Looking For Advice on New i7 Build

[Mutalator]

Hey guys, I've been reading some of your advice here on the forums and really have been liking what I have seen, so I thought that I would throw one of my own questions out there.

My current setup is on the fritz, Athlon 3500 that I half-built like 4 years ago with new parts sprinkled inbetween. Now, I am looking to upgrade the whole system.

I have a pretty large budget, probably between $1500-$2000 or so. I am nervous to get back into the building game because of a flub that I had prior to that previous build mentioned, wrecked the CPU when putting in the heatsink (granted I was young at the time but still .

Another option is going with someone like Cyberpower or iBuyPower and having them build it for me, so I don't have to worry about it. It might be a little more expensive, but things will be easier on me and I won't have to worry.

I am really liking the specs that are coming off of the i7 systems, and obviously if I am spending this amount of money, I want to be as future proof as I can get.

A little about what I am looking for before I get into what I think. The system is going to be used for everyday use, the usual stuff, some photoshop, coding, and as many games as I can get my hands on.

I already have a 22" Samsung 1680x1050 monitor to use.

CPU - Intel i7 940 or maybe the extreme edition

CASE - COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 : I'm thinking something cool and quiet here.

COOLER - Stock or Cooler Master V8

PSU - Corsair 850TX

MOBO - Either the Asus P6T Deluxe or EVGA X58

RAM - Here is a question mark for me. I am probably looking at DDR3 here of course, it's just what speed to go with. And what size? Probably some DDR3 1600, but I am having a hard time deciding on the size and speed.

Video Card - GTX 295 or the ATI 4850x2, haven't totally decided yet there either.

HD - 150 or 300GB WD Velociraptor , I have a 750GB External that I can use for storage

Sound - Onboard

OS - Vista Ultimate x64 - Already have it.

Keyboard and mouse are already taken care of... Probably will buy all of the parts from Newegg.


So what do you guys think so far? I have to run the numbers and see how much things turn out to be, but have some fun with this guys

 

[lostny11]

I dont know if I would go with the 940 or the Extreme Edition over the 920! Ive done weeks of research and the 920 OC's the best of all 3. The 940 is just useless, 920 overclocks well above its specs rendering it useless for $300 dollars more. Also you would need watercooling to even consider taking advantage of the 965's unlocked multiplier, people are hitting 4+ just with base clock. 920 is definitely the best choice unless you really want the EE, but definitely not the 940! Not worth extra $300 bucks, IMO.

 

[groo]

you mentioned you've been upgrading your current system as you went. what is the vid card? it might help you in your current build still.

the Antec P182 is a good case for cool and quiet, and its well filtered too.

 

[Mutalator]

My current card is a 7600GT, a little weak at this stage in the game, I think.

And about the 920, I did see that it OC'd very well... even on air cooling, so if I could save some money there and still get the bang for the buck, then that seems like a better way to go. Thanks.

 

[groo]

sounds like you need to spend less initialy, and more in upgrades, to get a better overall system through its life.