New $1100 gaming build for my brother

[foolycooly]

Trying to plan out a new build for my brother who decided it's time for a new rig after struggling with running l4d on his current PC.

He already has a monitor (22") and an OS (although 32-bit).

This budget kind of sticks between an i7 and duo...maybe a 260 would be enough for a 22"?

Proposal:

cm 690 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 -- $75

asus p6t: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359 -- $250

i7 920: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 -- $289

Xigmatek Dark Knight: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 -- $40

OCZ Platinum 6gb 1600 ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381 -- $95

GTX 275 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 -- $240

Corsair 650w: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 -- $100 ($80 after MIR) (probably don't plan on SLI)

WD Caviar Black 640gb: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 -- $75


---

Total right now is $1165ish before shipping and MIRs. His budget is $1100 and I'm looking for places to knock some money off without sacrificing quality. Any suggestions?

Thanks guys.

 

[foolycooly]

replying to my own thread...with the 260 core 216, it's right around $1100...what do you guys think of the 260's performance on a 22"?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

 

[not moose]

GTX 260 Core will run fine on a 22" assuming the resolution is 16x12. Drop to a P6T SE if you don't use sli, trim off ~$50. If you want to save some more change the CM 690 to a Antec 300. If he has a decent sized hard drive that still works well, salvage that and the cd burner off his current rig.

 

[foolycooly]

still not totally closed off to the idea of SLI...would the 650w support two 260s ?

 

[not moose]

If you two still aren't sure, just go with ati cards and grab a 4870 instead of a GTX 260, this way if you decide you want multiple cards you can just add a second 4870 with the same P6T SE board while saving some extra budget money.

With this money you're saving you can buy Vista, or just use Windows 7. You need 64-bit anyways to actually use the 6gb of ram, if you're just using Windows XP you should go with a duo or Phenom II 720.

 

[foolycooly]

probably just pick up the 64-bit windows 7 RC...he's running 32 bit vista atm

 

[rescawen]

With that budget I'd rather go with a phenom 2 940 and wait for the 4890 1ghz to come. If your currently in i7 then you should get 2 4770s which is cheaper and 20% percent faster than the GTX275.

How ever the best thing is to do AMD due to ur budget and also due to u dont want to sli or CF neither do u want to upgrade graphics card.

 

[rescawen]

http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?submit=ChangeItem

list i made up. Try for the i7 build a cheaper mobo and drop the cpu cooler and 2 4770s and ur still in 1100 bucks which is ur budget.

 

[Why_Me]

Just tell those AMD / ATI guys to back off !

OK, a 650w won't push two 260's in SLI nor will it push two 4870's in Crossfire. Fact of the matter is though Nvidea cards use less power than the ATI cards. So how about a nice single card set up? One good card, and a few years down the line you can always ebay it or stick it on craigslist and get another card. SLI is a bit over kill on that monitor anyways. A decent 550w will push a gtx 285 with plenty of juice to spare.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gigabyte-nvidia-sli-motherboard,7463.html <--- Gigabyte: Enable SLI On X58 Boards

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-275,2266.html <---vid card benchmarks gtx 285, 275, 4890, 260, 4870, etc..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 $58.95 Free Shipping*
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022 $74.99 ($49.99 after $25.00 Mail-In Rebates)
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U3R $179.99 | $164.99 after rebate
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

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=N82E16835233029 $39.99 Free Shipping*
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing 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=N82E16814130475 $239.99 Free Shipping*
EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247 $94.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $74.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 $24.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

Total: $1,059.86 | $1,019.86 w/mail in rebates

*Same build but with the gtx 285

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130480 $329.99 ($299.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Free Cryostasis game w/ registration at manufacturer website

Total: $1,149.86 | $1,079.86 w/mail in rebates

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.186064 Combo Discount: -$20.00 Combo Price: $154.98
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <---Save yourself some money and dl the 64 bit version of Windows 7

 

[foolycooly]

Why_Me, I like your build a lot. Obviously, I would like to stick with the i7 chipset since I am now completely and irrationally biased after owning one. (that and they are absurdly good overclockers). I would probably go with the ocz platinum set I posted earlier over your g.skill, but again that's just personal preference...I know they are both great sets. He'll probably want to spend the ~$30 extra for a slightly nicer case (I know the 300 is good).

Is it a safe bet to say that most i7 920s bought today will be D0? Or is that something you still have to seek out?

 

[Why_Me]

Why_Me, I like your build a lot. Obviously, I would like to stick with the i7 chipset since I am now completely and irrationally biased after owning one. (that and they are absurdly good overclockers). I would probably go with the ocz platinum set I posted earlier over your g.skill, but again that's just personal preference...I know they are both great sets. He'll probably want to spend the ~$30 extra for a slightly nicer case (I know the 300 is good).

Is it a safe bet to say that most i7 920s bought today will be D0? Or is that something you still have to seek out?

+1 on that OCZ... to be honest...I wasn't sure if that Xigmatek would clear those h/s on the G.Skill. Not sure if the chip's are D0 or not. I know the article (tomshardware), on o/c those chips showed that 3.4 - 3.6 was where they got the most fps. Anything after 3.6GHz was minuscule.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.192479 <---there's a combo deal on that OCZ RAM and i7 920.

 

[foolycooly]

shameless bump:

Looks like we're moving toward being finalized and I wanted last minute opinions/modifications. Keep in mind the $1,100 budget:

---


GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail -- $199.99 ($184.99 after $15 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375

i7 920 -- $199.99 at microcenter in-store pickup (sick deal)

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail -- $99.99 ($79.99 after $20 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

Coolermaster 690 -- $79.99 at microcenter (figure to save on shipping going this route...i'll have to pay tax but it's like $20-something shipping through newegg...anyone know of a better deal?)

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail -- $74.99 ($49.99 after $25 MIR)...this looks like a solid PSU with enough juice to support up to a single 285 with ease...thoughts?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail -- $249.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM -- $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM -- $24.99

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail -- $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

I already have some leftover MX-2.

---

Total with shipping and tax and before MIRs: $1,073.48


Thoughts/Comments?

Thanks guys!

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193835 Combo Discount: -$5.00 Combo Price: $169.98 $20.00 Mail-In Rebate
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U3R $179.99 | $164.99 after rebate
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

 

[foolycooly]

is it worth the extra $10 for the superclocked edition of the 275? It comes with WaW, but the standard 275 has a combo deal right now with the ocz platinum set...$20 off. So a difference of $30 total...what do you think?

 

[foolycooly]

and the problem with the superbiiz site is that it's standard ups ground shipping...not newegg's 3 day service...not sure how long it will take. I think it's a difference of $10ish...I might just go newegg for my ease of mind.

 

[smithereen]

I wouldn't get the superclocked edition. I can almost gaurentee that the standard edition will OC almost as well.

 

[xthekidx]

Two 4770's in crossfire perform better than the GTX 275 by a decent margin and they are cheaper, and they are easier on power consumption.

I think I would also stick with the P6T SE instead of the UD3R so that if you wanted you could run 12gb in triple channel, instead of just 8 in dual channel. Its not that much more expensive.

 

[foolycooly]

Two 4770's in crossfire perform better than the GTX 275 by a decent margin and they are cheaper, and they are easier on power consumption.

I think I would also stick with the P6T SE instead of the UD3R so that if you wanted you could run 12gb in triple channel, instead of just 8 in dual channel. Its not that much more expensive.

too late kid...good suggestions but after some thorough research I chose the ud3r over the SE. I am a big fan of ASUS but I liked the ud3r for the money saved w/ the rebate...SE pushed us over the $1100 by a bit since we decided we'd rather get a copy of vista 64-bit for peace of mind...saved $30 on it on a combo deal with the ud3r. Plus by the time he needs 12gb+ of RAM for what he does, a new system build will probably be in order.

I agree with you on the 4770s, but we decided on a single card setup. We want the ability to add another 275 later if needed (given we'd have to buy a beefier PSU too). Overall I think we'll be pretty happy with the build...$1100 for a setup that will wreck pretty much every game on a 22" monitor.