Need advice on $2,000 Canadian build

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: in next two weeks

BUDGET RANGE: $2,000 Canadian. Rebates ok so net cost should be $2,000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: media server, gaming, surfing the internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, monitor, speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.ca, ncix.com, any other Canadian online retailer. may buy locally from memory Express in Winnipeg after price matching to online sellers (talked to memory express and they do this)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

PARTS PREFERENCES: See below

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Not initially, maybe in future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Currently 1280x1024 but will shortly upgrade to dual or triple monitors in near future (monitors not in 2,000 budget) Likely future resolution 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: would like a lot of hard drive bays, I use this to store my media files to play in my home theater

Case-looking at either antec 1200 or 900. I would like a lot of drive bays as I use the computer to serve my HD home theater- got all my dvd rips all on hard drives. 6 bays on the 900 just doesn't seem like enough...but can the 900 fit a 5870 (or 2 later on?) or too tight assuming the bays will be filled later?

POwer supply- unknown

Motherboard- unknown. Would like something that can handle dual vid cards for future, has a good number of usb and sata ports. also hopefully at least one ide port for a couple of my old hard drives. Looking for biggest board the 1200 will support

Processor- 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

Motherboard- unknown. Would like something that can handle dual vid cards for future, has a good number of usb and sata ports. also hopefully at least one ide port for a couple of my old hard drives

Video card- SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video ... - Retail. Just one for now, maybe a second later on
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6814102856

RAM- unknown

Cooler- unknown

Hard drive(s)- unknown. will likely add a couple of larger drives in the medium future but still need something for OS and games

Optical Drive- unknown

OS- Windows 7 64-bit

Any recommendations greatly appreciated!!! :pt1cable:

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I'm not a big fan of the Antec 1200 for very large video cards.... There might be some better options for you especially since this sounds like a livingroom build.

I'll work up a list....

Cases
Lian Li

CM HAF
CM Stacker

Thermaltake Armor+

The rest

MB: Asus P6TD Deluxe
PSU: Corsair 850HX Top rated modular with tons of power for your build. When I say top-rated I mean it... very few PSUs anywhere in the world match this one, and none of those for price.
OCZ Platinum 6GB (CAS 7)
Caviar Black 640GB (Your budget could easily fit an SSD if this is just for the OS and a few games... a consideration) Corsair P128 (but only if you feel rich)
DVD burner
CPU cooler

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Proximon on 10-07-2009 at 05:23:19 AM

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

I'm getting a computer for around this price from NCIX in the next couple days. Will let you know how it goes.

I went with the HAF 932 for the case.
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 for the MOBO.
i7 920 D0 processor
Sapphire 5870 GPU

etc...lol...should be pretty sick. Came to a bit over $2500 but I bought a monitor and the MOBO/CPU combo was $600, so you can definitely get something pretty sick for $2000. Also added a SSD (intel 25-m 80GB).

Hard drive I went with the WD 1TB Black. I hear good things about the 640GB model if you don't need that much space. Those things are going pretty cheap nowadays.

I went with NCIX because of there price matching, and also because they can put the computer together for you for $50. I like putting together my own compy, but for them to work out and all glitches for you, make sure nothing is DOA, I think it's worth it. Ordered mine last Wednesday and it got shipped last night.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to mmccarthy

Proximon wrote :

I'm not a big fan of the Antec 1200 for very large video cards.... There might be some better options for you especially since this sounds like a livingroom build.

I'll work up a list....

Cases
Lian Li

CM HAF
CM Stacker

Thermaltake Armor+

The rest

MB: Asus P6TD Deluxe
PSU: Corsair 850HX Top rated modular with tons of power for your build. When I say top-rated I mean it... very few PSUs anywhere in the world match this one, and none of those for price.
OCZ Platinum 6GB (CAS 7)
Caviar Black 640GB (Your budget could easily fit an SSD if this is just for the OS and a few games... a consideration) Corsair P128 (but only if you feel rich)
DVD burner
CPU cooler

Thanks for the great suggestions... the lian li link above is taking me to the mobo... which lian li case were you recommending? also dumb question but many of the cases have a ton of external 5.25 drive bays- more than I will need. is it easy to convert some to hold a hard drive?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to grither

mmccarthy wrote :

I'm getting a computer for around this price from NCIX in the next couple days. Will let you know how it goes.

I went with the HAF 932 for the case.
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 for the MOBO.
i7 920 D0 processor
Sapphire 5870 GPU

etc...lol...should be pretty sick. Came to a bit over $2500 but I bought a monitor and the MOBO/CPU combo was $600, so you can definitely get something pretty sick for $2000. Also added a SSD (intel 25-m 80GB).

Hard drive I went with the WD 1TB Black. I hear good things about the 640GB model if you don't need that much space. Those things are going pretty cheap nowadays.

I went with NCIX because of there price matching, and also because they can put the computer together for you for $50. I like putting together my own compy, but for them to work out and all glitches for you, make sure nothing is DOA, I think it's worth it. Ordered mine last Wednesday and it got shipped last night.

thanks for the info. i'm also eager to build it myself for the first time, but for $50 I could see getting it done. my local place also does it for $50 and price matches. kind of like buying local as returns should be easier (but hopefully not needed). also don't have to worry about shipping costs and troubles...

Reply to grither

grither wrote :

Thanks for the great suggestions... the lian li link above is taking me to the mobo... which lian li case were you recommending? also dumb question but many of the cases have a ton of external 5.25 drive bays- more than I will need. is it easy to convert some to hold a hard drive?

Ooops. I fixed it, but here it is again.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6811112244

As to drive bay conversion, depends on your case a bit... Here are some examples:

http://www.newegg.ca/Store/SubCate [...] ccessories

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

I myself use this case... not the best pick for air cooling though:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6811163073

And still very pricey although it's an old design now.

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

So here's where I'm at:

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

GIGABYTE GV-R587D5-1GD-B Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported ... - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM

i7 920

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail

COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail

Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM

Windows 7 64 bit (when available)

So that's where I think i'm at... i appreciate the recommendations. here's some concerns I am still having...

-Still not sure about the case! sorry to be so picky- its not a living room build... its under my desk but my current case had a door but it drove me crazy so I just removed it! i really want a case with no door so I guess I am defaulting to the coolermaster haf 932... but it only has 5 internal drives slots so I guess I will be stuck with converting some of the external bays... I wonder if there are still any better options? by the time I pay to convert some of the drive bays I could afford a more expensive case...does anyone know of any no-door cases with more internal hd bays? I think i'm still yearning for the Antec 1200... Proximon is this a terrible mistake if I go for it? can you tell me more about your concerns?

-The recommended cooler is older than I expected! I read so much about tuniq tower, dark knight, smythe mugen.. I wasn't expecting the one recommended however I have selected it.

-Power supply. i went with what was recommended and see its modular. the 850W corsair NON modular is about 30 bucks cheaper so do you think its worth the price diff to go modular? I guess it keeps the case neater which is a plus...

-hard drive- can't see going ssd just yet, prices are ridiculous! maybe when they come down a bit... for now I have chosen a WD black... I hear sammy spinpoint being recommended often... would this be better?

-Just realized its a couple of weeks until Windows 7. will hang tight till then, don't want to install two os'es in a month! I assume I should get the 64bit when out, correct?

-MOBO- lots of talk about ASrock X58... quite a bit cheaper- would this work as well or what are the benefits of the recommended asus board? Also, I see there are 6 SATA ports on the board- what if I want to have 8 or 9 drives... do I need some kind of additional port extension board or card?

Message edited by grither on 10-07-2009 at 06:39:34 AM

Reply to grither

The HX is superior in other ways besides modularity. It's quite comparable to the Antec SG850:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] &Tpk=SG850

However, the 850TX is a very good PSU. Just not quite in that top tier. It looked to me like the difference in price, for you, made the HX the better choice... but you can't go wrong either way.

I don't have any direct experience with Samsung in the last ten or so years. I think my last one died back in '97. I'm hearing good things about these F3s as well.

On the case, you might snoop around for some pedastal type server chassis.... or perhaps consider just adding some external storage?

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

Think i'm at my final build with a couple of questions...

LIAN LI PC-A70B Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112141][/url]

ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131403][/url]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a different high quality mobo with more sata ports??? the case has 15 bays but mobo has only 6 sata ports.

XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150443][/url]

CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=CORSAIR%20CMPSU-850HX%20850W%20ATX12V][/url]

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F2EG HD154UI 1.5TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152175][/url]

i7 920
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202][/url]

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381&Tpk=OCZ%20Platinum%206GB%20%283%20x%202GB%29%20240-Pin%20DDR3%20SDRAM%20DDR3][/url]

COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057&Tpk=COOLER%20MASTER%20Intel%20Core%20i7%20compatible%20Hyper%20N%20520][/url]

Any thoughts on whether this cooler will fit ok in the lian li case?

Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030][/url]

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116762][/url]

Reply to grither

Maybe a storage card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6816103105

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

And why not the F3?
It's faster

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

Focus On

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