[Solved] Last minute tips and advice

Ok so I'm looking at putting together this system sooner than later, but I'm still getting the money together. This isn't my first system and I've pretty much decided on everything but i wanted to double check with the community to make sure that I couldn't do better at this price point and that there weren't any weird quirks that I should know about, particularly with the mobo.

Budget: ~$1000.00 before tax/shipping
Current package: ~$1200.00 before savings ~$944.00 after (includes MIR)
General use: Gaming, watching movies, possible mild video editing
Not Required: Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse. I have a Samsung 22" LCD and a nice Logitech Mouse. My KB is fine
Preferred Website: Newegg. i've checked a lot of sites and these guys have the best selection and prices by far
Parts Preferences: I'm dead set on an Intel CPU and am a big fan of Asus MoBos. I've also taken a liking to Gigabyte, though I don't care much for their BIOS. Other than that, I prefer Seagate HDDs, but I can be swayed for a good reason. no preferences otherwise.
Overclocking: No reason not to. suggested settings would be helpful. Not looking at SLI or Crossfire now, but I wouldn't mind having it as an option
Monitor Res: 1600x1050

comments:

My current computer has about 800 gigs of storage total and I'm constantly looking to make room, so storage and reliability are a must. I'm looking to O.C. the cpu and the ram. if you can recommend a good fan (clearly most anything is better than the stock fan, but I'm not sure I'd need more than the stock fan considering the illusion's cooling). let me know about additional brackets I'd need. I don't expect to get the MIR back, so I'm not really factoring that in to the cost. Thanks in advance.

Antec 300 Illusion
newegg $69.99
Antec Earthwatts 650
newegg $84.99 after discount, $69.99 if purchased with the Antec 300
Intel C2Q Q9550
newegg $219.99 after discount
Asus P5E Deluxe
newegg $164.99 after discount, $84.99 when purchased with the Q9550, $54.99 after MIR
Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB
newegg $154.99
OCZ PC6400 DDR2 800 2x2GB Ram
newegg $65.99 $40.99 when bought with Sapphire Radeon 4870
Seagate 1TB HDD(x2)
newegg $89.99 after discount
Sony Black DVD+/-RW
newegg $33.99
Windows Vista 64 Home Premium OEM
Newegg $109.99



I'm thinking about grabbing this CPU fan
Xigmatek 120mm
newegg

again I'm not sure that I even NEED this since the 300 has the 4 fans...also I can get a similar deal I believe by getting the standard issue 300 and two 120mm LED fans. I'm considering the thermal takes since it seems they run quieter.

newegg

i know the antecs have speed control, but I don't think the TTs need it seeing as they run so quieter and have the same efficiency as the antecs at their highest settings. any input on the lifespan of either of these?

Thanks for everything

I'm aware of the issue with socket 755. I haven't seen an i5 that was comparable at that price

Total Cost $1,090.84

Combo Deal: $214.98
Intel Core i5 750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115215
COOLER MASTER Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-GP 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16835103065

Combo Deal: $234.98
SAPPHIRE 100279-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814102849
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231279

Combo Deal: $139.94
Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817371015
Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129066

EVGA P55 LE 123-LF-E653-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM x2

Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model AD-7241S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM

I actually saw that combo just now, hatcher. it's actually really enticing, I may in fact go with that. is there a cpu fan you can recommend with that around the same price as the xigmatek? I hear the stock fan with the i5 is pretty bad.


Also if the P5E wasn't that cheap I'd have gone with one of the cheaper gigabyte boards. but I figured at that price, i couldn't pass that board up

or maybe something better http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NH-U1 [...] 632&sr=8-5 a bit steep but one of the best

Thanks hatcher, I didn't know any of those would work with a socket 1156. do i need to do anything special to get them to fit?

thanks to everyone else as well. I lose a half a terabyte this way, but I actually save a little money this way, too. and HDDs are easy to add later, so it's a viable option I hadn't fully explored. Will the i5 o.c. as well as the q9550?

also any input on the thermal take fans as opposed to the antec illusion stock intake fans?

i agree. that looks like the best choice. And that will fit the 300 case?

awesome. thanks for all the input.

how do you like those thermal take fans? between the lower noise level and the color, I'm leaning in that direction, but if the antecs will last longer, I'll stick with the illusion

alright. thanks a lot. if the HDD is the loudest thing I can expect to hear, that'll be a nice change. I'm used to a rig where the system fans take over the room. Thanks again

My loudest noises are my Video cards. I have them set at 80% fan speed to help with heat and it over powers my 6 fans set at medium settings.

Yeah when I ran one card... I was good too. With two cards side by side, temps go up a little for me... I probably don't need to raise the temps... I just like things cool

not bad, why_me, but that's not nearly the kind of HDD space I need. I appreciate it though

Looks good... Glad we could help out

^ dont steal someone's thread it violates the rules. post in another thread.