New Core i7 Build

[MopeyMartian]

Okay guys, the Core i7s have hit the market just in time for brother to get a new PC. Here's what I've come up with so far...

CPU: Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 $320
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 LGA1366 $299
Memory: 3GB DDR3 1600 $160
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM $60
Case: Antec Three Hundred $55
PSU: Corsair 620HX 620W $120
GPU: HIS Radeon 4870 $230
Sound: Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer $91
DVD-RW: Samsung 22x w/Lightscribe $28
Wireless Net: Edimax EW-7128G $19
CPU cooler: future upgrade $0
GPU cooler: future upgrade $0
Thermal Paste: MX-2 $0
OS: Win XP $0
Monitor: Acer 24" 1080P HD LCD $320
Mouse: Logitech MX518 $40
Case Fans: Four Yate Loon 120mm $24
Keyboard: Whatever he wants
Speakers/Headphones: Whatever he wants
$1,774

Let's hear your opinions guys. Just please try to keep the criticisms constructive.

I'll be getting most of these parts from newegg.

I saw that Noctua is offering free 1366 upgrade kits, but could someone point me in the right direction of a reputable retailer? Is Thermalright offering free kits?

 

[ap4lifetn]

Maybe get a Samsung F1 320GB instead? I think they use 333GB platters and are a little bit faster, and 5 bucks cheaper...

Is the sound card necessary? Most people can live with onboard sound.

What about future upgradability (more video cards?) You might need a bigger PSU, perhaps a corsair 750TX, that will be able to hold a OC Core i7 / dual graphics

If there's a Microcenter near you you can pick up motherboards/CPU's from there, it might be a little cheaper.

 

[DOM]

Samsung F1 1TB I just got one

 

[ShadowFold]

Go with the ASUS P6T Deluxe. And if he is just gaming I would get P45 + E8500 honestly.. i7 shows almost no improvement(if any) in gaming so no reason to waste the money on it if hes just gaming.

 

[J-Man]

The Antec 3 Hundred? Why not 1200?

 

[WarEagleAU]

Probably because the 300 is cheaper...

Looks like a pretty solid build. I say stay with the i7 just cuz its new

 

[MopeyMartian]

I'll have to look into the Samsung F1s, just might be the way to go. I was basing some of the decision on Tom's Hard Drive Roundup. He already has an external 500GB HD, so I don't know if he really needs a RAID (perhaps RAID0?) Also, his laptop probably only had 80GB at most, so I doubt he'll use 1TB.

I'm not sure about crossfire. From what I've read i7 is much more multi-gpu friendly but I don't know if he'll really be gaming enough to justify the extra cost. While reading AMD's forums people are complaining about the CF drivers and I don't want him to have those headaches.

The only computer shops (if you can even call them that) around me are Best Buy and Circuit City.

Personally, quad-core is overkill in my eyes anyway. I was thinking of getting him just a C2D 8400, but I worry he'd think I was short changing him by getting a "cheap" processor (that I would definitely OC with a Xigmatek cooler).

I just like the Antec 300, something about it looks less cheesy than the six/twelve hundreds. Plus, it's not ginormous and has all the right parts in all the right places.

 

[Cuzza]

OS: Win XP $0

What shop is that from? lol.

All looks good, but i agree with the other guys splash out more on hard drives; these days the high capacity drives are also the fastest (except for raptors and ssd). wasted space sucks but you cant really get away from that. you're not going cheap so why not go for RAID

 

[MopeyMartian]

lol, I'm hoping he's still got his XP CD from the laptop. If so, why not save $100 there and spend it on better hardware?

The only RAID I've ever setup was RAID1 and I'm guessing RAID0 would be just as easy. Would 5 be the way to go? 0+1? JBOD?

C2D or i7? I wouldn't mind saving him $$$ but in the end it's his call.

 

[Fastmix]

Go with the ASUS P6T Deluxe. And if he is just gaming I would get P45 + E8500 honestly.. i7 shows almost no improvement(if any) in gaming so no reason to waste the money on it if hes just gaming.

Good tip on the motherboard the P6T is getting the best reviews but Core i7 is the way to go, today there might not be a big improvement but tomorrow once applications start supporting hyper trheading then you will reap the benefits.

 

[razaron]

the evga x58 has the best placed pci-e slots ive seen so for, not counting the p6t ws revolution (the one with 6 pci-e slots)
and it should have about the same overclocking as other boards

 

[caleb]

I would also go with a Core2Duo but if you got the money to waste then its your choice. In a matter of month the market will be full of these CPU's and price will go down by half.
IMHO Any board is good as long as its not called ASUS. Raid isnt the way to go if you wanna have ease of use specially with those picky intel controllers.

Change that mouse to a G9 I dont think its a lot more for it but its a lot better than the MX/G5 stuff. Its a lot faster and after you get use to its design you will never want the "cow" MX again.

 

[ShadowFold]

I would also go with a Core2Duo but if you got the money to waste then its your choice. In a matter of month the market will be full of these CPU's and price will go down by half.
IMHO Any board is good as long as its not called ASUS. Raid isnt the way to go if you wanna have ease of use specially with those picky intel controllers.

Change that mouse to a G9 I dont think its a lot more for it but its a lot better than the MX/G5 stuff. Its a lot faster and after you get use to its design you will never want the "cow" MX again.

Whats wrong with ASUS?

 

[justaconsumer2]

get 25% cash back like me

I went on ebay got all the parts for my new q9450 sys had one little snag but all in all i bought my sys and savesd $460 cash back. Mind you you do have to wait 60 days to get the cash back but it is worth it since the prices are the same or less then the stores. (fatwallet.com) for cash back links and instructions.

Q9450 $275 = $200
1000w corsair $239 = $180
p45 gigabyte MB $184 = 140
8gb ddr2 ocz $110 = 80 + $20 mir
4870x2 $529 = $ 400

 

[ShadowFold]

Why pay 140$ for a P45 when you can get a ASUS P5Q Pro P45 for 130$ on newegg?