Help building a nice gaming computer

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717200

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Hello all;

I am in the process of building a new gaming system and need the community expertise.

Here is what I am thinking off, please let me know what you recommend.

CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full Tower Gaming Case - Black

Intel® Core™ i7 920 Processor (4x 2.66GHz/8MB L3 Cache

ASUS P6X58D Premium -- Intel X58 Chipset CrossFire and SLI Supported w/ 7.1 Sound, GbLan, S-ATA III, USB 3.0, PCI-E MB

6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1333 Triple Memory Module - Corsair XMS3 Dominator w/DHX technology

2 ATI Radeon HD 5850 - 1GB - CrossFire

1000 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-1000HX Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready

Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ 120mm Radiator [SOCKET-1366]

2 X 500 GB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s - RAID 0

22X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - [Lightscribe Technology] Black



Many thanks for your help.
 
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LePhuronn
Do some pricing on what I suggested and see where it comes out and we can go from there.

It is good to get a degree of future compatibility in place where you can but be mindful of the premium you pay for it - for me personally I rarely use USB devices so USB 3.0 support wouldn't be a selling point on a mobo, but having hefty overclocking capabilities and/or support for 3-way graphics cards is a good investment.

I was also looking at the HX1000 for my PSU for exactly the same reasons, but I was looking at the power consumption of my possible 3-way GTX285 as the benchmark - graphics cards are drawing less juice with every generation, and realistically you could probably run 3 5870s on a high-quality 850W (like the HX850) while still...
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7

717200

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Thanks for the input guys, yeah I was wondering if I can go with a cheaper motherboard, the Asus P6T regular will cut the price by about $160, and the Corsair HX850 PSU will cut more about $80 more.

I was looking to spend no more than $2K and that build is $2100 as it is right now.

My current computer is 7 year old and its time for a nice upgrade :D
 
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LePhuronn

LePhuronn

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The PSU is overkill - save yourself some cash and get a HX850 instead

Unless you want a near-silent machine/e-peen why watercool? You can get some great air performance at low noise with a good tower cooler. Are you planning on overclocking the CPU?

Do you really want USB 3.0, and are you planning on going triple graphics cards?

Why are you putting a RAID in a gaming system, especially as you have no boot drive?

Also, unless you're planning on seriously overclocking or tightening the RAM, Dominator is overpriced.

And if you're looking at spending this amount of money, why only Radeon 5850s? Why not 5870s?

Overall it's a nice rig on paper but there's a lot of money being burned unnecessarily - with some rejigging you can get an even better system.

My suggestion (based on using 2 GPUs)

Asus P6TD Deluxe
Core i7 920 D0 stepping
Thermalright Ultra 120 Rev C OR Prolimatech Megahalems (with at least 1 120mm fan - plenty of great ones to choose from)
6GB Patriot Viper 1600MHz DDR3 (PVT36G1600LLK)
2x Radeon 5870
Corsair X64 Extreme SSD as boot/apps
1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 for storage
Corsair HX850 PSU
Whatever dual-layer DVD writer you want as long as it's SATA

If you want to make the most of the window in your HAF, get the Thermalright TRUE Black Rev C or Prolimatech Mega Shadow - the black costs a premium but they be smexy.

If you're not doing a significant overclock (like 4GHz overclock) then change the CPU cooler to a Scythe Mugen 2 or Cogage True Spirit.
 
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717200

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Thanks for the excellent reply, that is exactly what I was looking for since the last time I build a system was 7 years ago and was out of touch with what was going on.

Will definitely consider what you suggested, will go do some pricing.

Thanks again.
 
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LePhuronn

LePhuronn

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Do some pricing on what I suggested and see where it comes out and we can go from there.

It is good to get a degree of future compatibility in place where you can but be mindful of the premium you pay for it - for me personally I rarely use USB devices so USB 3.0 support wouldn't be a selling point on a mobo, but having hefty overclocking capabilities and/or support for 3-way graphics cards is a good investment.

I was also looking at the HX1000 for my PSU for exactly the same reasons, but I was looking at the power consumption of my possible 3-way GTX285 as the benchmark - graphics cards are drawing less juice with every generation, and realistically you could probably run 3 5870s on a high-quality 850W (like the HX850) while still clocking a D0 i7 920 to 4GHz, which is much more likely the route I'm going now (unless Fermi rocks - by the time I can build properly Fermi gaming cards should be out).

Regarding overclocking, it's really easy to give the i7 920 a boost up to 3.3GHz straight away - significant overclocks aren't too difficult either. But personally 4GHz is enough for even extreme gamers and you can cool that sucker on air.

Going higher than 4GHz is for the expert clocker and bencher and only then will watercooling come into its own - unless you want a sexy rig (don't we all, but you can do that on air too) or near-silence there's little point in watercooling for anything lower than 4GHz.

As far as the RAID goes, yes it will give you great I/O performance but you're increasing the chance of data loss with it - if one drive goes the whole stripe goes with it. Now granted, the chances of a hard drive failing are like a million to one, but having 2 of them in a RAID makes that 1 in 500,000, 3 is 1 in 333,333, etc, etc.

It's not a problem though if you don't have irreplaceable data on it - as long as game saves, your documents and whatnot are on a back-up or non-RAID drive it doesn't really matter. RAID goes down and you lose your OS? No big, just fix the RAID and reinstall.

If you can stretch it then fast boot and game loading time is now in the domain of the SSD, but good ones are pricey.

So given what I said about the RAID, you could still do a pair of SpinPoint F3 500GB in a RAID 0 and have the 1TB SpinPoint F3 for data if you want the performance but can't stretch the SSD.
 
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717200

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Total $ 1400 so far, the only thing that is missing is the 2 GPU'S out of stock everywhere, but I am thinking add another $800 so the total is $2200.

Can you advise of what to order in term of any accessories (fastners, cables etc...)

Here is what I have so far:


PLEXTOR 24X DVD/CD Writer Black SATA Model PX-880SA LightScribe Support - OEM
Item #: N82E16827249054 $44.99

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119160
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$20.00 Instant $139.98

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152181
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $109.98
($54.99 each)


CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139011
$179.99

ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail
Item #: N82E16835186020
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy $7.98

select item 6 quantity of item 6
Patriot Viper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PVT36G1600ELK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820220365
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy $20.00 Mail-in Rebate20-220-365 $179.99

select item 7 quantity of item 7
ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131403 $289.99

select item 8 quantity of item 8
Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115202

select item 9 quantity of item 9
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116754
Return Policy: Software Return Policy $104.99

select item 10 quantity of item 10
XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835233029
$44.96

1 Nippon Labs Premium 1M (3.28 ft.) SATA Cable with 2 right Angle Connectors for SATA I and SATA II Hard Drive Model SATA-1RR - Retail
Item #: N82E16812816033
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$6.49 Saving
$6.49
$0.00

Subtotal: $1,391.84
Grand Total: $1,400.55


 
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TheViper

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TSCM is the company that makes the new 40 nm chips for the HD 5xxx series and they are having a hard time getting high yields so supply is lower than ATi hoped it would.
 
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TheViper

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I advise that you continue to search for the HD 58xx series cards. A computer is such a big investment that I advise everyone to have patience and ensure they are getting precisely the products they want/need and not rush through only to feel resentment later.
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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$159 for CAS 9 memory seems expensive, especially when newegg has CAS7 for $144 (outta stock) and CA 8 for 4119
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

Check out moBo alternate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

See comparison here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%2050001315%201070545356%201494334967&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=N82E16813131403%2CN82E16813131365

Consider Win 7 pro 64 for built in "XP mode" if nothing else

For fasteners, sleeving, etc......"dis is de place"

http://www.frozencpu.com/

 
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thecoolermaster

thecoolermaster

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I would suggest getting the retail version of Windows 7. Yes it's another $80 or so, but you're still well under your original budget. To my knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong), you can only install that copy of Windows 7 once. If not that then you can only install it on one computer (so if you ever need to change/upgrade any parts, you can't reinstall windows). I think it's the second one, but I'm not 100% sure.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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LePhuronn

LePhuronn

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The RAM I suggested *should* be CAS8

Patriot Viper 6GB Low Latency 160MHz (PVT36G1600LLK)

Did I paste the wrong manufacturer's code?

Here's the RAM I was on about:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220363&Tpk=PVT36G1600LLK



The P6T Deluxe V2 and the P6TD Deluxe are the same board, except the latter is an Xtreme Design update:

http://event.asus.com/mb/Xtreme_Design/
 
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7

717200

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Ok, I have updated the memory and windows, here is what I have including 2X 5850 (which are in stock for now at newegg) (just to give me an idea of the final cost)

Everything is from Newegg. The Radeon 5870 will add about another $150


PLEXTOR 24X DVD/CD Writer Black SATA Model PX-880SA LightScribe Support - OEM
Item #: N82E16827249054
$44.99


COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119160
-$20.00 Instant
$159.98
$139.98


2 X SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152181
$109.98
($54.99 each)


XFX HD-585A-ZNBC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB Black Edition 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16814150454
$719.98
($359.99 each)

CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139011
-$20.00 Instant
$199.99
$179.99


ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail
Item #: N82E16835186020
$7.98


Patriot Viper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PVT36G1600LLK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820220363
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate20-220-363
$179.99



ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131365
$289.99


Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115202
Return Policy: Software Return Policy -$16.50 Instant
$199.99
$183.49


XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835233029
$37.99

1 Nippon Labs Premium 1M (3.28 ft.) SATA Cable with 2 right Angle Connectors for SATA I and SATA II Hard Drive Model SATA-1RR - Retail
Item #: N82E16812816033
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$6.49 Saving
$6.49
$0.00

Subtotal: $2,183.35
Grand Total: $2,196.34


 
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LePhuronn

LePhuronn

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Personally I'd still be a little concerned you only have the RAID and no other storage drive, but as long as you make back-ups you'll be fine.

One tiny little point though - if you look at the motherboard you'll see 4 of the 6 SATA ports are already at right-angles to the board itself - if you have double-right angle SATA cables you'll be pointing the cable itself straight into the motherboard tray which may make things a bit tricky to plug in! You only need 1 right angle for where you plug into the drives and DVD.
 
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7

717200

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I see, that last item was put in my cart as a free item, I didnt chose it, but will go look at that.

I always back-up all my data, so it should be fine, I researched your option above and it would hike the price up even more, my idea is to start with a nice solid system and make changes later when more $$$$ is available ;)
 
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