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First time building! A few questions.

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moopo   11-17-2009 at 12:36:41 AM

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within 2-3 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: $1000 - $1200 before rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: light gaming, movies, surfing

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

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: none

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: none

OVERCLOCKING: no

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: no

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Here are the parts that I have in mind:

ASUS P7P55D LE LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit - Retail

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - OEM

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W

NZXT LEXA S LEXS - 001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

A few questions:

The Radeon HD 5850 has been out of stock for weeks now. Should I wait for it or use a cheaper replacement such as HD 4870 or the GTX 260? Also, would I need any extra cooling systems for the computer or is it fine like this? Lastly, can someone suggest a good sound card since I'll be getting some nice speakers.

Any comments are appreciated,

Thanks!

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Silver Home Brew badge hunter315   11-17-2009 at 12:45:54 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] k=F3%201TB
The F3 is faster than the 750GB caviar black, its out of stock right now but its only $5 more for a full TB of space.

The i5 uses dual channel memory so 2 sticks will perform better for you
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Also dont forget to combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.291936

As for the sound card, i would suggest you try without one, most people even with very nice speakers will never be able to tell the difference, if you are one of those people you can add one in at a later time but its still to spend $150 on a card that you may not even notice having.

Reply to hunter315
mortonww   11-17-2009 at 12:48:29 AM

I would replace that hard drive with this 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F3:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

With a single 500 GB platter, it'll be faster than that Western Digital which uses three 250 GB platters.

If you want to get something of similar performance to the 5850 but can't wait, grab a Sapphire 4850X2 Card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] Tpk=4850X2

If you're absolutely positive you won't overclock, then you won't need any aftermarket CPU cooler. If you want to get one just in case you change your mind, the common recommendations are the Cooler Master Hyper 212 and Xigmatek Dark Knight.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
(may have to buy $8 bracket set to get LGA 1156 mounts)

------------------------------ i7 920 @ 3.2 GHz w/Cooler Master V8,
OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600 MHz 8-8-8-24, Sapphire Radeon HD 4870X2,
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB, Corsair HX1000 Watt PSU,
Intel DX58SO, Cooler Master Storm Sniper mid-tower, Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
 Reply to mortonww
moopo   11-17-2009 at 01:04:46 AM

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll change the hard drive to the F3

@hunter315 : 2 sticks of ddr3 will perform better as in more efficient but will still be slower than 3 sticks? (I'm not sure if I phrased the question properly... haha). Thanks for mentioning the combo, I'll put that down.

@mortonww : I'm worried that the 4850X2 will be noisy and heats up. I guess I'll just wait for the 5850.

Reply to moopo
winterblade   11-17-2009 at 01:05:07 AM

IMHO if this machine is only for LIGHT gaming a Radeon HD 5850 is a little bit too much, you can save more than a hundred bucks going for a 4870, should play nice at 1900x1200 altough if you're planning for a future multi-monitor setup maybe the 5850 is indeed a good choice because it's eyefinity feature.
And about the audio card... only get one if you're a truly audiophile, otherwise you will not note any difference, save that money get the 4870 and buy a second monitor :D.
I'll stick with the WD HDD.
And finally, since you're gonna play movies, don't you think a nice BD-rom could be a nice investment??

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ Core i7 920
6GB Tri-channel 1333 MHz OCZ gold
Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB
500 GB WD Caviar GP
Reply to winterblade
winterblade   11-17-2009 at 01:08:48 AM

The reason why you shuold get the 2 stick bundle is because the P55 chipset works only in single and dual channel and not triple channel like the X58, in other words, if you're using socket LGA 1156 you need 2 sticks, and if you´re with LGA 1336 you'll need 3 sticks.

------------------------------ Core i7 920
6GB Tri-channel 1333 MHz OCZ gold
Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB
500 GB WD Caviar GP
Reply to winterblade
Silver Home Brew badge hunter315   11-17-2009 at 01:11:37 AM

If you use an odd number of sticks in a dual channel motherboard you only get the bandwidth of a single channel, if you use an even number of sticks the memory controller runs in dual channel mode giving you twice the bandwidth, so its best to stick with an even number of sticks.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to hunter315
moopo   11-17-2009 at 01:21:45 AM

winterblade wrote :

IMHO if this machine is only for LIGHT gaming a Radeon HD 5850 is a little bit too much, you can save more than a hundred bucks going for a 4870, should play nice at 1900x1200 altough if you're planning for a future multi-monitor setup maybe the 5850 is indeed a good choice because it's eyefinity feature.
And about the audio card... only get one if you're a truly audiophile, otherwise you will not note any difference, save that money get the 4870 and buy a second monitor :D.
I'll stick with the WD HDD.
And finally, since you're gonna play movies, don't you think a nice BD-rom could be a nice investment??



True, I'm really tempted to just grab the 4870 right now and save some money but I don't know how long this "light gaming" phase of mine will last. Also, from my understanding, the 5850 is substantially faster than the 4870; therefore I want to be prepared in case I ever go "hardcore" again. I guess I'll drop the sound card idea for now and the blue ray part is covered by my ps3.

Any reason in particular for sticking with the WD HDD?

thanks.

Reply to moopo
moopo   11-17-2009 at 01:22:35 AM

hunter315 wrote :

If you use an odd number of sticks in a dual channel motherboard you only get the bandwidth of a single channel, if you use an even number of sticks the memory controller runs in dual channel mode giving you twice the bandwidth, so its best to stick with an even number of sticks.



I see, so it'll either be 4gb or 8gb. I guess I'll stay with 4 for now.

thanks!

Reply to moopo
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