Is this setup overkill?

[Snaef98]

I'm on a tight budget so i usually expand the length of system use to 5+ yrs before i upgrade and i just got a quote for a new system @ $3900 which will cost me $65/month for 5 years.... now my question is can i get longer performance for min specs on games time wise with a different approach this is the system i planing to get:

Intel i7 965 CPU (OC'd to 3.5-3.8GHz)
Cooler Master V10 Hybrid T.E.C. Cooler
Cooler Master Cosmos1000 Case
2x 150GB VelociRaptor (in Raid0) Drives
ASUS VW246H Black 24" Monitor
XFX GTX 295 Video Card (OC'd to near 15%)
XION AXP Lan-Party 1000W PSU
Logitech X-540 5.1 Sound System
Wireless Laser Mouse
12GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR Ram (OC'd)
EVGA X58 CLASSIFIED Motherboard
LG Blu-ray Disc Burner RW & HD DVD-ROM Drive




EDIT: OS will be Vista Ultimate x64 Bit

 

[skora]

My initial feeling is, spend $2000 now to build an X58 system. In 2 years, throw $1000 into an upgrade. Then near the end of life of the LGA1366 platform, throw another $1000 into it. If you're looking for longevity, don't pay a huge premium for top of the line parts now. In the end you'll have a better system along the way by accepting less performance now.

But as the system stands above, if you're only looking for a 3.5+ ghz OC, get the i920 instead, that will save hundreds.

If you're gaming, avoid a wireless mouse and get a good gaming mouse. Research palm vs fingertip mouse styles and find the one that fits you're use patterns.

You'd proably also want a 1tb hdd as a backup and mass storage drive for the price you're paying.

Heres a post from xtwosmokesx on the cooler:
Just my two cents, but id do some more reading on the CM v10 from what ive seen its a pain/semi-poor performer across the board, think there might be some better, more cost effective options available. Search toms and see what you can find. Like i said just my two cents.

Edit:

Think its in here somewhere http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/core-i7-coolers-roundup_18.html

Consistent high preformer:Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler

John (Smokes)

 

[Snaef98]

Well i have a 1 tb external sata drive already. As for the mouse i can always use one my my non wireless opticals i purchased a gaming laser mouse in the past it was total crap and died fast it was one of them G series logitecs same for the gamer keyboard total crap the keys wear out lol... but anyways i dont want to buy a lower cpu and clock it higher because it will kill the life of the cpu i use my older system for a 2box setup my plan was to probably do this setup and in 5 years from now just upgrade the gpu as far as the board will allow and get maybe 7+ years out of it total. Your sayin the V10 hybrid TEC cooler is bad? The guy thats doin the custom build used to work for intel lol but anyways his personal recommendation was a 90% copper cooler i forget the name it started with a Z.

 

[4745454b]

Probably a Zalman. While the V10 cools well, I don't think it cools much better then the V8. Certainly not if you have a nice case with good air flow. If you had that, I doubt the difference would be much. I also suggest not getting the 965. There are other i7s out there that will OC very well, and cost a lot less. You shouldn't have to worry to much about the chip burning out, as you are getting a nice aftermarket HSF. I also wouldn't bother with the AID0 array, 12GBs of DDR3 ram, Xion PSU, and possibly the GTX295. AID0 is pointless for home users, 12GBs of DDR3 memory will be cheaper 2-3years from now when you'd finally need more then 3/6GBs, xion tends to be junk so getting an Antec earthwatts/signature, Corsair, PCP&C, or Seasonic is a better move. Also, if your planning on upgrading the GPU later, why spend so much now? You can pick up the 4870x2 for around $350, or the GTX295 for $510.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150349
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127438 (this is also the cheapest GTX295. If you want one from eVGA or XFX, thats $530.)

Save the $150 and replace it with something better 2-3 years from now.

 

[skora]

I know little of the 1366 coolers, so I just ponited you to a post that referenced an article. What conclusions you draw from it are up to you.

The wireless mouse won't have the same response time and can effect performance in game. Maybe you will have to classify a mouse as a consumable if you eat them that quick

A grand for the 965, I'd spend the $20 and get the 975. If you're gonna do it overkill, do it right! But point being on steps of upgrades, if you overclock the a $300 processer and do it 3 times, you'll spend the same and I'm sure get more than 7 years out of the 3 combined.

I'm out, but just for curiosity, what 5 year old system do you have running current games now?

 

[Snaef98]

Dell Dimension 9100 P4 HT 3.0ghz 2gb DDR2 nvidia 6800 PCIe 1.0 (256mb) 320gb Sata I drive with DVD RW got 2 of them acually lol they were a small upgrade over a dual p3 workstation (2 chips) from almost 10 years ago back when i had a geforce was it 3 lol or sumthin way back before you had the series. ended up frying one of the cpus on the workstation i ran it for so long and so hard the old IDE drives on it started to die lol. but yeah games are starting to not run even at minimum specs now on a 6800.



as for not running the 975 he recommended i stick to the 965 something about them being more stable to OC then the 75s. lol and the mouse i go through mouses and keyboards like they are candy LOL i got well over 12k hours of gaming in and the system just isnt designed for that much use and as for the processor yeah the 920 is alot cheaper i could easily save 700 bucks if i got a 920 and a GTX 285 but there is a big difference chip wise once you get into the 6.2 over 4.8s not to mention the new FSB on chip and other stuff that improves performance... yeah i could also wait for DX11 and windows 7 but hell i could just keep waiting cause *** gets better every day gotta pick something and stick to it i spent a week researching and we quabbled over the price for 2-3 days deciding on this we finally reached an agreement.... i spend more on gaming then i do on a vehicle or anything else for that matter well maybe cept for food LOL damn im hungry better go look for a consumable keyboard xD

 

[astrodudepsu]

All that money and your running 150GB Vraps?

I hope you won't seriously pay for that, hell you can get a better deal on a comp like that from a boutique builder.


But yea, in *almost* no circumstances around here will people recommend higher than the 920. It cannot be beat price/performance in the i7 line.

Even with a 295 that PSU is very much overkill. A 750W unit would more than suffice.

Unless you are doing some HARDCORE video editing/coding 12GB of RAM is also overkill.

 

[Snaef98]

Well right now im waiting for Diablo 3 and FFXIV online to come out, so i really don't currently have a need for a new pc, i guess i could call the purchase off wait alittle while and buy a system closer to 2 grand maybe then ill get more for my money.


any idea on when to expect those to come out and what type of system id be lookin at for the max time per dollar for life of the pc, when i play my games i look at the minimum specs to be able to run it when i run into games that it cant play then its time for a new machine.

 

[Snaef98]

Lets put things into perspective and i just thought to myself....

What will i use the PC For?

Movies (Downloaded HD / DVD / Divx Rips etc)
Single Player RPGS
Games Like COD4 MWF
Diablo 3 & FFXIV Online <--- Main Ones
Stuff like Sacred 2, The Last Remnant couple of modern rpgs


Basically I tend to use my machine for movies, SP Rpgs, MMORPGs so i tend to play the MMOs for multiple years so i dont really see the need to ramp it up when the specs i need for one game are long term..



For this kind of use what would suit me? I do want a blueray RW for backup off HDD.


I'm thinking maybe
6GB DDR3
Mid Grade higher end CPU
Highest Video Card <-- thats what counts
Simple HDD Sata 2 maybe
Blueray Burner
Decent Powersupply / Case


What i personally dont like AMD & ATI lol

 

[Twoboxer]

As others said, 920 OC'd, 6GB memory, and if you spend most of your time in MMOs, I would recommend you consider the 285 instead of the 295. My experience with SLI performance in MMOs is rarely positive, and often negative.

Whether or not that changes, you can upgrade to the next generation of vid cards instead.

JMO.

 

[skora]

Don't count on D3 anytime soon. I'm hardcore blizzard (lost years to D2) and am dissappointed with their behavior lately. Started with Ghost that never reached retail and then delaying SC2 to release it as 3 titles instead of 1 with expansions. Granted, their quality control is godly, but it also makes timelines for releases look like a new Boeing or Airbus aircraft (2-4 year program delays.) Heck, even the new content patch for D2 was suppose to be ready by april and nothing yet.

Back to hardware:
6 gb will be more than enough
I'd still say the 920 will be enough, but if you're looking for more on the qpi, then spend the money. Its not money well spent though.
High end vid card is good. But at 19x12, doesn't have to be the 295.
Get a SSD if you're doing online MMopgs. One of the best system for WoW threads (can't find at the moment) was talking about access times for all the textures and SSDs blow HDD away in performance. Search the WoW threads for more info.
Blu-Ray burner is cool, but for backup, might be better just to throw a HDD sata disk in there instead of eating blu-ray disk with your keyboards and mice.
The power supply, figure out the vid card first. Then check what PSU are certified for SLI for the most Pci x16 slots and go from there. +1 on 4745454b's list of them.
The case, find one you like the look of. Any of the antecs nice. I'm partial to the Coolmaster Storm Scout.

If you are really spending that kind of dough on a system, and justified to a degree with the time you play, do look at a beautique before your friend. You'll get a warrenty out of it including on the OC.

 

[hundredislandsboy]

$65 a month for 5 years?? I've seen this over and over from friends who wanted to spend $4K for what was seemingly then a kick ass system.

If you're a gamer, you'll be kicking yourself in the butt 2 years from now when you'll want to upgrade to a faster CPU, faster GPU, and bigger monitor.

For half of that, you can build a really nice gaming rig. For gaming purposes, this setup IS overkill for and at $4,000 is poor value.

 

[Snaef98]

hehe acually i found that his price for his systems was 300-500 cheaper then botiques. right now im not doing anything oh and for the SSD's acually right now the normal drives are slightly better at least until the OS and programs get alittle better right now they are over priced and brand new tech so id wait on that for at least 2-3 years.

 

[Outlander_04]

If you are a gamer then your system is ridiculous

Vista ultimate is costly and has ZERO extra features useful to a home user .Its also about to be replaced by windows 7 in just a few months

no point buying the 965 when an identical 920 will clock to the level you suggest

12 gig of ram for gaming will probably slow frame rates , but might be useful if you use CS4 or run vm's . Lots of VM's .

velociraptors are only marginally faster than than the newer black series drives
Theyre a waste of money and would be thrashed by an SSD for your OS and programs with a conventional hd [ or 2 ] for data

your mb is expensive and has features you dont mention ever wanting to use so its poor value at best

I get the feeling you compiled a list of the most expensive components without stopping to think about the whole system , or bothering to do any research

 

[hundredislandsboy]

I sense that you were writing your OP with a budget in mind. But if you just have to spend $$ 4,000 to know you have the best and fastest...

If you handed me $4,000 and told me to spend every penny to build your system, I'd start with this...

Intel Core2 Extreme QX9775 3.2GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 771 150W Quad-Core Processor

Bragging rights for sure.

 

[Outlander_04]

I sense that you were writing your OP with a budget in mind. But if you just have to spend $$ 4,000 to know you have the best and fastest...

If you handed me $4,000 and told me to spend every penny to build your system, I'd start with this...

Intel Core2 Extreme QX9775 3.2GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 771 150W Quad-Core Processor

Bragging rights for sure.

But thats all its worth : bragging rights

far better to spend $2000 on a pc that performs identically and leaves you a chance to upgrade in two years instead of 5 ,
BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU SPEND ON A PC TODAY IN TWO YEARS TIME IT WILL BE OLD JUNK

 

[kutark]

Well, i am going to echo whats been said here, that spending 4k on that system would be a *complete* waste of time.

First off, the proc. I understand you want it to last 5 years. Keep in mind procs that are being run at stock speeds are designed to last at a BARE MINIMUM 10+ years of constant operation (I.E. in a server environment). In a gaming system you won't approach the usage cycles these procs are designed around. For example, i have a core 2 duo e6600 i've been running at 3.4ghz (stock is 2.4ghz) for almost 3 years solid. in my gaming rig and it hasnt missed a beat.

So, that being said, buy an i7 920, don't waste the money on anything above that, its just not cost effective. The reason is, you can OC an i7 guaranteed to the speed of the i7 965 with even a low end aftermarket cooler, and it will run at stock or better temperatures, which means it will last just as long as it would at stock speed.

Moving on, velociraptors are 100% waste of money nowadays unless you need something with exceptional random access times, which would things like database usage, etc. For a gaming system, you can run a pair of Caviar Black's (or if you're feeling paranoid, WD RE3's) in a raid0 and acheive 90% of the speed that the velociraptors would net you for literally 1/4th the cost.

I'm generally not a fan of dual gpu video cards, as the sad fact is very few games properly support SLI setups (and yes, dual gpu's on one card is still treated exactly like a physical dual card setup by the video drivers), and even the ones that do support it, will usually see at best a 70% increase, and usually more in the 40-50% range. Again, just not cost effective.

If it were me, i'd look at a Gtx285 or a 5870 radeon.

12GB of ram is definitely overkill, but the extra $150 bucks cost difference between 6gb and 12gb isnt that big of a deal. Plus, you gotta have something thats *ridiculous* about your setup to tell your buddies. I think as long as you're ok with knowing that its pretty much a waste of $150 (at least for the time being), you should go with 12gb of ram.

Outside of that, and i can't stress this enough, get a good quality power supply. DO NOT purchase the one he quoted you. I can tell you from personal experience that its just a bad idea to buy cheap PSUs. I had one that i spent over 3 months diagnosing random lockups and crashes that acted like overheating video cards, overheating cpu's, etc, that i later found out was because the PSU wasn't quite able to provide the juice the setup needed. and this was a 620w psu (x-finity i think it was). I also have had a PSU literally explode and shoot tendrils of lightning out of the back of my case.

IMO there are only two viable options if you want peace of mind with your PSU.

Thats the Corsair HX850 or the Antec Signature 850w. Go with the 850 if you choose the GTX 295. If you go with a gtx285 or a radeon 5870, etc, you'll be fine with a Signature 650w, or a HX750.