Yes another mid-range i7 system

A

aquadark

n00b
Joined
Dec 11, 2004
Messages
29
Hey guys! It's time for a new system, I think :)
I can't make my mind for the exact components and I'm kinda stuck, so hopefully you could help me out.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
All-purpose. Photoshop, Illustrator, light video editing & processing, browsing, HD movies, moderate gaming - FPS, Sports (1920x1200)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500 (USD) for the parts only, we ignore shipping and taxes, rebates don't apply. Actually my budget is around $2000, but prices in Europe are 10 to 30% higher for some components, so I'm giving myself some space to breathe.
3) Where do you live?
Europe, Bulgaria
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
CPU, Mobo, Ram, PSU, VGA, System HDD (Windows OS + App installation), CPU Cooler
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream case, 2x80GB Hitachi SATA2 7200rpm (currently running in RAID-0 as system drives), 2x250GB Hitachi SATA2 7200rpm, Pioneer PATA DVD-R
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably yes
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24" HP LP2475w Display, 1920x1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Mid June
9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
Built-in audio chip with optical out, 2 Ethernet cards
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes, XP Pro, planning to buy Windows 7 once it comes out

I multitask a lot, love playing new games at high settings when I have the time and hate slowdowns :D
Also, OCZ Vertex SSD or similar sounds pretty good for a system drive, and I'm willing to spend some extra cash for a SSD. What I'm not sure is if 2x60GB in RAID-0 can match 2x120GB in RAID-0... and also, prices are 50% higher than in USA - 60GB vertex costs around $300 here... So I don't know what to do.
The same goes for the video. 2x260 (216 cores), 2x275, 1x295, etc....
Silence is important, but not crucial. A silent PSU would be nice, tho.

Thanks :)
 
I'm going to come up with a list of parts, but I'll need you to give us the prices of those parts from the store(s) you plan on buying everything from:

Intel Core i7 920 quad-core processor
EVGA E758-TR X58 ATX motherboard
Corsiar XMS3 3x2GB DDR3 1600 CL9 tri-channel kit
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU cooler
Two Western Digital WD6401AALS 640GB hard drives
EVGA GeForce GTX 285 PCI-E 2.0 video card
Seasonic M12 SS-700HM 700W modular PSU

Though you didn't ask about these components, I believe that you should sell your current hard drives (once you transfer all of the important data off them) and consider getting a new case. The two 640 drives that I recommended are each as fast as the last-gen Raptors (and are only 10% slower than the newer VelociRaptors), and, when placed in RAID-0, will outperform both of your current HDD configurations. If I remember correctly, the Tsunami Dream case that you have uses primarily 80mm case fans. I recommend a decent case with room for plenty of case fans, like the Antec Three Hundred or the Cooler Master Centurion 590/690.

In the US, the above list would be pushing the limit on your $1500 budget, so I made a few price-related compromises. While an SSD would be an excellent choice, if you were really intent on keeping your old HDDs, it's way too much money considering all that you have to buy. Two GTX 260 cards would probably burst your budget, so I went with the singularly faster GTX 285. If you can find one, however, the GTX 280 would perform just as well, though it would probably cost a bit less than the GTX 285.

"Quiet" power supplies aren't really my area of expertise, but Seasonic generally makes good power supply that are (to many people) also pretty quiet. In general, Seasonic, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, and Enermax are safe bets.
 
PCP&C, Enermax are not quiet.

4870X2s are coming down in price as well.
 
Not sure how quiet a PC Power & Cooling Silencer PSU is since it uses an 80mm fan but, I know Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone and Zalman PSU are pretty quiet.
 
Zalmans are notorious for being bitchin' loud. The rest are good choices. Silentpcreview has everything to know, in an attempt to avoid regurgitating all their materials.
 
As far as storage space is concerned, I don't need much. I don't keep a large archive of movies, games and stuff like that. 120-160GB for OS / app partition is more than enough, and for storage I'll probably get a green 1TB WD at a later time and get rid of the older drives. So in those $1500 we are including just the system drive(s). I'm not sure if it's a wise thing to put some important data on drives in RAID-0, especially when they also host the system partition... hmm

Regarding the case: it has 3 120mm fans - one low in the front, one high in the back below the PSU and one side fan. I don't really see the point in spending more cash for a better case in such a non-enthusiast build.

Reference prices here (from tiraides' list):

i7-920: $380
2 x WD6401AALS: $220
Corssair TR3X6G1600C9 $130
Evga GTX285 (please specify the model), normal 1GB is $500
Seasonic M12-700W - $250
EVGA E758-TR - $450
Noctua NH-U12P is not available at this time (out of stock), but it's listed at $90

Total: $2020, bang on my true budget of $2000. I guess in the US, the total would be around 1500...
 
Damn... it amazes me how much they rip you guys off on video cards. If you're willing to play games at medium settings -- the cost of the GTX 285 that you've listed is staggering for us here in the US -- you may want to consider the GTX 260 (Core 216) instead. You could go with the "normal" model regardless of which video card you end up with.

The performance of one of those WD6401AALS hard drives should be close to the performance of your RAID 0 configurations, so you could get one now and then get the 1TB Green HDD later (as you've originally planned on doing). I'm still recommending one WD6401AALS to be used, if nothing else, as an OS drive.

Other CPU coolers to consider are the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme RT1366, the Cooler Master V8, and the Xigmatek Dark Knight S1283V. Two cheaper X58 motherboards with two Gigabit Ethernet ports and optical out are the MSI X58 Platinum and the Foxconn BloodRage GTI.

For comparison's sake, could you also give us the prices of the HD4850X2 and the HD4870X2 video cards?
 
GB/ASUS/Sapphire HD4870X2 ~$570
Sapphire HD4850X2 is ~$500

One GTX295 (Asus, Palit) costs $700. Gainward - $584
2 x 275 (Gainward) are $600 (300 each)
One GTX285 (Evga) costs $500. Palit 2GB - $480, Gainward 1GB - $390
2 x 260 (216SP), XFX are $600 (300 each)
 
Hello again,

After some further research, here's the stuff I've outlined so far:

i7-920 - $385
ASUS P6T Deluxe V1/V2, GB EX58-UD5 (Still deciding exactly which one) - $345-365
Corsair 850TX - $200
MSI GTX275 Twin Frozr - $350
Titan Fenrir - $40
1x Caviar Black 640GB - $110

Total: ~1435-1450. Remaning: Around $150.

I'm having problems with choosing RAM, tho (6GB). I want to overclock (1GHz+ on top)... and that's the last remaining ? in the equation. Please help me out.

I plan to add another GTX275 till the end of the year and another Caviar / 2x OCZ 60GB SSD.

Any opinions are welcomed.
 
Get whatever RAM you can that runs at DDR3-1600 CL9 for cheap (G.Skill, Corsair, Kingston, etc).
 
If you can find them you might want to check out the gigabyte ud4p to see if it's features will work for you, only missing a lan port and 2 sata ports(still has 8) and it's a good bit cheaper, and newer. Of course price depends on what you can get it for.
 
aquadark said:
Hello again,

After some further research, here's the stuff I've outlined so far:

i7-920 - $385
ASUS P6T Deluxe V1/V2, GB EX58-UD5 (Still deciding exactly which one) - $345-365
Corsair 850TX - $200
MSI GTX275 Twin Frozr - $350
Titan Fenrir - $40
1x Caviar Black 640GB - $110

Total: ~1435-1450. Remaning: Around $150.

I'm having problems with choosing RAM, tho (6GB). I want to overclock (1GHz+ on top)... and that's the last remaining ? in the equation. Please help me out.

I plan to add another GTX275 till the end of the year and another Caviar / 2x OCZ 60GB SSD.

Any opinions are welcomed.
Click to expand...

Looks good to me. I also agree with enginurd about the RAM. :)
 
Corsair XMS3 CL9 and CL8 are almost identical in price here, should I get CL8 ?

(TR3X6G1600C9 vs TR3X6G1600C8)
 
aquadark said:
Corsair XMS3 CL9 and CL8 are almost identical in price here, should I get CL8 ?

(TR3X6G1600C9 vs TR3X6G1600C8)
Click to expand...

Both kits need 1.65v so yes, if they are the same price, might as well go with the CL8.
 
All Corssair (among others, like Kingston, OCZ, G.Skill) products are available, but why should I get 1.5v ? (sorry, memory is not my strongest side :D )
 
aquadark said:
All Corssair (among others, like Kingston, OCZ, G.Skill) products are available, but why should I get 1.5v ? (sorry, memory is not my strongest side :D )
Click to expand...

If there are available 1.5v kits, there are a few things you might be interested in.

1. The lower voltage results in less heat and more overclocking headroom
2. There is no real-world performance difference that you would notice between a 1.5v 9-9-9-24 kit and a 1.65v 8-8-8-21 kit, for instance. Therefore, you might choose to have it run cooler (and possibly overclock past the stock frequency).
 
I pretty much think that would be the final build:

Intel i7 920 D0
GB EX58-UD5
Corsair TR3X6G1600C8 XMS3
Corsair 850TX
MSI N275GTX Twin Frozr
WD Caviar Black 640GB
Scythe Mugen 2

Total: 1558 USD (yes, prices in Europe are "nice")
 
aquadark said:
I pretty much think that would be the final build:

Intel i7 920 D0
GB EX58-UD5
Corsair TR3X6G1600C8 XMS3
Corsair 850TX
MSI N275GTX Twin Frozr
WD Caviar Black 640GB
Scythe Mugen 2

Total: 1558 USD (yes, prices in Europe are "nice")
Click to expand...

Looks very good to me! Good luck with the build and enjoy! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top