Buying a new rig, help appreciated part 2

[n-ster]

Here's the previous thread So I've decided I actually WILL make a computer soon.

EDIT: I CONVINCED MY DAD!!! and here's the build I'm going to make... PLEASE tell me if there is ANYTHING missing and if the cooling is good or not!!! I would like to overclock my i7 to ~3.3 (166x20 or 167x20 so that 1333 RAM can be taken advantage of) and overclock my RAM to 6-6-6 timing (instead of 7-7-7) WITHOUT passing 1.7V and keeping my comp cool enough...

So here’s what i’m thinking :

Cpu

Motherboard

keeping cpu and mobo just incase it xpires

Cpu+Mobo


Case

Screen

PSU

Memory

CPU cooler
for CPU cooler
CPU cooler's socket

DVD burner

Hard Drive

Graphics card

So? missing things (xcept keyboard n mouse)?

[n-ster]

Ok so I've been doing some research... so I think I have found THE card for me only at 100$ - 10$ MIR is great price! so here it is! Now I just need you to tell me If my mobo is good, and if with all this I can overclock to 3.34 my i7 and 6-6-6 latency my RAM with proper temps with this cooling and if I could even try to overclock my graphics card a tiny bit... btw any ideas to be able to lower costs? ty

[n-ster]

bump, would just like to know if cooling is good for the OC I want... and maybe some opinions about the build? I know I already did the thread.... its just that I basically lowered my budget and decided myself on a lot of things... so just I'm asking about cooling...

[spearman914]

I heard the ram was crap. It doesn't work at rated settings.

[n-ster]

no its the ppl that didn't mess with the bios to make it run at the right speed and didn't OC their i7 to 3.33

[DRDNA]

whats the total $$ so far??

[n-ster]

Subtotal: $1,322.89
Tax: $95.50 (I'm in NJ)
Shipping: $41.36
With tax Total: $1,459.75
without tax (so you guys if you don't live in NJ, CA or somewhere else where they are based): 1364.25$

SCREEN INCLUDED

[DRDNA]

Hmmm......$1225 b4 shipping and OS and it seems like a better setup ..>http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Xtreme_XT/ with options to customize.
I dunno though about these guys...
I bought the Asetek water cooling system from a guy that bought one of these PC's

[n-ster]

yea but its without a monitor... which means mine is 1100$, and I could get a 4870 with 125$ more...

[JC316]

I would get 2-4GB of decent ram rather than the 3 gigs of that stuff. Eveything else looks to be in order. I dont' get why you would only want to clock an I7 rig to only 3.3GHZ though, you might as well get a P5Q-Pro, E8400, and an HD4870 and you will get rock solid performance.

[DonInKansas]

Originally Posted by JC316

I would get 2-4GB of decent ram rather than the 3 gigs of that stuff.

Because i7 uses Triple Channel?

[Binge]

I hate to do this to some of the people commenting, but don't listen to anything they say about 3gb of ram. I have 3gb and I do intensive s***. 3D, gaming, sound processing and recording, you name it and I do it with 3gb. If you set your windows page file accordingly you should have no problems. You will, however, want better ram for your x58. PC3-12800 at the very minimum. The overhead is important for overclocking. GSkill is a great brand as are Corsair, Crucial, and OCZ.

Your CPU cooler needs to not be something that is an "easy" snap on solution. You want bolt through. Something like that will not support your x58 overclocked. It will burn up or degrade, you will cry a little inside. It would be expected. Something like a TRUE, Coolmaster v8, Xigmatech of your choice (then buy an adapter bracket), or Noctua NH-U12P.

As for your mobo/cpu I have the same opinion on most all x58 mobos. If it doesn't give you what you want then return it ASAP and don't take s*** from people you're spending good money to get something that does the work you want it to do.

Glad to see you put a lot of thought into this.

[JrRacinFan]

@Don
Triple channel, meh.

@n-ster
You already heard how I felt about triple channel ram. Dual channel with a higher capacity would outperform.

In other words, 6x1GB in triple channel or 2x2GB in dual sounds great to me!

[n-ster]

yea and I want FUTURE-PROOF stuff Also, I want to play in the middle of summer with a 27 degrees Celsius room temp well... idk much about OCing so I don't want to bust my hardware... also i don't want to hinder the life of the i7 too much either... So the cooling is fine then? Also, anywhere where I can spend less?

btw DRDNA... That rig is going to help me i think... thanks alot for that post

wow posting at the same time as I am... wow I'm a slow typer xD also DRDNA, that rigs problem I think is the PSU, I want a quality PSU... So I would buy that seperately...

@Binge isn't OCing to 3.33 low enough to be handled by that cooler? and I got a huge amount of compound for something ya know xD

@Jr isn't that ddr3 very good since its low latency, speed is max for my i7 and that latency i will OC to 6-6-6? won't it be better than any other dual channel, even at that price?

[KainXS]

maybe you should look at a 4870 and probably a 9500gt for physx if you want it to be futureproof, a 4830 is already maxed out in some games

[n-ster]

oh but I will upgrade the card later on... I would like to stay on budget NOW and then upgrade it in a year or in 6 months (this is only the graphic card I'm talking about)

[JrRacinFan]

Originally Posted by n-ster

@Binge isn't OCing to 3.33 low enough to be handled by that cooler? and I got a huge amount of compound for something ya know xD

@Jr isn't that ddr3 very good since its low latency, speed is max for my i7 and that latency i will OC to 6-6-6? won't it be better than any other dual channel, even at that price?

True but 1600 @ CL7 would perform better than 1333 @ CL6. Oh and about the compound, you only need a little per application and a little goes a long way.

Originally Posted by KainXS

maybe you should look at a 4870 and probably a 9500gt for physx if you want it to be futureproof, a 4830 is already maxed out in some games

Don't count out the GTX260 either BUT 2x 4830's would perform very very close to the 260.

[n-ster]

as I said, for now, I would like to keep the graphic card 100$ or less... btw the site DRDNA gave has another model i'm trying... i might actually go with it

EDIT: well I realized it isn't as cheap as it sounds... i'm still worried about the price... that tax just puts me over budget... any suggestions? like where else can I buy stuff?

btw, say I buy a 2000mhz RAM with CAS8, how is it better than the 1333? cuz isn't the extra 666 wasted since i7 doesn't support it?

[JC316]

Honestly the difference between the E8400 and I7 is so minimal in long term use, that by the time the E8400 is obsolete, the I7 is going to be a month behind it. The way I see it, get a kick ass video card or 2 and get the slightly slower E8400.

[n-ster]

well, i'm pretty sure multi-threaded games will come out now... a good example of i7 > E8400 is GTA IV

but do you have any suggestions where to buy else? i'm in montreal and NJ. also,I would like help for the ram... i dont understand how i would benifit of a 1600mhz even if i7 supports the 1333 at 3.3ghz

[Binge]

Originally Posted by n-ster

as I said, for now, I would like to keep the graphic card 100$ or less... btw the site DRDNA gave has another model i'm trying... i might actually go with it

EDIT: well I realized it isn't as cheap as it sounds... i'm still worried about the price... that tax just puts me over budget... any suggestions? like where else can I buy stuff?

btw, say I buy a 2000mhz RAM with CAS8, how is it better than the 1333? cuz isn't the extra 666 wasted since i7 doesn't support it?

You've got it wrong man... if it can do cas 7 at 1600 then it can do cas 5 @ 1333. 2000mhz at CAS8 would probably be able to hit cas5 as well.

The reason you want to go for 1600 is because of headroom. With DDR3 compatibility with your motherboard will make more of a difference than cas latency. If you want good DDR3 sticks, check out Fitseries 3's B/S/T thread. He has some good GSkill triple channel memory for sale @ $125 shipped. cas 8-8-8-21 1.6-1.65v DDR3-12800 (1600MHz) same stuff I run. Works on lower latency too.

And to answer the question about the cooler... if you run with HT off you can use pretty weak coolers but hyperthreading causes heat.

The reason being is that your ram multiplier will put you way below 1333 or higher than 1333 and I have yet to see DDR3 operate below cas-5. Below 1333 you shouldn't even bother unless you're pushing for 4.2Ghz which operates at 1200Mhz. Point is.... 1066Mhz DDR3 @ cas5<1066Mhz DDR2 @ cas4 or below.

[n-ster]

i'm still skeptical about the RAM... and isn't ddr2 incompatible with i7? maybe you were talking about dual channel vs triple channel right? I think I'd prefer to buy ddr3 triple channel cas 7 pc3 12800 and make it run at cas 5 1333 as you said

As for the cooling... that means that that cooler will not be sufficient to OC to 3.3ghz? That sucks...

btw... WHERE ELSE CAN I BUY COMPUTER STUFF EXCEPT NEWEGG? I don't feel like paying tax >.<

[JrRacinFan]

Originally Posted by n-ster

btw... WHERE ELSE CAN I BUY COMPUTER STUFF EXCEPT NEWEGG? I don't feel like paying tax >.<

www.zipzoomfly.com

www.tigerdirect.com

www.mwave.com

www.ewiz.com

those are the top other sites (no particular order) ....

Here are a couple shop engines:

www.pricewatch.com

www.froogle.com

And of course you can always shop ebay

EDIT:

Almost forgot my favorite site for motherboards; www.motherboardpro.com

[n-ster]

thanks Jr I'm going to check them out and see if I can lower my cost :O

btw can anyone look at DRDNAs site to see if its worth buying instead of buying the parts? I was looking at it and it might be interesting to buy some parts (ex: graphic card) and put none in the options... so a combination

[Binge]

Originally Posted by n-ster

i'm still skeptical about the RAM... and isn't ddr2 incompatible with i7? maybe you were talking about dual channel vs triple channel right? I think I'd prefer to buy ddr3 triple channel cas 7 pc3 12800 and make it run at cas 5 1333 as you said

As for the cooling... that means that that cooler will not be sufficient to OC to 3.3ghz? That sucks...

btw... WHERE ELSE CAN I BUY COMPUTER STUFF EXCEPT NEWEGG? I don't feel like paying tax >.<

I'm talking about DDR2 vs DDR3 speeds and there is a point where DDR3 is not as good a DDR2 stick for stick. Triple channel helps but just understand that I'm saying you can cripple your memory's abilities by dropping the frequency too low because getting lower than cas 5 on DDR3 is REALLY hard/unstable.

As for the cooler then I don't believe it will be sufficient when you run the system under load. 3.3ghz is a decent goal and you should be able to do it easy until the system heats up, and then you'll have problems with mediocre coolers. For example... I know I run my system at a higher OC but it's on water. It idles @30C and tops out at 66C. I have it by itself on a PA120.3 (big radiator) so for the chip to be getting that hot under load on water is pretty nuts. You may want to ask Chicken Patty about his experiences with cooling his i7 at low OCs because he's done it a lot more than I have.