-=- 1st Computer Build -=- i7 920

[bigbonthabeat]

After extensive research, I have decided on MOST of the parts for my new computer. This is what I'm going to buy:

Processor: Intel i7 920
Motherboard: ASUS P6T SE
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 DDR3 - 1600 (Timing: 8-8-8-24, Voltage 1.65)
HD: Seagate 7200 rpm 750 GM
2nd HD: Seagate 7200 80 GB
Moitor, keyboard and mouse: Already have


Does this look good so far? I plan on eventually overclocking to 3.0 GHZ.


Now all I need is:

-Power supply (Is 750 W good? Or should I go for 850 W?)
-Video card ( I don't play games...this PC is going to be stricly for music production so I just want something cheap)
-cooler ( Should I get one since I'm planning on mildly overclocking?)
-case (Don't have a clue where to start. I know I need ATX though)

I would GREATLY appreciate advice! thanks!

 

[htoonthura]

you do not need 750 W. a good 550 W psu from corsair is more than enough. you should get a dedicated graphic card even though you play no game. for 3 ghz oc, stock cooler is enough. case is up to you.

 

[dndhatcher]

The seagate 750 is going to be an old 250GB platter drive. The new 500GB platter drives are much faster. Look for a samsung F3 500GB or 1TB or seagate 7200.12 500GB or 1TB.

Dont even bother putting the old, slow 80GB drive in. it will only use power and slow things down.


For you a good quality 450W power supply would be enough, 550W would be plentiful. 750W is for two high end graphics cards. Corsair, Antec Earthwatts or OCZ Fatal1ty 550W would be great choices.


The cheapest ($30) graphics card that wont play any serious games (Nvidia 8400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130313

For an inexpensive card that would let you do some gaming if you felt like it there is the ATI 4670 ($70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/NewProduct.aspx?Item=N82E16814150450


If you overclock, you do want a CPU cooler. The Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus is only $30 and is a top performing cooler.


For a case you have many choices. If you want to spend a little extra to get a case designed to be quiet, the antec P183 is a good choice. If you are going to be in a hot room then you want a case with front, rear and top fans like the antec 300 illusion. If you dont need so many fans then the Antec Two hundred with a top and rear fan would be good. (Yes I am partial to Antec cases, but that is because they are a good price/performance/quality value).

 

[bigbonthabeat]

The seagate 750 is going to be an old 250GB platter drive. The new 500GB platter drives are much faster. Look for a samsung F3 500GB or 1TB or seagate 7200.12 500GB or 1TB.

Dont even bother putting the old, slow 80GB drive in. it will only use power and slow things down.


For you a good quality 450W power supply would be enough, 550W would be plentiful. 750W is for two high end graphics cards. Corsair, Antec Earthwatts or OCZ Fatal1ty 550W would be great choices.


The cheapest ($30) graphics card that wont play any serious games (Nvidia 8400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130313

For an inexpensive card that would let you do some gaming if you felt like it there is the ATI 4670 ($70)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/NewProduct.aspx?Item=N82E16814150450


If you overclock, you do want a CPU cooler. The Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus is only $30 and is a top performing cooler.


For a case you have many choices. If you want to spend a little extra to get a case designed to be quiet, the antec P183 is a good choice. If you are going to be in a hot room then you want a case with front, rear and top fans like the antec 300 illusion. If you dont need so many fans then the Antec Two hundred with a top and rear fan would be good. (Yes I am partial to Antec cases, but that is because they are a good price/performance/quality value).

Thanks for this awsome post

Where can I get more info about the 'platter drives' and all that? I don't really understand. The reason why I wanted an 80 GB HD (or maybe even less like 40 or 60 GB) is because I want to run Windows and my music program on the C drive and run my sounds from the D Drive. What do you recommend for this?

I've heard Corsair power supply is really good. So you think 550 W is plenty? How do you determine how much you need?

I want a case that will be cool, but not too loud either. It doesn't have to be quiet, I just don't want it excessively loud. Are there other options I can choose from just so I can get a broader idea of cases?

thanks!

 

[ubernoobie]

a corsair 620 is better because it's quieter but the 550 w is plenty too

 

[dndhatcher]

HDDS: Go into the articles section for hard drives and start reading. The hard drive manufacturers are aweful with giving out info. Probably because they knew no one would buy anything but the latest model if they could tell the difference.

PSU: Corsair is a very good PSU (and RAM) manufacturer. The first and easiest way to judge how much you need is to look at your grahics cards recommendations. To get more specific, there are numerous wattage calculators available on the internet. You do need to be sure to set the parameters for aging and load when you use them or you will underestimate.
http://www.antec.outervision.com/

CASE: Easiest thing to do is go to newegg.com and start looking at cases. Since buying my first antec case, I wont touch anything that doesnt have a top fan to exhaust hot air (hot air goes up, dont fight physics) and bottom mounted PSU (extra cables lie on the bottom out of the way instead of dangling in the airflow).

 

[bigbonthabeat]

HDDS: Go into the articles section for hard drives and start reading. The hard drive manufacturers are aweful with giving out info. Probably because they knew no one would buy anything but the latest model if they could tell the difference.

PSU: Corsair is a very good PSU (and RAM) manufacturer. The first and easiest way to judge how much you need is to look at your grahics cards recommendations. To get more specific, there are numerous wattage calculators available on the internet. You do need to be sure to set the parameters for aging and load when you use them or you will underestimate.
http://www.antec.outervision.com/

CASE: Easiest thing to do is go to newegg.com and start looking at cases. Since buying my first antec case, I wont touch anything that doesnt have a top fan to exhaust hot air (hot air goes up, dont fight physics) and bottom mounted PSU (extra cables lie on the bottom out of the way instead of dangling in the airflow).

I went to the website and calculated the W and it came out to be 790 Do you think I did something wrong? Here is a screen shot:

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Yes....3 PCI-16 cards ? Liquid Cooling ? 30% aging too big

Processor: Intel i7 920 - Great Choice
Motherboard: ASUS P6T SE - Good Choice
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 DDR3 - 1600 (Timing: 8-8-8-24, Voltage 1.65) - Overpiced
HD: Seagate 7200 rpm 750 GM - too old
2nd HD: Seagate 7200 80 GB - too old
Monitor, keyboard and mouse: Already have

Go to newegg site and hit computer hardware dropdown and lets drill down as follows:
Memory
Desktop memory
240 pin DDR3
DDR1600
6 GB (3 x 2GB)
CAS 7 latency

There'a nice set of Mushkin for $180ish......If that breaks budget, hit the back button and choose CAS8....Sort list on Best price and we find a set of OCZ w/ 8-8-8-24 for $119 and ya save $50

Hard drives : The WD Black 2 TB model has 500 GB platters but all other blacks have smaller ones. So if not going for 2 TB, only choices are Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 ...F3's a bit faster....7200's a lot quieter and cooler.

-Power supply - avoid judging PSU's on brand name or wattage alone. The most important criteria is "brand + series". Though the different lines may have same name on them each "line" is generally made by a different outside OEM. For example, the Antec SG series is amde by Delta.....the other lines by anothe rmanufacturer. The Antec SG (or CP) and Corsair HX lines represent the cream of the crop, next tier down is the Antec TP / Corsair TX.

I get about 500 watts from the stuff you selected....adding 20% cushion would put you at 600 watts

Looking here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_PSUs

the Editor's Choice options are:

Enermax Modu82+ 625W ($129)
Antec Signature SG-650 ($219) this would be my choice except for price.....my SG-850 is also $219!
Seasonic X-650 ($179)
Antec CP-850 ($124) - bigger than you need but top end Pu and bargain price.

Others I'd consider are TX-650 or 750 ($89) and TP-650 ($99)

-Video card - The 9800 GTX you picked should be fine

-cooler - Prolimatech Megahalems top notch cooler with extremely easy installation procedure. Add a Enermax PWM cluster fan (or 2)....newegg doesn't carry. reviews below

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=371&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=15
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

Can buy the stuff here:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8807/cpu-pro-01/Prolimatech_Megahalems_Rev_B_Intel_CPU_Heatsink_LGA_775_1156_1366_AM2_AM2_AM3_Hot_Item.html?tl=g40c14s757
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7038/thr-41/Innovation_Cooling_Diamond_7_Carat_Thermal_Compound_-_15_Grams.html
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7489/fan-437/Enermax_Cluster_120mm_x_25mm_LED_PWM_Fan_w_Twister_Bearing_Technology_-_White_UC-CL12.html?tl=g36c365s936

-case - Antec 900 / 902 or if you want room for expansion an Antec 1200. The Antec 1200 also fits the Antec CP-850 PSU which is an extreme bargain @ $124. Can turn LED's off if you wanna be more understated. If ya don't like Blue or the Antec styling, I'd say go for the red and HAF 922 / 932.

 

[bigbonthabeat]

-cooler - Prolimatech Megahalems top notch cooler with extremely easy installation procedure. Add a Enermax PWM cluster fan (or 2)....newegg doesn't carry. reviews below

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=371&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=15
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

Can buy the stuff here:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8807/cpu-pro-01/Prolimatech_Megahalems_Rev_B_Intel_CPU_Heatsink_LGA_775_1156_1366_AM2_AM2_AM3_Hot_Item.html?tl=g40c14s757
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7038/thr-41/Innovation_Cooling_Diamond_7_Carat_Thermal_Compound_-_15_Grams.html
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7489/fan-437/Enermax_Cluster_120mm_x_25mm_LED_PWM_Fan_w_Twister_Bearing_Technology_-_White_UC-CL12.html?tl=g36c365s936

-case - Antec 900 / 902 or if you want room for expansion an Antec 1200. The Antec 1200 also fits the Antec CP-850 PSU which is an extreme bargain @ $124. Can turn LED's off if you wanna be more understated. If ya don't like Blue or the Antec styling, I'd say go for the red and HAF 922 / 932.

Thanks for all your great suggestions!

...couple of questions

What is the point of the Innovation Cooling Diamond "7 Carat" Thermal Compound - 1.5 Grams & Enermax Cluster 120mm x 25mm LED PWM Fan w/ "Twister" Bearing Technology - White (UC-CL12) ? I don't really know what these items do.

And would you recommend the Antec 300's or Antec 200's ?

 

[bigbonthabeat]

And would you recommend the Antec 300's or Antec 200's ?

 

[bigbonthabeat]

Can anyone explain the point of the Innovation Cooling Diamond "7 Carat" Thermal Compound - 1.5 Grams & Enermax Cluster 120mm x 25mm LED PWM Fan w/ "Twister" Bearing Technology - White (UC-CL12) ?

And would anyone recommend the Antec 300 cases or Antec 200 cases ?

 

[tortnotes]

Hi,

Between the Antec cases, I personally prefer the Three Hundred... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
But the case decision is really up to you. All of these Antec cases are good options... choose which one you like the look of best.

As for the other things--The thermal compound is a replacement for the standard thermal paste that will come with your processor heatsink. Diamond-based pastes are supposed to have very good conductivity, but honestly, this system will run cool enough that your choice of thermal paste isn't terribly important. The diamond stuff sounds good. Lots of builders swear by Arctic Silver 5. I personally like AS Ceramique. Choose whichever you like--the results won't be significantly different.

As for the fan, it sounds like a nice 120mm model. The Three Hundred has a couple of mounting points in the front for additional fans. Some fans aren't regulated--power comes in, they spin at 100%, and that's the end of it. Others, called PWM fans, will connect to your motherboard and are controlled by it. When the inside of the case gets warmer, the fans will spin faster. When the case is cooler, the fans spin more slowly and quietly. Your motherboard should support a few of these fans.

 

[tortnotes]

Oh, by the way... you might also want to pick up a cleaning kit for your heatsink in case you need to remove or reapply thermal paste. You can also use certain other cleaners--Google it for some specific instructions.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Can anyone explain the point of the Innovation Cooling Diamond "7 Carat" Thermal Compound - 1.5 Grams & Enermax Cluster 120mm x 25mm LED PWM Fan w/ "Twister" Bearing Technology - White (UC-CL12) ?

And would anyone recommend the Antec 300 cases or Antec 200 cases ?

a

The Diamond 7 karat stuff is a thermal compound which is placed to insure solid contact ebtween the CPU and the cooler so as to provide optimal heat transfer.

the fans are used to blow air past the heat sink fins.

 

[dndhatcher]

The 300 illusion model is IMO the best value for inexpensive air-cooling with its 4 fans included. I compared the 300 and 200 at frys and the 200 seems a touch bigger so if you you dont want the front fans then the 200 is a better deal.