Recommendations please - new rig

[Wulfgar]

Hello everyone, I just created an account to ask for some feeback on a new rig.
I live in Canada so I'm going to purchase all the parts from http://ncix.com/index.php

My budget is 1,700$ without the monitor.

What I'm positive about:

Processor: Core I7 930
Gfx card: GTX 480

Aside these 2 components I'm pretty much in the dark so can you please recommend me:

-a good manufacturer for 6GB of memory
-a motherboard (preferably Asus)
-a hard-drive (500GB minimum)
-a case (I prefer noise reduction and good ventilation over looks)
-a reliable power source (for at least 2-3 years)
-a soundcard (is this really necessary ?)
-anything else you think it's missing

I don't want the most expensive thing out there but not the cheapest either. I'm going to do a minor overclock on air and that's it (from 2.8 Ghz to 3.4 maybe). SLI is also out of the question. I'll probably buy another HDD in the future but I intend to keep this system for at least 2-3 years without upgrading. When the moment comes I'll buy a new one from scratch.

 

[1nf3rn0x]

i7 and GTX 480 are good. The website is a tad confusing and does not have sections as all the items are in on group, so 775 boards are with 1156. I'll use a better website for surfing around. Sorry for Australia links, but you should be able to find them on a Canadian website and it will be cheaper since things in Australia are a bit more expensive.

Motherboard: Asus Asus P6X58D-E :http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=51_504&products_id=126321 It supports 3 way SLi- and Xfire etc.

RAM: Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 : http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=478_512&products_id=125494

WesternDigital Caviar Black 500gb: http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=27_44&products_id=121372 Three of these will be nice and you can add RAID for better performance, or catering to your needs

Case: Antec 1200 : http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=23_492_103&products_id=114667 Very quiet when you need it to be and all the fans have speed controllers, once turned up there still very quiet and move plenty of air. It has 5x120mm fans and one large 200mm fan at the top

Power Supply: Corsair TX950w : http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/product_info.php?cPath=23_41&products_id=123520 Very good psu, reliable and extremely powerful. Will last more than a couple of years and will easily handle two GTX 480's.

Sound card..no point..On board is good enough..

In Australian dollars build is roughly $2000 which equates to about $1600-1700 US/CAN dollars. This is a very nice rig.

 

[Valenciente]

Hi there, and welcome to TPU

Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ

I hear good stuff about G.Skills, however I'm not quite sure on the timings, as I'm more to the AMD side currently. These are also not meant to be overclocked, according to the review I read.

Motherboard: Gigabyte P55A-UD4P

HDD: Seagate or Western Digital in my opinion. If you want the new SATA3, which that motherboard supports, go with the WD Caviar Black 1TB; or if you can settle with bit older, the Seagate Barracua 1,5TB is currently on sale this week on ncix.com.

Power Supply: I use an OCZ myself, but Corsair makes some excellent ones as well. I'm not totally much into the newest at the moment, so I'm not sure how much wattage you will need.

A soundcard is not really needed, as the motherboard have that on-board. If you are an audiophile, and really need that extra bit of better sound, then you can get one of course.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Motherboard: Gigabyte P55A-UD4P

dont get that motherboard for your build, the is not a socket 1356 motherboad

 

[Wulfgar]

OK so based on your comments I've settled on a few things:

CPU: Core I7 930 - 300$
Mobo: Asus P6X58D-E (I read good reviews about this board so thanks to 1nf3rn0x for the recommendation) - 250$
GPU: EVGA GTX 480 - 500$
Memory: Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 or the G-Skill (same price) - 150$
Price up to now: 1200$

HDD: what's the advantage of Sata 3.0 vs Sata 2.0 ?
PSU: Corsair TX950W - 180$

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=43101&vpn=CMPSU-950TX&manufacture=Corsair

I must say it's quite expensive, maybe the 650W model would be enough since I won't buy another video card ?

Case: Antec 1200 - 160$

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=29853&vpn=TWELVE HUNDRED&manufacture=Antec&promoid=1008

The problem with this case is lack of USB 3.0 ports and the reviews say that it's pretty loud. Any other recommendations ?

 

[claylomax]

You can save a few quid if you go with another brand for your GTX480, unless it has to be EVGA.

 

[JATownes]

This is the case I would choose.

Fractal Design R3

 

[AltecV1]

why no X6 build?

 

[Wulfgar]

You can save a few quid if you go with another brand for your GTX480, unless it has to be EVGA.

I went for the cheapest card on NCIX. In Canada they rarely go under 500$.

why no X6 build?

I thought about it but based on the benchmarks out there the 1050T is behind the 930, expecially in gaming.

 

[Dent1]

I went for the cheapest card on NCIX. In Canada they rarely go under 500$.

Have you tried http://www.newegg.ca they tend to be cheap too.

I thought about it but based on the benchmarks out there the 1050T is behind the 930, expecially in gaming.

Think longevity, the i7 930 lead will be shorter than the 1050T lead when the time comes.

 

[Valenciente]

dont get that motherboard for your build, the is not a socket 1356 motherboad

Yikes, messed up there. Sorry!

 

[1nf3rn0x]

IMHO opinion stay with the i7 930, it gets something like 20-30fps over the 1050T in games and it doesn't go so far back in compressing etc, sometimes the i7 beats it. In some tests the i7 920 gets over 50fps higher than the 1050T. So you'd be better off with the i7 930, and it has hyper threading so it should be fast for years to come

 

[Wulfgar]

I'll stay with the 930. Even if the socket changes next year I don't see the point in upgrading since games are poorly optimized for multi-core CPUS anyway.

So how about the PSU ? Will 650W be enough ?

I've been looking for cases and I came across this one:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=54852&vpn=VM20001W2Z&manufacture=Thermaltake

Not sure if it's a good choice though. I currently have the Antec NSK6500 and it's pretty loud.

 

[Dent1]

I'll stay with the 930. Even if the socket changes next year I don't see the point in upgrading since games are poorly optimized for multi-core CPUS anyway..

That is changing fast.

So how about the PSU ? Will 650W be enough ?

I've been looking for cases and I came across this one:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=54852&vpn=VM20001W2Z&manufacture=Thermaltake

Not sure if it's a good choice though. I currently have the Antec NSK6500 and it's pretty loud.

It depends on the PSU, there are only a few trusted brands. Look at the amps per rail as well not just wattage.

I'd keep your current case to reduce costs, once you switch out the PSU to "silent" one and replace the case's fans with silent fans it will not be as loud as you described.

 

[1nf3rn0x]

Well, if you want to add another GTX 480 down the line at least 850w will be adequate. If you are happy with one GTX 480, a Corsair 650w will be fine.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

So how about the PSU ? Will 650W be enough ?

Personally, I would not build a I7/GTX480 rig with anything less than a Corsair 750 watt PSU. The GTX480 may be the fastest single GPU card, but it's also a electricity hog.

 

[pantherx12]

IMHO opinion stay with the i7 930, it gets something like 20-30fps over the 1050T in games and it doesn't go so far back in compressing etc, sometimes the i7 beats it. In some tests the i7 920 gets over 50fps higher than the 1050T. So you'd be better off with the i7 930, and it has hyper threading so it should be fast for years to come

Yeah if you leave the x6 at stock speed, they pretty much all do 4ghz with no problems.

Look at gaming results when over-clocked

 

[GodsFury]

Regarding the Corsair TX750... I have the corsair TX750 and if I had to recommend a PSU to run your 480 and possibly adding another in the future... don't get the 750w. Go for a 950 or something similar. My knowledge for PSU's isn't the greatest but I speak from experience in using the 750.

I have 2 GTX460's and when trying to SLI "Optimizing best 3d performance" (enabling SLI) my system locks up and freezes. I'm sure the single + 12v single rail with up to 60a is good enough for most but apparently not enough for my setup for SLI. Running 1 GPU (as I am now) is no problem whatsoever but I can't SLI my 2 460's without my system crashing and being very unstable. Maybe a watts shortage ? Really, i'm at a lost for words when trying to figure out my problem. I purchased the 750 thinking it was enough to run SLI but apparently it is not.

My system is as followed..

Intel i7 930
Zalman 9900NT CNPS
Gigabyte X58A-UDR3 (rev 2.0)
12gb Mushkin 1600mhz (6x2gb) 9-9-9-24
WD Caviar Black 64mb cache 6.0gb/s (soon to be raid)
nvidia GTX 460 768mb stock (FPB firmware update: Clock from 675 to 720mhz, Shader from 1350mhz to 1440mhz and memory from 720mhz?? to 900mhz)
Antec DF30 case

i'm not sure if the problem is due to all the led fans and other hardware I have or if it's a faulty psu but without 2 cards my system runs smooth without any issues whatsoever but when I try to SLI my 2 cards, it's unstable and freezes constantly. So from my experience if you ever plan on runing SLI with 2 480's then I suggest you get a more powerful psu. 950 or more should be good.

I'll have get another psu to run sli.

 

[1nf3rn0x]

Yeah if you leave the x6 at stock speed, they pretty much all do 4ghz with no problems.

Look at gaming results when over-clocked
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X6_1090T/images/mw2oc_1024.gif

But look at other games, it trails behind at 20-30fps. Mw2 is the only game where it catches up or beats an i7.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X6_1090T/10.html

Just have a look at Crysis warhead, the PII x6 trails by 20+ fps.

 

[pantherx12]

But look at other games, it trails behind at 20-30fps. Mw2 is the only game where it catches up or beats an i7.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X6_1090T/10.html

Just have a look at Crysis warhead, the PII x6 trails by 20+ fps.

And if it was running at 4 ghz, I imagine it will get those 20+ fps back.

Over-clocks are not included in the results you linked to, from other reviews I've read the x6 does fine and dandy at 4ghz.

 

[1nf3rn0x]

If the i7 was overclocked at 4ghz I imagine it would be a different story and the PIIx6 can't even reach 4ghz on the stock cooler. And when at 4ghz takes more power than the i7.

 

[pantherx12]

But it has 6 cores!
lol

 

[1nf3rn0x]

The i7 has 8 with hyper threading

 

[pantherx12]

It has four threads, not quite the same heh.

 

[1nf3rn0x]

Still, it equates to 8 cores in total, 4 physical and 4 with hyper threading.