Domepiece

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Feb 11, 2009
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Ok let me begin by giving you an idea of what I am going to replace with a new build.....its 5 years old approx. and still running strong. It is an AMD xp3000+ currently running 11x200 had it up to 2.3xx recently because i knew i was getting a new setup but dropped it down so I could have something to find new components on. It has a no name psu i had to pick up to replace a 500w that fried when living in a house with fuses that blew all the time and **** power strip(moved since). 2x corsair 512 and 1gb stick of crap best buy ram, 7600gs, audigy 2 platinum.... all housed in a thermaltake xaser 3.

ok now for the tentative new build. I havent read much about components in a while, but I work in a restaurant in a mall and christmas season was good to my bank account. I am ready to actually be able to play games on something higher than lowest setting on everything. I havent even attempted games with crysis engine and such due to current setup. Please have at it with suggestions I am at $1582 atm on below items which I think is a good area to stay around, although the lower the better as my income is not exponential.



Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail 214.99

Leaning towards this or nine hundred 2. Any recommendations on either would be nice I am used to full tower but whichever
will give me the cooling needed to get i7 to 4ghz wins. I do care about looks to some extent.

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 249.99

Really no idea where to go with a MB for this build any suggestion on something different I will take into consideration.

SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP - Retail 459.99

Not a huge fan of ATI but seems to be one of the best around. Read to just get 2 4870 and crossfire for cheaper but may pick up another
once prices drop.

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V 159.99

Again just read corsair and pc power were tops so chose something I thought would meet my req.

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor 289.99.

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel 229.99

Open to Suggestions....

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive 89.99

Only looking for a single drive setup atm, but could be talked into multi if it is worth it.

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30

Thermalright 120

Read it was the best around for i7.....

Thank you for reading and suggestions I appreciate it.....
 

xthekidx

Splendid
Dec 24, 2008
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Looks pretty solid, but you can find some much better prices.

I would go for this combo deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.161244

Antec 1200- $150 shipped
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0288150

Ram- better value, I think Dominators are overpriced. I have these and they work great.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

GFX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768
Although with the money you save, you could go with the GTX 295 which will be worth it for Crysis, it tends to like Nvidia better than ATI (BTW what size is your monitor? if you have less than 1900x1200 res then the GTX 285 would be fine)

Go for either a 1TB or 640gb version of that HDD, they are faster due to higher platter density
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

PSU-enough for 1 GPU, but if you want to SLI or xfire later you need to consider something bigger, 1000hx if you want to xfire on 4870x2 or GTX 295, 850tx would be enough for two GTX 285 or below.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650tx

Pick up some MX-2 thermal paste for best cooling performance:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020
 

Domepiece

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I have a 20" but i plan on getting a 24" soon after build....also have some artic silver 3 leftover from first build if it doesnt go bad or something and would work just as well should i just use that?
 

xthekidx

Splendid
Dec 24, 2008
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Yeah that will be fine, just make sure you don't spill because you can short out your system since it is metal based. The compound I linked is ceramic based (doesn't conduct electricity) and conducts heat a little better, but that silver 3 will do fine.

Size of the monitor isn't important, its the resolution. A video card will perform equally an a 20" or a 22" if they are both 16x10 res. Higher resolutions=sharper image. For instance if you have a 19" at 1440x900 and one at 1600x1000, the second one will have a sharper picture, even though they are the same size. Low resolution on a big monitor=low image quality, like watching a TV from a foot away as opposed to sitting on the couch.
 

Domepiece

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Ya its been a long time coming i cant wait...Just making sure i can pay next months bills before I order.....

Another question.....still have xp pro dont really want to upgrade to vista would rather wait for windows 7.....Will xp pro work with everything I have there? And would a 850W PSU power 2 4870x2?
 

xthekidx

Splendid
Dec 24, 2008
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depends on the PSU, the corsair 850tx would probably be ok, but you'd be cutting it close. If you were using a coolmax or something I would say no.

Why don't you want windows vista? Its a very solid OS with SP1. XP Pro would work fine with those components. However you need a 64bit version if you want to use all 6gb of ram, otherwise you will only get about 3gb use out of your 6 with a 32bit os.
 

techwizard08

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Proxy, is there really that big a difference between the HAF and the 1200? I've worked with the 1200 before and that thing is pretty beastly.
 

xthekidx

Splendid
Dec 24, 2008
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Both are excellent. They are priced very similarly and for a reason, they are direct market competitors. The HAF has better cable management I think as well, but the 1200 looks much better than the HAF IMO, and they are probably some of the best cooled cases in existence. Both have good things to offer and you can't go wrong with either.
 

techwizard08

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If one were to build an i7 rig, with top of the line parts, and then leave an IDE ribbon across the entire thing, a friend should come by and snip said cable, if only to teach the lesson.

A lesson in the death of IDE.

:) +1 2 3kid ;)