$1200 i7 Gaming Rig Advice

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next 2 weeks.

BUDGET RANGE: $1200

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Photography, Some Video Editing, Surfing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Speakers, Keyboard, Mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg is fine with me. I’ll buy elsewhere if there’s a better deal and it’s a reputable company.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel, Asus, Nvidia

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Not sure if I should run Vista or Windows 7 RC 1. Would like the computer to be very quiet. My old one sounds like a jet engine. Any and all advice welcome. I haven't built a new system since 05 so I'm a little outdated on the latest and greatest.

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

CASE
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119197

MOTHERBOARD
ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131386

CPU
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115202

GRAPHICS CARD
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/Prod [...] 6814130492

PSU
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139005

MEMORY
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C9 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145222

HARD DRIVE
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/Prod [...] 6822136319

OPTICAL DRIVE
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827118030

THERMAL PASTE
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007

Message edited by elzekk on 07-04-2009 at 10:14:18 PM

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GTX 275
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130475

Corsair 850TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] &Tpk=850TX
This will let you add a second GTX 275 should you get the urge.

Gigabyte board combo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.209743

-And you can drop the bracket. The cooler comes with a bracket.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

If you don't mind ordering from a diff site, you can pick up the 850TX for $10 cheaper than on Newegg at zipzoomfly.com, and after MIR it is the same price as the 750TX after MIR from Newegg.

Reply to meatwad53186

Good advice and great deals. Thanks guys! Any opinions on Vista vs Win 7?

Also I'm not totally sold on the case. If anyone has any suggestions to something better or cheaper or whatever I'm interested. A friend recommended that case to me but it seems to be a tad pricey than what I'm used to.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to elzekk

I would try the Antec 900, that is usually a gamer favorite and is recommended a lot.I guess it's not much cheaper, but hey, these days even a couple bucks saved can be appreciated.

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129021

Reply to meatwad53186

elzekk wrote :

Good advice and great deals. Thanks guys! Any opinions on Vista vs Win 7?

Also I'm not totally sold on the case. If anyone has any suggestions to something better or cheaper or whatever I'm interested. A friend recommended that case to me but it seems to be a tad pricey than what I'm used to.

Windows 7 is stable, and you can save a few dollars by downloading the freebie version until March, 2010

Message edited by Why_Me on 07-04-2009 at 10:20:39 PM

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P Combo Price: $477.99 after rebate 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.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10006382 $109.99 Free Shipping
PC Power and Cooling SILENCER 750W QUAD S75CF Power Supply Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.204577 Combo Discount: -$7.00 Combo Price: $167.98 $15.00 Mail-In Rebate Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Retail

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Proximon wrote :

GTX 275
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130475

Corsair 850TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] &Tpk=850TX
This will let you add a second GTX 275 should you get the urge.

Gigabyte board combo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.209743

-And you can drop the bracket. The cooler comes with a bracket.

Just curious as to why you recommend the GTX 275 over the GTX 280?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to elzekk

elzekk wrote :

Just curious as to why you recommend the GTX 275 over the GTX 280?

That's an easy one to answer. The gtx 280 is an old card based on older Nvidea architechture not to mention it's a power hog and generates more heat than the newer cards sans the reason Nvidea is phazing out the gtx 280. Look on newegg and let us know how many gtx 280's are listed on there....try like 4 tops. It's a cooked card past it's time.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Is there a way to know if NewEgg ships the D0 stepping?

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to elzekk

At this point, I don't think they do yet, but I might be wrong.

Reply to meatwad53186

elzekk wrote :

Is there a way to know if NewEgg ships the D0 stepping?

With newegg it's the luck of the draw. For right now the only way to be sure your getting an D0 stepping i7 is from these links below.

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

Message edited by Why_Me on 07-04-2009 at 11:43:38 PM

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Found this on another thread here.

https://www.antaresdigital.com/cust [...] ge=1"

Guaranteed D0 step for 8 bucks more. Anyone ever bought anything from Antares Digital before?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to elzekk

elzekk wrote :

Found this on another thread here.

https://www.antaresdigital.com/cust [...] ge=1"

Guaranteed D0 step for 8 bucks more. Anyone ever bought anything from Antares Digital before?

http://www.resellerratings.com/sto [...] puting_Inc

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Why_Me wrote :

That's an easy one to answer. The gtx 280 is an old card based on older Nvidea architechture not to mention it's a power hog and generates more heat than the newer cards sans the reason Nvidea is phazing out the gtx 280. Look on newegg and let us know how many gtx 280's are listed on there....try like 4 tops. It's a cooked card past it's time.

And yet even now it's still overpriced. The only reason to buy one is to match the one you already bought, and that's why they are still up.

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

I'm getting pretty close to a perfect set up now thanks to help from you guys. A few final things. I was looking at modular PSU's on newegg and found

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139002

Any ideas on that? Would it be powerful enough to run everything in my rig? The modular set up looks pretty nice for keeping the clutter down and its similar in price to the PCP and Cooling PSU that was linked but less powerful.

Also someone recommended the Radeon 4890 as a good competitor to the GTX 275. I'd prefer to stick with Nvidia but if the performance difference is significant and the price is similar I'd be willing to bend. Thoughts and ideas?

Thanks for all the help here. Learning a great deal!

Reply to elzekk

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2266.html

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

elzekk wrote :

Is there a way to know if NewEgg ships the D0 stepping?

Are you near a brick & mortar MicroCenter by any chance? Supposedly they're selling the 720i for $200 even plus sales tax. The one in Santa Clara CA is said to have a fresh supply of the DO version at that price, but doesn't ship apparently. There are close to 20 stores spread out around the US.

I'm probably not going to build my new PC until about the end of the year but am tempted to scoop one up and sit on it for 6 months or so.

Reply to Strandwolf

I'm about 1.5 hours away from a brick and mortar Micro Center. But they're selling the Nehalems for 200?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to elzekk

elzekk wrote :

I'm about 1.5 hours away from a brick and mortar Micro Center. But they're selling the Nehalems for 200?

Yep. $199.99 to be exact.

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Wow what a deal. Looks like I have to make a drive up to a Micro Center tomorrow. Any thoughts on the modular PSU?

Reply to elzekk

I'm fan of zip ties myself but these two down below are worth taking a look at imo.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371024

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

How can you tell the 720s from Micro Center are D0 stepping? Does it say as part of the specs or just making a phone call?

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by elzekk on 07-05-2009 at 02:41:50 AM

Reply to elzekk

elzekk wrote :

How can you tell the 720s from Micro Center are D0 stepping? Does it say as part of the specs or just making a phone call?

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php? [...] 3&Itemid=1

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

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