I7 Gaming Rig, Need Suggestions on Quality/Compatibility

DrGrass1987

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Jun 6, 2009
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Ok just read the sticky, incoming Copy+Paste suggestion!!

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: August 1st, Will be returning from military deployment end of July.

BUDGET RANGE: $1500-2000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: High Performance Gaming. Primarily World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, World at War, Crysis. Perferred to run all at Max Settings.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers, Surge Protector, Monitor.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: NewEgg, tried looking at Tiger Direct didn't like it.

PARTS PREFERENCES: I am going for Intel CPU, Nvidia GPU, Antec 900 series Case, OCZ HDs, Corsair/Kingston or any high quality Ram.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes, nothing too extreme, most likely taking the i7 920 to 3.5~3.8GHz.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes, eventually, don't need it now but want a mobo/gpu that support it.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Noise doesn't really concern me, neither do cosmetics. I mainly just want a beast machine that can give me awesome frame rates and last for a good while. Willing to pay for quality parts.

Here is the list of what i've selected thus far:

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CPU:
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

Mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

GPU:
MSI N285GTX SuperPipe OC GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

RAM:
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory

PSU:
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC

Heatsink/Fan:
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 120mm SSO CPU Cooler

Price: $1713.89 USD (this is including disc drives and hard drives)


The HD and Disc Drives imo are irrelevent since they are a dime a dozen, just know i am going to be running Win7 using a OCZ Vertex Series SSD 60GB drive.

If anyone has some suggestions i am open to them.

Thank you.
 

raybob95

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All looks great, just a few things. (Also, don't forget to get an OS!!!)

Get a Corsair 750TX Power Supply. (revision for quality)
Get an EVGA GTX 285, MSI is a bit unreliable. (another revision for quality)
Get a Xigmatek Dark Knight 120mm CPU Cooler, and OCZ Freeze thermal paste. (Yet another quality revision)

Lastly, you forgot your HDD! I suggest a Samsung Spinpoint 1TB or WD Caviar Black 1TB.



 

DrGrass1987

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OK here are the exact names of the items i have switched out:

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler

EVGA 01G-P3-1182-AR GeForce GTX 285 FTW Edition 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Supported Video Card

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power

OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound

Price is now:
1739.88

If anyone could lend some confirmation on these selections it would be awesome.


As to my HDD's i have chosen:

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD)

And my OS is going to be a ISO Version of Windows 7 RC 1; after which i will be getting the Lisence for and then purchasing.

If i need to i will get my brother Vista-64 Pro from my brother until i get a solid Windows 7 Load.
 


I think your plan is right on.

Consider the Antec 902 case. It is an updated version of the 900. For instance it now includes front washable air filters:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058
 

dub

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Why have you not included your disk drives in the build price?

640GB WD black + OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD + optical drive puts your total price up over $2k.
 

raybob95

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I recently bought the 60GB SSD, and I think it may have been a mistake. It's a great tech, just not quite ready yet, plus they take lots of techy know-how to work with them.

For example, you could get a RAID 0+1 (4 Drives) of Samsung Spinpoint F1s (Speed and Data Protection) for $30 more. Then, you'd have almost as much speed, plus data protection and more reliable drives, not to mention 2000GB compared to 60GB of storage, for just $30 more.

Just an idea. If the prices of SSDs drop dramatically by August, (and they probably will) then by all means, take the SSD.
 

DrGrass1987

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Well actually, in my orginal post i said that the optical drives and the 2 HD's i'm getting are all irrelevent in my opinion, they were included in the price; i just didn't list them eventually.

I have been thinking of getting 2 640GB HDs and just using one for for Games/OS files and the other for all my data. I have heard several times that SSD SATA II's are not worth it and i should hold out for SATA III or until the price is say... halved. So i think i may do that.

The price i put it in the entire cost of the tower, sorry for any confusion.

Does anyone have a monitor they'd recomend for gaming purposes that would support HD gaming?
 

DrGrass1987

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So are you saying that Dual 4890s is comperable in price to One GTX 285? If so i will gladly do that.

However i would like to stick with one card for the time being.



That being said, could anyone suggest a high quality gaming monitor that could be had for 200-500 dollars? Looking for the ballpark of 24".

Thanks :)