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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I am getting most of the parts in a week (excluding screen and case)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, working (nothing performance intensive), watching movies.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Speakers and headphones
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Amazon.com for most of the parts, but I will have to get the rest in South Africa, where I live (more expensive).
PARTS PREFERENCES: I have decided on going for Intel and ATI
OVERCLOCKING: Not at first.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1050
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I will be getting some of the parts in America, however 20% duty is charged on them to take them back to South Africa, so that means that parts prices will be increased significantly.
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Current parts list (all Amazon prices include 20% tax):
CPU:
Intel Core I7 920
$335
Not overclocked, as I don't think it would be necessary.
MOTHERBOARD:
EVGA x58 Micro
$250
GPU:
I will have to order the parts from Amazon this week (as the person I know is going to the USA on the 2nd of November), so there are two options I am interested in:
XFX Radeon HD 5870
$480 (the cheapest you can get it in South Africa is $575!)
If it comes back in stock this week.
If not then:
MSI Radeon 4890 Cyclone OC in crossfire
$490
One thing that I haven't been able to find out is whether the included crossfire bridges are double-spaced; does anyone now if they would fit in the EVGA X58 micro?
RAM:
OCZ Gold 3x2 Triple channel at 1600mhz
$155
HARD DRIVE:
Found in a South African store's pricelist, so no link: Seagate 1 Terrabyte hard drive 7200 RPM 32mb cache.
$100 (cheaper the USA prices plus tax)
PSU:
Corsair VX 750w Power Supply (CMPSU-550VX)
$140
DISC DRIVE:
DVD Writer 22/12x DL (SAMSUNG) SATA
$25
CASE
Coolermaster HAF 922
$175
+
Coolermaster Mega flow 200mm fan (for side panel)
$25
SCREEN
Samsung 23.6 inch lcd
$280
MOUSE AND KEYBOARD:
Logitech MX518
$50
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard
$20
OPERATING SYSTEM:
Windows 7 Home Premium retail (I don't need any of Professional's features, but do Professional and Ultimate have better performance?)
$150
TOTAL:
$2200
Since this system could play any game available on max settings at full resolution, I don't see why it would be necessary to overclock since it would not improve my gaming experience at all. I would greatly appreciate any advice, especially about the graphics card, which is my main concern. I unfortunately can't get parts from NewEgg and Tiger Direct because they do not allow the billing address to be in South Africa, so Amazon is the only option. HD 5870's are selling like wildfire and ATI can't keep with the demand, so it is probably unlikely that the Sapphire or XFX versions of the card will come back in stock this week on Amazon, but I check daily in case I get lucky. Otherwise I think a MSI 4890 Cyclone crossfire would be the next best option, although it is annoying to have the same performance but with much worse power consumption.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I am getting most of the parts in a week (excluding screen and case)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, working (nothing performance intensive), watching movies.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Speakers and headphones
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Amazon.com for most of the parts, but I will have to get the rest in South Africa, where I live (more expensive).
PARTS PREFERENCES: I have decided on going for Intel and ATI
OVERCLOCKING: Not at first.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1050
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I will be getting some of the parts in America, however 20% duty is charged on them to take them back to South Africa, so that means that parts prices will be increased significantly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current parts list (all Amazon prices include 20% tax):
CPU:
Intel Core I7 920
$335
Not overclocked, as I don't think it would be necessary.
MOTHERBOARD:
EVGA x58 Micro
$250
GPU:
I will have to order the parts from Amazon this week (as the person I know is going to the USA on the 2nd of November), so there are two options I am interested in:
XFX Radeon HD 5870
$480 (the cheapest you can get it in South Africa is $575!)
If it comes back in stock this week.
If not then:
MSI Radeon 4890 Cyclone OC in crossfire
$490
One thing that I haven't been able to find out is whether the included crossfire bridges are double-spaced; does anyone now if they would fit in the EVGA X58 micro?
RAM:
OCZ Gold 3x2 Triple channel at 1600mhz
$155
HARD DRIVE:
Found in a South African store's pricelist, so no link: Seagate 1 Terrabyte hard drive 7200 RPM 32mb cache.
$100 (cheaper the USA prices plus tax)
PSU:
Corsair VX 750w Power Supply (CMPSU-550VX)
$140
DISC DRIVE:
DVD Writer 22/12x DL (SAMSUNG) SATA
$25
CASE
Coolermaster HAF 922
$175
+
Coolermaster Mega flow 200mm fan (for side panel)
$25
SCREEN
Samsung 23.6 inch lcd
$280
MOUSE AND KEYBOARD:
Logitech MX518
$50
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 keyboard
$20
OPERATING SYSTEM:
Windows 7 Home Premium retail (I don't need any of Professional's features, but do Professional and Ultimate have better performance?)
$150
TOTAL:
$2200
Since this system could play any game available on max settings at full resolution, I don't see why it would be necessary to overclock since it would not improve my gaming experience at all. I would greatly appreciate any advice, especially about the graphics card, which is my main concern. I unfortunately can't get parts from NewEgg and Tiger Direct because they do not allow the billing address to be in South Africa, so Amazon is the only option. HD 5870's are selling like wildfire and ATI can't keep with the demand, so it is probably unlikely that the Sapphire or XFX versions of the card will come back in stock this week on Amazon, but I check daily in case I get lucky. Otherwise I think a MSI 4890 Cyclone crossfire would be the next best option, although it is annoying to have the same performance but with much worse power consumption.
. What about getting two 5770's in crossfire? It may be weaker than two 4890's, but I would at least of Directx 11 support.
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