- Jun 10, 2009
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OK, so this summer I want to build my first PC.
If anyone remembers (I know there's a lot of threads on this forum for new systems so I doubt any one remembers what everyone has posted...), I'm looking to build a mid-range quad-core gaming PC that I can get a few years out of at least.
I'm going with (in as little detail as possible to keep this short):
Intel Core i7 920 (preferably the D0 revision for cooler temps)
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P LGA 1366 Motherboard (on sale at DirectCanada for $230 after MIR)
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit
Patriot Viper Extreme DDR3-1600 low latency (8-8-8-24) memory
Corsair TX750 Power Supply (4 x 6+2 PCIe)
Antec Nine Hundred Two
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB
Besides a few small upgrades later on (Thermalright Ultra 120 LGA1366 heatsink, more cooling fans, etc.), that's the system I've settled on.
MY QUESTION TO YOU GUYS:
To those who have more experience with system building, which is the most important of your parts to get?
My finances this summer should be pretty good, seeing as I got a decent summer job (returning college student in September...grr).
I'm just wondering in which way I should go about acquiring the components for my system...Should I save up and buy every component at once?
Should I prioritize and buy the most important parts first?
I've been contemplating purchasing the i7 920 first and foremost (I've read rumors about discontinuation of the lower-end i7's, in preparation for the Core i5's that are coming out by the end of this year), as I consider this CPU the best top-of-the-line chip money can buy, for a fairly reasonable price.
Second, because of the great deal on for the Gigabyte UD4P, I'd want to get the motherboard second, followed by the GTX 260 video card and the Patriot memory after that.
I figure the case, power supply and hard drive market isn't really going to change that drastically in the 6-12 months I'll be acquiring the essential components (with the exception of solid-state drives of course, a little out of my price range anyways).
The reasoning behind all this thought is that, in my opinion, the CPU, GPU, memory and motherboard hardware is the most volatile price-wise and availability, constantly fluctuating and being revised. Just what I've come to expect in the short time I've 'studied' computer hardware.
Anyways, I guess what I'm really asking is would it be a wise decision to buy my parts individually, a few at a time or altogether?
I've heard so many stories of people receiving motherboards that are DOA, faulty memory and things like that, and while it would be easier economically to purchase the "big-ticket items" first, I'm not sure if this is the wisest route to take.
Sorry for the long post.
Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.
PS - Just to recap the requirements of my rig, as outlined in the forum sticky:
Approx. Purchase Date: Fall 2009
Use: Primarily used for gaming (don't want to sacrifice image quality, as I've done since I've started using the computer), web browsing, basics...A very small amount of video editing, some 3D modeling (I'm just a beginner) but no real specialized needs outside entertainment
Budget: $1500 max
Parts not included: Key/mouse, monitor, speakers.
Parts preference: Most are listed above - Corsair or PC Power&Cooling power supplies, any good quality moderate speed DDR3 memory, Nvidia GPUs, Intel CPUs, Asus or Gigabyte mobos, any decent larger capacity 7200rpm HDD, black interior good quality case (choose the Antec 900-2 for now).
Preferred Resolution: 1680x1050 gaming resolutions at the moment, eventually upgrading monitor to 1080p / 1920 x 1200 resolution
Overclocking: Want to OC a 920 to 3.0GHz with a decent aftermarket cooler....I'm not experienced with CPU OC'ing
Crossfire / SLI: I would like to be able to upgrade with another GeForce card in SLI for a future upgrade (2-way SLI, don't see me investing in tri-GPU any time soon)
If anyone remembers (I know there's a lot of threads on this forum for new systems so I doubt any one remembers what everyone has posted...), I'm looking to build a mid-range quad-core gaming PC that I can get a few years out of at least.
I'm going with (in as little detail as possible to keep this short):
Intel Core i7 920 (preferably the D0 revision for cooler temps)
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P LGA 1366 Motherboard (on sale at DirectCanada for $230 after MIR)
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit
Patriot Viper Extreme DDR3-1600 low latency (8-8-8-24) memory
Corsair TX750 Power Supply (4 x 6+2 PCIe)
Antec Nine Hundred Two
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB
Besides a few small upgrades later on (Thermalright Ultra 120 LGA1366 heatsink, more cooling fans, etc.), that's the system I've settled on.
MY QUESTION TO YOU GUYS:
To those who have more experience with system building, which is the most important of your parts to get?
My finances this summer should be pretty good, seeing as I got a decent summer job (returning college student in September...grr).
I'm just wondering in which way I should go about acquiring the components for my system...Should I save up and buy every component at once?
Should I prioritize and buy the most important parts first?
I've been contemplating purchasing the i7 920 first and foremost (I've read rumors about discontinuation of the lower-end i7's, in preparation for the Core i5's that are coming out by the end of this year), as I consider this CPU the best top-of-the-line chip money can buy, for a fairly reasonable price.
Second, because of the great deal on for the Gigabyte UD4P, I'd want to get the motherboard second, followed by the GTX 260 video card and the Patriot memory after that.
I figure the case, power supply and hard drive market isn't really going to change that drastically in the 6-12 months I'll be acquiring the essential components (with the exception of solid-state drives of course, a little out of my price range anyways).
The reasoning behind all this thought is that, in my opinion, the CPU, GPU, memory and motherboard hardware is the most volatile price-wise and availability, constantly fluctuating and being revised. Just what I've come to expect in the short time I've 'studied' computer hardware.
Anyways, I guess what I'm really asking is would it be a wise decision to buy my parts individually, a few at a time or altogether?
I've heard so many stories of people receiving motherboards that are DOA, faulty memory and things like that, and while it would be easier economically to purchase the "big-ticket items" first, I'm not sure if this is the wisest route to take.
Sorry for the long post.
Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.
PS - Just to recap the requirements of my rig, as outlined in the forum sticky:
Approx. Purchase Date: Fall 2009
Use: Primarily used for gaming (don't want to sacrifice image quality, as I've done since I've started using the computer), web browsing, basics...A very small amount of video editing, some 3D modeling (I'm just a beginner) but no real specialized needs outside entertainment
Budget: $1500 max
Parts not included: Key/mouse, monitor, speakers.
Parts preference: Most are listed above - Corsair or PC Power&Cooling power supplies, any good quality moderate speed DDR3 memory, Nvidia GPUs, Intel CPUs, Asus or Gigabyte mobos, any decent larger capacity 7200rpm HDD, black interior good quality case (choose the Antec 900-2 for now).
Preferred Resolution: 1680x1050 gaming resolutions at the moment, eventually upgrading monitor to 1080p / 1920 x 1200 resolution
Overclocking: Want to OC a 920 to 3.0GHz with a decent aftermarket cooler....I'm not experienced with CPU OC'ing
Crossfire / SLI: I would like to be able to upgrade with another GeForce card in SLI for a future upgrade (2-way SLI, don't see me investing in tri-GPU any time soon)
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