Considering this build as an upgrade to a 6 year old comp

[thill3]

Hey all.

I've been looking at computer parts recently in an effort to replace my very old (but still mostly functional) desktop. Here's what I've come up with as a possibility, and I'm looking for feedback. I can get the setup below for about 2400 dollars, which is about what I'm looking to stick with (though there is a bit of wiggle room there if there's a good reason to spend a bit more).

Case: Thermaltake Spedo Full Tower
Extra case fan: 3 ball bearing fans
Power supply: 750 W Corsair CMPSU-750TX
CPU: Intel Core i7-920, 2.66Ghz, 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366
Cooling Fan: Intel LGA1366 certified CPU fan & heatsink
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2, Intel X58 chipset, SLI/CrossfireX Mainboard SAS Triple-Channel CCR3/1600 SATA w/ eSATA, dual GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394a, 7.1 Audio
Memory: 12GB (2GBx6) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory (Kingston)
VIDEO Card 1: ATI Radeon HD 5850 PCI-E 16X 1GB Video Card [DirectX 11 Support]
VIDEO Card 2: ATI Radeon HD 5850 PCI-E 16X 1GB Video Card [DirectX 11 Support]
Hard Drive: 128GB Kingston 2.5 inch SATA Gaming MLC Solid State Disk
Optical Drive: LG 22X DVD +- R + CD+-R/RW Dual Layer
Sound: High Definition on-board 7.1 Audio
Speakers: 600W PMPO Subwoofer stereo speakers
Network: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network

Keyboard: XtremeGear multimedia/internet USB keyboard
Mouse: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Button gaming mouse
Professional wiring with High performance Thermal Compound on CPU

Microsoft Windows 7 Home premium 64-bit


For the most part my gaming at the moment is World of Warcraft, but I'd like the opportunity and capacity to try some of the new PC games coming out.
WoW won't take advantage of the extra cores on the Core i7, but those cores will allow me to do other things at the same time without a loss of performance. Dual Radeon cards work in Crossfire, which WoW takes advantage of, and the memory is in 2 sets of 3 sticks to take advantage of triple channel.
At the moment I have an 80GB hard drive in my old PC, and it's not full, so I feel that the 128GB SSD will be more than sufficient for my storage needs. (I may pick up a larger, standard spinning hard drive down the road if I decide I need extra storage space for things I don't use on a regular basis.) I did end up going with the slightly cheaper Kingston SSD instead of an Intel, but I'm certainly not set on that if an Intel one is demonstrably better.
I'm not going to be doing much in the way of media editing, though I do intend to watch movies and play my music collection.

I'm not 100% sure about the case (may be overkill) or whether or not I"ll end up needing the extra fans.

I also went with 2 Radeon 5850 cards over the slightly less expensive 4890s and 5770s. The research I've done says that this is probably the way to go.

I haven't included a monitor in the above setup, since I may be sticking with my current desktop CRT (19", 1280x1024 if I recall correctly) if I can't find a good, cheap LCD at a better resolution. I'm certainly open to suggestions there too.

I'd like my build to be potentially upgradeable as well. My current desktop was an econo-box to begin with, so upgradeability and forward-compatibility are important to me.

If anyone has some insight or suggestions, that would be great.

Thanks.

[SummerDays]

Originally Posted by thill3

Hey all.

CPU: Intel Core i7-920, 2.66Ghz, 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366

Cooling Fan: Intel LGA1366 certified CPU fan & heatsink

Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2, Intel X58 chipset, SLI/CrossfireX Mainboard SAS Triple-

Thanks.

The i7 930 is coming out in a week or so. You'll want to wait for that.

Asus P6W7 Revolution board for an extra X16 slot.

What do you mean by an intel certified CPU fan & heatsink?

Buy the fastest memory you can afford.

Get a bigger power supply than 750 watts.

[crazyeyesreaper]

for 1 the 750watt is plenty
2 the 930 is the better choice
hes running 2 gpus i doubt he needs anything more then that simply because by the time a 3rd gpu is worth it better gpus from ati will be avaible

[erocker]

If you are going to stick with a 1280x1024 monitor two 5850's are overkill. 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 24" monitors are quite cheap right now.

[BraveSoul]

Originally Posted by SummerDays

The i7 930 is coming out in a week or so

no way ,, 32nm i7 quad ????

stay with 1 video card for now,, get a better monitor this one seems sharp and vibrant

[DirectorC]

Originally Posted by SummerDays

Get a bigger power supply than 750 watts.

OMFG you could run all that hardware and Tri-SLI and still barely hit 750W. More than this is overkill.

Power hungry 285s in Tri-SLI:

[DirectorC]

Originally Posted by BraveSoul

no way ,, 32nm i7 quad ????

It won't be 32nm.

[MT Alex]

12 Gigs of RAM is serious overkill. I'd save the cash and stick with 6, get a better monitor and aftermarket heatsink.

[thill3]

I'm aware that the system is overkill for a 1280x1024 monitor. I have less idea what to do there than anywhere else. I hear rumors Viewsonic makes acceptable LCD's, and the one Bravesoul linked looks interesting (after a cursory glance; it's late, and I need to sleep.)

SummerDays, you ask a good question about what I mean by a generic fan and heatsink. To be honest, I'm not sure, so if you've got brand or model numbers/names I'm definitely open to ideas. Also, it looks like you believe I"m settling for slower memory than I could otherwise be getting. If I understand it correctly, the motherboard I listed is intended to be run with DDR3-1600MHz memory. Correct me if I'm wrong.

To all who suggested the i7-930 CPU, I will definitely look into that.

MT-Alex, the reason I went with 12GB of RAM is because I'd like to be able to do some other things while I"m gaming, and I have a tendency to be a bit of a packrat, even when it comes to the windows open on my workspace.

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions. I definitely invite more feedback and/or ideas.

[DirectorC]

Originally Posted by thill3

I hear rumors Viewsonic makes acceptable LCDs

ACCEPTABLE?! OK you must be trolling!

[thill3]

The thing is, DirectorC, as with a lot of things, I know just enough to get myself into trouble, which is why I'm looking for feedback and ideas. I'll definitely keep Viewsonic in mind.

[SummerDays]

Nec makes some good monitors, but they're more expensive. www.necdisplay.com

As far as fans go, look around for some reviews, read 3 or 4 of them, and you'll start to get an idea of what you're looking for.

The main thing is to get an aftermarket fan, as opposed to messing around with the Intel stock one.

Excuse the people who go ape shit at the suggestion of a better power supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-019-_-Product

[crazyeyesreaper]

1100watts for a system that wont draw more then 550watts max load even with the corsair 750watt he has 200watts of room which is plenty taking into account capaciter aging

[DirectorC]

Excuse the guy who suggests everything based on e-p33n size and not actual needs!

[crazyeyesreaper]

i could understand it if he was using 5970s for quadcrossfire or a dual socket mobo for 2 cpus and 4 gpus but no one needs that kind of power

[SummerDays]

Thill, you should be very happy with that motherboard. I've had my Asus Rampage II Extreme for over a year now, and it's great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-352-_-Product

I'm not fond of my Thermal Take case. The screwless system in this is a pain to use at all times. It makes it a real pain to do something as easy as changing a card.

I definitely would go full size for a case.

In terms of memory, this board has a base clock that goes up to 500 Mhz.. so buying faster memory shouldn't be problem. G.skill makes some nice memory too.

[Sensi Karate]

All seems good but you really need to get a larger screen (1920x1080 or 1920x1200) since your system will laugh at that 19" CRT. If you don't really want a GIANT screen, why not try something within the 22" or to the extreme for you, the 24". I have a BenQ E2200HD which is 21.5" and it works like a charm with 1920x1080 (1080p) resolution, 16:9 wide, HDMI ports and 2ms response for games. Also BenQ is very cheap for the quality they build so you could get it for $160 (AUD) or less. If you want the slightly bigger 24" BenQ also has a the E2420HD or the E2400HD which are also great screens at a very affordable price. If you want to go the extreme side maybe look into an LED screen but they are fairly expensive compared to there LCD cousins.

More information here: http://www.benq.com/

Also that TT Spedo case is good but with the money you should go with something better, if you want quality then go for Lian Li (all of them are good) or maybe a Silverstone TJ-09 or if you want a more Gaming/Fan Frenzy/Air Cooling then go with either the HAF 932 or a Raven RV-01 or 02.

Hope you like your new gaming PC.

[thill3]

Hey all. I've looked at Tigerdirect and Newegg, compared some prices, looked at some more details, and I think I have a parts list fleshed out for the most part.

Case: Silverstone Raven RV-02
Power supply: 750 W Corsair CMPSU-750TX
CPU: Intel Core i7-930, 2.8Ghz, LGA 1366 (coming out late February, I believe)
Cooling Fan: Noctua U12P 120mm
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2, Open Box, Closed Box
Memory: 12GB (2GBx6) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory (Kingston)
VIDEO Card: 2 x XFX Radeon HD 5850
Hard Drive: 128GB Kingston 2.5 inch SATA Gaming MLC Solid State Disk
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM
Monitor: Viewsonic 23.6" hdmi-ready widescreen

I've done some price comparisons, and the above takes the best prices from both sites (NE is clearly outdoing TD, but hey, means lower prices for me.)

The video card I"ve linked has the lowest clock speeds (core and memory) of any of the xfx 5850 models. I'm open to upgrading that a bit if it'll make some difference.

The SSD I've selected is clearly not marketed as a main drive, so I've included an OEM copy of windows 7 home premium to install as my OS.

I really like the idea of a case venting from bottom to top, and so I went with the RV-02. Thanks for the suggestion, Sensei Karate.

TigerDirect offers the same power supply as the newegg one for $5 less, but nowhere on the TD listing does it say that it's crossfire ready. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I don't want my second video card to be useless.

Also, If I'm reading this right, my 1800MHz RAM is automatically going to be underclocked to 1333 MHz because of my motherboard unless I intentionally overclock things. Does this look correct? Is it worth looking at motherboard upgrades, or am I going to have to spend hundreds more dollars to get something that will make a difference? (And if you have an opinion on whether I should go for the cheaper open box option or not risk it and take the closed box for more money, please let me know.)

And according to my research, the i7-930 isn't coming out until late February. Would you say it's better to buy the other parts now and have them sit around until then, or wait and then buy it all at once when the processor is available?

Thanks, all. You've been a great help so far.

[Munki]

Originally Posted by thill3

Hey all. I've looked at Tigerdirect and Newegg, compared some prices, looked at some more details, and I think I have a parts list fleshed out for the most part.

Case: Silverstone Raven RV-02
Power supply: 750 W Corsair CMPSU-750TX
CPU: Intel Core i7-930, 2.8Ghz, LGA 1366 (coming out late February, I believe)
Cooling Fan: Noctua U12P 120mm
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2, Open Box, Closed Box
Memory: 12GB (2GBx6) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory (Kingston)
VIDEO Card: 2 x XFX Radeon HD 5850
Hard Drive: 128GB Kingston 2.5 inch SATA Gaming MLC Solid State Disk
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM
Monitor: Viewsonic 23.6" hdmi-ready widescreen

I've done some price comparisons, and the above takes the best prices from both sites (NE is clearly outdoing TD, but hey, means lower prices for me.)

The video card I"ve linked has the lowest clock speeds (core and memory) of any of the xfx 5850 models. I'm open to upgrading that a bit if it'll make some difference.

The SSD I've selected is clearly not marketed as a main drive, so I've included an OEM copy of windows 7 home premium to install as my OS.

I really like the idea of a case venting from bottom to top, and so I went with the RV-02. Thanks for the suggestion, Sensei Karate.

TigerDirect offers the same power supply as the newegg one for $5 less, but nowhere on the TD listing does it say that it's crossfire ready. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I don't want my second video card to be useless.

Also, If I'm reading this right, my 1800MHz RAM is automatically going to be underclocked to 1333 MHz because of my motherboard unless I intentionally overclock things. Does this look correct? Is it worth looking at motherboard upgrades, or am I going to have to spend hundreds more dollars to get something that will make a difference? (And if you have an opinion on whether I should go for the cheaper open box option or not risk it and take the closed box for more money, please let me know.)

And according to my research, the i7-930 isn't coming out until late February. Would you say it's better to buy the other parts now and have them sit around until then, or wait and then buy it all at once when the processor is available?

Thanks, all. You've been a great help so far.

EDIT.....memory has wrong link

[mlee49]

Your link to your HDD is to your ram, how are the read write speeds?

Also, I'm not a big fan of the P6T. Many of our i7 overclockers have Gigabyte's UD5, Evga's, and the notorious Bloodrage.

I say just go for the 920, its gonna be a lot cheaper and just fine.

[slyfox2151]

you should change your screen chose from that to either LG or Samsung L.E.D backlit for better quality, such as

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824005133


Quote
The SSD I've selected is clearly not marketed as a main drive, so I've included an OEM copy of windows 7 home premium to install as my OS.

what do you mean by this?

if you need more storage with high performance i would susgest a Samsung Spin Point F3.


(also your hard drive link is incorrect... it shows kingston ram.)

[thill3]

The RAM and SSD links are reversed. My bad. They're both still there. I'll try to edit the post.

I'll be getting two sets of the memory I linked to (2 of the 3x2GB).

What I mean by the statement on the SSD, slyfox, is that it's not going to have an OS pre-installed. My OP says that I'm not looking for much more in the way of storage space. I just don't need much more.

[DirectorC]

No HDs except those in store-bought computers and shady back alleyways have pre-installed OS.

[slyfox2151]

HDD's/SSD dont come with an OS pre-installed , only full prebuilt systems.

personaly i would go an Intel or OCZ SSD, the kingston listed only does 100mbps read 70mbps write, you should be able to find a much faster drive for only a few more $$

[crazyeyesreaper]

at those read and write speeds a single 1 terabyte drive would stomp that ssd in all be access times and latency

get a decent SSD im sure someone here can link a good one but that kingston just sucks compared what else is avaible on the market