I7 920 Gamin' Build - Approx. $1000 - 1st Time Builder

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] er=9979651

Hey everyone. First post, first build.

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BUDGET RANGE: $800-$1000

SYSTEM USAGE: Gamin', possible amateur video work

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers. Possibly disc drive (see additional details).

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe
CROSSFIRE: Eventually

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I've been browsing Newegg for the last two weeks, just checking out components and Googlin' around to find out which specs are important. However, this is my first time building, and I'm afraid I'm not terribly knowledgeable about computers (although more so than the average person).

When I first decided to get a new system, I thought I would spend no more than six or eight hundred dollars. But I've become overly-ambitious!

Anyway, I have a few lingering questions that I'd like to ask; not only to get answers, but also for the knowledge that even though I'm inexperienced, I can ask good questions.

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1. I'm not going to start getting into overclocking or anything too intense for a while. Do I need to replace the CPU's stock cooler until then?

2. I was planning on re-usin' an old DVD/CD-R drive or using an external DVD-R that I already have, so I just have a cheapy on the wishlist. Will I need an internal drive to install the OS?

3. On the wishlist, I have 2x2GB worth of DDR3 RAM. Can I get by with just one stick of 2GB, 1GB, or even no RAM at all (For the moment, I'm just planning on playing titles like Left 4 Dead and Bioshock that barely work on my current system)? I also read somewhere that x58 mothers needin' RAM in groups of three, but that doesn't sound right [EDIT: I Googled it; yay me. I'll probably go with a 3x1GB kit].

4. When looking for the motherboard, I basically chose the cheapest one that people didn't bad mouth. As such, I feel a bit insecure about my choice, although the reviews I've seen are pretty positive.

5. I've chosen a 512MB Radeon 4850. Should I spring for the 1GB, or does it not make much of a difference? If I stick with the 512MB, can I Crossfire it with a 1GB later on?

6. As far as the OS goes, should I get Vista 32- or 64-bit? Maybe stick with XP? If I plan on upgrading to Windows 7, will there be anything I should watch out for? Should I even bothering upgrading to Windows 7?

And for a really quick, general question, where can I find some good resources for a first time builder? I only have a sort of makeshift knowledge gained from Wikipedia and the (somewhat dated) guide here at Tom's.

Thanks for your time; I appreciate it! I would ask my friends, but the few that I trust don't know much about hardware.


UPDATE 9/2011

I just remembered this thread that I created years ago. In the off-chance that any participant reads this, I'd like to thank them for giving me advice and for helping me learn a bit more about computer hardware. I eventually went with a build very similar to one listed here (although I won't say which as I think you should all get warm, fuzzy feelings for your suggestions), and I am still amazed at how well it's held up.
Thank you.

How about a monitor.

Well first off, your not going to benefit much getting a i7 core computer with low end things like the 4850..

the case you chose is pretty small, not sure if that cooler will fit.

If your going to game mostly, get a mid-range AMD x3 720BE cpu rig.


+ x58 motherboards are triple channel memory kit.

I know the i7 seems like a nice thing to get these days but, if your going to want a i7 right, you might as well put $1300+ down for a descent setup. If not,

AMD x3 720BE is the triple core cpu that could compare to a dualcore E8500.

AMD x4 940BE is the quad core that is more "futureproof and can be used as a gaming device aswell/multitasking usage.

You can get either of these AM3 cpu's and be able to use AM2+ motherboards, tightened timed ddr2 800mhz ram thats cheap, such as the recommended g.skills PI Black.


Doing this will be able to benefit your gaming needs then, once you want to upgrade to a full potential am3 rig, you already have the cpu, all you need is the am3 motherboard and ddr3 memory. Then once you find a new cpu, you have the motherboard+ddr3 memory, you get the new cpu. It's just an on going process and AMD has made it to where you can use new products with older components so it's easier on the buyer.

Intel made a fully different socket so you need to upgrade everything. Now i am not putting the i7 down, i would love to have the i7. It's just if your a budget builder, make it worth the build.

for $1000 just go with a x4 940 build. the 4850 or even a 4870 would just bottleneck the i7

But trying to go for an i7 and skimping on the other parts is not gud...
Better off building a P II 940 with some of the best parts is a better option...
If u r ok with it, then we will be able to post a gud config with the P II...

To jjbtexas:

So what GPUs would be acceptable for an i7? Would an HD 4850x2 work? When you say "bottleneck," you basically mean that the power on an i7 would be wasted on a lower-tier card, right? What if I bought a 4870 now and Crossfired it with another in the future, or would that be impractical? I'm not really interested in having a monster system right now- right now I just want to play TF2 and Left 4 Dead- but I want room for improvement. Maybe I'm just trying way too hard to future proof.

And thanks for the link, gkay09.

Well the 4870 is no way a bottleneck for the i7...Get the 4870 1GB now and later add another in crossfire...
The 4870 1GB can handle upto 1920X1200 resolutions easy...beyond that you would need another in crossfire to get gud FPS...

one last thought if you want to upgrade to 2 4870 u might need a 750TX

x3 720 + UD4H gigabyte Combo $240.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.165024

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231209
G.skills PI Black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371021
Antec 650w.

Reason behind picking this is the number of amps on each rail and Antec as always been sufficient. Now, you could pickup a 750tx or a 4 rail/6 rail 850w instead and another 4870 and xfire.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102801
Sapphire 1gb.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319
wd hdd black 640gb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119137
rc-690

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233029
darkknight s1283v

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186020
arctic cooling mx-2

that comes out to only $880.

I would change the x3 to an x4 and the sapphire 1gb 4870 to a 1gb 4870"toxic"

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.165047
x4 940 + UD4H Gigabyte Combo.

This comes out to $880 with the x3 720.
This comes out to $955 with the x4 940.

Now, add on this card instead of the sapphire 1gb.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102815
sapphire "toxic"

Brings you in at $960 and a $20 m-i-r on a combo. Use the extra money to get a new mouse or keyboard if you'd like or a nice cool case of beer and ship me one so we can cheers

I bet not even a month ago, that cost around $1300.

Shipping on that i7 build will include another $40-$45. So your looking at $1200 for that build and under 1k for the x4 940 build. You know, I always forget about that little thing that sits in the front of the case, the optical drive .

Theres a nice $22 LG out there some where, customers award winnder. Still put you under 1K.

Thanks for the input everyone! I think I'm close to making up my mind. I hope that someday I'll be knowledgeable enough to help someone else out in a similar fashion!

Some decent suggestions here regarding pricing and builds. One thing you will need to keep in mind is of course upgradability and overclocking - 2 factors that have been mentioned but from what I have read not fully considered for your sake EABlair. Here is thing about value - some parts on your pc you probably will not have to upgrade in a long time and others quickly be surpassed - I'm sure you know this already. You really should consider how often you want to upgrade and what you're system requirements are - here are just some examples to put the "real" long-term in perspective:

Lets assume that your system requirements (or wants) is to always be able to play the newest games out there, preferably at the max details, but not necessarily:
If you buy a good case, cooler and PSU, you probably won't have to replace them often to increase performance - so lets look solely at what you do need to replace often if you want to increase performance: CPU, MOBO, RAM and GFX

In March 2007 you could have bought:

$331
CPU AMD Athlon X2 3800+ AM2 $82
Motherboard MSI K9N4 Ultra-F $59
RAM Wintec AMPO PC2-6400 1 GB $70
Graphics XFX GeForce 7600 GT $120

=Playable at max settings most games 2007 (1024x768)

$805
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 $230
Motherboard MSI P965 Platinum $135
RAM Patriot eXtreme Performance PDC22G6400LLK $160
Graphics EVGA GeForce 8800GTS PN: 320-P2-N811-AR $280

= Playable all games 2007 (1600x1200)

$2655
CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 $970
Motherboard Asus Striker Extreme $330
RAM Crucial Ballistix DDR2 1000 PC2-8000 $235
Graphics 2x GeForce 8800GTX 768 MB ($560) $1120

= Playable all games 2007 (2560x1600)

In March 2008 you could have bought:

$563
CPU AMD Quad Core Phenom 9500 $190.00
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H $100.00
RAM Wintec Ampo DDR2 PC2-6400 - 2 GB $43.00
Graphics HIS Radeon 3870 ICEQ Turbo $230.00


$1333
CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 $540
Motherboard Asus P5N-T Deluxe $250
RAM Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 PC2-6400 - 4 GB $128
Graphics EVGA GeForce 8800GTX, 768 MB $415

$2320
CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 $1060
Motherboard Asus Striker II Formula $320
RAM Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 PC2-6400 - 4 GB $100
Graphics 2x Gigabyte GeForce 8800GTX - GV-NX88X768H-RH $840


In March 2009 you could buy:

$420
Intel core 2 duo E7400: $120
Gigabyte EP45-DS3: $100
2 x ATI Radeon 4830 : $150
G Skill 2x2GB PC8500 DDR2: $50

$645
AMD Phenom II 940: $215
ATI Radeon 4870 1 GB $190
Gigabyte 790 UD4H: $140
G Skill DDR3 6GB: $100

$860
Core i7 920: $280
ATI Radeon 4850 X2 $280
Gigabyte X58 UD3 $200
G skill DDR3 $100

Now whats important to take from this is that if you bought the cheapest of these systems and (important!) overclocked each of them you would see funny things:

2007 bargain system plays all 2007 games, 2008 system bargain plays all 2008 games, 2009 bargain system plays all 2009 games.
So you have to buy 1 bargain system each year: $331 + $563 + $420 = $1314
So in three years you spent a total of $1314

If however you had bought the most expensive system in 2007 it would cost you $2655, hehe and guess what .... It gets trashed like a pikey up against the overclocked bargain 2009 system. lol lol lol - so you would have wasted a lot of money there, in fact it only beats the bargain 2008 system so you lose 2655- 331-563= $1761 - ouch!

What if you bought the medium range systems? Well the 2007 medium system gets trounced on by the 2008 bargain system, so that doesn't give you much value. The 2009 bargain system also beats the 2008 medium range system.

So in the end your guess is as good as mine - will the 2010 bargain system trounce the 2009 medium range option? I don't know actually because the processor price isn't as divergent in the choices you guys made. I just did this comparison to make a point that you actually save crap loads of money if you can be assed to upgrade your system every year and not spend much more than 500 bucks on CPUs, MOBOs, GFX and RAM.

A point well worth mentioning is that even though the Phenom II 940 is a brilliant comeback by AMD, it is pretty obvious that in the long run the X58 platform will upgrade much better than the AM2+ platforms and eventually it will get that killer 6 core i7 with 32nm architecture.
All in all I have to say that what ever you chose from the below proposals looks good to me, just remember to buy a killer case, cooler and PSU so you don't have to buy those for another 5 years at least - you'll be happy

So what your saying is Intel > AMD. Of course I already knew that.

Well, im not going against Intel, just, i was giving him something in his budget, the sapphire toxic can be lowered to the regular sapphire and the motherboard bonus can be changed to biostar to bring it under 1K. I truly would love i7 over AMD, im just trying to hit him under 1k.

If you go with the Nvidea...better card than that 4870 I had....love Nvidea cards ...anyways you want to go with this mobo down below for the fact that MSI board I put in that build is set up for Crossfire only, but not SLI. This Gigabyte board down below runs SLI and Crossfire. This way you have options with that Nvidea card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128386 $209.99
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Product [...] uctID=3018 <---specs on that Gigabyte board.