A little background - I currently have a 20" iMac that's about a year old, wife is working off of a macbook that is hooked up to an external display.
We game a little together (WoW in OSX), but I game more independently (CoD4 and 5, etc on a windows partition). The onboard GPU in her little macbook can't keep up with WoW anymore when she's in a city or in a large-ish raid group. So I was going to give her my 20" iMac and get an upgrade myself. I've been eyeing the new 24" iMac, and with the ATI 4850 upgrade, there's a shipping delay of about another 3 weeks, so I've been thinking a bit in the mean time about best bang for buck.
OSX is my preferred environment (that's not the debate here, so please don't turn it into one of those), so I've been thinking of still using the iMac for all our pics, music and finances, but saving some money and building a mid-range gaming box, and partition it for Windows (gaming)/Linux Mint (everything else).
I used to build all my own systems up until I bought my first mac around 5 years ago, so I'm comfortable with getting my hands into a case, but I'm also 5 years behind in technology and lingo and trying to delve back in is proving to be quite difficult. With pricing out a build, I started with the current System Builder Marathon and saw the conclusion that the i7 is better to build a system around, so I went back to the December mid-range build found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-overclock,2112.html
I went to NewEgg and tried to find parts and pricing, and I'm nearly at my cap without figuring in the cost of XP (or should I go for a 64-bit version of vista? I'm not a fan of vista...so I'd like to avoid that if possible...system7 is looking promising though, so that will probably be installed on this box in the fall). AND, I'm not sure if I'm really 100% compatible (case/mobo/cpu/power supply). Could I get a little help please?
I'd greatly appreciate suggestions on cutting back on cost (I'm open to nvidia or ati GPUs) or if there is anything I may have missed any incompatabilities.
Pricing listed is after rebates:
CPU - Intel core i7 920 - $289
Mobo - EVGA 132-BL-E758-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX - $270
Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP - $55
PSU - COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W - $120
Memory - mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $120
Vid Card x 2 - SAPPHIRE 100258-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 - $300 ($150 per)
HD1 - Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB - $100
HD2 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB - $55
DVD Burner - Pioneer 20X DVD±R - $25
Total - $1334
I'll still need to buy: OS (64 bit vista or XP??) and Keyboard/Mouse. I'll be using the LCD my wife currently has hooked up to her macbook. Think I'll have any driver issues with any of my hardware in Linux Mint?
Again, any suggestions/critiques are appreciated. Thank you for your time!!
We game a little together (WoW in OSX), but I game more independently (CoD4 and 5, etc on a windows partition). The onboard GPU in her little macbook can't keep up with WoW anymore when she's in a city or in a large-ish raid group. So I was going to give her my 20" iMac and get an upgrade myself. I've been eyeing the new 24" iMac, and with the ATI 4850 upgrade, there's a shipping delay of about another 3 weeks, so I've been thinking a bit in the mean time about best bang for buck.
OSX is my preferred environment (that's not the debate here, so please don't turn it into one of those), so I've been thinking of still using the iMac for all our pics, music and finances, but saving some money and building a mid-range gaming box, and partition it for Windows (gaming)/Linux Mint (everything else).
I used to build all my own systems up until I bought my first mac around 5 years ago, so I'm comfortable with getting my hands into a case, but I'm also 5 years behind in technology and lingo and trying to delve back in is proving to be quite difficult. With pricing out a build, I started with the current System Builder Marathon and saw the conclusion that the i7 is better to build a system around, so I went back to the December mid-range build found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-overclock,2112.html
I went to NewEgg and tried to find parts and pricing, and I'm nearly at my cap without figuring in the cost of XP (or should I go for a 64-bit version of vista? I'm not a fan of vista...so I'd like to avoid that if possible...system7 is looking promising though, so that will probably be installed on this box in the fall). AND, I'm not sure if I'm really 100% compatible (case/mobo/cpu/power supply). Could I get a little help please?
I'd greatly appreciate suggestions on cutting back on cost (I'm open to nvidia or ati GPUs) or if there is anything I may have missed any incompatabilities.
Pricing listed is after rebates:
CPU - Intel core i7 920 - $289
Mobo - EVGA 132-BL-E758-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX - $270
Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP - $55
PSU - COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W - $120
Memory - mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $120
Vid Card x 2 - SAPPHIRE 100258-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 - $300 ($150 per)
HD1 - Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB - $100
HD2 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB - $55
DVD Burner - Pioneer 20X DVD±R - $25
Total - $1334
I'll still need to buy: OS (64 bit vista or XP??) and Keyboard/Mouse. I'll be using the LCD my wife currently has hooked up to her macbook. Think I'll have any driver issues with any of my hardware in Linux Mint?
Again, any suggestions/critiques are appreciated. Thank you for your time!!
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