$1300 i7 Work/Gaming

[jmekelb]

I'll be building a new i7 rig within the next 2-3 weeks that will be used for work first and gaming second. The $1500 budget must include everything but montitors as I have already settled on a pair of 23" HPs running 1920 x 1080. I'm open to SLI/Crossfire and with my current GPU choice (4890), I intend to purchase a second once the prices drop to the $150-$175 range. I also intend to OC the 920 to 3.3ghz.

Here's what I'm looking at so far and I'm looking for input on my choices.

Asus P6T - $239.99

Intel i7 920 & Vigor Monsoon III - $329.39

3x2GB OCZ XMP DDR3 1600 - $72.99 after MIR

WD Caviar Black 500GB & Vista Ultimate - $184.98

Corsair 850TX - $139.99 after MIR

Cooler Master RC690 - $74.99

ATI 4890 - $229.99 after MIR

Generic DVD Burner - $22.99

Cheap Logitech Speakers - $23.99

Microsoft Keyboard - $11.99

Microsoft Mouse - $19.99

I'm actually a little over budget at $1351.28.

I'm open to comments/suggestions.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I7-920 $265.99 Free Ground Shipping
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU, OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093 $31.99
Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 $99.99 Free Shipping*
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

 

[jmekelb]

My problem with $100 Vista Home is that I can get Vista Ultimate and a $60 hard drive for $185. $25 seems like a bargain to step up to Ultimate.

You did save me $30 on the Processor & Cooler though. Even if the Mugen doesn't seem to have the quality of the Monsoon III.

 

[daidalas]

This card will save you some $ and should still perform well in 1080p gaming.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161269

 

[xthekidx]

The Scythe Mugen 2 doesn't have a Blue LED if that is what you mean by the quality of the Monsoon III...but in terms of cooling performance its actually better than the Vigor Monsoon III.

The WD6401AALS is a faster HDD than the WD5001AALS. Do you really need the extra features of Vista Ultimate? Its really not that useful to most home users, so make sure you really actually need those features. If you don't, then Vista Ultimate will actually slow down your performance because it will have more processes running in the background.

If you don't need 12gb of Ram, you can go with the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R and save some cash there.

 

[jmekelb]

I could care less about the LED's. I was just looking at reviews and it doesn't seem that the Mugen holds up well in that department.

Why would the WD6401AALS be faster than the WD5001AALS? It's the same brand (Western Digital), model class (Caviar Black), speed (7200 RPM), cache (32MB). I just can't seem to see why it would be any faster.

I certainly don't need the features of Ultimate but for $25, it seems like a no brainer. There wouldn't be any processes running in the background unless, you know, I had them running in the background.

I like the idea of saving money on the MB but 4 dimm slots on a MB built for triple channel ram seems silly to me.

 

[Why_Me]

I could care less about the LED's. I was just looking at reviews and it doesn't seem that the Mugen holds up well in that department.

Why would the WD6401AALS be faster than the WD5001AALS? It's the same brand (Western Digital), model class (Caviar Black), speed (7200 RPM), cache (32MB). I just can't seem to see why it would be any faster.

I certainly don't need the features of Ultimate but for $25, it seems like a no brainer. There wouldn't be any processes running in the background unless, you know, I had them running in the background.

I like the idea of saving money on the MB but 4 dimm slots on a MB built for triple channel ram seems silly to me.

It's because of the platter density on the 640 black. They are just a hair slower than the raptors.