How's this for a general purpose build?

[bill1clinton]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: End of Feb/10

BUDGET RANGE: $3000 USD After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: surfing the internet, watching movies, gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: memoryexpress.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel I7 on an Asus mobo in full tower

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 (re-using Samsung SyncMaster T240)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would like a somewhat quiet PC mainly for surfing the internet and watching movies with the occasional game. As well, with the Patriot SSD do you think it would still be necessary to RAID the two WD's?


Here's what I had in mind:

Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 Silent Full Tower
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22588(ME).aspx

Intel Core™ i7 Processor 920 2.66GHz w/ 8MB Cache
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22588(ME).aspx

Prolimatech Mega Shadow (Megahalem) Nickel Plated "Black Edition" Intel CPU Heatsink
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...AM2_AM2_AM3_Hot_Item.html?tl=g40c14s757#blank

Asus P6T Deluxe V2 X58
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX23529(ME).aspx

Corsair 6GB XMS3-1600 PC3-12800 Core™ i7 Triple Channel DDR3 Kit (3 x 2GB) w/ Intel XMP
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22567(ME).aspx

Patriot Torqx Solid State Drive 2.5in SATA II, 64GB
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24921(ME).aspx

2 x Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA II w/ 32MB Cache
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22448(ME).aspx

2 x BFG GeForce GTX 275 OC 896MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24021(ME).aspx

2 x Thermalright T-RAD² VGA Cooler for ATI / NVIDIA Cards
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22929(ME).aspx

SOUND BLASTER X-FI TITANIUM 1X FATAL1TY PRO PCIE RETAIL
http://www.b-com.ca/product.php?productid=224406&page=1

ANTEC TruePower Quattro 1000W Power Supply
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX18434(ME).aspx

 

[warriorlax1234]

Looks pretty good to me...maybe with the 3000 dollat budget you don't have to go that crazy on all the parts??? Your gaming is least on your list!!! You could probly save a grand on that build if you go a little more modest on the parts!!! For example you don't need sli 275's for surfing or for movies really, and just watchg the timings on your ram, you could sometimes go with a ddr 1333 with lower timings and still beat the ones you want..just my opinion, you know what they say, everyone has one!!!!!

 

[NotSoSiniSter]

like the ssd. twin raptors are too old school.

im hoping you checked you have enough slots, plugs, and power for all that so i wont focus on that.

Like the board. not skimping out on that. which is what alot of people do to keep the price down. 6gb of ram is fine. but if you have the cash, you have room for a second kit. just saying. SSD again is very nice. But i would look over at what OCZ has. There write speeds are a little better. THe 275gtxs are a good choice. Good thing you hvae that cooler in there.

So yea, everything looks good. No bottle necks from what i see. BUT do you REALLY need all that? If your not going to be hard core gaming, you could settle for much less. Also, unless you have a *** load of media to hold on too, the 2tb drive thing is also overblown. Its all about how deep your wallets are. If you want to build a rig like this, go ahead. Have the biggest bawlz on the block, but if you dont use it to its full potential, then your wasting your money.

Happy building

 

[tecmo34]

A Few Thoughts

1.) This PC is more than just general purpose PC... It is an enthusiast GAMER build. It is way overkill for what your thread title suggest the PC is for. I would recommend droping your system down to an i5 750 build or an AM3 X4 955 build. These systems will still give you great performance in gaming and for basic PC usage but save a good amount of money. Review my sticky listed in my signature for examples of an i5 and AM3 "Gamer" build.

2.) You don't need a 1000W PSU. I would drop down to the Corsair 850TX at the most.

3.) I would not recommend buying a sound card. Onboard sound is very good on MOBO's now. I would recommend waiting until after you build your PC and see if the sound is good enough for your.

4.) Your VGA coolers are not compatible with the GTX275. T-Rad² VGA Cooler Compatibility

5.) With a SSD for your OS, you won't need to RAID the WD 1TB Blacks, since they will be storage drives or gaming drives. You will get a little benefit from the RAID setup, but not enough for the risk of data lost... IMO.

6.) If you are going to pay the money for 2 GTX275's, I would recommend getting just one ATI 5870 and upgrade to another one down the road. You will have a better system for gaming but again overkill for what your thread title suggest the PC is for. Also, the new GTX300 series cards should be out by 2/10, so that will change things.

7.) The i7 920 should be replaced by the faster (equal priced) i7 930 by 2/10... (I believe it'll be out by than?)... that is if you don't take my recommendation to go with an i5 or AM3 build.

 

[bill1clinton]

Thanks everyone for their replies so far. Here are some of my thoughts.

As I do not like to upgrade often, when I build a rig I usually try to use what I feel is the best I can afford at the time. The last rig I built lasted over 7 years.

tecmo34:

1. Ya, I know, but I like to have it just in case I would like to play some games.

2. hmm, just checked the corsair site; perhaps indeed 850 will be enough.

3. I went with a dedicated sound card cause it provides an optical out which I run to my amp; unless I am mistaken, the p6t v2 does not offer this.

4. You're right; I guess it's the t-rad gtx is the choice should I stick with 2 gtx275s. As for the ATI 5870, it definitely could be an option and it will cut down on the noise as well.

 

[bill1clinton]

That's it? Anyone? Nothing else about this build that you do differently?

 

[tecmo34]

3. I went with a dedicated sound card cause it provides an optical out which I run to my amp; unless I am mistaken, the p6t v2 does not offer this.

4. You're right; I guess it's the t-rad gtx is the choice should I stick with 2 gtx275s. As for the ATI 5870, it definitely could be an option and it will cut down on the noise as well.

3.) Here is what is on your motherboard, which I believe is the same thing as the sound card...

"Audio ADI® AD2000B 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- Support Jack-Detection, Multi-Streaming, and Front Panel Jack-Retasking
- Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O"

4.) 5870 is the better option over 2 GTX275's. It gives you room to grow with a second card versus having to replace two cards when you max out your graphics power.

Since you aren't sure you will be overclocking and won't need the "extras" per say, I would switch out to this MOBO, to save a little cash. Asus P6T X58 w/ TripleDDR3 2000, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E, 3-way CrossFireX/ SLI

 

[bill1clinton]

Damn, should have read more carefully. Nice, going to a 850W PSU and leaving out the sound card should save me a good chunk of change. Btw, tecmo, you suggested the Corsair TX non modular PSU as oppose to the HW modular; is there a specific reason you would not go for the modular model?

While we are at it, would adding a second kit of 6gb RAM make sense? I plan on using Win7.

 

[tecmo34]

Damn, should have read more carefully. Nice, going to a 850W PSU and leaving out the sound card should save me a good chunk of change. Btw, tecmo, you suggested the Corsair TX non modular PSU as oppose to the HW modular; is there a specific reason you would not go for the modular model?

While we are at it, would adding a second kit of 6gb RAM make sense? I plan on using Win7.

First... I would not add another 6GB of RAM. Nothing you have listed as plans for your build will utilize more than 6GB's.

Second... I recommended the TX version of the HX for two reasons 1) Price Difference 2) You will be utilizing most of the connectors any ways, so why pay for a modular when you won't benefit from it.

 

[bill1clinton]

If I had 12 gb of RAM installed, would this not allow me to turn off virtual memory? I remember reading somewhere this should allow me to run everything I need from memory and not need to utilize virtual memory.


As for the PSU, point taken.

 

[tecmo34]

If I had 12 gb of RAM installed, would this not allow me to turn off virtual memory? I remember reading somewhere this should allow me to run everything I need from memory and not need to utilize virtual memory.

I haven't heard of that before. I'll Google a little and see what I come up with.

 

[bill1clinton]

Modified Build

Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 Silent Full Tower
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22588(ME).aspx

Intel Core™ i7 Processor 920 2.66GHz w/ 8MB Cache
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22588(ME).aspx

Prolimatech Mega Shadow (Megahalem) Nickel Plated "Black Edition" Intel CPU Heatsink
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...AM2_AM2_AM3_Hot_Item.html?tl=g40c14s757#blank

Asus P6T Deluxe V2 X58
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX23529(ME).aspx

Corsair 6GB XMS3-1600 PC3-12800 Core™ i7 Triple Channel DDR3 Kit (3 x 2GB) w/ Intel XMP
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22567(ME).aspx

Patriot Torqx Solid State Drive 2.5in SATA II, 64GB
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24921(ME).aspx

2 x Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA II w/ 32MB Cache
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22448(ME).aspx

Asus EAH5870 Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX25887(ME).aspx

Corsair HX 850W Power Supply w/ 140mm Fan
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24569(ME).aspx


Comments:

Upon some research, the video card and PSU advice seems sound. I stuck with the HX as the price difference is not significant and I like less clutter. According to my calculations should cost a little less then $2400.

I am currently also trying to research and search for a compatible aftermarket vga cooler for the HD5870. Not much luck so far.

 

[Cades]

Don't forget to grab a couple fans for the HSF. I will be getting the same one, with these fans.

ENERMAX MAGMA UC-MA12 120mm Case Fan - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835214001

 

[overshocks]

Talk about overkill builds. His main concern is "surfing the internet" and only occasion gaming.. so I doubt he needs all maxed settings

even a dual core is enough for his needs lol...