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~>$2700CAD Computer Build Advice

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - ~>$2700CAD Computer Build Advice

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Probably in a few weeks

BUDGET RANGE: ~<2700CAD After Rebates/Taxes, Less if impossible!

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: CS3 Work, Light Gaming, Watching movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.ca, ncix

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canadia

PARTS PREFERENCES: Already pretty sure i7 920 is going to be my CPU

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe but not sure if it's necessary for what I'll be doing

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes, if needed

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: doesn't have to be "blingy", quiet would be nice

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6811119160

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6822136284

Patriot Viper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PVT36G1600ELK - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6820220365

MSI X58 Pro-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6813130226

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

Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6835185005

Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6820167023

MSI R4890 Cyclone OC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6814127439

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit French for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] -_-Product

LG W2442PA-BF Black 24" 2ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 10000:1 Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 4005130CVF

Main purpose I would like to use this computer for is the heavy amount of photo editing that I do, so maybe keep that in mind.

Okay, so I'm not sure about the graphics card, so I could use some suggestion there. I know the 5870 is out now but it's next to impossible to get right now. So I'm fine with going with this one or something similar. Let me know. I'm new to this SSD thing and am wonder what kinds of benefits I can get from it.

I'm also wondering about the case. I've read that the HAf has great air flow but I've also heard good things about the P183, so any debate would be good there as well.

This system is going to be somewhere between $2000-2500, but from what I'm reading I could probably save some money in areas.

Thanks in advance for the help and suggestions, and boys/girls(maybe?), try to keep it civil!!

Message edited by mmccarthy on 09-28-2009 at 01:37:08 AM

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some better ram http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6820220363

if you not gonna be into much gaming you can drop graphics down to 4870/260 or even 4850/250 if you doing minimal gaming ,could you list games you play

Message edited by obsidian86 on 09-27-2009 at 03:16:22 AM

Reply to obsidian86

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6820231260 $256.99
G.SKILL 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T2-12GBNQ - Retail

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Thanks for the replies. Some of the games I've been playing recently are Oblivion, Civ 4, and the Sims 2. Like I said, I don't play anything too crazy, but I wouldn't mind an excuse to get back into PC gaming.

Anyone have any thoughts on SSD's? Does anyone see any problems with this build? Any thoughts/ideas are welcomed!

Reply to mmccarthy

My son is doing his 1st build "by himslef" and has a thread going here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] d#t1984501

His budget is $2,750 so it's close to yours. He's interested in gaming but from experience, as you can prolly tell by the sig, I do quite a bit of CAD work. One of the things I discovered in my early AutoCAD training days was that LAN based Doom rocked on CAD boxes. In those days, big vid cards and 20+" monitors were standard fare for CAD users.

Only further investigations I'd make are:

The 1TB WD B;ack's just ain't that hot ....well actually they do run pretty hot but performance wise there are better choices. In the 1 TB range, I'd recommend the Seagate 7200.12 as it's the betetr performer, runs much cooler and quieter. The 2 TB model WD is significantly faster then the 1 TB.

I'd opt for an aftermarket CPU cooler for longevity's sake.

I'm holding off on SSD's till after the holidays. Letting Win7 get released and give them a chance to get this Trim thing straightened out.

By all means wit for Windows 7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] indows%207

If you print in color or do rendering, an accurate monitor is important. Suggest a S-PVA panel such as the Dell 2408 WFP or Lenovo L220x.

------------------------------ If a man speaks in the forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong ?
Reply to JackNaylorPE

Thanks Jack! Will take that in mind.

I have decided to move up my purchase to this week because my current system is giving me a lot of problems. So any suggestion are greatly appreciated!

Some questions I have:

1) SSD - Is this safe to use now? or is it better to get two HD in RAID and maybe upgrade down the line?

2) GPU - for what I'm doing (heavy photo editing) is one card enough? How much of a benefit would I get from 2 GPUs?

3) RAM - 6GB Should be more than enough correct?

4) I'm not going to be overclocking so how much thought should I put into getting a HSF?

Again, thanks in advance for any advice!

Reply to mmccarthy

anybody? please and thanks?

Reply to mmccarthy

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~>$2700CAD Computer Build Advice

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - ~>$2700CAD Computer Build Advice