Please review this build!

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Withing the next few days

BUDGET RANGE: less that 1000 dollars

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, internet, programming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: 22" viewsonic monitor running at 1680x1050

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: I selected an AMD chip as I thought this was the best bang for the buck. I could be conivinced to go I7 if the price was right.

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes, in the futre if needed

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050 right now but might get a new monitor in the future.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Something on the quiet side.

Parts Selected:

LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS50 - OEM $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827136167

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119137

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard $131.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 813131363R

XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150329

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139006

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TW3X4G1333C9 - Retail $75.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145218

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDX945FBGIBOX - Retail $225.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103675

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail $39.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233029

Please let me know what you think. I would like to save even more money if possible, but not at the risk of cutting perforamnce and or quality. Again, I am interested in an I7 build as well, but it needs to be around the same cost as this system. I look forward to your responses!

-Randall

+1 for the i7.

Here's a few more suggestions to cut cost.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.204577 Combo Discount: -$7.00 Combo Price: $167.98 $15.00 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 Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10006382 $109.99 Free Shipping
PC Power and Cooling SILENCER 750W QUAD S75CF Power Supply Retail

Don't forget thermal compound.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

Now to make that board SLI compatible.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/g [...] ,7463.html <--- Gigabyte: Enable SLI On X58 Boards

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us [...] ID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s until March 2010 and dl the 64 bit version of Windows RC 7

change gpu to 4870 or 4890 so you can crossfire down the road

Just my two cents, but If you can afford the bump up in your budget, id go with a gtx275.

astrodude - you are correct. I must admit I am a fan of AMD. AND I will never support spintel. Therefore, I have little or no interest in spintel products, and nvidiot kinda goes out the door with all that as well. AMD is all about superior performane derived from their platform approach.

to the OP - I would bet the i7 you are looking at is one of the originals if it's some great deal - there's a newer version they don't want you to know about. I think they are stroking your epeen, and you might be a victim of the lying benchmarks and lying TDP which omits the actual power consumption of the socalled marketing hype, the uncore. (130 plus uncore = 190w) (separate pow plug)

I recommend you get your head back together and buy an AMD solution. OR - if all you want to do is run synthetic benchmarks, then support the an7i7rus7 monopoly; something I could not ever do. Look up the EU and read the actual report on why they levied the biggest fine in history - spintel does not want you to know about that either. 80% market share is not enough. Learn how they got there. And how they crippled what's available to us all.
Your "real world computing experience" will be better with AMD; or you can read benchmarks that are twisted. It's your money - support what you think is best.

The USA antitrust comes up in 2010; and they are already fully aware of the evidence used in the EU. The propaganda is a whole other story. And the fanboys who will freak out at what I am saying - are endless, paid to twist the truth about actual performance, thru tests, compilers, programming, reviewers, - all paid, bribed, or something not of the light of day. Google "scientia's blog" and do some research there.

Now watch the fanboys scream.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleas [...] anguage=en

http://government.zdnet.com/?p=4809

http://scientiasblog.blogspot.com/ [...] results=16

Well all that is well and good mate, I just didn't want the OP to be given false information and take it as truth.

@ astrodudepsu

No problem. Actually, I don't know you are correct - it is news to me that a spintel board would run crossfire. And similar with the nvid boards. I don't much pay detailed attention to either. I am really only interested in AMD platform solutions. I get all disturbed when testers/reviewers mess up the config by adding nvidia vidcards instead of ATI cards - I believe the platform is designed to perform better as all AMD. But a lot of reviewers do a lot of strange things - not all - but most. But it seems natural that an all AMD sys designed by AMD would be better than a mix - that AMD might just coordinate performance with cpu, chipset, and gpu - their Fusion idea is all based on that.

I also find it odd that the OP would consider a Ph II 945 and not a newer faster 955 (3.2 ghz) - and any day now the 965 (3.4 ghz) will be released. But o yeh spend more money on a bottom line i7? that's the marketing "inside" spin in action. People don't want to know.

Anyway, no offence at you, mate. I'm just stating my truth. And recent news on an old story. This marketing spin stuff is huge, and most of it illusion. People find out the truth when they want to. It's quite disturbing really. And people would rather shout down the truth than talk about the big lies. and then there's amdzone where it's all revealed - ongoingly. But some of the lies are well known; and so it goes to flame mode rather than communication.

The price for relatively old hardware that is not best for gaming - OP's priority - is the 2nd clue. And your sig is 3rd clue.

Price is a concern for OP. To invest in a commitment to higher priced future upgrades is contrary to that interest. spintel is about profit. AMD is about collaboration. The irony is that spintel made that a necessity for AMD - and now it's paying off.

In clear conscience, I would recommend a Ph II 945/955/965 with a 4870/4890 on an appropriate mobo (X or FX chipset) and about a 750 PSU. And I would sleep well at night knowing that the end user's real world computing experience was about satisfaction and enjoyment. And also an economical upgrade path is still available, and resale, if desired, would be simple.

A spintel investment is more $ for less result, with dead end or expensive upgrade path, and satisfaction /neahh - and supporting antitrust /no thanx. Educate or choose ignorance.

marketing spin

"benchmarketing" spin

paper launch spin

reviewer spin

inconsistency spin

fanboy spin

spin point of view, rather than truth

"inside" = something good???

pr spin - the EU did not listen I guess - I don't listen either

?? - what about origins - your point? circa 1970-1980??? - if you read the EU reports, you will see that spintel wants amd barely alive - that's a lot of abuse, control, out of bounds, unfair. it's unbelievable really. read it. see for your self. you don't need to believe me - prove it to your self. People don't quite know about this; but there will be a lotta noise in 2010 related to this - and more. Do you think maybe we have all been unknowningly affected? read it. that this happened and perhaps happens is incredible. and then you start to hear the manipulation in the messages. wakey wakey time - the coffee is ruined.

Ugggghhh. Now that we got that crap out of the way (of which was not necessary as I am sure there is another forum for bitching about how Intel conducts itself), how can I cut some costs on the build I posed earlier? I'd like to get some feedback and hopefully make a purchase sometime soon. Lets get this thread back on track!

I am really not a fan of the stock coolers. And i think it would make sense to spend the extra 10 bucks and get a better video card. I just want to make sure that if I choose to go that route that I would still be able to Xfire in the future. I think the motherboard I selected will be able to handle this.

What kind of deals are there out there on newegg or other sites right now. Lets see who can build this rig for the best price

Gregg-

Than you for the reply. So what exactly is the DO stepping model? I am learning this stuff as I go along so any help is appreciated. Where can I find this processor?

I think, based on your recommendation, I will probably overclock slightly.

Great, than you for the links

https://www.antaresdigital.com/cust [...] ge=1&#034;

http://www.ncixus.com/products/388 [...] 0D0/Intel/

http://www.tankguys.com/intel-core-i7-920-d0.html

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_t [...] Categories

http://www.google.com/search?sourc [...] q=micro+ce <--- if your near one of these stores you can ask them if they have it on hand.

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php? [...] 3&Itemid=1 <--- one way to make sure you have a d0 stepping i7

With newegg it's all in the luck of the draw. Some people are receiving the newer D0's and some are receiving the older C0's. It's a hit or miss with them.