Lynnfield i5-750 Needs Mobo, GPU, + PSU

[thebluecasket]

My friend is building a new system for about ~$1K, possibly more, so I'm helping out a bit.

There seem to be about 5000 socket 1156 motherboards, so any help choosing one would be appreciated.

Oh, and he'll probably be going 64-bit.

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Two weeks from now.

BUDGET RANGE: ~$1K, possibly more, especially if there's good reason.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Media, Internet, Coding

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard/Mouse, Monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Anywhere, but Newegg/Fry's is preferable.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: No preference.

PARTS PREFERENCES: None.

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

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Here's the rough of the parts we'd like to use.

CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215&Tpk=core%20i5
$199.99

Motherboard [NEEDED]: Need a compatible motherboard for the core i5, 4GBs of DDR3 RAM, etc.

GPU [NEEDED]: ATI or NVIDIA, it doesn't matter, so long as it's decently beefy.

PSU [NEEDED]: Needs to be powerful enough to power all the components and fit into an ATX Midtower (probably the Antec 300).

RAM: 6GBs of DDR3. Any suggestions

HDD: Probably a low-storage Western Digital Caviar Black or the like. He'll most likely use a 1TB external for his media. Suggestions?

Case: Probably an Antec 300 or the like.

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Any suggestions would be great.

 

[masterasia]

The p55 is dual channel. Why do you want 6 gigs of ram. You'll want 4 or 8.

This is a nice microATX board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131599

Otherwise I like this new Sabertooth series board by ASUS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131601

 

[thebluecasket]

The p55 is dual channel. Why do you want 6 gigs of ram. You'll want 4 or 8.

This is a nice microATX board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131599

Otherwise I like this new Sabertooth series board by ASUS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131601

I'm sort of out of the know as of late. I was up to date about 3-4 months ago, but now that the i5 has come out, and its motherboards, I'm lost.

What's wrong with having 2x3GBs sticks of RAM? Consider me a newbie again.

Oh, and we kinda just wanna go with regular ATX form-factor, not micro-ATX.

 

[masterasia]

Right now Ram only comes in 1, 2, and 4 gig sticks.

 

[thebluecasket]

Right now Ram only comes in 1, 2, and 4 gig sticks.

Whoops, I meant to write 3x2GB sticks.

 

[masterasia]

If you put 3 sticks in, one channel will have 4 gigs and the othe channel will have 2 gigs, thus defeating the purpose of dual channel ram. Your computer will run slower with uneven ram. the 3X2gig sets are for the X58 boards which have triple channel ram.

 

[thebluecasket]

If you put 3 sticks in, one channel will have 4 gigs and the othe channel will have 2 gigs, thus defeating the purpose of dual channel ram. Your computer will run slower with uneven ram. the 3X2gig sets are for the X58 boards which have triple channel ram.

Ahh, I see. I myself was putting together an X58 board with 6GBs of RAM a couple months ago, so that's why I didn't see the problem.

Thanks a bunch. So at least the RAM situation is knocked away...

 

[masterasia]

If you live near a Microcenter the i5 750 is $160 and i7 860 is $230

I just got these drives in, they are fast http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011016 Put 2 in raid-0 and you got your self one fast machine.

If you're not a Samsung fan, which most people aren't. Then the WD Blacks will be great. I have 5 of the WD Blacks 640 GB and they have been working great. But I gotta say, those Samsung SpinPoint F3 made me think twice about buying hard drives by WD.

 

[thebluecasket]

If you live near a Microcenter the i5 750 is $160 and i7 860 is $230

I just got these drives in, they are fast http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011016 Put 2 in raid-0 and you got your self one fast machine.

If you're not a Samsung fan, which most people aren't. Then the WD Blacks will be great. I have 5 of the WD Blacks 640 GB and they have been working great. But I gotta say, those Samsung SpinPoint F3 made me think twice about buying hard drives by WD.

Eh, my friend's got zero preference, but he probably doesn't want to fiddle with RAID.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You don't need those overpriced boards suggested above since you aren't looking for Crossfire/SLI. This board comes with an updated socket to avoid the problems of the first round of Foxconn socket problems. It also has USB 3 and SATA 3.

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $134.99

What resolution is he going to be gaming at? That is a huge deciding factor when picking a GPU. The new 5850's are very nice, but good luck finding one in stock. The 5770 will work well for lower resolutions.

SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $164.99

 

[masterasia]

Eh, my friend's got zero preference, but he probably doesn't want to fiddle with RAID.

Well, don't be scared of RAID. Windows 7 has great out of the box raid drivers. I've been using them on my last 3 builds and haven't had a problem yet.

Step1. Enable Raid in the bios
Step2. Choose the disks you want to be in the raid
Step3. Install Windows
Step4. Raid fails, you lose everything

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I agree with getting the Samsung F3 drive from ZipZoomFly, but I wouldn't mess with RAID if you're not comfortable with it. The drives are plenty fast without being in RAID.

 

[thebluecasket]

You don't need those overpriced boards suggested above since you aren't looking for Crossfire/SLI. This board comes with an updated socket to avoid the problems of the first round of Foxconn socket problems. It also has USB 3 and SATA 3.

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $134.99

What resolution is he going to be gaming at? That is a huge deciding factor when picking a GPU. The new 5850's are very nice, but good luck finding one in stock. The 5770 will work well for lower resolutions.

SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $164.99

He'll be gaming in HD. I should have made sure to mention that.

 

[thebluecasket]

Well, don't be scared of RAID. Windows 7 has great out of the box raid drivers. I've been using them on my last 3 builds and haven't had a problem yet.

Step1. Enable Raid in the bios
Step2. Choose the disks you want to be in the raid
Step3. Install Windows
Step4. Raid fails, you lose everything

Really? That sounds pretty nice, as I've always figured RAID was ridiculously tricky. Good to see Win 7 make it easier.

 

[sonic-boom]

PSU: for that 5770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003&cm_re=450w_power_supply-_-17-139-003-_-Product
If you want crossfire in the future you need a 650w, Corsair preferably.
About that Asus Sabertooth board recommended - If you are looking for a board in the $200 range it is the best. I couldn't be happier with mine.