$1300 Gaming/Editing

[doormouse]

Hello all, just looking for feedback on a build.

---

PURCHASE DATE: Within the week
MAX BUDGET: $1300
SYSTEM USAGE: Games, Amateur Video Editing & Photo manips, Multimedia
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: OS, Montor, or input devices
PREFERRED WEBSITE FOR PARTS: newegg, but I'll buy elsewhere
OVERCLOCKING: Amateur but will try
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: In the future
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Trying to build something that'll last 4-5 years, or at least be easily upgradeable. I would like to dual-boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu... any advice as far as drivers and such go?

---
CPU: $280 Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

CPU Cooler: $37 Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000 120mm Sleeve
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093

MoBo: $200 MSI X58 Platinum SLI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130220

GPU: $130 ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216851

RAM: $115 OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) SDRAM DDR3 1600 Low Voltage
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

PSU: $175 Antec TruePower Quattro 1000W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216958

HDD: $119 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (bare drive)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337

Case: $150 Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216958

---

There are some newegg combos in there, so the total price is just shy of $1300.

Comments?

 

[yingwuzhao]

PSU obviously overkill, while antec 1200 is kind of noisy and HUGE, you may not need that huge case at all. Go with a mid-tower, like haf 922, which is definitely big enough but much quieter.

mugen is a really nice cooler, I can attest to it, since it runs on my core i7 rig very well, core temp idle at 43, and load at 68 at most, and super quiet.
Yes, I appreciate quietness obviously.

 

[doormouse]

so even if I'm anticipating going SLI in the future, 850W can still cut it with headroom?

Thanks for the advice about the case, I'll pare it down accordingly.

So I just found the following pre-made build, and now I'm having a hard time convincing myself that it's worth it to build my own...?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107989

 

[Yoosty]

so even if I'm anticipating going SLI in the future, 850W can still cut it with headroom?

Thanks for the advice about the case, I'll pare it down accordingly.

So I just found the following pre-made build, and now I'm having a hard time convincing myself that it's worth it to build my own...?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107989

Yes the Corsair 850TX will do SLI without any hiccup and have power left over.

Prebuilt
Pro's : comes assemble and software installed.

Cons' : 1yr warranty on parts, lower wattage PSU, lots of bloatware installed and Mobo Bios' are locked.

Building your own
Pro's : can pick which parts you want, customization of parts, software and mobo bios', warranties are usually max and get the best bang for your money. Plus the satification of building your own and being able and troble shooting it.

Cons : Time on building it.

I would like to dual-boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu... any advice as far as drivers and such go?

The way I would do a dual boot is either one of these ways which requires 2 HDD's.

Hotswapping HDD's : where you swap out the HDD on which OS you want to run at the time, which you would have to shutdown computer, then swap HDD and restart it.

Traditional Dual Boot : usually to partition the HDD into 2 partitions and then @ bootup, pick which OS you want to boot to. The way I do it is to get 2 HDD's and install a different OS on them, that way if you do have a HDD go bad (mechanically or do to corrutption) you always have the other OS on the other HDD. Same boot-up sequence as traditional Dual Boot.

So looking at your selection for HDD and if you will be going for a Dual Boot. I would suggest using 2 HDD's, preferrably either two 750gb's or 1tb's HDD's. This is the easiest one to do since you do not have to buy Hotswap trays.

Now I know when doing a Dual Boot of MS OS's, that you had to install the oldest one first (ex. : XP & then Vista), so I figure you would have to install MS first and tthen ubuntu.

Hope this helps you out some.

 

[yingwuzhao]

yes, dual boot is much more realistic, you don't want to swap hdd all the time, what a hassle!

Here is what I did with my tri-boot: win-7 + arch + another linux(for testing), you may look at it for reference:

I have 2 hdd 640G x2, partitioned in the following way: (in fact each only have 625G)

hdd1: 100G(win-system) + 425(NTFS-data) + 90G(Linux-backup) + 10G (linux-swap)
hdd2: 50G(linux-system) + 50G(linux-system) + 425(linux-data) + 100G(win-backup)

I put the 100G win-backup partition in the 2nd hdd, which contains system backup images, drivers and software backups. It is safer and much faster when you restore a system image from a different hdd. The same thing for linux system, whose system backup I put in the 1st hdd. Then the huge 425G partitions are for music, videos and my works, which I will keep 2 copys on 2 hdds all the time for the important files, like my work.