1st Build Suggestions? (~$1500 gaming)

thuglife11 · Jun 7, 2009

Hi everyone, im just starting to make my own computers and this will be my first one. Ive been researching quite a bit and came up with these parts. I mostly just play video games and basic other internet stuff as well as fraps/edit videos.

My main questions are if there is a better motherboard out there in the same price range, ive heard the Gigabyte UD 4 and 5 are good choices, should i go with the UD5?

Also, how good is the sound on the motherboard i have currently and the Gigabyte UD5?

Another question, is the hard drive i have now worth it? (VelociRaptor)
Someone told me i should get a WD Caviar Black because the speeds are comparably because the Black has a larger cache?

Here are the parts im looking to buy, any suggestions are appreciated. I do plan to mod the case for better cable management and overclock the CPU. Thanks a lot!

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

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

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail

EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Subtotal: $1,482.92

The_Prophecy · Jun 7, 2009

Here are my suggestions for replacements:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 - Slightly cheaper than the eVGA you picked out. Have a look at the features though. If everything you want is in the Gigabyte as well, go for it instead.

RAM: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 - Definitely go for this instead of the OCZ. This G.Skill set is much further from Intel's RAM voltage barrier on the Core i7 chips (1.65V for anyone who wasn't aware of this). This set has lower timings (9-9-9-24 vs. 7-7-7-24), but it can be used at 1.5V. Since you don't seem to be a hardcore gamer who absolutely must squeeze the best performance out of every component, I figured this wouldn't be a problem. This rig is going to be quick enough that CAS 7 ram is not going to make any difference as opposed to a CAS 9 set.

Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-650TX - An 850W power supply is WAY overkill for what you're doing (unless you're planning on grabbing a pair of those GTX 285 video cards for an SLI rig).

Oh and next time, please link to your parts so it doesn't take anyone replying longer to locate them.

raybob95 · Jun 7, 2009

Be aware that there is also a 750W version of your Corsair if you're afraid the 650 isn't enough.

Next, the UD4P should be fine unless you've got extra budget, and STAY with the OCZ Platinum. You'll also need OCZ Freeze.

Also, DO NOT get a Velociraptor. For even less money, you could get a WD Caviar Black 1TB RAID 0, which would be quieter, less heat, 2000GB storage (Ha, over 300) and just about as fast. Plus, they're more reliable, and you also have to pay for adapters for the VelociRaptors, as they're the 2.5" format.

thuglife11 · Jun 7, 2009

Thanks for the replys

Will the corsair 750w power 2 gtx 285s if i decide to SLI in the future and 2 Caviar Blacks in Raid 0?

AKM880 · Jun 7, 2009

^ Yes the Corsair should be fine, altho you might want to stick with the 850W.....

thuglife11 · Jun 7, 2009

Oh, should i go with the UD5 or the eVGA motherboard?

Or a different one?

I just want a motherboard that wont bottleneck any of my parts and is good at overclocking since i plan to clock my i7 920 to 3.6 ish

Oh i also want a good audio motherboard too

I dont need the 3 way SLI, am i paying more for this feature or does it just come with most boards? Im fine with 2 graphic card slots for future additions

smithereen · Jun 7, 2009

Either should be fine. The p6T is good too.

AKM880 · Jun 7, 2009

I personally like the Gigabyte and the Asus boards like the P6T.

smithereen · Jun 7, 2009

You can't really go wrong with any of the three. eVGA gets undercredited - they were stuck with 7X0i boards for most of their career, the fact that they didn't fail epically shows something - although I don't think their famous warrenty extends to motherboards, their tech support does.

thuglife11 · Jun 7, 2009

Updated build with new motherboard and no vRaptor comes out to about $1300 after mail in re-bates, not bad for the performance

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

(2 for raid 0)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130480

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

Subtotal: $1,387.91

The_Prophecy · Jun 8, 2009

thuglife11 :

Why are you wasting money on an 850W supply you don't need? Unless you're planning to buy a pair of those 285 cards (which you did not indicate as being the case), you're only throwing money away. Stick with the 750W if you're not going to SLI. If you are, get the pair of 285 cards right away. If you do it down the road, something better will have come out by then that beats the 285's in SLI by itself, and once again you will have wasted money on the power supply.

Regarding the RAM... you can go with the OCZ set all you want, but if something does happen to the CPU because of the RAM voltage fu**ing the memory controller, don't say I didn't warn you about it.

I also found an alternative case you may want to consider. It's the same one I have my rig housed in. Air flow in this thing is second to none (except maybe the Antec Skeleton). Also puts $20 back in your pocket. Cooler Master CM690

thuglife11 · Jun 8, 2009

Regarding the power supply, is there any downside to getting a bigger PSU besides price? because the 750w and 850w are only a $10 difference after rebates and i might be getting another card after a month or two when if i need it, but i dont think i will, so i guess il just go with the 750w and save $10.

Ive also read some reviews on my case and people say you can fit two 10.5" cards in their but i will for sure check out your case too.

thuglife11 · Jun 8, 2009

Comes out to $1271 after rebates with a optical drive, not bad

pinibo · Jun 8, 2009

OCZ has tighter timing and is very good memory. Works well with i7.

That 850 Corsair is a safe bet. Stick with it.

I like the Asus Deluxe V2 board. The others are fine also.

raybob95 · Jun 8, 2009

pinibo :

Stay with the Gigabyte UD4P/UD5.

If you want to SLI, get the 850W. If not, grab the 750.

OCZ RAM will be fine.

The cooler master is fine, if you wish to SLI.

Don't forget that you need thermal paste! (OCZ Freeze)

gondo · Jun 8, 2009

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest a totally different rig.

First off for the case I'd do an Antec 1200. It's larger, has better cooling, cable management, PSU on the bottom, etc... It also has fan controllers to kick into silent mode.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043&Tpk=antec%20twelve%20hundred

For the power supply, using the Antec 1200 allows use of the Antec CP series power supply. Why not the Antec CP-850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024&Tpk=antec%20cp-850

As for the hard drive I prefer Seagates. I always have for home and enterprise use. I prefer their warranty, and I require it less than any other brand out there. 1TB for the price and I put 2 of them in there for a RAID.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

Next you have the video card. I went with a Crossfire Radeon 4870 2gb setup. Easily beats the Nvidia 285 at the same price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161269

Memory I kept the same. Good timings for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

For the CPU I choose the AMD route. The Phenom II 945 @ 3GHZ with 6MB. It's a good fast gaming CPU that is cheaper than the Intel, and has less bugs with Windows 7.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675

For a matching motherboard. I went for the best Asus AM3 DDR3 board based on teh 790FX chipset. It seems to be the best AM3 board on the market. Cheaper than the I7 board as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131363

Heatsink is all that is missing. I choose the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer. It works good, and works good even with the fan speed reduced while watching a movie for example. I own one and recommend it. It is better rated than the Xigmatech you choose which is also good. The sunbeam is also cheaper.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004

Total $1145.37

This system is cheaper than yours and I think better. It comes with the Antec 1200 and Sunbeam heatsink so you can crank down all the fans while watching a movie and it is silent. you get a better video card. I also priced 1TB hard drives which are almost double the capacity of your 640GB.

Overall it's a cheaper system that has a way nicer high end case, and components that will beat your system in gaming. A great value price/performance winner.

smithereen · Jun 8, 2009

Uh, gondo? You just suggested triple-channel RAM for an AM3 system. This is what you were looking for.

If you do go AM3, get decent video cards like these HIS IceQ 4860 1GBs. Why suggest the Core-Contact Freezer and then two leafblower video cards? Secondly, suggest the Phenom II 955 that will actually OC under that heatsink.

Western Digital Caviar Blacks are better than Seagates. 1TB models are $10 more than gondo's Barracudas, but they're simply faster. He got the case, psu, and motherboard right.

AM3 is a viable option, you just have to be smart about it. Don't let anyone tell you it's faster than a Core i7 system (It's not), but it's more than good enough for gaming. When you throw a 3.6gHz+ quad-core processor at a game, even if it's GTAIV, the CPU will not be your bottleneck, even four years from now.

The AM3 rig rings in at $1160. That's still $250 less than your i7 setup, and you will get better gaming performance, with a weaker CPU. Something to think about, neither an X58 or 790FX build will disappoint, I'm sure. Well, gondo's might.

gondo · Jun 8, 2009

Smithreen is correct. For the extra $30 or so go with the 955 CPU.

WD are technically faster, but I just prefer Seagates based on years of using both brands...the seagate are more reliable in my experience. Jsut a personal preference.

My bad. yes the AM3 boards are dual channel designed. You should get a dual channel kit for the RAM.

And yes I7 is technically faster. But at what cost. The AMD will keep up in any game, and is plenty fast enough and will beat the I7 in many benchmarks outside of gaming, in the rest the I7 wins. Overall though it comes down to gaming AMD, applications I7. But the money saved gives you a better case, power supply, hard drives, video card, etc.... Your saving $300+ that is useful for these upgrades. I'd take the AMD with good components over the I7 with just ok components.

With a budget of $2000 I might recommend the I7 but not under $1500 for a high end gaming system.

And as for the case..it will last many generations of upgrades...do you want a cheaper $100 case or a nice big case with plenty of cooling, options, and quality?

Why_Me · Jun 8, 2009

D0 Stepping i7 920 w/dual gtx 275's

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $69.99 Free Shipping*
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 $119.99 ($109.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P $224.99 | $209.99 after rebate
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CorssFireX & 3-Way SLI/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

https://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/product.php?productid=16135&cat=282&page=1" $ 280.00
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 Socket 8MB Cache CPU D0 Stepping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99
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 ($219.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) 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
Free Cryostasis game w/ registration at manufacturer website

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 $239.99 ($219.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) 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
Free Cryostasis game w/ registration at manufacturer website

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
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: $1,315.90 | $1,250.90 w/mail in rebates

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s until March 2010 and dl the 64 bit version of Windows 7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374 <--- more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that Gigabyte UD4P mobo used in this build

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=584 <---short review on that D0 stepping i7. It runs cooler than the older C0 stepping i7's

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11773&Itemid=1 <--- that's one way you can tell if you have a D0 stepping cpu or not

visakkus · Jun 8, 2009

Is there any reason why he should not get this..?

OCZ OCZ3P1866C9LV6GK 6GB PC3-15000 (DDR3-1866) Triple Channel Memory Retail $69.99 after MIR
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010031&prodlist=celebros

This is faster and cheaper.
Your comments please, OCZ 1600 vs OCZ 1866

1st Build Suggestions? (~$1500 gaming)

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