Building New Computer need some feedback!

[dankeum]

College student here kinda on a budget looking to spend about 1600-1800 on a solid and somewhat future proof gaming computer since all i do is homework and game on the pc no console gaming for me haha. Somewhat new to the whole building thing built my first pc 3-4 years ago so my current rig is a bit out dated. Here is what i was thinking about getting.

New Gaming Rig:

CPU: Intel i5-750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

Mobo: Asus Maxiumus III Formula LGA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131482

Ram: G.skills 4gb(2x2) DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

GFX Card: ATI HD 5870 XXX or regular depends whichever is stocked at the time
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150456

PSU: PC Power and Cooling 750w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 or the 932 probably 932 extra work space wouldn't be bad.

HDD: WD Cavier Black 640gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

Heat Sink: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 compound
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

Thats it for now keyboard, mouse, and cd drive not really important i'll just buy whatever is cheap and works lol. But i was also looking at some other MOBO's that i see in other builds on the forums

Asus P7P55D Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131405

Gigabyte GA P55 UD4P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128400

would switching to either one of these other mobo's be better perf/price then the Maxiumus 3? i plan on OC"ing my CPU and with these i know they don't come with a sound card like the maximus 3 does so just curious to know how the stock sound does. Thanks again everyone and hope to see positive feedback haha.

 

[gkay09]

^ That is a good setup...but like you said you can get better price/ performance ratio with cheaper mobos(cheaper than that Rampage)...
I would suggest this mobo over those...
Supports even upcoming CPUs and USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s
ASUS P7P55D-E Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621

And some suggestions -

RAM - This will help you overclock higher...and is nearly the same price...
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231280

XFX HD 5870 in stock...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150443

PSU - Even the Corsair is as good as that PCP&S and is cheaper...
corsair 750TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

CPU cooler - Far better one actually
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=1156-_-35-103-065-_-Product

Thermal compound - The AS5 needs curring time...these would be good alternatives...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010110085%204024&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=N82E16835186020%2CN82E16835154003%2CN82E16835608008

HDD - For just $10 more you can get a fast 1TB HDD - Samsung F3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

 

[p55ibexpeak]

^ +1. To future proof, if there's such thing, you can't not have USB 3.0 & SATA III. Get the ASUS P7P55D-E Pro instead.

 

[evongugg]

The first and second drives are sold out. I suggest this:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $84.99 Free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

 

[banthracis]

Um for that budget you can totally go all out and get a SSD, xfire


CPU- the i5 $199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

Mobo-ASUS P7P55D-E Pro $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621

RAM- Personally I'd go with tight timing 7-7-7-21 Ripjaws @ 1333 for ease of OCing, but if you want get really high OC's then you're better off with the previously suggested ones. So figure ~$100 for RAM.

PSU- Corsair 750TX $89.99 after Mail in Rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

HSF - CM Hyper 212 Plus $29.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=1156-_-35-103-065-_-Product

HD's

Boot - Intel X-25M $249.99 free shipping
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=BA36252

Storage- Spinpoint F3 500gb. 1 tb ones have been sold out for like forever lol. $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&cm_re=spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-181-_-Product

Alternative if you feel that the the SSD is enough space for OS/Apps and games and just want media storage, you can get a nice 1.5 tb Caviar green. $109.99 about $0.07 per gb.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136351&cm_re=caviar_green-_-22-136-351-_-Product

Case- HAF 922 $99.88
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&cm_re=haf_922-_-11-119-197-_-Product

or Element G $99.99 after Rebates. Free Shipping
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4675290&Sku=T925-1321

I have both cases and prefer the Element G due to its extra fan, mounting for 2 SSD's and filters. No more duct taped SSD'S on the bottom of your case!

Thats $1014.92 so far assuming you get the X-25M and F3.

GPU
2x HD 5850 $319.99 each total $639.98. Free Shipping **it's in stock atm, dunno how long it'll last though**
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5271081&CatId=3669

Grand Total of $1654.9

Leaves your ~$150 In your budget for keyboard, mouse and CD drive. Honestly, drive wise anything from Sony, LG, or Liteon that's SATA will be fine. These days you use it to install OS and drivers and games, and that's about it. I use digital DL for games so yea, probably use that thing 3x a year after initial setup.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I wouldn't waste money on the SSD. It doesn't help you get additonal FPS. Better to save that cash or put it towards tuition...

I highly recommend the HAF and Samsung F3. I think it's worth a bit of a wait to get the 1 TB drive.

I'd also like to recommend some good 1333 mhz sticks, but mine are low voltage ones. G.Skill Eco DDR3 1333 CAS Latency 7 for $98.

I also wouldn't Crossfire the 58xx yet. You won't need that much firepower yet, and the prices will come down significantly once nVidia puts out their new cards or people stop buying all of them in hours.

 

[banthracis]

The addition of an SSD isn't for higher FPS, but in terms of performance its an order of magnitude better than traditional drives in most benchmarks. Not the measly 2-4% difference ppl will argue tons about.

Take random read, the most important benchmark in how fast and responsive a system feels.
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=22

An X-25M G2 is nearly 10,000% faster than a Velociraptor. That's like Pentium 2 vs an i7 level of difference.

The difference is in load times, boot times, and overall "feel" of fast response from the system.
I have an i7 rig using the F3 as a boot drive i don't use anymore. Technically the system is better than the i5 one I have now, but after getting used to the SSD every time I use the i7 system it's so slow I feel like there's something wrong.

Examples- boot time, SSD i5 system ~50 seconds from when I turn on power to when I'm gaming.
i7 ~3 minutes.

Load time
Dragon Age origins- ~3 sec load on SSD, ~8 sec load on F3.
Wow- load depends on where I load lol, but the SSD is about 3X faster.

Applications
I have photoshop, firefox, everest and word launch automatically at startup now. Doesn't increase boot time at all compared to waiting for desktop to load and just opening photo shop. Honestly you can open 30 apps at the same time and it'll load all of em simultaneously instead of 1 after the other.

so yea. SSD might not increase your FPS, but it makes you system overall boot and load a lot faster, feel more responsive and does your laundry and dishes.

Ok not, the last part but like I said, once you get used to a SSD, using any system w/o one just feels like its broken.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I'm not saying the SSD won't be faster, but are those extra seconds worth the $100+?

And I don't what you're booting up, but it only takes me maybe 45 seconds with Windows 7 and a F3...

 

[banthracis]

Well if he has the budget, then yes, the difference in feel is totally worth it.

Boot times aren't on a clean system. It's from when I press the power button, ie including the POST time, to when I'm playing WOW. In the process it includes loading Everest, Speedfan, CCC, Fraps, AVG, Threatfire, Riva Tuner, Word, Photoshop, firefox, itunes, steam, and a buncha other stuff I'm not remembering.

Obviously I won't recommend someone on a tight budget to get a SSD, but if you're spending $1800 on a system, then it's totally worth it.

The advantage is more than a few secs off boot times, it's the responsiveness of the system. A great example is driving around in a Ferrari vs a Camry. Sure driving around the block the Ferrari will only be a few seconds faster, and both will do turns and get you back, but the Ferrari is gonna feel a lot more responsive, turn tighter and accelerate faster.

In the same sense, the Ferrari is a lot more than the Camry, but is it worth it? If you have a $80,000 budget, might as well get the Ferrari right?

 

[dankeum]

Cool thanks for the prompt replies everyone. Well i'm in no hurry for Crossfire seeing as the HD5870 is still 400+ dollars. But Crossfire is definetly in the plans for the future. Umm SSD not really caring for since the 3% faster load times isn't much of a problem for me. Well heres what i have now and it significantly dropped my price down which was a huge plus for me haha.

Mobo: ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621

*is this basically just an upgrade over the ASUS P7P55D Pro??* there are no reviews so i am a bit skeptical about buying it i like to buy from reviews haha*

PSU: Corsair 750W TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

HDD: Samsung Spinpoint 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102

So with my set up still the same from the one above with these minor changes it comes to

$1530.00ish. The max was about 1800 just in case i needed a stronger Mobo, CPU, or GFX. But i'm sure i won't be needing anything for awhile.

Keep the feedback coming everyone i'm not buying parts for probably another week or so.

 

[p55ibexpeak]

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Hope you didn't miss that this time.

 

[gkay09]

^+1 SATA 6GB/s and USB 3.0...that is why I had suggested that in the 1st place...