did not have my i7 920 system, I would definitely be building a P55/i7 860, mainly due to the lower cost, since my usage still isn't enough to demand an i7 920 system.
 
stephen0983 said:
Also the 5770 is an okay GPU, but I'm guessing Diablo 3 may lag on that at the highest settings so I'd recommend a 5850.
Click to expand...

The 5850 is more than double the price of the 5770. If I end up getting cost down in other areas, I guess I could look into it, but I put the 5770 on the list because a couple people said it would be more than enough. XFX makes an XXX 5850 and a Black Edition 5850 that are $324.99 and $339.99 respectively.

tiraides said:
Having said all of that, I have a few questions regarding your updated wish list:

- What's going to be the primary purpose of this machine?
- Why did you choose the parts that you chose (instead of, say, going completely with my recommendations)?
- Which resource-intensive games/program do you anticipate using?
- Are you going to overclock?
- Do you plan on making future upgrades throughout the "lifespan" of this system?
Click to expand...

1) The primary purpose remains the same. Web browsing and video playback (but with the ability to have HD playback now as well), and some gaming as games come out that I'm interested in (like Starcraft 2 and the new Diablo).

2) The updated list is mostly parts suggested in this thread. Apparently I chose the wrong RAM, so I'd need help with that, and I wasn't sure if the motherboard was the correct model or not. I chose the i7-860 mainly for hyperthreading. I know nothing I do really requires that much from a CPU, but like I said, I rarely upgrade hardware once the thing is built so I figured I'd price it out with the 860 and see what it came out to. I don't want you guys to feel like I'm stubborn, because I appreciate all the help and information so far, I'm just trying to price different set-ups and get feedback and learn a little more about all the hardware that's out now.

3) Starcraft 2 and the new Diablo are the only games I can think of at the moment that I'll most likely play. Other than that, the most intensive thing I'll be doing is HD video playback and some Photoshop stuff here and there.

4) I don't plan to overclock. I don't like to mess with that stuff and find what's stable. I'm not knowledgable enough in that area to mess with it and I don't do anything that would require that.

5) In my current system that has run for at least 6 years now, if not longer, the only thing I upgraded was the graphics card and my soundcard when the old one went out. I rarely do hardware upgrades. I like to build it and use it and not have to worry about it.

enginurd said:
If I was building a system right now, and did not have my i7 920 system, I would definitely be building a P55/i7 860, mainly due to the lower cost, since my usage still isn't enough to demand an i7 920 system.
Click to expand...

That is what I was attempting to do with the new wishlist I posted, but I think I may have chosen the wrong RAM and motherboard. Did you see the new list?
 
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Yah, switch the RAM to something that runs at 1.5v - 1.6v instead. The A-Data RAM would be fine for an AMD build, but not for Intel, since they've stated that the max vDIMM is 1.65v before you damage the CPU (integrated memory controller). The JEDEC standard is 1.5v for DDR3, so try to stay close to that.

$105 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL CL9 1.5v
$105 - G.SKILL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ CL9 1.5v
 
enginurd said:
Yah, switch the RAM to something that runs at 1.5v - 1.6v instead. The A-Data RAM would be fine for an AMD build, but not for Intel, since they've stated that the max vDIMM is 1.65v before you damage the CPU (integrated memory controller). The JEDEC standard is 1.5v for DDR3, so try to stay close to that.

$105 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL CL9 1.5v
$105 - G.SKILL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ CL9 1.5v
Click to expand...

Thanks. What do you think of that Gigabyte board? Is there something better?

Also, the only difference between that RAM seems to be the timing, is that correct? Which would you go with?
 
g|aSsJaw said:
Thanks. What do you think of that Gigabyte board? Is there something better?

Also, the only difference between that RAM seems to be the timing, is that correct? Which would you go with?
Click to expand...

For the price, the Gigabyte mobo is an excellent choice. Considering your basic needs, it should be a good choice for a mobo.

As for the G.Skill RAMs that Enginurd recommended, the only major difference between the two are the heatsinks AFAIK.

Also, reusing an old 250GB drive would not be the best idea considering that the hard drive is often the slowest part of the PC. So when using an old hard drive, you might not actually notice a performance increase with your new setup since the old drive is still a slow part.

So I recommend just dropping the SSD down at least the Samsung F3 500GB:
$55 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
 
The UD4P is pricey, but still a good board. If you don't need dual 8x CFX, then you can drop it down to the UD3 instead.

$135 - GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0

The only difference I see between those two g.skill kits are the heatspreaders. :p Both have CL9 timings. I'd go for the NQ kit, cuz I like the cleaner look of the heatspreaders, lol.

EDIT: I'm slow. :p I agree with Danny, pickup the F3 if you can. ewiz may have it in stock if newegg doesn't.
 
Danny Bui said:
For the price, the Gigabyte mobo is an excellent choice. Considering your basic needs, it should be a good choice for a mobo.

As for the G.Skill RAMs that Enginurd recommended, the only major difference between the two are the heatsinks AFAIK.

Also, reusing an old 250GB drive would not be the best idea considering that the hard drive is often the slowest part of the PC. So when using an old hard drive, you might not actually notice a performance increase with your new setup since the old drive is still a slow part.

So I recommend just dropping the SSD down at least the Samsung F3 500GB:
$55 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks for the info on that HD. Do you still think the 5770 is the best choice for a GPU, or should I look into something better?

I may just use the 250 I have as a dedicated torrent drive for downloading/uploading stuff.

enginurd said:
The UD4P is pricey, but still a good board. If you don't need dual 8x CFX, then you can drop it down to the UD3 instead.
Click to expand...

CFX gives me the ability to run multiple graphics cards, correct? For a $50 difference, I may just stick with the UD4P if that's the case so I have the option of adding another graphics card down the road if I ever wanted to.
 
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g|aSsJaw said:
Okay, thanks for the info on that HD. Do you still think the 5770 is the best choice for a GPU, or should I look into something better?
Click to expand...

For a 19" monitor, yes the HD 5770 is the best choice.
 
Danny Bui said:
For a 19" monitor, yes the HD 5770 is the best choice.
Click to expand...

What are people going with for widescreen monitors? My brother just got a Dell U2410 that is pretty nice, but I haven't done anything on it to really know for sure. Is there a better GPU/Widescreen monitor combo that I could look into if I decided to go with something larger than my 19" Samsung 940B?
 
g|aSsJaw said:
What are people going with for widescreen monitors? My brother just got a Dell U2410 that is pretty nice, but I haven't done anything on it to really know for sure. Is there a better GPU/Widescreen monitor combo that I could look into if I decided to go with something larger than my 19" Samsung 940B?
Click to expand...

For monitors, most of the time in this part of the forum, people just go for the cheapest widescreen monitor in their price range and size needs.

In general:
19" to 22" monitor (1440x900 to 1680x1050): HD 5770
22" to 24" monitor (1680x1200 to 1920x1200): HD 5850
30"+ (more than 1920x1200 res): HD 5870.
 
Danny Bui said:
For monitors, most of the time in this part of the forum, people just go for the cheapest widescreen monitor in their price range and size needs.

In general:
19" to 22" monitor (1440x900 to 1680x1050): HD 5770
22" to 24" monitor (1680x1200 to 1920x1200): HD 5850
30"+ (more than 1920x1200 res): HD 5870.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I read last night that XFX is the best company to go with for these GPU's, is that accurate? I think they got major points for their warranty compared to others.
 
People are going with WS 16:9 aspect ratio monitors because most of the monitors now are shifting towards 16:9 vs 16:10 WS displays. I don't like this actually. It's not so bad if you have a 23" 1920 x 1080 res monitor but, for anything smaller, I prefer 16:10 on a 22", 20", 19" The 1920 x 1080 would be good for those who like to hookup their gaming consoles to it as most lcd monitors don't have 1:1 pixel mapping on their displays. This would avoid stretching the 16:9 image onto a 16:10 display. 16:10 monitors like the Dell U2410 has a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Therefore, it would be more ideal for displaying a text document, spreadsheets, photos as it has 120 pixels in height vs a 24" display with 1920 x 1080 resolution.

16:10 aspect ratio
1920 x 1200 res
1920/16 = 120 x 10 = 1200

16:9 aspect ratio
1920 x 1080 res
1920/16 = 120 x 9 = 1080
 
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HardwareGuru said:
People are going with WS 16:9 aspect ratio monitors because most of the monitors now are shifting towards 16:9 vs 16:10 WS displays. I don't like this actually. It's not so bad if you have a 23" 1920 x 1080 res monitor but, for anything smaller, I prefer 16:10 on a 22", 20", 19" The 1920 x 1080 would be good for those who like to hookup their gaming consoles to it as most lcd monitors don't have 1:1 pixel mapping on their displays. This would avoid stretching the 16:9 image onto a 16:10 display. 16:10 monitors like the Dell U2410 has a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Therefore, it would be more ideal for displaying a text document, spreadsheets, photos as it has 120 pixels in height vs a 24" display with 1920 x 1080 resolution.

16:10 aspect ratio
1920 x 1200 res
1920/16 = 120 x 10 = 1200

16:9 aspect ratio
1920 x 1080 res
1920/16 = 120 x 9 = 1080
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! Is that Dell U2410 a pretty good monitor? My brother seems to really like it, but I wasn't sure how much research he actually put into it.

I play my 360 on my television, so I won't be looking for a monitor that works well for console gaming. I'll be looking for a monitor that works well for video playback and some PC gaming, so whatever works best in the 22"-24" category is what I'd consider along with the corresponding GPU for that resolution.
 
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The Dell U2410 is a great monitor. It has a H-IPS panel and compared to a TN panel lcd you find at most places, it doesn't suffer from poor viewing angles. But, if your right in front of the monitor then poor viewing angles is not much of an issue. Also, the Dell U2410 display is a 8 bit panel and therefore can display the full 16.7 million colors vs a TN panel. The 6 bit TN panel is use a technology called dithering to trick the eye into seeing more colors. In the end though, it really depends on how much $$$ you plan on spending on a monitor. Your brother has to spend a good $500 on that Dell U2410 display. a 24" TN monitor with 1920 x 1080 display can be found for $230. People who do photos and graphics work, it would be more ideal for them to use an 8bit lcd panel such as the Dell U2410 because they don't like to see color shifting. For gaming, some people are fine with just a TN lcd because it has low response times and low input lag. This is ideal for those playing high fps gaming as you don't want to see motion blur or ghosting.
 
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HardwareGuru said:
The Dell U2410 is a great monitor. It has a H-IPS panel and compared to a TN panel lcd you find at most places, it doesn't suffer from poor viewing angles. But, if your right in front of the monitor then poor viewing angles is not much of an issue. Also, the Dell U2410 display is a true 8 bit panel and therefore can display the full 16.7 million colors vs a TN panel. The TN panel use a technology called dithering to trick the eye into seeing more colors. In the end though, it really depends on how much $$$ you plan on spending on a monitor. Your brother has to spend a good $500 on that Dell U2410 display. a 24" TN monitor with 1920 x 1080 display can be found for $230. People who do photos and graphics work, it would be more ideal for them to use an 8bit lcd panel such as the Dell U2410 because they don't like to see color shifting. For gaming, some people are fine with just a TN lcd because it has low response times and low input lag. This is ideal for those playing high fps gaming as you don't want to see motion blur or ghosting.
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My brother is a web designer, so he needed something like that. I think the tech where he works suggested it for him, and he went with it. I'm not sure what he spent, he got it around Christmas time so maybe he got a better deal on it.

How is the response time and input lag on the Dell? My brother doesn't game either, so I don't have a way to test ghosting issues like I could when I still played Counter-Strike and Half Life 2.
 
Danny Bui said:
For monitors, most of the time in this part of the forum, people just go for the cheapest widescreen monitor in their price range and size needs.

In general:
19" to 22" monitor (1440x900 to 1680x1050): HD 5770
22" to 24" monitor (1680x1200 to 1920x1200): HD 5850
30"+ (more than 1920x1200 res): HD 5870.
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Who makes the best 5850, Sapphire? XFX has three different models on Newegg as well.
 
Get the XFX brand due its longer warranty. The XFX for $299.99 will do. The others like the XXX Black Edition is just increased GPU and Memory clock speeds for more $$$. But, this is something you can do with software.

Shucks OOS though.
 
HardwareGuru said:
Get the XFX brand due its longer warranty. The XFX for $299.99 will do. The others like the XXX Black Edition is just increased GPU and Memory clock speeds for more $$$. But, this is something you can do with software.

Shucks OOS though.
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I'm still a ways out from ordering anything anyhow, so I'm sure they'll restock by the time I'm ready. I'm still in the planning stage at this point.

Is a 650w PSU enough for a single 5850 and the amount of HD's I'm considering? (assume at max I'll have the 5850, the single SSD, an old 250gb SATA I have dedicated to torrent uploading/downloading, and anywhere from 2-4 1TB storage drives (probably 2 to start with)).
 
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Yah, a good quality 650W would be fine. Which one did you have in mind?
 
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