1st Game PC Build-- Budget System = Help!

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Well watercooling is only necessary if you're looking for better overclocks or you just want better temps. I have it and I absolutely love it but its not necessary.

About the sockets, AMD and Intel don't usually change their sockets very often at all. I think AMD went through a few lately but thats the exception. LGA775 lasted a REALLY long time and 1366 will too. Sockets don't change very much, CPU technology does on the other hand. But if you were to get an i7 build, you would have the newest socket that will be around for years to come. The e8500, if clocked really high MIGHT outperform an i7 on some games but not by any noticeably amount so IMO, it is better to get an i7 that will perform very very well on games and amazing on every other program. The debates will eventually come as to whether to get i7 or the next best thing but that day isn't here and it will be a little while before it comes so why not get the i7 when it really isn't very expensive for the performance you're getting and you will be future ready with the new socket. Thats my 2 cents

point taken...
question... how much can they be OCed to? Ghz wise?
 
The i7? Well I run mine at 3.9 daily but when I do superpi runs, the most I have bothered to get it to was 4.1, I'm sure I could get it higher with more tweaking but I just haven't had the time.

Oh and I know I'm a huge advocate for i7 but I don't want to discredit the e8500, I can't deny that it is a great cpu, I just think i7 is a smarter option if it can be afforded.
 
The i7? Well I run mine at 3.9 daily but when I do superpi runs, the most I have bothered to get it to was 4.1, I'm sure I could get it higher with more tweaking but I just haven't had the time.

Oh and I know I'm a huge advocate for i7 but I don't want to discredit the e8500, I can't deny that it is a great cpu, I just think i7 is a smarter option if it can be afforded.

Which i7 do you have?

and check out my i7 build... i think that... you cant really say you cant afford it at this price...

Case
Newegg.com - APEVIA X-SUPRA G-Type X-SUPRAG-BL Black / Blue SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Extra LED 120mm Fan
Newegg.com - APEVIA CF12SL-UBL 120mm Blue LED Case Fan - Case Fans

i7 CPU
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Mobo
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

RAM
Newegg.com - CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

PSU
Newegg.com - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

GPU
Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

HDD
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

DVD
Newegg.com - LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - CD / DVD Burners

So shipped: $1,004.43
After Mail In Rebates (MIR) = $880.43

Hmmmm.... if you think i can use that version of the i7 and get it over 3.2ghz by OCing... i think that could be the way to go... wutcha think?
 
I have the i7 920 and on the stock cooler i got it to 3.2 easily. I would recommend getting an aftermarket cooler though and you can get a minimum of 3.6 I would say.

The i7 uses triple channel ram, that ram won't work. Get this Newegg.com - G.SKILL 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Ok give me a night with this settup... imma see if i can find any special deals or loop holes... see wut i can come up with... cheapest/good quality... you can cut corners on the mobo a lil more... like 40 bucks there, but... zotiac i think its called? never heard of it... then again i havnt been in the building side game for too long... (weeks) haha

good catch on that tripple channel... didnt see that... i knew it... just didnt see it on that ram i posted haha
 
Hah this is getting really interesting.

I would love to see how low you guys can get the i7.

Lol perhaps my decision might hinge upon this!

:D
 
Okay, so I know this is the worst thing to show do-it-yourself builders but... in lieu of the i7 crusade, I was looking around newegg and found these two pre-builts for $979.00:

Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 1002 Intel Core i7 920(2.66GHz) 3GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs

Newegg.com - iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme 968i Intel Core i7 920(2.66GHz) 3GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs

Now obviously, they are not great systems...but they are i7's. So, that's all. Just showing a reference point of price.
 
Okay, so I know this is the worst thing to show do-it-yourself builders but... in lieu of the i7 crusade, I was looking around newegg and found these two pre-builts for $979.00:

Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 1002 Intel Core i7 920(2.66GHz) 3GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs

Newegg.com - iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme 968i Intel Core i7 920(2.66GHz) 3GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs

Now obviously, they are not great systems...but they are i7's. So, that's all. Just showing a reference point of price.

Ok so first i want to reply to your post.

The reason that we want to "do-it-yourself" is because, without even looking at the mobo provided or the ram i can tell you that those video cards are nothing compared to the one you can put in your "custom" build... for at least $100 less in total cost.
...ok i stopped and looked at those builds... that case i showed you earlier... the one you like alot... may make the fans louder because of the conflicting fan directions... and it looks like it could work but that fan on the clear side panel would have to be set as an exhaust, otherwise... the cpu fan... and rear exhaust fan are going to cause a stronger air flow and all the cool air sucked in by the side fan (as an intake) would mostly just get sucked right back out by the rear fan. haha... at least it looks like that to me. that side fan would have been better off at the bottom.

anyway here's my build... is a lil more than the last one, but the RAM i chose for the last one was saving us alot of cash... shipping/MIR/discount...

Case
Newegg.com - APEVIA X-SUPRA G-Type X-SUPRAG-BL Black / Blue SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Case Fan (if you dont like the colors, cut the LED leads... lol, i chose for price perpouses... you can get wutever color you want for about an extra 5-10 bucks)
Newegg.com - APEVIA CF12SL-4C 120mm Multi-Color LED Case Fan - Case Fans

CPU(i7)/MoBo combo
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

GPU
Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

PSU (honestly a great deal for the price you pay)
Newegg.com - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

RAM
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

HDD (SATA)
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

DVD
Newegg.com - Pioneer Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

Subtotal: $961.41
Shipping: $010.55
SHIPPED: $971.96
after MIR($80) $891.96

So that leaves room to slowly upgrade... Water Cooler, Better/More RAM, 2nd GPU... wutever you plz! That leaves me kinda ****ed, cuz i thought i could do it for cheaper, but thats still not bad for a i7 build that will run almost any game you got at max lvls on 22" and under... iono about over haha! I'm sure it would still kick some A$$

P.S. if you want to change anything, it may add more to the price than just the paying price difference, because i strategically chose most of the products for either free shipping or MIR, but i still tried to use the better/more reliable brands at the lowest cost. Let me know what you think about the build... if you can cut cost anymore please share.
 
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