Mid-Level Rig

[BlackwaterMerk]

So im looking to put together a $800-$1000 mid-level gaming rig. So far the components I was looking at are.

i7 920 Processor
Amazon.com: Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU BX80601920: Electronics

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R - motherboard - ATX - iX58
https://www.insight.com/search/ppp.web?materialId=GA-EX58-UD3R&ref=dynamitedata.com

GA 01G-P3-1465-AR GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1465-AR GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

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

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7T-6GBPK
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7T-6GBPK

XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Newegg.com - XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case

don't know about cddrive yet. what do you guys think?

 

[Trotter]

You are over your budget and that's not really a mid-level rig.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
&
SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM

Newegg.com - XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

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

Newegg.com - XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2

Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-LGA1156 LGA 1156 Core i5 Socket Retention Bracket Set

Total = $1010, but there's a couple of rebates in there.

 

[BlackwaterMerk]

Thank you soo much. I noticed the i7 i posted and the i5 you posted had the same speed/cache. whats the difference between the i7 and i5 processors?

 

[Slaymate]

The difference between the i7 920 and the i5 750. The 920 has a Triple Channel Memory Controller while the 750 has a Dual Channel Memory Controller. The 920 has Hyper-Threading and the 750 does not. The 920 is paired with the X58 Chipset and the 750 has the P55 Chipset. These are the major differences but there are still others. I suggest you try reading a few articles written on the subject.

 

[BlackwaterMerk]

after researching it out a bit I really like the build you proposed trotter, it can handle anything I want to play, and has room for upgrades later down the road. Since the mobo supports XCrossfire I can add another videocard if ever need be and I can add another 4gb of ram if I ever needed it. And if I ever needed to I can upgrade to a better processor I saw that some of the lower end i7 chips are the same socket type of the mobo proposed above.

Also I had a quick question. I have win7 home premium on my hp mini 311 netbook. Can I make a copy of win7 from my netbook's win7 and use it on my new computer? Or do I have to buy a new copy?

edit nvm I found out that I can get operating systems thru my school because im a CS student

I was reading and see that even tho the Motherboard supports Xcrossfire it doesn't "really" support it. Can someone explain this to me? Ive read that the due to the mobo having the p55 chipset that it sets limitation on its ability to utilize crossfire. But what are these limitations in reality?

 

[Slaymate]

That mobo is more or a "PhysX" mobo, while it has (2) pcie 16x slots (you can use either slot at 16x when your only using 1 card) when your using (2) cards the 2nd slot drops down to 4x speed. 4x is really to slow for SLI or Crossfire but it's more than fast enough for PhysX.

I would try a mobo like this for Crossfire. When (2) cards are used the slots both run at 8X. If you want more than that you'll need to up your budget to $1500 or so and buy a i7 920 or 930.

Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D EVO LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[Muffin Man]

if you take Slay's suggested mobo, you could get this combo with a different version of the xfx 5850 with this xfx psu.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
your build total would go up by around $30.

 

[Slaymate]

I'm not really up on P55 mobo's, I just suggested that board for the 8x/8x capability and the Asus brand name.

 

[farinha]

I would get this one, for $15 more you have usb3.0 and sata 6Bb\s:
Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[Muffin Man]

I'm not really up on P55 mobo's, I just suggested that board for the 8x/8x capability and the Asus brand name.

it looks like a good mobo for the money to me. x8/x8 xfire/sli is the best p55 mobos will do (unless it's one of the few that come with an nf200 chip), but like we've seen, there wouldn't be a huge difference between x8/x8 and x16/x16.