Out with the old, in with the NEW!

[t33lo]

What I will be porting over:
•OCZ PowerStream 600W
•NEC Black 16X DVD/CD+R/RW
•ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU 120mm HSF (Dont' think I can fit it to new mobo though)
•Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache HD (Used for Storage)
•Antec Twelve Hundred Computer Case
•SAMSUNG 2333SW 23" 5ms Widescreen Monitor

What I am considering:
•EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SSC Edition 896MB 448-bit VGA
•ASUS P6T MB or •ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 MB
•Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core CPU
•Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB HD (debating 150GB or 300GB)
•OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800), CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800), CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000), or OCZ XMP Ready Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

What I would need:
•A good heatsink fan
•Possibly an aftermarket VGA HSF
•Maybe an upgrade in speaker system (currently using 2.1 altec)
•Possibly a soundcard, but how good is the onboard on the ASUS's mobo's?
(items in italics not neccesary)

I mainly use my comp to play games, possibly burn a few dvd's or maybe even BRD's if I get a player, photoshop, and some device simulator programs for BlackBerry's. I don't really have a budget but I would like to hopefully keep things under $1000. I would like to go for say tier 3.5 or 4/5 in terms of parts. 5/5 being the best of the best and 1 obviously being the worst. Any help would be great as I haven't built a comp since exactly four years ago and have lost a bit of touch in whats cutting edge today. Thank you!

 

[xthekidx]

How old is that PSU? I think for an i7 system, I would be getting a new PSU. That PSU was built for a different age when 46A on the 5v rail was necessary. Today its all about the 12V rail.

You are spending way too much on that GPU. Go for this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127430
or if you want to spend that much money:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125279

Vrap drives are a waste of money, the Caviar blacks are almost as fast, larger, and cost a fourth the price:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&Tpk=wd6401aals

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

The P6T Deluxe V2 is a very nice MB, overclocks great, very good option for sli or xfire, and has a good onboard audio chipset, so you wouldn't need to buy a sound card. I would go for that.

Aftermarket Coolers:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093&Tpk=scythe%20mugen%202
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029&Tpk=s1283v

 

[t33lo]

Thanks for the quick reply.

The PSU is exactly 4 years old. I was able to grab the specs off of it:

• +3.3VDC Adjustable from 2.8V to 3.8V
• +5VDC Adjustable from 4.5V to 5.5V
• +12VDC Adjustable from 10.8V to 13.2V

Are you saying that it has the wattage, but the rails are not strong enough? If so, any reccomendations on a PSU?

Also, whats the difference between say the PC12800, PC15000, and PC16000 modules that I listed?

 

[xthekidx]

Thanks for the quick reply.

The PSU is exactly 4 years old. I was able to grab the specs off of it:

• +3.3VDC Adjustable from 2.8V to 3.8V
• +5VDC Adjustable from 4.5V to 5.5V
• +12VDC Adjustable from 10.8V to 13.2V

Are you saying that it has the wattage, but the rails are not strong enough? If so, any reccomendations on a PSU?

Also, whats the difference between say the PC12800, PC15000, and PC16000 modules that I listed?

Yes I am saying that the rails will not be strong enough. Its also an older PSU, and PSU's lose their capacity over time. You should buy a new one for this rig. If you want to SLI later, then look at a Corsair 750tx. If not, then An OCZ StealthXStream 600w should do the trick.

The difference in the Ram kits you listed is the speed at which they will be able to run guaranteed by the manufacturer, ie 1600mhz, 1800mhz, 1866mhz, ect. In real world performance, this makes no difference since the memory controller on the i7 is not at all starved for memory bandwidth. A good set of DDR3 1600 is what i recommend with tight timings. That kit I suggested is CL7, which is very good for DDR3.

 

[Why_Me]

I don't really have a budget but I would like to hopefully keep things under $1000. I would like to go for say tier 3.5 or 4/5 in terms of parts. 5/5 being the best of the best and 1 obviously being the worst. Any help would be great as I haven't built a comp since exactly four years ago and have lost a bit of touch in whats cutting edge today. Thank you!

And those be the magic words.

Do a google on "ewiz coupons" or "ewiz promo codes" and save another $5 - $15 off that mobo/cpu combo. It's all in the shopping. That psu will easily push two of those cards in SLI. No need for a sound card imo, onboard sound just keeps getting better and better these days.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10006382 $109.99 ($79.99 after MIR) Free Shipping
PC Power and Cooling SILENCER 750W QUAD S75CF Power Supply Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P Combo Price: $492.99 Free Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CorssFireX & 3-Way SLI/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU, Retail

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=N82E16814133268 $199.99 Free Shipping*
PNY VCGGTX275XPB GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.199034 Combo Discount: -$7.00 Combo Price: $162.98 $20.00 Mail-In Rebate *Free Shipping
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM


Total: $1,010.93 | $960.93 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 RC 7

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011 <--- more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that psu

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-275,2266.html <--- gtzx 275 review and benchmarks

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-sli,2298.html <--- gtx 275's in SLI > gtx 295

 

[xthekidx]

All good why_me except for the HDD/ram combo, you want the aals, not the aaks. Go for this combo, it also has that faster ram I pointed out, only $5 more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.199047

 

[kg4icg]

I just pulled the buy handle myself on a i7 parts. If you haven't seen this yet, you might want to consider.
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?submit=ChangeItem
and start from there.

 

[t33lo]

Thanks everyone, you've been more than helpful. I'm curious though, I tend to sort products at Newegg by highest rating and judge those top products to others based on their price/performance. I notice that A LOT of PSU's have solid 75+% ratings and the one you reccomended here falls in the 67% range. Same goes for the video card you recommended. I know that probably doesn't mean everything, but what factors your decision in choosing the PSU and video card you listed other than price? I'd much rather pay for quality as I usually keep my systems till they become obsolete and do not upgrade regularly. This current system is running exactly 4 years old and still have original video card, mobo, processor, hsf, hd, and psu.

I also noticed that the most popular mobo's for the i7 did not receive very favorable reviews, I'd say average at best. Is this because the i7 is new to the market and the manufacturers haven't figured it out completely?

 

[t33lo]

So I decided upon a final system, its a little over my flexible $1000 budget.

CPU - $280
•Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core CPU
==================================================================================
PSU - $140
•CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
==================================================================================
VGA - $255
•EVGA 896-P3-1171-AR GeForce GTX 275 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
==================================================================================
MOBO - $260
•GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
==================================================================================
CPU HSF - $60
•ZALMAN CNPS9900LED 120mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail
==================================================================================
HD - $70
•Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
==================================================================================
RAM - $120
•OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail
==================================================================================
Rebates
•($20) - RAM
•($20) - MOBO
•($20) - VGA
•($30) - PSU
Combo Deals
•($7) - HD + RAM
•($15) - CPU + MOBO
==================================================================================
Shipping - $12
==================================================================================
Total Payment
$1085


Some notes:

I decided to up it to the GTX 275 because of the 240 shader cores. I also decided to go with the zalman because I have the CNPS7700 120mm and it has been absolutely fantastic since I bought it 4 years ago. I also like the aesthetics of it compared to some sinks. As far as the PSU, it got really great reviews and I also wanted a modular one as well. Was debating with going for the Gigabyte UD3R, but decided to go for the upgrade for really no reason other than the better included cooling (I think) and maybe some fixed glitches in its first version.

If anyone has any last suggestions, I'd would definitely like to listen. I plan on going with a moderate overclock on this system, is the oem heatsink on the evga gtx 275 ok for Overclocking even more? Thanks!

 

[t33lo]

Sorry for the post again, but I am about to pull the trigger on this. Any last suggestions?

 

[Helloworld_98]

swap the GTX 275 for a 4890 and save yourself $55.

 

[xthekidx]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161276

 

[t33lo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161276

I've always been an nvidia guy and have always like their drivers. Is there any difference really whatsoever between these two cards with a decent overclocking? It is alot nicer that it is cheaper, in terms of straight performance (disregarding price), is the 4890 any better?

I also notice that the 4890 is 256-bit compared to the 448-bit of the gtx's.

 

[xthekidx]

Nvidia 448-bit vs. ATI 256 bit isn't an accurate comparison for how a GPU will perform. The two cards are very similar in performance, the GTX 275 is easier on power and runs cooler, but is more expensive.

 

[t33lo]

It seems like I am getting roped in by those people who are at the movies trying to sell you the next size up for $0.25 more. I saw this and was wondering if this is probably better than the gtx 275 I have listed above.

EVGA 01G-P3-1280-TR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130492
only $10 more than the one I have listed above.

Would my prospective 620W PSU be good enough for this card as well as the other parts I have listed above?

 

[Why_Me]

It seems like I am getting roped in by those people who are at the movies trying to sell you the next size up for $0.25 more. I saw this and was wondering if this is probably better than the gtx 275 I have listed above.

EVGA 01G-P3-1280-TR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130492
only $10 more than the one I have listed above.

Would my prospective 620W PSU be good enough for this card as well as the other parts I have listed above?

Forget that card. It's being phased out and for some good reasons. It's based on older architecture, it's a power hog, it runs hotter than the newer Nvidea cards, and toms did an article on here where that card was having some issues running single on an i7 set up. gtx 275 ftw. You can save yourself some money on those 275's by over clocking them yourself. Takes but a few minutes.

 

[t33lo]

Forget that card. It's being phased out and for some good reasons. It's based on older architecture, it's a power hog, it runs hotter than the newer Nvidea cards, and toms did an article on here where that card was having some issues running single on an i7 set up. gtx 275 ftw. You can save yourself some money on those 275's by over clocking them yourself. Takes but a few minutes.

Thanks for the advice. Do you mean the ftw version of the 275, or get the gtx 275 version in general. I tend to like the factory overclocked cards better because you are at least guaranteed the initial overclock and there is usually room for improvement (I was able to get my 7800gtx from a factory overclock of 460MHz to 515Mhz on stock cooling). I've read somewhere that the factory overclocked cards are usually cut from a better die than the regular stock versions (not sure if this is true or they simply test a certain number of cards and if they exceed a certain frequency, then they designate it as a factory OC version while the rest of the batch could possibly be factory oc capable as well). What is your general opinion on this?

And the 620W PSU is sufficient, correct?

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks for the advice. Do you mean the ftw version of the 275, or get the gtx 275 version in general. I tend to like the factory overclocked cards better because you are at least guaranteed the initial overclock and there is usually room for improvement (I was able to get my 7800gtx from a factory overclock of 460MHz to 515Mhz on stock cooling). I've read somewhere that the factory overclocked cards are usually cut from a better die than the regular stock versions (not sure if this is true or they simply test a certain number of cards and if they exceed a certain frequency, then they designate it as a factory OC version while the rest of the batch could possibly be factory oc capable as well). What is your general opinion on this?

And the 620W PSU is sufficient, correct?

A decent 550w will push a single gtx 275. If your running an i7 set up though, there's no reason not to go with a 750w psu...either PC Power & Cooling or Corsair...whatever ones on sale atm. Check out "zipzoomfly" for the PC Power & Cooling 750w for $110 with a $30 mail in rebate and free shipping....it's on sale until the end of the month. With a decent 750w you can always add another one of those cards later on for SLI.

 

[t33lo]

A decent 550w will push a single gtx 275. If your running an i7 set up though, there's no reason not to go with a 750w psu...either PC Power & Cooling or Corsair...whatever ones on sale atm. Check out "zipzoomfly" for the PC Power & Cooling 750w for $110 with a $30 mail in rebate and free shipping....it's on sale until the end of the month. With a decent 750w you can always add another one of those cards later on for SLI.

WhyMe, you've been very helpful, really appreciate it. In regards to my last post, how do you feel about the factory overclocked cards? Is it simply a waste of money or is it a nice guarantee to have. I'm purchasing tonight, so this is probably my last question regarding my parts. Thank you in advance!

 

[Why_Me]

WhyMe, you've been very helpful, really appreciate it. In regards to my last post, how do you feel about the factory overclocked cards? Is it simply a waste of money or is it a nice guarantee to have. I'm purchasing tonight, so this is probably my last question regarding my parts. Thank you in advance!

You made a good point on the "why's" to get a factory over clocked card. That way you know it's at the rated clock speed, and it's one thing less to have mess with.

 

[t33lo]

So I went ahead and purchased it, and after installling everything, I can't, I can't get this thing to post. Once I turn it on, I get all the fans starting up, but no PC beep and all of the led's on the mobo are lit.

I have plugged in from the psu:

-24 pin atx
-8 pin atx_2x
-4 pin molex's for fans
-sata power cord for 2 hd's

I also have my video card installed with two 6 pin vga cables which go into my psu

Any ideas? I don't want to keep turning it on if it is doing some damage.


EDIT::::

AHH, nvm, since my PSU is modular, I have to watch to make sure that the connections at the PSU are in. Two of my 6 pin VGA cables were loose and not in all the way. Got it!