Core i7 920 build for $1250

[infeckted]

What do you guys think about these parts and their compatibility with each other?

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055

NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

G.SKILL 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-3GBNQ - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231224

EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-04 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106228

ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818A3T - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135176


TOTAL = $1,360.90 (Without rebates/deals that I can get)

$1195.90 (With rebates + deals from connections)

The Coolermaster V8 comes with the LGA 1366 bracket, and can fit on my motherboard right?

 

[sharken]

Parts look fine, yes the v8 will fit with the bracket, What OS you running? Also, is this a strict budget? Are you asking opinions about how to save money... or make it little stronger? what would you like to know exactly, you could save a little, spend a little more using faster Parts/beter versions etc, Are you going to Overclock? Shark

 

[infeckted]

I'll most likely be running Vista 32-bit, might be 64-bit, not sure yet. My budget is pretty confined, $1500 is the maximum, and I'd prefer to spend around $1200. My main purpose of this thread was to see if everything would run smoothly together. If you guys can suggest ways for me to save money, then I'd be happy to welcome your suggestions.

I do plan to overclock as well

 

[Vixe]

Your build is completely compatible, but what monitor size do you have? I'm not sure that GTX 260 will be necessary if you have anything less than 22"

 

[sharken]

Looks fine, are you a gamer at all? Only other concern i would ask yourself is... if you run vista 64, it can utilize more memory and if you want to upgrade memory later you'll have to buy all new ram example 3x2 gb of ram to use Triple channel...

 

[infeckted]

I have a 22" monitor, but I might upgrade it later on.

And yes, I'm a gamer. Mostly FPS's and some RTS's. I'm currently looking at these 3x2 gb of ram for 179.99 but still debating on whether or not its worth it for the extra $100

 

[sharken]

Right, its up to you, the price will come down eventually, but again if you use 64 and play an intensive game, who knows, it should all work fine either way, you can get an OC version or superclock with rebate same price as what your paying for Graphics card too

 

[Vixe]

Great. GTX 260 is perfect if you want the eye candy.

I read through your list again and that Lite-On IDE DVD-R will NOT work. Your motherboard, as far as I know, only takes S-ATA, no IDE.

 

[sharken]

Good catch

 

[infeckted]

Ooh nice catch on the drive thanks

 

[geofelt]

Looks good.
I would change to a 6gb ram kit 3x2gb, and use vista-64.
Based on some benchmarks I have seen, slower ram makes very little difference in i7 performance, so that should reduce the bite a bit.

 

[Vixe]

Thanks :>

Personally I would get a different CPU cooler. The V8 is pretty noisy when on full (which it will have to be on if you're overclocking), and the actual cooling performance is not overwhelming for what you're paying for. The V8 is a good cooler; no doubt about that. But the size, the price, the weight, the noise... all negatives.

Here is a review of the V8. It shows a table of where the V8 compares to other coolers, based on its cooling ability. The noise, even though its not terrible compared to others, is something that I do not enjoy. If its no biggy to you, then fine. Get it. It will be perfect for you then.

I do not know of many 1366 socket coolers so sadly I cannot make a recommendation. If you're trying to save money then look further into the CPU cooler industry. There are some great value coolers from Scythe, Xigmatek, Thermalright and Zalman. But if you don't mind the price, noise and weight of the V8, by all means get it. Apart from those I just mentioned the V8 has no negatives!

Good luck

 

[c_hochhalter]

For a cooler i could suggest the Thermalright 120 Ultra. iTs a veary good heatsink by itself and add a fan to that its very good at cooling, and depending on the fan you could use depends on the noise. All you have to do is buy a 1366 bracket for it and its better then the V8.

 

[sharken]

+1 to Thermalright ultra 120 extreme, Using one best i have ever used. Great reviews

 

[infeckted]

Where would I get the Thermalright + the bracket for the cheapest? Newegg doesn't carry Thermalrights anymore

http://www.jab-tech.com/Thermalright-Ultra-120-eXtreme-1366-RT-pr-4332.html

Thats good right? Cause I won't need to buy the bracket or anything?

 

[Vixe]

coolerguys.com

thats off the back of my head.

 

[geofelt]

heatsink factory:
http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/intel-socket-1366-cpu-coolers.html

 

[infeckted]

Hmm, are there any ways for me to make this build a bit cheaper? Since, w/ tax and stuff it turns out to be around $1400

 

[joelg88]

Hmm, are there any ways for me to make this build a bit cheaper? Since, w/ tax and stuff it turns out to be around $1400

Newegg only charges taxes in California, New Jersey, and Tennessee. So if you don't live in any of those states you'll be free of any taxes.

 

[Vixe]

I don't think you'll need a 750W PSU with one GPU and one CPU. You'll need a minimum of 550W I'll say. With depreciation in mind, you should get a 650W I'd say. I'd recommend the Corsair TX650. Check it out.

Try out this calculator: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

It is fairly accurate. Add about 50W leeway. If it says 500-600W get the TX650 as I recommended. 600-700W get the TX750.

(everything I wrote is useless if you plan to SLI your graphics card in the future. Stick with the 750W if you do plan on it)

 

[infeckted]

I live in California so the tax sucks.

I might be planning to do SLI, so yeah I don't think I can change any parts to make it cheaper...

Thanks guys

 

[V3NOM]

is that for gaming? if so, save $200 ish and get a core 2 system. spend that extra $200 or so on better graphics. it will give you LOADS more fps than the i7 over the core 2... if you've building it for work or something that needs a CPU.. fine.

 

[Vixe]

Infeckted, I heard recently that a new CPU socket will be released next year, so getting the i7 is not worth it.

What I recommend you do, is buy everything as you listed above, but rather get the Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz). It is great value for money and is easy to overclock. It even gives better performance in games compared to Core 2 Quad (I have been told). Get a cheap P43 chipset motherboard (check out Gigabyte's P43 motherboard. Great value). It will have one PCI-E 2.0 slot, but by the time you plan to go SLI the new chipset would have been released. So buy a great graphics card instead of the i7. Maybe wait for the GTX 295.

So here is basically what I would buy in your situation:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128347

(If your planning on overclocking soon then you will have to buy a cooler. Maybe the V8. If your only going to overclock in a year, wait for the next Socket to come out and then buy a cooler, and then overclock.

NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

(Personally I would get the CoolerMaster HAF932 case, but thats just me. The HAF is a monster of a case. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160)

PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

(I still recommend the Corsair TX750W PSU instead of the PC P&C, but again, thats just me.)

CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176

(You won't need DDR3 with this motherboard. Another way to save money)

Get the EVGA GTX 280 or wait for the GTX 295.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288
(Get two of these. Its been evident that these HDD's are NOT reliable. Many complain about random failures where they lose all data. Get two of these and run them in RAID 1 for backup.

ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818A3T - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135176

When the new socket comes out you can SLI your GTX280/295 and you can get a new motherboard, RAM and CPU then.

Off the top of my head you will save about $300. If you do actually plan on getting the GTX295 you still save about $100.

 

[mosspa]

I'm not sure this is good advice. The i7 is NOT another semi-upgrade. The new chips will be full 8-core processors. Almost nothing fully utilizes 4 cores now, it will be a few years before 8-core CPUs are utilized. Everything is slowing down in this recession. The people who hunger for this new technology (gamers) really don't have all that buying power. In light of the current economic climate and stuff that I get from the Intel scuttlebutt, I'd say that the i7 is the best hedge for about 2-3 years out. It's cheaper than Core2Quad, it's about 15% faster than Core2Quad and you can overclock the **** out of it. I'm running a 920 at a little over 3.6GHz on air (Zalman 9700) and this processor runs rings around my 9550 overclocked to 3.4GHz.

 

[xthekidx]

Infeckted, I heard recently that a new CPU socket will be released next year, so getting the i7 is not worth it.

Yes intel is going to be releasing a new chipset P55 and P57 and a new socket (LGA 1156 I think it is). However this socket will most likely not replace LGA 1366. It will be for the Core i5 processors which will be a cheaper alternative to the i7's. LGA 1366 will still have an upgrade path from current i7's. i7 will be Intel's flagship processors, i5 will be the mainstream midrange processors, and Core 2 will become the budget processors.

An interesting read:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=2806&cid=2&pg=1

That being said, if this rig is for gaming, then an i7 build is not the best use of your money, a core 2 build will perform admirably for $200-300 less, or for the same price will outperform an i7 build. An i7 is only worthwhile if you will be using your PC for video encoding, CAD, media file creation, or other highly CPU intensive task. Otherwise Core 2 or Phenom II will do just as well for your purposes and your money is better spent there.