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New System Gaming $1500

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: In a week, next week would be the best. :)  BUDGET RANGE: $1200-$1500 (If I can save money that would be awesome)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Multi-tasking, Game Creating/designing, web, word processing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor (maybe)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: I like intel cpu's and nvidia but seeing ATI or is it AMD now dominate with the new Radeon I can go for those too

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050 (Just has to be HD :)  )

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Would like a powerhouse machine able to game at fast frames per second and look the part as well. Would like to save money on a monitor, I do require a OS as well. If it's possible to get an OS and Monitor within that range it would be most helpful. Want it to be fast and also not need to be upgraded for a while. I also would need thermal compound.

More about : system gaming 1500

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Core i5 750 and Asus P7P55D Pro MB $350
4GB G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3 1333 RAM $90
2x SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 @ 160ea $320
SAMSUNG F3 500GB JDD $55
LG 22x DVD Burner $30
XIGMATEK HDT-RS1283 120mm CPU Cooler & 1156 kit $38
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
CM HAF 922 case $100
Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W PSU $85 a/r
~$1076

ASUS VH242H 23.6" 1920x1080P Monitor $190 a/r
Win7 Home Premium 64-bit $100 with promo code: EMCMLNN23
~$1366







Might make more sense to spend a bit more and get a single 5870 instead of dual 5770s. Then someday in the future it would be expandable with a second 5870. Really a single 5850 is probably the correct price/performance decision. Too bad they are so hard to find, still selling out within hours of reaching a store.



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Check a few more stores. Still no 5870s or 5850s.

Dual 5770 performance is pretty strong; beating 4870x2 and GTX 295 in some benchmarks.

Thanks for the replies. I actually should change that to this week if possible lol I got my money this week instead of next. There is no 5850's in stock :(  Damn that sucks. I wonder if my Fry's would have any available at all. Will have to check on that. What's the difference between dual channel and triple channel memory? Is it that much of a difference? Also, is that i5 hyper-threaded. Cause again it isn't just for gaming but also to make games with software. yes, I am a game designer/creator :) 

WR2 said:
Core i5 750 and Asus P7P55D Pro MB $350
4GB G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3 1333 RAM $90
2x SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 @ 160ea $320
SAMSUNG F3 500GB JDD $55
LG 22x DVD Burner $30
XIGMATEK HDT-RS1283 120mm CPU Cooler & 1156 kit $38
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
CM HAF 922 case $100
Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W PSU $85 a/r
~$1076

ASUS VH242H 23.6" 1920x1080P Monitor $190 a/r
Win7 Home Premium 64-bit $100 with promo code: EMCMLNN23
~$1366
That's actually the optical drive I was looking at getting. I am not sure about the monitor but I put it as a probably cause I have a Sony monitor of some kind that my dad found. Don't know the make or model it's just missing the AC outlet. I love that case! That's the one I wanted hehe. How's the power supply though? Antec is good?

WR2 said:
That Antec model is excellent. It's up the job of handling two 5870s (if you could find them)
Here is review of the 750W model @ Jonny Guru

Alright, just making sure. It's power efficient correct? Don't want my electric bill high lol. I think i will begin getting these things this week or so. I'll check on the 5850's on Fry's. Btw, this will be my first ATI/AMD video card which manufucaturers are good?

Dual Channel uses 2 sticks, triple channel uses 3 sticks. Only the socket 1366 (x58) motherboards can do triple channel.

The i5 is not hyper-threaded. You would have to move up to the i7 860 on the same motherboard (about $70 more), or switch to an x58 motherboard and an i7 920 (about $125 more) to get hyper-threading.

dndhatcher said:
Dual Channel uses 2 sticks, triple channel uses 3 sticks. Only the socket 1366 (x58) motherboards can do triple channel.

The i5 is not hyper-threaded. You would have to move up to the i7 860 on the same motherboard (about $70 more), or switch to an x58 motherboard and an i7 920 (about $125 more) to get hyper-threading.
But is there a difference in performance with dual channel and triple channel? And will it be a big performance boost going with triple channel? How does the i7 860 compare to the i7 920. I know they are both on different sockets. This will be my first real build so I would like everything to be easy to do. I tried making one a while ago and it didn't work. It was an AMD and I heard that on AMD's you needed to check the c-mos or reboot the c-mos or something.

I just want to be sure that this one will work because I am going to have to get everything piece by piece and I'd rather it work lol with no fuss.

There is a problem with the 1156 sockets right now. They seem to be easy to improperly install. You are probably better off with an i7 920 and an x58 motherboard. The i7 920 and i7 860 perform almost the same. An advantage to the i7 920 is that sometime there will be a 6 core CPU you can drop in as an upgrade. There is no upgrade for the 860.

If you are using more than 4GB of RAM and less than 6GB then triple channel would have an advantage. Do not get this confused with DDR2 RAM vs DDR3 RAM. Both p55 and x58 systems use DDR3 RAM, its just a matter of how many sticks.

dndhatcher said:
There is a problem with the 1156 sockets right now. They seem to be easy to improperly install. You are probably better off with an i7 920 and an x58 motherboard. The i7 920 and i7 860 perform almost the same. An advantage to the i7 920 is that sometime there will be a 6 core CPU you can drop in as an upgrade. There is no upgrade for the 860.

If you are using more than 4GB of RAM and less than 6GB then triple channel would have an advantage. Do not get this confused with DDR2 RAM vs DDR3 RAM. Both p55 and x58 systems use DDR3 RAM, its just a matter of how many sticks.
You mean when mounting them on the motherboard itself unto the cpu socket? Only think about that configuration is more money lol But yeah. This is a tough choice. I know I want an i7 but not sure which the 920 or the 860. Not to mention the RAM usage. I believe that the P55 motherboards can't support as much as the x58, correct me if I'm wrong. But I don't know if I would buy a lot of RAM anyway.
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aluc13 said:
Alright, just making sure. It's power efficient correct? Don't want my electric bill high lol.
It's very efficient - 80Plus Bronze rating. Although the difference between 80Plus and 80Plus Bronze/Silver/Gold ratings might only save you a couple bucks over the course of a year.

As far as I know the only 1156 motherboard problems are occurring when 'extreme overclocking' is also in use.

i7 860 + P55 RAM = you'll normally see 4GB or 8GB amounts, dual channel. i7 920 + X58 RAM you'll usually see 6GB or 12GB amounts, triple channel. The performance difference in dual channel vs triple channel depends a lot on how the programs you'll use tax the system resources. Im many cases the faster clocks of the i7 860+4GB will narrow, or even erase, any advantage the triple channel i7 920+6GB might have had against a similar clocked 1156 CPU.

WR2 said:
It's very efficient - 80Plus Bronze rating. Although the difference between 80Plus and 80Plus Bronze/Silver/Gold ratings might only save you a couple bucks over the course of a year.

As far as I know the only 1156 motherboard problems are occurring when 'extreme overclocking' is also in use.

i7 860 + P55 RAM = you'll normally see 4GB or 8GB amounts, dual channel. i7 920 + X58 RAM you'll usually see 6GB or 12GB amounts, triple channel. The performance difference in dual channel vs triple channel depends a lot on how the programs you'll use tax the system resources. Im many cases the faster clocks of the i7 860+4GB will narrow, or even erase, any advantage the triple channel i7 920+6GB might have had against a similar clocked 1156 CPU.
Well won't be overclocking much at all I don't think I will at least. I will do some minor overclocking. So then in your opinion i7 860 better choice in your opinion? I know that the x58 motherboards and the i7 are more for hardcore users.

Edit: I have picked out the case HNF 922 and the optical drive LG 22x dvd burner. That's the only ones I'm set on for sure. Is it worth paying an extra $20 for a Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB?

WR2 said:
As far as I know the only 1156 motherboard problems are occurring when 'extreme overclocking' is also in use.

The problem is not all the CPU contacts are making good contact on half the socket 1156 motherboards. Its only causing immediate damage when highly overclocked but it cant be good for your CPU period. Like the article said, after you snap the CPU in you can pull it back out and see if everything is making contact. Its an extra thing to be careful of during assembly.

For someone who had a bad experience with a prior assembly and will make use of hyper-threading, it isn't much of a price increase from an 860 to a 920 and I think the benefits are worth it. Or else spend more on the p55 motherboard to get an EVGA that wont have the flaky socket brand.

dndhatcher said:
The problem is not all the CPU contacts are making good contact on half the socket 1156 motherboards. Its only causing immediate damage when highly overclocked but it cant be good for your CPU period. Like the article said, after you snap the CPU in you can pull it back out and see if everything is making contact. Its an extra thing to be careful of during assembly.

For someone who had a bad experience with a prior assembly and will make use of hyper-threading, it isn't much of a price increase from an 860 to a 920 and I think the benefits are worth it. Or else spend more on the p55 motherboard to get an EVGA that wont have the flaky socket brand.
So, in your opinion for a first time build should I spend more and get the 920 along with socket 1366 motherboard? Or go with the 860 on a P55 motherboard? I'm getting ready to buy the comp. Also, how much of a difference will it be? Again if it is possible to get it to $1200 that would be great.

I was in the same boat. I had ordered an Asus p55 EVO and a i7 860, and heard about the issue and didnt want to take the chance and just decided to go all the way and buy a p6t and i7 920. I set up the PC just waiting on the RAM now -_-

So, in your opinion was that the better decision to make? That was originally my first choice for a PC, anyway. But, I wasn't sure cause I wanted to save some money.

Alright so here's the following that I have set for the new build
CPU-I7 920
Motherboard- Asus P6T
Case: HNF 922
Optical Drive: LG 22x Dvd Burner
Video Card- ATI Radeon either 5750 or 5770 (Maybe 2 5770's not sure)
Fan:XIGMATEK HDT-RS1283 120mm CPU Cooler & 1156 kit $38
Thermal compound: Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
OS: windows 7 for system builders

I still need suggestions for
PSU- Which someone recommended the Antec one, is that a good psu?
RAM-
HDD-

The harddrive I am wondering if it's better to spend an extra $20 to get the Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 32MB for $75. What's everyone else think?

Corsair makes really nice PSU. Since you're getting a mid tower case I'd recommend a a modular 750w so you can do crossfire (get 2 5770 if money allows). The western digital hardrive should be good and then buy 6gb of cheap cl7 g skill 133mhz ram, nothing special, but a good price.

aford10 said:
Yes, the Antec PSU is a top notch PSU.

RAM - Mushkin redline 6GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HD - samsung spinpoint f3 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
The WD caviar black is a great drive, but the f3 is a little faster. There's also a 1TB version of the f3, if you want a bigger drive.
I read a couple of reviews on newegg and they said it actually runs slower than the WD caviar black. I would think so as well since the WD has 32mb cache while the samsung only has 16mb cache
Monitor Expert

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/sam...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-har...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-har...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-har...

You can't put too much stock in newegg reviews. I love the site for the prices/products/service, but the reviews aren't reliable. It's about the amount of platters more than cache. The less/more dense the platters, the faster the drive.

aford10 said:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/sam...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-har...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-har...
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-har...

You can't put too much stock in newegg reviews. I love the site for the prices/products/service, but the reviews aren't reliable. It's about the amount of platters more than cache. The less/more dense the platters, the faster the drive.
I am reading the links you posted to check it out.
EDIT: Looks like it is one fast harddrive. Alright, I will probably go with the 1tb version since more storage is always better.

aford10 said:
Don't get me wrong, I'm a WD fan. But Samsung appears to have finally got it right.
Ah ok. I did notice a couple of people mention their scores were lower and the noise levels. Not sure how relevant those actually were. Any suggestions for a heatsink? I know someone mentioned a Xigatamek but it doesn't fit in 1366 socket. At least not that one. Since I'm going with the i7 920 and an Asus p6t motherboard.

aford10 said:
The dark knight is a good cooler, and there is a bracket to make it fit the 1366 socket. But the Coolermaster hyper 212 rates higher and is cheaper.

well yeah by about $15. Although, some people have trouble installing it. Which for my first ever build I want it to go as smoothly as possible

Alright I got everything up and running. I decided to use the i5-750 build and I got everything up and running now for the last couple of days. I did buy a monitor it's a samsung syncmaster 2033sw and it's resolution is way too bright. Anyone know what might be causing this problem? Alright thanks for all that suggestions :)  Im just happy I have a game that can run Crysis and Aion my two fav games right now

It's down to like 10% though. It's still too bright! I tried using the nvidia control panel that seemed to work better. I am going to adjust the contrast as well as you both recommended. Btw, anyone know about resolutions? It's a samsung syncmaster 2033sw and has a max res of 1600x900 yet I can only get 1280x720. It won't go any higher. it's a widescreen. This is my first computer in 10 years so I don't know much about how to mess with everything. It's not the video card either cause I used it on my hdtv and got 1920x1080 res
Monitor Expert

Change to the advanced settings in the Catalyst control center. That's probably the cap in the control center, so windows won't be able to override it. You can increase it in the catalyst center.

My friend did that and put it past it's optimal settings, which apparently is 1280x720. What does that actually mean? If I raise it higher will it cause the monitor problems? Don't want to bust it :(  Can't believe I've been gone from computers this long. I've kept up with tech just not how to use it lol
Monitor Expert

The setting should look just like the windows resolution bar. It will be a scale with dashes that you can slide a bar across. It's not going to just say 'optimized'. Up in the menu, make sure you have the advanced settings enabled.

I checked the magic button or whatever it was called and it only gives auto and wide. It doesn't allow me to view it normal at all. As for the drivers I looked it up and it appears that I have the latest drivers for my monitor.

Alright I fixed the contrast and brightness finally. I had to set my monitor low and the monitor setting on comp. It was a pain to get it right. As for the resolution it won't allow me to do that. They're not available for my monitor apparently

aford10 said:
...

HD - samsung spinpoint f3 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
The WD caviar black is a great drive, but the f3 is a little faster. There's also a 1TB version of the f3, if you want a bigger drive.


I've seen a couple references that the Samsung Spinpoints are faster. But on Tom's charts page at

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-har...

and

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-har...

on most of the metrics only the 500GB Spinpoint shows up faster than the WD Caviar Black or Velociraptor. What am I missing?

The Vantage Benchmark looks like it favors drives with large caches, the throughput test does not. Different testing benchmarks measure different things. You either have to find a benchmark that mimics your usage pattern and go with it or aggregate them to get a feel for overall performance.

Thanks for all the help. I guess I'll just let the rez stay that way. It doesn't look bad at all. The one thing bugging me was the brightness of the tv. I had everything updated so I'm good to go, I think. Crysis looks awesome on this monitor and PC. I couldn't run it on my very old P4 2.5ghz nvidia 6600le agp card lol. That's how old my last comp was at. Still running which is surprising to say the least
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