Antec 900 two or 1200? New Gaming Build

eylee86

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Jul 13, 2008
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Approx Purchase Date: Within 2 weeks
Budget Range: 1100-1200
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Web-surfing, Movies, Document/Excel Review
Preferred Website(s) for parts: Newegg
Parts Preferences: Corsair, Antec, etc.
Parts Preference: Will be using Intel I7 920 system
Overclocking: Yes, In the future
SLI: Yes, In the future
Resolution: 2048 x 1152; but might upgrade to 30'' in the near future

Intel I7 920 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Prolimatech Megahalem Heatsink with Scythe Fan
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/prmeforinso7.html

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 X58 Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

Corsair Dominator 6GB DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

EVGA Geforce GTX 260 216 Core (will SLI later)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Corsair 850HX 850W Modular Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

CASE!!!
Antec 900 or Antec 1200???

This is what I have decided so far. I know that megahalem heatsink will fit in antec900 but barely. Knowing that I am going to OC later down the road and also SLI my system should I just go with 1200? I just wanted to know others input.

Also any other comments on components/build suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance
 
G

Guest

Guest
Coolermaster Scout if you are looking at portability of the system, but overall the 1200 will give better future options.
 
@eylee86, I feel you are skimpping on the graphics card...For that resolution, GTX260 would have a tough time pushing that many pixels...

And there are a few parts, that you can skimp on without loosing performance(RAM, Mobo) and investing the cash saved there to parts that matter the most(Graphics card)...

Here are a few suggestions that you can consider...

1. Get the D0 stepping of the i7...It would overclock better than the C0 stepping...
http://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/product.php?productid=16135&cat=0&page=1

2. Get this mobo...
ASUS Rampage Gene...
Reason - Check this review of this board and you can see that it has more than suffice features for a very good setup...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131371

3. RAM - The Dominators are one of the best no doubt but unless you plan on extreme overclock, their performance can be matched with cheaper RAM modules...
So if you plan for say a 4GHz overclock, then keep the Dominators or change the RAM to any of these...
OCZ Platinum - Lower CAS - 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381
GSkillz -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247

4. For that resolution of yours, the GTX 260 is weak...And for a 30" monitor, 2x GTX 275 would be more suitable than 2x GTX260...
Either the GTX275 or if possible the GTX285...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130478
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127429
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127403
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143190
 

eylee86

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thanks for the great input! I really appreciate it

gkay09,

I took your advice and am considering buying GTX275. How about HD4890? do you think GTX275 will do better than 4890?

Also about the processor, unfortunately, I already bought it through my relative, who got the i7 920 for $150. So I have no clue which stepping it is. It's a luck of a draw right? I hope i get D0 then.

Also I don't know if I can go with ASUS Rampage GENE because I was considering to upgrade a soundcard to EMU-0404 and if I SLI i won't be able to use the PCI slot do i?

 
The HD4890 and the GTX 275 have similar performance...So either would be good...
But check which card plays your favourite games better and get that card or which ever is cheaper...

And never mind about the stepping if you have already got it...any i7 would easily manage 1GHz o/c with a good air-cooling...

If you don't want to go with the Gene, then get the P6T or Gigabyte UD4P...Both are very good and would have sufficient slots...
 

caggles

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I have a 900 and it's great. It's been more than sufficient for my machine:

AMD Phenom II X4 955
XFX Radeon HD 4870 X2
Corsair 750W PSU
4GB OCZ RAM
ASUS 790GX mobo

Can't see your machine putting out much more heat that mine does... I don't have any experience with the 1200, so I couldn't tell you for sure which one has more bang for the buck, but my 900 is great and I'd recommend it to just about anyone!
 

eylee86

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thanks for the input caggles. Another reason I wanted to have 1200 was to have some clearance between the GPU units and HDD cage. Also I have a prolimatech megahalem waiting to be put in. I know that Antec900 fits the heatsink but just barely from what I've seen from forums. I also wanted some clearance for that as well. Well Antec 902 is definitely a tempting and good choice but just for $20 more I wanted to get more space to work with :)