Advice on system build $1999

[JasonAkkerman]

Any advice? I'm trying to keep it under 2,000 but get as much performance as I can. I will add a small overclock. All parts will be purchased from Newegg.

Price - Item

$280 Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
$60 ZALMAN CNPS9900LED 120mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail
$240 ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$260 G.SKILL Perfect Storm 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model F3-16000CL8T-6GBPS - Retail
$172x2 SUPER TALENT MasterDrive SX SAM64GM25S 2.5" 64GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail
$85 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
$310 Recertified: XFX HD487ACDF Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
$128 Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 70SB088600002 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Retail
$170 Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan - Retail
$120 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail

$1999

 

[JasonAkkerman]

Well crud... the 4870 x2 is gone... I guess they only had one... so now its a

$360 - SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video ... - Retail

 

[Helloworld_98]

ST drives are rubbish, get a couple of Intel 'silver' 80GB's when they come out

The new samsung F3 series comes out soon, and they have 500GB platters so they are faster so I'd wait for those instead of getting an F1.

Zalman coolers are rubbish when it comes to Nehalem so drop the 9900 for a Noctua NH-U12P SE1366.

Just get a single 4890 instead of a 4870 X2 since the DX11 cards come out soon.

and drop the Sound card, unless you've got a 7.1 system.

 

[Proximon]

You are paying way too much for RAM for zero performance upgrade.

This combo will work just fine for you:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216527

Then you have saved money that can actually go towards performance.
Maybe 2 of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161276

Next up is the SSDs which again aren't doing much for you. Get one Intel drive if you must:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167005

Nothing terribly wrong with your case or PSU, but maybe you could do better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216977
Yep, sure can.

 

[JasonAkkerman]

I went with SP F1 1TB because it was $85. I haven't seen prices on F3 yet, but I'm guessing they will be higher.

I understand the advice on your 4870 point, but I was a first adapter with DX10 with my 8800gtx and I thought it was a waste of money. There still is not a lot of content for it. I'm thinking DX11 will be the same.

I should drop the sound card. It's not worth the $$ for the tiny bit of performance I would gain from it.

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ but with each new platform, the hardware becomes more powerful, with the 5870 expected to come close to the 4870 X2 in performance, or if you were willing to spend that $500, the 5870 X2 should obliterate any GPU setup on the market today.

 

[JasonAkkerman]

Thanks for the advice... Some of those combos do look tempting.

/rethinking

 

[shortstuff_mt]

^ but with each new platform, the hardware becomes more powerful, with the 5870 expected to come close to the 4870 X2 in performance, or if you were willing to spend that $500, the 5870 X2 should obliterate any GPU setup on the market today.

I wouldn't try to get people to hold off on a purchase based on a component that hasn't even been officially announced yet. Comparing a current piece of hardware to a theoretical piece of future hardware is just pulling numbers out of your rear also.

 

[cahl]

I would get the WD Black harddrives, better performance and reliablilty. 95$ for 1TB on newegg. yeah, don't get the Zalman cooler, the noctua is a good cooler, or a scythe mugen 2, which is on par or if not better than the Noctua, and only 37$. Great price, top end cooling, up there with the TRUE. I would personally get the 4890 aswell, and get a 5870 when they come out or another 4890 for crossfire. Oh and yeah skip the ram, get 1600 Max.

Cahl

 

[geofelt]

Very good advice from ALL the previous posters. They addressed each of the problems I saw. I would be wary of any SSD's excepting the X25-M. The write performance is suspect on the other MLC drives. That is changing by the day.