Gaming / General Desktop i7

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next week or so

BUDGET RANGE: About $1100 or under

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Some games (World of Warcraft at the moment, but other games in the future), surfing the internet, watching movies, multitasking

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor(s), speakers, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, but open to new suggestions as long as the site is reliable

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel i7 CPU and as for the video card(s), I've heard better things about ATI, but I'm open to whatever.

OVERCLOCKING: Never done it before

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes I would like the ability for future upgrades.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Basically, I want a PC capable of gaming, internet surfing, movie watching and burning, and multitasking it all as quickly as possible (for the money, of course ) I would like to be able to use this computer for several years, so it must be able to be upgrades is a must! I last built a computer about 6 years ago with an experienced friend, so I will be doing this one on my own for the first time (so bear with me, thanks! :hello: )

Message edited by Pureburn on 08-04-2009 at 01:02:17 AM

Reply to Pureburn

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130223

OCZ Flex EX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Enhanced Bandwidth Desktop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227404

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102825

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341018

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129042

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151188

The above build would work if your budget includes a monitor, otherwise an i7 build might be possible...

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

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

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227381

GPU, HDD, ODD, Case, and PSU are the same. See what you think of each.

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Reply to jbakerlent

I don't need a monitor, I've got that covered.

Reply to Pureburn

there is a i7 combo deal right now. i might be picking it up myself if my check gets here fast enough

1. ASUS P6T: $249.99
2. Intel BX80601920: $279.99
3. OCZ Technology, Inc. OCZ3G1600LV6GK: $99.99
4. Intel Intel BunnyPeople: $19.99

Combo Price: $567.97

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.216527

Reply to 4lc4pon3

So how does this look to you guys? Does everything work together and am I getting the biggest bang for my buck, per say? :hello:

Combo
1. ASUS P6T: $249.99
2. Intel BX80601920: $279.99
3. OCZ Technology, Inc. OCZ3G1600LV6GK: $99.99
4. Intel Intel BunnyPeople: $19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.216527

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W Power Supply compatible with core i7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341018

Antec Three Hundred Black Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129042

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 Vapor-X Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102825

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151188

Reply to Pureburn

Looks great, one other alternative, since I now know that you have a monitor, would be to take my first build and substitute in a 955 at $209. But, yes your system is excellent as is.

Message quoted 1 times

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Reply to jbakerlent

jbakerlent wrote :

Looks great, one other alternative, since I now know that you have a monitor, would be to take my first build and substitute in a 955 at $209. But, yes your system is excellent as is.

Sorry to sound like such a newb, lol...but what do you mean by 955?

Reply to Pureburn

Power is weak. There is one thing I hate about hate i7/X58 platform. It's very temperamental when it comes to voltage rails. If I were going i7 I would only use a high quality power source and nothing less than 850 watts. Probably the only 2 manufacturers would be PC Power & Cooling or Corsair because there rails do not fluctuate much. And a good power supply is going to set you back a least $175 so plan ahead a little more.

Reply to skippyboy92362

The AMD Phenom II x4 955 Processor.

Message quoted 1 times

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Reply to jbakerlent

jbakerlent wrote :

The AMD Phenom II x4 955 Processor.

Is the AMD Phenom II better than the Intel i7?

Reply to Pureburn

How about this power supply?

XCLIO STABLEPOWER 850W 850W ATX SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817189015][/url]

Reply to Pureburn

No the Phenom II 955 is not better than the Core i7 however it may be a better deal. No, I would stick to Antec, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, Corsair, or OCZ for the power supply.

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139006
Antec EA750 750W ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371026
SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM 700W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151031
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341018

There's some options.

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Reply to jbakerlent

I forgot to read that this is the first build your doing on your own. You would have less trouble going with a AMD build than Intel. I have built both including the new i7/X58 platform for my wife, which was a little touchy to get up and running stable do to voltage rail problems with a 2 year old 850 watt Antec power supply. Plus I had to mess with the memory timings some. It worked out, but it was not as easy as a AMD build. If you had built a couple rigs I would say go i7/X58 if that's what you want. But this being your first rig on your own so I would go with something that's not going to give you allot of headaches.
The only other thing that concerns me is your budget. The wife's rig has $750 in just the CPU, board, and memory alone. Don't get the wrong idea, i7 is the best but your paying for it. With AMD you would save $250 on parts which you could put toward a more powerful graphics card.
Good luck.

Reply to skippyboy92362

So for a first time build, considering ease of installation of hardware and for the needs listed above, you guys think this is a good setup?

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130223

OCZ Flex EX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Enhanced Bandwidth Desktop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227404

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102825

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341018

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129042

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151188

Message edited by Pureburn on 08-06-2009 at 09:54:02 PM

Reply to Pureburn

So the total on this comes to 782.89, which is UNDER budget (which is a good thing, lol). But I was thinking, is there any other case anyone can reccomend based on this setup that will be as QUIET as possible while still performing as well as possible? Also, since there is money room left, should I be thinking about upgrading the video card or anything else?

Thanks!

Reply to Pureburn

::bumppo::

Reply to Pureburn

Keeping extra cooling fans to a minumum would obviously make the system less noisy ( using them where needed). The antec 300 is pretty compact anyway so I wouldn't worry about the noise too much, at best you will have put your ear quite close to hear the fans, unless you have them set to maximum.

I think that AMD build you posted was a very solid build. The AMD system will deffiantly serve you well for gaming, no doubt about it. Price/performance is much better vs Intel.

Reply to mattkk

Can anyone reccomend a good "flashy" case that will still work for my build? I've always had bland black or silver cases and one with some interesting LEDs or somethin on it,

Reply to Pureburn

Here's some moderately flashy, good cooling cases.

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119160

COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119196

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

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Reply to jbakerlent

So this is my final build here...

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130223

OCZ Flex EX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Enhanced Bandwidth Desktop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227404

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102825

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341018

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151188

COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119196

One last newbie question...will I need Windows 32 bit or 64 bit for this setup? Thanks for all of the help with this!!

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Pureburn

Looks like a great build. You could go either way 64 bit or 32, you probably won't see much of a performance boost from 64 but I would still pick it.

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Reply to jbakerlent

Pureburn wrote :

So this is my final build here...

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130223

OCZ Flex EX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Enhanced Bandwidth Desktop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227404

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102825

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341018

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151188

COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119196

One last newbie question...will I need Windows 32 bit or 64 bit for this setup? Thanks for all of the help with this!!

64 bit since you sitting on 5 gigs total memory an a 32 bit can only use 4gigs max

Reply to obsidian86

Get 64 to make use of all that RAM, not that all of it will be used no matter what you are doing on your PC.

I've been running 64 bit windows for about a month now and I noticed a small increase in performance compared to 32. Like I said it just makes more sense to use 64 bit if you have over 4GB.

As for your build it looks very solid, you would get away with a 550-600w PSU though if your planning on crossfire then leave it as it is.

Goodluck

Reply to mattkk

i'd say his looked into cross fire {no crossfire on a 4x16pcie board seems a shame tho}

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to obsidian86

obsidian86 wrote :

i'd say his looked into cross fire {no crossfire on a 4x16pcie board seems a shame tho}

Are you saying you think I should have a second video card? Well I want everything crossfire compatible so I can add another card down the line, but I think for my current usage, one card should be sufficient.

Reply to Pureburn

A single 4870 at that resolution for what you listed is plenty, and yes its good to leave room for future upgrading.

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Reply to jbakerlent

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