I7 Build - advice? - Build

July 27, 2009 5:51:22 AM

Hey guys,

I'm trying to build a decent computer that will handle games at 1920x1080 (right now I honestly just play WoW, but I'm looking to expand that somewhat). Since I know some DX11 cards are due out in the coming year or so, I figured I'd try to build an upgradeable system with a good-but-not-great current card.

This is what I came up with, so far:

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - OEM

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

Combo deal - case and PSU (both COOLER MASTER)

Combo deal - CPU, RAM and Motherboard (i7 920, P6T and OCZ Gold DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Subtotal is $1,063.90.

Any places you think I could cheapen it up a bit, while keeping my goals? I tried to go with a bunch of combo deals, but it's still about $100-150 more than I was hoping for.

Thanks in advance!

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gkay09

July 27, 2009 6:33:55 AM

Here are few other good options that would bring down the price a little...
Get this combo instead of that one...Though not a modular PSU, it is better in efficiency and quality...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Get this CPU cooler - and is cheaper too...
Scythe Mugen 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

If you are not buying that card for the free games, then get this one...HD 4870...It is as good as the 260...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Here is a card with free games...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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niemassacre

July 27, 2009 6:38:57 AM

I've always seen Intel and nVidia paired together, versus AMD and ATI - hence why I went with the GTX 260. But that HD 4870 will work?

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gkay09

July 27, 2009 6:58:48 AM

^The ATI will work no problems...
Before ATI and AMD dint have many good products, so people tend to stay away from them and hence preferred the intel + nvidia route...
But things have changed very much...ATI and AMD have come up with very good components with incredible value (Price/ Performance), hence now you can see recommendations even for those parts...

And seeing that you mainly want a gaming rig, I would say you take a look at the X4 955 if you are having problems with the i7 budget...

People wouldn't recommend an i7 CPU if the PC is mainly for gaming...Very similar performance can be got even with a X4 955 CPU...
But apart from gaming, the i7 rules...

So I would say you check out the performances of the i7 and the X4 955 CPUs...and then make the purchase...

And if the graphics card is a temporary solution and you just want to play WOW, then I would suggest you drop the graphics card to either GTS 250/ HD 4850...They can very well handle current games @ high settings and for sure would max out WoW...

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niemassacre

July 27, 2009 7:04:04 AM

I've actually thought about reworking the system entirely, to save some money and get a computer more aimed at what I'm interested in right now.

The main changes are:

Getting the AMD Phenom II x4 945 (955 is sold out) and the MSI 770-C45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard.

Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

HIS H487FN1GP Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W

This new setup is only $780 subtotal, with something like $75 in mail-in rebates (thanks to skora for the outline for this build!)

How's that look instead? Will the 500W PSU be enough with the other, lower-end parts?

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gkay09

July 27, 2009 7:27:33 AM

If you wont overclock the CPU, then the X4 945 is good...
But the X4 955 is clocked little higher and has unlocked multiplier...So overclocking is easy and you can get better performance...So if you overclock, then the 955 would be nice...

There are really good combos with that X4 945...
here are a few...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

And as for PSU, 500W is suffice for single card setups...
But maybe investing in a little more powerful PSU would be safe...
Get the 550W or the 600W...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submi...

As for the CPU cooler, check out even the Scythe Mugen 2 as it has very good cooling performance...

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