First Build Ever ($1700) Motherboard Undecided

[elimander]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Wednesday or Thursday (10/14-15)

BUDGET RANGE: $1700

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Internet, Gaming, Movies, Virtual Machines

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor (UltraSharp 2209WA), OS (Windows 7)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel

OVERCLOCKING: Little to none.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would like this system to last for several years so if some components seem a little overkill that’s alright.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Minor
AMC Category 5E Networking Cable (2) (Routing)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812105307
BELKIN WaveRest Keyboard Rest Support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817114111
XTRA PADS mouse pad
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826991029
Steelseries mouse pad (I’ve used plastic before but I want to try cloth as well)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826995023
Belkin LCD cleaner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824998027
Logitech Standard Deluxe 250 Keyboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126013
Logitech SBF-96 Wired Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104026

Major
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R (2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Intel Core i7 920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Cooler Master COSMOS 1000 (Lots of space and moving handles)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119138

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

OCZ Gold 6GB SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365


I’m having a really hard time picking a motherboard. I’ve heard that the ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard is pretty solid but DOAs are more frequent and it has driver problems. The EVGA E758 also sounds really nice.

ASUS P6T Deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

EVGA E758
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039


EVGA GeForce 260 896MB 448-bit Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

OCZ StealthXStream 700W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019

Logitech X-540 5.1 Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121006

CANON PIXMA MP620 All-In-One Printer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828102316

Colors Cartridge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16828102344





Combo Deals:

CPU and Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.272687

ASUS Motherboard & GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.272723

EVGA Motherboard & GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.267288

Printer and Ink
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.263751


Total Without Combos: ~$1650

Am I missing anything? Better suggestions?

 

[Outlander_04]

Both ASUS and evga make good motherboards. Pick the one that has the features you want ,and worry less about brand IMO.
Its even possible that there are more RMA's for ASUS simply because they sell more ...

If you dont need the extra capacity of the 640 gig black then the samsung f3 500 gig and the seagate 7200.12 500 gig are faster hard drives and better value .

Its probably overkill for your resolution but consider a new 5850 . When they are not in 3D mode they throttle back power usage much more than older cards and that will save you money long term . It would also guarantee you wont have to uppgrade in the foreseeable life of the computer

 

[dndhatcher]

An alternate cheaper case with handles: The Coolermaster Storm Scout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196


Graphics cards are a tough thing right now. There are only two DX11 cards out and it sounds like Nvidias 300 series wont be out until next year. I would think the 5850 would be a good choice. Its much faster than the GTX260 at a $260-$280 price point (when you can find it in stock).

The 5700 series is supposed to start shipping on the 23rd and theoretically have less supply issues than the 5850 and 5870 have. I think the top 5700 is going to be close to the performance of a 260 and should cost less. We wont know for sure until the real reviews come out on the 23rd.

 

[elimander]

Both ASUS and evga make good motherboards. Pick the one that has the features you want ,and worry less about brand IMO.
Its even possible that there are more RMA's for ASUS simply because they sell more ...

If you dont need the extra capacity of the 640 gig black then the samsung f3 500 gig and the seagate 7200.12 500 gig are faster hard drives and better value .

Its probably overkill for your resolution but consider a new 5850 . When they are not in 3D mode they throttle back power usage much more than older cards and that will save you money long term . It would also guarantee you wont have to uppgrade in the foreseeable life of the computer

From reviews it looks like the EVGA board is very slow to boot, is this a wide spread issue? Do you know which motherboard this community as whole tends to support or is it varied?

I took a look at both of those hard drives you suggested and noticed they have 16MB cache, does that make any real difference compared to WD's 32MB cache? Also, the reviews for that Western Digital HD are pretty solid versus the Seagate one.

I think the video card is sufficient for how much I play. But thanks for the heads up.

 

[snakej]

+1 on scout but the HAF 922 you can get it in a combo and save, those two cases are almost the same, are handles a must?

this is my recommendation:

CPU & Case Combo: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail & COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
1. Intel BX80601920: $279.99
2. Cooler Master RC-922M-KKN1-GP: $99.99
Combo Discount: -$15.00
Combo Price: $364.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.269773

Motherboard & memory combo: ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail & Kingston HyperX 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3K3/6GX - Retail
1. ASUS P6T: $239.99
2. Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K3/6GX: $155.99
Combo Discount: -$20.00
Combo Price: $375.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.272329

HSF: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029
$44.98
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

GPU: ASUS EAH5850/G/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail
$259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121349

At this point anything less will leave you with the need to upgrade once DX11 is fully supported so i wouldn't go for Nvidia, or anything less

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Original Price: $179.99
You Save: $60.00
$119.99
($109.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate Card )
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM
$54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

DVD: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM
$29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
$6.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

lots of extra listed but not a good Thermal paste, c'mon..lol

Grand Total: $1,268.98

 

[Outlander_04]

From reviews it looks like the EVGA board is very slow to boot, is this a wide spread issue? Do you know which motherboard this community as whole tends to support or is it varied?

I took a look at both of those hard drives you suggested and noticed they have 16MB cache, does that make any real difference compared to WD's 32MB cache? Also, the reviews for that Western Digital HD are pretty solid versus the Seagate one.

I think the video card is sufficient for how much I play. But thanks for the heads up.

I have never used an EVGA board , but they are well liked by many builders . I would use either ASUS or Gigabyte but thats my personal choice .

The two hard drives I mentioned are single platter drives . One spinning disk of 500 gig . The 640 gig black wd is two disks of 320. Its a nice drive and I use one in my home pc , but the single platter drive is faster thanks to higher data density.