Getting ready for the Big build, need LAST minute advice

[strafter]

Hey guys, for those that remember, we went through about 100 posts on my last thread where I finally hammered out my final build. My goal was to get in the $1500 ball park (no peripherals or OS) Here is what I have come up with....

Since the pics came out pretty crappy here are the links to all the pieces

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SAMSUNG 24X DVD+R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151216

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112239

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359

ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157163

XFX HD-587X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit DDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150476

Tuniq Ripper PSU-RIP1000W-BK 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817611009

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145286

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache X2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283
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You'll notice that there are a few Motherboards on the list right now, this is my last thing I need to tweak. I was going to go with ASRocks but it had some poor reviews on NewEgg, so I thought maybe I'd throw in another $50 and upgrade to one of the others.
My issue between ASUS and EVGA is that ASUS doesnt natively support DDR3 1600 but does have PCI-E x16, x16, x4 and EVGA says it supports DDR3 1600 but only has PCI-E x16, x8, x4, x8. So with EVGA I lose a little bit on the Cross-fire (which I WILL be doing down the line) and with ASUS I lose a little bit on the RAM speed. Which do you guys feel is the better choice given my RAM and wants to Cross-fire, or is there a better board out there I missed (FOR THE SAME PRICE).

The other 2 items I am looking at are the case and PSU. The PSU seems to have gotten decent reviews, but what are your thoughts (realize in the future this rig may run 2 or 3 5870's so please don't tell me I could go with a 600W PSU). The case is pretty expensive for my taste, you guys think I could get the same airflow and fit in a cheaper case, ideas/recommendations?

Also, just as a general thumbs up thumbs down how does it look? Any tweaks you pros out there wish to put forth? I'm a little over budget, so if possible I'd like the tweaks either decrease the price or keep it stable. I would actually VERY MUCH welcome price decrease tweaks to try and hit my budget.

Also, right now I have everything specced to buy from NewEgg, are there any other sources out there you would suggest I look at to try and piece together the system for the lowest price?

As always, Thanks Very much dudes! TPU fo LIFE!

 

[JATownes]

As far as the case goes, I was looking at the Lancool K62 also, but instead went with the CM690II Advanced. It is the same price, and (in my opinion) has better features.

Linkage----> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216&cm_re=cm690-_-11-119-216-_-Product

MB: I say go with the Asus...dual x16 slots are nice for Crossfire, and I have no doubts it will do 1600Mhz

I don't see one listed so I will ask: What cooler are you going to use to cool down that 930? Please do not say stock

I think your build looks pretty awesome and will last for a while to come. Congrats

 

[brandonwh64]

GO with a asus rampage II Extreme!

 

[Fourstaff]

Gigabyte X58A-UD3 instead?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...423&cm_re=gigabyte_x58-_-13-128-423-_-Product

Also, I trust Corsair a lot, so take a look at this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&Tpk=corsair 850

And the lack of aftermarket cooler disturbs me:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3029&cm_re=dark_knight-_-35-233-029-_-Product
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-018-_-Product if you are feeling rich

 

[DOM]

if you want a 5870 i would get one of these but if you wanna save some and put some to the motherboard get a 5850 also in the link

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...29-141^14-129-141-TS,14-121-375^14-121-375-TS

and i should have a i7 920 up for sale soon

 

[strafter]

As far as the case goes, I was looking at the Lancool K62 also, but instead went with the CM690II Advanced. It is the same price, and (in my opinion) has better features.

MB: I say go with the Asus...dual x16 slots are nice for Crossfire, and I have no doubts it will do 1600Mhz

I don't see one listed so I will ask: What cooler are you going to use to cool down that 930? Please do not say stock
:

Good advice on the case, I'll look into it, as for the after market cooler, to be honest... I have been shying away from buying one... I don't know enough about OCing to feel confident in OCing my system and stock will do just fine if I don't OC. Is OCing this system going to be difficult for someone n00b like me?

GO with a asus rampage II Extreme!

Looks great... except for the little comment I made about BUDGET!

Gigabyte X58A-UD3 instead?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...423&cm_re=gigabyte_x58-_-13-128-423-_-Product

Also, I trust Corsair a lot, so take a look at this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&Tpk=corsair 850

And the lack of aftermarket cooler disturbs me:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3029&cm_re=dark_knight-_-35-233-029-_-Product
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-018-_-Product if you are feeling rich

The specs on the Giga Mobo don't mention 1600, is that just a typo? Also the reviews for it are so-so, is anyone out there using this board that can recommend it. Last thing I want is an RMA or a faulty board on my hands. Although it does have USB 3.0 and SATAIII which is a bonus for the same price.

The PSU is only 850 W and I am afraid it would never handle 3x or even 2x Crossfire, I did a quick Wattage calc and came up with ~900 at 2x and ~1150 at 3x.

See above for my comments on the cooler and my current waryness about OCing... that's me on OCing, I am sure it is simple, I just don't know how to do it.

if you want a 5870 i would get one of these but if you wanna save some and put some to the motherboard get a 5850 also in the link

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...29-141^14-129-141-TS,14-121-375^14-121-375-TS

and i should have a i7 920 up for sale soon

Not really interested in the 5850 or 920, I think to siphen money from the Video card to the Mobo is kind of penny-wise and pound foolish. A dollar spend on the Vid card is going to take me 4 times further then one spent on the Mobo.

 

[PaulieG]

DO NOT rely on Newegg reviews for your decisions. I see no Gigabyte boards on your list, which is really sad. After owning and extensively testing more than a dozen x58 bioards, I can tell you that Gigabyte's top 2-3 boards are better than all but the EVGA Classified, and the UD7 rivals the Classy. Take your pick, but the x58A UD5 offers a great price to performance ratio.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=2010200280 50001314 1070545356&name=GIGABYTE

 

[JATownes]

^^ I would trust Paulieg on this one...he has tested lots of these boards...(and he tests them extensively from what I understand )

Good advice on the case, I'll look into it, as for the after market cooler, to be honest... I have been shying away from buying one... I don't know enough about OCing to feel confident in OCing my system and stock will do just fine if I don't OC. Is OCing this system going to be difficult for someone n00b like me?

As far as overclocking is concerned, I would still recommend an aftermarket cooler. If you are nervous about BIOS overclocking, some of the software overclocking tools from GB/ASUS/MSI are really good. Plus wouldn't it suck to get this awesome rig and decide to try some OCing, but you aren't equipped for it? Even at stock I would recommend an aftermarket cooler simply because a cool processor is a happy processor.

 

[DOM]

Not really interested in the 5850 or 920, I think to siphen money from the Video card to the Mobo is kind of penny-wise and pound foolish. A dollar spend on the Vid card is going to take me 4 times further then one spent on the Mobo.

your just going to get like 10-15% slower then a 5870 and im sure the 930 cant oc on the 22 multi so its like a 920 and mine runs 4.2GHz on just 1.312v vs most 930 need 1.32+ but some ppl just like to buy new

and what the max you want to spend on a mobo ?

 

[strafter]

Maximum I want to spend on a Mobo is like 220ish.

I will have to rethink the mobo now taking Giga into consideration. TBH the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R was on my list in the very beginning for its USB and SATA 3.0 features, but I took it off after some said that those features were not to be seen as a plus really because they steal bandwidth from other parts of the board. I never really researched it, I just kind of nixed it.

As for all the Giga boards you sent out, the only one really in my budget is the 3R series. So the question then is which do I chose

ASUS P6T
EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR
GIGA UD3R

These have all been chosen because they fit my budget ($220ish and under), it doesnt do any good saying oh go with mobo XYZ when that costs $300. IMO putting a $300 Mobo in a $1500 machine is kinda pointless. I want to get my bucks in on the GPU and CPU and RAM where its going to give me the best $/performance ratio, not the mobo. I've looked at the Mobo tests out there and to me it seems as long as you got a decent board the difference in performance is near non-existent.

So out of those 3 boards or other $220 range boards what do I go with?

 

[DOM]

i would go with the GA-X58A-UD3R

 

[Fourstaff]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_5870_PCS_Plus/27.html

Chart here says that a 5870 takes about 158w for heavy load, only when super stressed it takes 212w for the vanilla flavour. If you trifire, you will need 212*3=636w, leaving you with about 200w for the rest of the components at maximum wattage. 850w is still more than enough for your needs.

Psu comparison:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/02/04/tuniq_ripper_1000w_power_supply/9
vs
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2008/12/19/corsair_tx850w_power_supply/9
The Corsair one is marginally better, and it will be easier to sell in the future assuming that you need to sell your rig.

Edit: Follow Paulieg's advice, for someone who has built 10+ i7 rigs, his advice is gold standard here for i7s.

 

[Kenshai]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_5870_PCS_Plus/27.html

Chart here says that a 5870 takes about 158w for heavy load, only when super stressed it takes 212w for the vanilla flavour. If you trifire, you will need 212*3=636w, leaving you with about 200w for the rest of the components at maximum wattage. 850w is still more than enough for your needs.

Psu comparison:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/02/04/tuniq_ripper_1000w_power_supply/9
vs
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2008/12/19/corsair_tx850w_power_supply/9
The Corsair one is marginally better, and it will be easier to sell in the future assuming that you need to sell your rig.

Edit: Follow Paulieg's advice, for someone who has built 10+ i7 rigs, his advice is gold standard here for i7s.

Definitely don't need 636w for trifire, the second and third card draw MUCH less power than the first.

 

[strafter]

Heh, of course, the one I hadnt even been looking at! Well that's why I posted this for final review, to find these little gems. Any reason behind that choice DOM? Spec-wise it does look like a better choice.

USB and SATA 3.0 vs 2.0, PCI-E 16x, 16x or 16, 8, 8. Only thing is the reviews, it looks like the EVGA has slightly better reviews which in my mind always equates to a slightly smaller chance of RMA which can hold you entire build up for a month.

 

[JATownes]

As Paulieg stated earlier...DO NOT TRUST NEWEGG REVIEWS...check reviews of trusted hardware sites...Like TPU

 

[DOM]

Heh, of course, the one I hadnt even been looking at! Well that's why I posted this for final review, to find these little gems. Any reason behind that choice DOM? Spec-wise it does look like a better choice.

USB and SATA 3.0 vs 2.0, PCI-E 16x, 16x or 16, 8, 8. Only thing is the reviews, it looks like the EVGA has slightly better reviews which in my mind always equates to a slightly smaller chance of RMA which can hold you entire build up for a month.

cuz they make good boards and unless your going to use 2 5870's you wouldnt have to worry about using 3usb and 6sata and i had rmaed a 775 gig mobo took 2weeks to get it back they replaced the nb

 

[Fourstaff]

How about CM HAF 922?

Review

 

[strafter]

So are you guys saying on the PSU that neweggs PSU calculator is wrong.

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html

When I use it it's telling me 1100w. That is where I am worrying to be honest

 

[Fourstaff]

So are you guys saying on the PSU that neweggs PSU calculator is wrong.

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html

When I use it it's telling me 1100w. That is where I am worrying to be honest

Nothing wrong with Newegg's calc, but its tweaked for el cheapo psu, and we are looking at good quality psu

 

[strafter]

How about CM HAF 922?

Review

A very nice case, I think you might have just sold me, also it is a bottom mounting PSU which is nice if you don't get a modular unit so you don't have cables all over your Mobo. I like it..

 

[0Pluisje0]

u can go for the enermax galaxy psu. it is fully modulare and it will be easy for to hide the cables and it will make sure that the airflow will increase for beter temps. and good luck with the build.

 

[strafter]

So you're saying that the 850w will deliver the same amount of power as the 1000w? That doesn't really sound right to me, not that I am an expert. I mean I went to college, wattage is wattage. I figure if they say it can deliver 850 and my rig needs 1100, something aint getting power... am I wrong on how these things work? I just don't want to find myself having to buy a 1000 watt PSU down the road when I want to upgrade is all.

 

[afw]

Heres what i suggested for a member a few weeks ago ... the prices might have changed since ...
a DVD rom instead of a BD-ROM ... and a 750W PSU... and a reference design 5870 ... if you want to save some money
i think a 750W would be sufficient for the build below ... i suggest a corsair 750TX or 750HX ... excellent PSU maker ...

and get the ASUS P6X58D motherboard ... the user reviews are just great ... in fact the best for an X58 board on newegg ...

 

[strafter]

So when I go to this PSU calculator

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

I only get 700-750w needed, but there isn't an option for tri-fire.. just cross fire. I am assuming the 3rd card though would still fit within that 100-150w range... soo who's right? newegg or xtreme?

 

[JATownes]

AFAIK cheapo PSU rate themselves at their MAXIMUM wattage...good, high quality PSU usually rate themselves under their max wattage. i.e. the Corsair 850 is really ~1000 watts, but rated for 850watts of continuous power. I am using the Corsair 850 to power the rig in my system specs. If it can power my rig will all those HDD and fans, the overclocked quad, 4 sticks of DDR2, plus 2 power hungry 4850s, your rig should be a walk for it. My 2 cents.