Old member...New build

[kfc469]

Hey guys. I haven't been around here in a few years (I used to have thousands of posts but they've disappeared oh nooooo)...don't recognize many names anymore. Only one I really recognize is Trotter (congrats on admin...love the new site). Anyways...I'm building a computer and i was wondering if you guys could weigh in on it. I'm wanting it to be a powerhouse that's going to last me 4-5 years. I'm trying to stay under $1800 or so.

Case ($54.98): Rosewill Wind Knight Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Link

Processor ($598.98): Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W - Link

Mobo ($232.98): ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Link

RAM($139.99): OCZ Gold Tri Channel 6GB PC10666 DDR3 Memory - 1333MHz, 6144MB (3 x 2048) - Link

SSHDD($89.99): OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2 30GB - Link

HDD($199.98): 2 x Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA - Link

GPU($169.99): XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Link

PSU($49.99): OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 - Link

BluRay Drive($68.97): LITE-ON Black Blu-ray Reader Model iHOS104-06 - Link

DVDRW($55.98): Sony Optiarc Black 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - Link

CF Reader($19.99): Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports Model ICR-BB - Link

Thermal Paste($8.48): Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound - Link

Total price = $1,682.30

I'm planning on using the SSD as my OS disk (Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit) and the 2, 1 TB drives in raid 0 as my data disk. I'm also planning on buying two of these for a dual monitor setup.

I'm not going to be doing all that much gaming, but I need a quality GPU to support the high resolutions I want + 3 video outputs. I do a lot of photo and a little video editing.

Thanks!

EDIT: Sorry, forgot to mention that all these prices are after rebates/shipping, etc

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Go with the i7 920 instead of the 960, it's cheaper and it'll overclock high enough to manage anything you want to throw at it.

Also, you might want to get a slightly better psu. Just not sure exactly how reliable that particular model is.

 

[Burn]

Or you could wait and get an i7 930. Those should be out within about a week I think. Fry's has them and sold a few, but I guess Intel yelled at em and told them to stop because I heard that a couple people that just tried to buy some got turned down even though they had them in stock.

I think other places will be selling them by the end of this month.

 

[dirkpitt45]

Never heard of the artic silver ceramic stuff. Is there really much point in using it with the stock cooler?

EDIT: Isn't the 930 still going to be 45nm? Why get that instead of the 920?

 

[S0ULphIRE]

^apparently it'll have a higher stock speed, and will retail for about the same price. Also, I don't think it's known yet if it's 32nm or 45nm.

 

[Trotter]

Good to see you back around. Thanks for the congrats. Not sure about the post thing unless they were in OT before we removed it from post counts.

Get TX-2 instead of the Artic Silver.

OCZ PSUs are solid, so no worries there.

Go with the 920 or 930 and put the money saved toward a better GFX card, like a 5870.

Forget using RAID. Just make the disks D: and E: and go with it. Raid can and will seriously screw you over if/when a disk fails on you. If you want 2TB, just go with a Samsung Spinpoint F3.

 

[kfc469]

Or you could wait and get an i7 930. Those should be out within about a week I think.

Yea thats a good idea. I think I'll do that and just OC it. Any idea how expensive it'll be?

Forget using RAID. Just make the disks D: and E: and go with it. Raid can and will seriously screw you over if/when a disk fails on you. If you want 2TB, just go with a Samsung Spinpoint F3.

I was planning on doing RAID1 or 3 for the redundancy. I've had too many drives crap out on me and I'm too lazy to backup every so often .

Thanks!

 

[kfc469]

Ok, I've decided to go with the i7-930 and I figured out I needed to upgrade my PSU cause I was drawing close to 600W with just the stuff I'm buying and I want to future proof a little: Newegg.com - OCZ GameXStream OCZ850GXSSLI ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 850Watts Power Supply 100 - 240 V CB, CE, CSA, UL - Power Supplies

Also, if I get the 850W, I'll be loading it at around 70% which will be much more efficient than loading it at 100% therefore saving me money in the long run! yay.

I'm also thinking about changing up the case. Any that you guys like?

 

[Muffin Man]

how did you figure 600w?

a psu like this
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies
should easily be able to handle that rig with room for expansion.

 

[kfc469]

the video card is 450W and the processor is 130W. But, I want to get a 256 bit video card. I need it to have 2 DVI outputs and 1 HDMI. And be reasonably priced. Any recommendations?

EDIT:I'm thinking this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102856

Also, I think I was doing those wattage calculations wrong

EDIT EDIT: Why is this $100 cheaper, but it looks like the specs are about the same: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161302