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Help with my first build in a LOOONG time!

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Hi all. Could you take a look at my first build (in a while) and offer any advice you can. I was a little surprised that my total price was up to $1400. I don't necessarily mind this as long as I'm not spending money where I don't need to. I will need this computer for work, although I do like to play games also. I could see myself mostly playing games like Empire: Total War and Diablo 3 (next year), but I do enjoy the occasional FPS. I could see myself doing a little bit of overclocking. Not enough to consider it a hobby, but maybe a little extra performance :) 


Okay, here goes.


CPU - Intel Core i7 860: $230 at Microcenter.
- OR -
Intel Core i5 750: $150 at Microcenter.


Memory - Mushkin Enhanced - 7-7-7-18 timing. $115 ... Am I overpaying for memory here?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P: These are $154 at Microcenter.

HDD - WD Caviar Black 1TB: $110 ... I may go 750GB for $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


GPU - ASUS ATI Radeon 5850 - $260

Case - RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black - $70 ... Love this case, hope everything will fit nicely and fans are quiet.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


PSU - Corsair Modular 620W power supply - $90 (if I buy it today). Looks like a great deal...do I want modular?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


HSF - Coolermaster Plus Hyper 212 - $30

Monitor - ASUS Black 24" 2ms $220 ... could save a lot of money with 5ms.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


So, those are the major components I'm looking at. I know there's a lot of information there but I'd love to get everyone's opinion on where it's worth spending the money and where I can cut a slight corner and not really notice much of a difference.

Thanks everybody!

More about : build looong time

Couple of things...

If you can budget in the i7 860, I say go for it!!

I know you like the Raidmax Smilodon, but this is one of the best combo deals Newegg has ever had.. IMO CM RC-690 case and WD Black 640GB hard drive for under $100. If you want you case, I would look at either the WD 640GB Black hard drive or the Samsung F3 (1TB or 500GB) hard drives. Either one of those hard drives are faster than the two you listed. The WD 640GB Black is the newer of the Blacks, so it is faster.

You don't mention if you plan to ever Crossfire/SLI down the road, so I would upgrade the PSU to the CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail to give yourself that option

You are paying a good price for your RAM. It is currently out of stock, so I would look at the G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH - Retail for a replacement at the same price.

The only areas I think you can drop down and not have a major noticeable difference is getting the 5ms monitor and dropping down to DDR3 1333, instead of DDR3 1600. Others might disagree but those would be my recommendations to cut cost.
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^techmo34 had some great suggestions

Modular PSU's aren't that great IMO. You'd be better off getting a 650 or 750TX, though that is a good deal for the 620HX.

For what you'd pay for the WD 1TB, you could get two Samsung F3 500GB drives. Set them up in RAID 0 for superior performance without sacrificing capacity or $$$.

Thanks for the great responses!

I do have a LiteOn DVD drive budgeted (with lightscribe, although I don't think I'd use that).

I also have a copy of windows 7 already....planning on doing that 'upgrade' trick to clean install.

The only things I worry about with RAID is setup complexity and reliability. Is it pretty easy to setup?


^It's very easy to set up. It'll only take 2 minutes of your time and it's well worth it. Plus you're paying for RAID support on that motherboard, so why not take advantage of it? :) 
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