Building a new computer soon

[Talcyon]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Almost exclusively gaming. I have a laptop for doing everything else. I may use Virtual PC or Sun's VirtualBox to play around with other operating systems and whatnot.

2. What YOUR budget is.

Around $3,000 as I already have the BenQ G2400WD. I also have an old Dell 20" LCD I want to use as a second monitor.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

U.S.A. - Newegg, Buy.com, whatever has the best price/shipping that week.

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.

I want the i7 so Intel for CPU. As for GPU, no real preference...not a fanboy for either.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

As I mentioned before, my monitors. That's about it as I have to sell my old one to get the new one.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

I have but I'd still like to get people's opinions.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I plan on overclocking the CPU at a minimum, I'm leaning mostly towards the i7 920. The cost of the 965 or whatever it's called is just too dang expensive.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Within a month I'd say. I'm waiting on my reenlistment (Air Force) bonus and then I can get cracking so it might be a little longer.

 

[Talcyon]

Here's what I've researched so far but it is definitely subject to change:

Case: CM HAF 932
PSU: 750W Corsair TX (allowing for plenty of room for expansion)
CPU: i7 920 (Will OC) + Prolimatech Megahalems cooler (still looking up fans)
Mobo: Not sure, may go with Evga (not the classified edition)
Memory: Brand, not sure but will get 6GB
GPU: Leaning towards the 285 but not sure.
Sound Card: No clue as I haven't purchased a sound card in forever, always went with onboard.
Hard Drives: 300GB Velociraptor for OS, WD 1TB Black Series for Games
Optical Drives: Samsung 22X DVD Burner (SH-S223Q). The Blu-Ray burners are just to expensive right now.

I know this is under $3K so I may go up on the video card. I'm going from an AMD64 4400+, 2GB DDR, 7900GT so this is already a huuuge step up for me.

 

[Imager]

Just to state you can get a very good kick a$$ system for WAY under 3K and going with i7, a 4870 x2, hdd's, memory, etc, etc.
I priced out a few with 2tb of storage the ati 4850, core i7, 6gb ram, etc and was around $1600 - at times less depending on sales at the time of my search.

Personally I think that case is ugly and bulky. I like the Thermaltake Element S - little cheaper and a sleeker design, and got VERY good reviews.
Just a personal taste though.

 

[imported_wired247]

with your budget you should be getting 2 video cards especially for gaming on a 24" screen. my pick would be 2x GTX285's.

for a few more bucks you could grab an 850W corsair... not that you'd need it particularly, but it isn't going to hurt to have more headroom.

 

[Talcyon]

I was just mentioning the amount of money I have to spend, not had to spend. I just did a quick build just off of newegg and it came out to $1450 after shipping. It helps that I already have a copy of vista and have my own monitor, keyboard and mouse to use.

I figure it'll last me at least another three years before I'll upgrade again, my last one is only now showing its age at 3.5yrs. Here's a copy/paste of what I picked:

EVGA GeForce GTX 285 SC Edition 01G-P3-1285-AR Video Card
Item #:N82E16814130446 $25.00 Mail-in Rebate -$49.99 Saving $359.99 = $310.00

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
Item #:N82E16819115202 $288.99

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window
Item #:N82E16811119160
-$10.00 Instant $159.99 = $149.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817139006
-$60.00 Instant + $20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$179.99 = $119.99

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q
Item #:N82E16827151173 $25.99

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Item #:N82E16822136284 $109.99

Patriot Viper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Item #: N82E16820220365 (combo deal with MOBO)

EVGA 132-BL-E758-TR ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813188046
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$25.00 Combo
$30.00 Mail-in Rebate + $10.00 Mail-in Rebate $379.98 = $354.98

Grand Total: $1,409.92

This doesn't include the CPU cooler I'm going to buy from frozencpu.com but still, not too bad I think. There's always going to be discussion on which video card or ram to pick but I'm really not that picky and I think this will more than work for the next few years.

 

[Talcyon]

Originally posted by: wired247
with your budget you should be getting 2 video cards especially for gaming on a 24" screen. my pick would be 2x GTX285's.

for a few more bucks you could grab an 850W corsair... not that you'd need it particularly, but it isn't going to hurt to have more headroom.

I know it was just an isolated incident with me but I had a bad experience with SLI in the past and didn't really want to go down that road again. Now I'm more worried about the increase in noise and heat from two 285's than performance. I think the GPU is one I'm really not set on just yet.

Good point on the power supply, I can certainly bump that up. I was previously thinking of getting Corsair's 1000W to make sure it'd last through the next few upgrades but I don't think I'll ever get a powerful enough computer that'll need that much. That and trying future-proof never really works.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I suggest waiting for the i7 D0 stepping Aigo's D0

EDIT: and I wouldn't skimp on the PSU - I like my Enermax Revolution 950 and I'm about to buy a 3rd Revolution. I think I may go with the 1000+ model that is cheaper now than the 950 at new egg... sry, it was 285$ before.

 

[Talcyon]

So you're saying the Enermax Revolution 850W is worth the extra $150? (Or the 950 at 165 more) I'll admit, it looks great and the fact it is 80Plus silver certified is great too. It's not like I don't have the funds for it. I will definitely keep that in mind.

I see the 1050W has a $55 rebate but I really, really hate rebates as it takes forever to get the money and then if you have to send it back, you're SOL right? I don't know if they'll take a product back (even if it's dead) without everything intact.

 

[Blain]

Forget Enermax and the Corsair... Go with PC Power & Cooling (if you really think you need 750W).

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: Blain
Forget Enermax and the Corsair... Go with PC Power & Cooling (if you really think you need 750W).

PC Power & Cooing are great also so i've heard

 

[Talcyon]

Yeah, I've thought about getting a PSU from them but I do like the idea of modular ones. It won't be necessary for the case I'm going to get as I'm only going to have two hard drives so there's room to stick the unused cables.

I still can't make any decision until that dang money comes in so it's a waiting game now =).