First Build, i7 920 Gaming Rig

war1761

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Jun 26, 2009
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Thanks in advance for taking a look at this build! ;)

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Before the end of July 09

BUDGET RANGE: US $2,000-$3,000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Movies, Surfing.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor (Acer B273HU BMIDHZ 27"), Speakers (Klipsch 5.1 Ultra), OS (Windows Vista Pro 64-bit or Windows 7 64-bit)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.newegg.com, www.cdw.com, www.frys.com (CDW and Frys both have retail outlets near where I live so I can always pick things up.)

PARTS PREFERENCES: Looking for a i7 920 build with a ASUS motherboard, full tower case, and 4870x2 graphics card.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes (First attempt at overclocking, would like to get it to 3.0 GHz or more on air cooling)

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes, I am planning on having Quadfire in the future when card prices drop or there is a need. Need beefy power supply and compatible motherboard.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 2048 x 1152 One of the main reasons why I am leaning towards the 4870x2, I want to play all games in native resolution.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I am looking to use this for a while. Current computer(Dell XPS Gen 3) is 5 years old and still going strong. This will be my first complete scratch system build. I have tinkered around a lot with Dells and HPs finally making the step up to custom.


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This is a build that I might consider...

Processor: i7 920

Heat sink: Zalman

Thermal Paste: Artic Silver

Motherboard: ASUS P6T

Ram: Corsair Dominator

Video Card: ATI 4870x2

Power Supply: Corsair 1000w or T12W

OS/Primary Hard Drive: WD Velociraptor 10k RPM

Storage/Secondary Drive: WD Caviar Black

Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc

Secondary Optical Drive (Optional): Pioneer Blu-Ray Burner

Case: Antec 1200

Keyboard (Optional): G19 (Not sure if this is worth it yet)

Mouse: Logitech G5
 

rescawen

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Jan 16, 2009
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Thats a pretty powerful build, might be able to tell us what games ur gonna play so ur not wasting ur money? HAF922 is a better case than that.

get the xigmatek dark night cooler.
 

Klon0pin

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Feb 20, 2009
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I have a similar build to what the original poster is trying to put together and I have a 28" monitor 1 gtx280 can not do the job on the most demanding games NOW, in 6 months it would be really struggling. I went with 2 260's in sli and am very happy with my setup. If any system can take the most advantage of crossfire / sli it's an i7. Though I think 2 x 4870x2's might be pushing it due to deminished returns of 3 way or 4 way crossfire / sli, a 4870x2 is perfect.

 

war1761

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Jun 26, 2009
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This is a build that I might consider...

Processor: i7 920

Heat sink: Zalman

Thermal Paste: Artic Silver

Motherboard: ASUS P6T V2

Ram: OCZ 6GB DDR3 1333 (One of the trusted ram selections for the ASUS P6T V2)

Video Card: 2x Sapphire HD 4890 Toxic in crossfire

Power Supply: Corsair 1000w

OS/Primary Hard Drive: Intel X25-M (If I find $300 extra I would do raid 0)

Storage/Secondary Drive: WD Caviar Black

Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc

Case: Antec 1200

Currently its around $2,200.00 with some case fans, mouse and cable extensions.

First game I will be playing is ARMA II.
 

crysis900

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Jun 26, 2008
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Change Heatsink to TRUE, V8, or Noctua. Swap Antec 1200 for CM HAF932 (MUCH MUCH MUCH BETTER). And I'd swap the ram for something faster for a build this caliber. Maybe DDR3 1866 or something, shouldn't cost too much more.
 

blackhawk1928

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-I am not sure how good Intel SSD are but western digital and Samsung make good ones, just a side note.

-IMO a system with a budget of 3000 should have something more then a p6t. I would get a <(GIGABYTE GA-EX58-EXTREME LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard)>

-Get 2000mhz Tri-Channel 6GB! Your motherboard supports it i am pretty sure so you might as well get that.

-1000w PSU is overkill for now, but if you plan on getting 2 GPU's and multiple drives i guess its okay

-Otherwise good build :)
 

Helloworld_98

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Feb 9, 2009
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Intel SSD's are the best but you can save a few $ and get an OCZ agility instead as they have higher write rates but only 15MB/s slower read rates.

a $3000 budget is pointless, best way to go at the moment is a ~$1000 with a 4850/70 and then put the rest of the money you were going to put towards the base of the build, towards a 5870 /X2.

2Ghz ram is pointless unless you want to overclock to very high levels, even for 4Ghz you only need 1600mhz, so maybe 1800mhz if he wants 4.2Ghz.