Pls Agree with my $1600 Gaming rig (920,haf932,asus p6tb,ocz plat)

H-508

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: between now and Dec 15

BUDGET RANGE: ~$1500 US,

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: 60% Gaming, 25% MS Office, 15% video editing

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: online, doesn't matter

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: (USA)

OVERCLOCKING: Yes - mild cpu overclock to ~3.0GHz, memory at 1600. I don't want to overclock very much because this needs to last 5 years at a minimum (although game playing generally goes down quite a bit in year 4/5 if my current rig is an indication of future performance) so the gains aren't worth it to me with an aggressive approach.

CROSSFIRE: Yes - eventually I would get another 5870 if the need arises later

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (1920x1080)



Component List to Evaluate before Purchase:

Processor:

Intel Core i7-920
$289

Motherboard:
ASUS P6TD Deluxe
$290 (currently $260 on sale)

Memory:
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
$174 ($164 after rebate)

Case:
COOLER MASTER HAF 932
$160 ($130 on sale)

Optical Drive:
Sony Optiarc Black 24X
$30

Hard Drive:
WD Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB
$75

Video Card:
SAPPHIRE 100281VXSR Radeon HD 5870
$410

Power Supply:
CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX
$200 ($170 after rebate)

CPU Fan:
Scythe MUGEN-2
$35

Thermal Paste:
Arctic Silver 5
$7

Total Cost (after sales/rebates/combo purchase): $1,545


Items I already have from previous computer:
Keyboard: Logitech G15
Mouse: Logitech G9
Speakers: Logitch Z-5500
Monitor: 23" LG W2353V-PF
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

COMMENTS:
I've tried to do the research to pick quality components that meet my needs, but there are so many choices and combinations as far as parts working together, I wanted a sanity check to see if people here agreed with the choices, or perhaps knew of other reviews/benchmarks/problems that could creap up with this config or had better/acknowledged components.


It was a tossup on the MB as Asus P6TD, P6T, EVGA E758, or GB EX58-UD5. Went withe p6td just because it's the newest release in the line and I've had good luck with ASUS in the past.

I'll look into a blu-ray burner to replace the dvd burner once media prices come down.


Questions:
1) I'm totally up in the air as far as HDD goes. If SSDs ever become reasonible in a year or two, I would pick one up as a boot drive. I don't know how people need 1/2TB drives so I only need either a 500/640/750 gig drive (and even 500 is more than I need probably). The typical spinpoint F3 pops up a lot, but I'm confused by the 500gig only have a 16MB cache, so I bumped it up to the 640 and the Black always gets good reviews. Because of the possibly getting a ssd, I don't want to raid, and I don't need a huge drive, so I'm really most interested in performance at a low price point since all the <1TB drives seem to be $50-80.

2) I tried to find people that had a P6TB mb with the Scythe Mugen-2 fan to make sure it fits nicely but couldn't. People with just the P6T and that cpufan reported no problems as far as I could tell, but the layout around the cpu is slightly different with the various heat sinks/speaders/whatever they are around it that could effect the fan placement.

3) Memory was a hard choice. I went to Asus' approved memory list and they list the memory I picked out. I don't plan on going over 1600 and these reviews on newegg looked good. I also looked at Corsair XMS3 line(wasn't officially listed on the support list) and of course the dominators (pricey).

4) I don't plan on building/needing the computer until December, but I hate playing the pricing game - whether to buy it now, or hold out and wait for Black Friday or any Christmas type deals/sales. Some of the prices are already $10/20/30 off newegg's list because of the sale or rebate so who's to say they won't go back up. Maybe I should buy the on sale components now (especially MB, memory, and power supply) since those are the pricey items and can reasonably expect (maybe) that the 920 will have some sale SOMEWHERE on it for cheaper than what it is now. Also, I can use newegg to combo deal the MB/Memory and save another $25 on top of the sale/rebate price currently.

Thanks for the help!
 
If you just wanting agreement then I'll just agree its a good build.


If you want some fine tuning I would say that the corsair 850TX is designed for 3 graphics cards so unless you are planning on three 5870s someday you could drop down to a 750.

I also might choose a Samsung F3 500GB for $25 less or the 1TB for $10 more.
 

H-508

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Thanks for the reply! I could possibly go up to 2 5870's. I debated getting a 750 so maybe I'll look into that more. Part of what sold me on the 850 is the glowing review Tom's gave to it on one of their system builders.

Yeah, the HDD was sadly one of the most researched I did and still don't feel completely comfortable with. What steered me away from the 500gig F3 was the 16mb vs 32mb cache, but maybe that doesn't matter as much.
 

ksmani

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huh !! i was amazed at the config of H-508.

i am planning to do exactly the SAME config; i already got i9720, corsair 3 x 2gb 8-8-24 rams, p6tDv2.

i was about to get this 850W and two sapphire 5770s;

i was heavily thinking about a new HAF 932 vs antec 300 (i currently have this antec 300, plan to throwaway the current contents).

rest of the items, i have with me. (may be i will move from xp prof to win7U.

i am very confused about cpu COOLERs, i request suggestions for best air coolers for i7-920.
 
5770s only need one PCIE power cable. A good 550-650W will handle two with overclocking.

The Xigmatec S1283 series (Red Scorpion, Dark Knight, Balder) are all very good, fairly inexpensive coolers. The S1283 rifle and red scorpion models would need a extra bracket for 1366 mounting.

The Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus fits everything is a great deal at $30 (US).


Ill take your throwaway 300 case if you are serious about tossing it. ;)
 

darksupreme

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Oct 20, 2009
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for the PSU the requirement ( as posted by ATI ) for 2 5870's crossfire is only 650w so just get 750
the ram is great very highly recommended
and to top it off if your going to get 6 gigs of ram a 920 and a 5870 lets bring the mobo up a notch so u can have a extreme build heres a good mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365&cm_re=asus_p6t_deluxe_v2-_-13-131-365-_-Product

or theres this even better mobo for only 20 bucks more in the combo deal ( normaly $100 more )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.293506

everything else is chill but id still get the spinpoint f3


 

H-508

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Nov 11, 2009
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okay, I'm sold on the spinpoint f3 and will get that instead.

For the MB, I'm not going to overclock much so I wasn't sure if I needed such a crazy board like your 2nd link. The first link you posted is a P6T Deluxe V2 and the MB I picked out is just the newest iteration from the deluxe V2 so the P6TD is basically the same thing as the P6T Deluxe V2.

The price difference between the Corsair modular 750 is not much different than the 850 so I'll just stick with the extra watts I think.

Oh, and I found out Micro Center (B&M only) has the 920 for $200 which is the first time in the history of the universe that a b&m store is cheaper than the cheapest internet pricing (which is newegg at $290).
 
Microcenter must have robbed an intel plant or something. They have had the i7 920 and i5 at far better prices than anyone else. Though you have to come into the store and alot of us dont live close enough (3 hours each way for me...). I should be able to sue for some kind of -ism. Maybe regional-ism? They are prejudice against my region.
 

H-508

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Nov 11, 2009
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holy christ - that CCF is only $20 after rebate. I thought the scythe mugen 2 was cheap at 35. Some of the reviews of it seem a little spotty though. Thanks for the link though - first time I saw a comprehensive review of HSFs.
 

ksmani

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Oct 30, 2009
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:D I said, i will throw away the "contents", which is PII 233 Mhz, 128mb ram, ethernet card etc !! :D
 

ksmani

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YES, I already got this for $199 from microcenter in santaclara.. and now i am starting to doubt, if the micro center people were waiting at the intel parking lot (which is a block away) and picked up the QAQC rejected prototypes !!