How's this core i7 budget gaming build?

[scottay]

Hey hey all. I'm looking to build a descent gaming system that's still affordable. I've been digging around NewEgg for a while and think I have a pretty good machine.

Not sure if anyone else but me can view this, but here's my NewEgg Wish List: https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=11438712

Case
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel
N82E16811129021

DVD Burner
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S-0B
N82E16827118032

CPU
Intel Core i7 920
N82E16819115202

Graphics Card
2 X EVGA 01G-P3-1155-TR 1GB GDDR3 in SLI
N82E16814130469

Hard Drive
Western Digital WD1001FALS 1TB
N82E16822136284

Mother Board
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5
N82E16813128362

Power Supply
Corsair CMPSU-750TX
N82E16817139006

RAM
2 X OCZ OCZ3G1600LV6GK 6GB (total of 12GB)
N82E16820227365

I already have an OS (Vista Ultimate 64), Keyboard/Mouse, Sound Card and Speakers.

A consideration I had was with the HDD. Single HD, Dual 7200 RPM in a Raid 0 or a single 300GB WD VelociRaptor. If you have any input I'd like to hear it.

Thanks in advance!

Scott

 

[GreenMachine]

12 gigs is a lot of ram. will you be using over 6?

 

[hikaricloud]

You need to make your wishlist public, it just says empty for us.

Don't get 12gb of RAM unless you're running multiple VMs. You won't need it.

Also, don't get SLI GTS 250s. You could spend the money on something nicer. Take that 300 bucks, plus the 100 bucks you save from getting 6gb of RAM instead and get one of these:

Newegg.com - XFX GX285XZWFF GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

I'm a little tired right now, so that's really all I can think of, the rest looks alright.

EDIT: I would use that 1TB as a storage drive and get this as your primary drive:

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

I'm going to say this one: NEVER EVER GET A VELOCIRAPTOR. ESPECIALLY THE 300GB ONE.

If you want to spend some serious money on a HDD, get an SSD. For less money, you could have a MUCH faster drive. For about 100 bucks less you could get an awesome drive like this that would blow a velociraptor out of the water:

Newegg.com - Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G1 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

 

[scottay]

Thanks for the quick replies

You guys are probably right, 12 gig is a lot and I probably won't be using it. That being said, I probaly won't need the 6 memory slots the mobo has. Would I be able to save a few bucks by going with one that doesn't have 6, or stick w/ this one?

So 1 GTX 285 will out perform 2 GTS 250's? Is there much of a benefit going with SLI vs a single higher performance card?

I'll take a look at that HDD. Why that one as the primary over the 1TB?

Thanks again!

 

[scottay]

Also, I made the wish list public after I made it (a few min ago). Is there a delay before is goes public maybe?

 

[hikaricloud]

Better to have a smaller primary, and a second drive for storage. I'm tired and such, but I think the 640gb being nice and fast has to do with platters. Someone else will elaborate because I'm exhausted. Lol.

Even if the GTX 285 didn't outperform it (which I'm pretty sure it does), it gives you headroom for later, so maybe you could SLI 285s.

 

[scottay]

Haha, I understand. I usually use 2 drives (at the very least 2 partitions), one for OS and other for storage. So, instead of a massive 640GB, what about an 80GB or a 160GB just for the OS?

Also, there a reason for that particular XFX GPU over a BFG or EVGA? I don't know all the nuances of different brands...

 

[hikaricloud]

XFX has a double lifetime warranty, first off. Second, it's cheaper than the EVGA model, dunno about the BFG. XFX is my favorite brand of video card hands down, while EVGA is second.

You can get a smaller HDD, but the 640gb is pretty fast for a regular ol' hard drive. If you were thinking about getting that velociraptor, might as well take the plunge and get that SSD.

 

[JamesMW]

You probably want a bigger case for that 285, I love this one.

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

 

[scottay]

Thanks for the graphics card tips!

Those SSD's are really expensive, lol. I think I'll just stick with 2 regular HDD's for now and maybe upgrade once the SSD prices come down a bit. Would my idea of a fairly small dirve just for the OS be a good one, or should I just get that 640GB + the 1TB one?

Ya, I was wondering if I should get a full tower with all the stuff going into this thing. I like those Antec cases. Anyone have anything good/bad to say about the Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case?

-EDIT-

Sorry to veer off the main topic, but I was also considring putting together a similar build based on an AMD platform. What AMD processor would I need to get (if there are any) that will be similar to the i7 920? Advatages/Disadvantages?

Thanks all!