1st time building a pc!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
A

aznice

Distinguished
Dec 14, 2009
8
0
18,510
Hi guys, this is my first time building a PC and im hoping for some help and feedback on the parts i have chosen. Its an i7 build where i hope to use for a long time through further upgrading etc. Many thanks for the help guys !

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Around 2 weeks time

BUDGET RANGE: $1500-$2000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Surfing the net, Watching movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Need most parts because starting from scratch! Been using a laptop before.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Ill be purchasing from Hong Kong computer stores, but ill base my price from newegg.com as it is most common and cheapest dealer ( i beleive HK prices will be cheaper than newegg.com)

OVERCLOCKING: Possible, but never done it before!

Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes in the near future.

At the moment the parts i have chosen that i beleive will suit my needs through alot of research and reading are:

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215&cm_re=i5-_-19-115-215-_-Product

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD6 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128410&cm_re=p55-_-13-128-410-_-Product

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102856&cm_re=sapphire_radeon_hd_5870-_-14-102-856-_-Product

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=spinpoint%20f3%201%20tb

Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe LightScribe Support - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118032&cm_re=sony_optiarc_black_24x-_-27-118-032-_-Product

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=corsair%20cmpsu%20750tx

Antec Nine Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058&Tpk=antec%20902

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Thats what im planning to buy for my pc, any thoughts and sugggestions on my current build would be very helpful. Thanks alot again.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
MadAdmiral

MadAdmiral

Splendid
Nov 11, 2009
6,998
0
26,960
[strike]It'd help if you fixed the links.[/strike] Nevermind.

Couple of suggestions. First, if you're gaming, the i5-750 is a much better choice. It outperforms the i7 in all the benchmarks and its cheaper. The i7 isn't really built for gaming, but more for multi-tasking and CPU intensive work.

If you do go with an i5, check out this mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P. It's cheaper, and supports USB 3.0 and SATA 6 GB/s, so it will be current for a long time.

To go with the i5, here's some good dual channel RAM: G.Skill Eco 1333 mhz CAS Latency 7. It's low voltage, but gives good performance.

Ditch the WD HDD for a Samsung Spinpoint F3. These are a lot faster and cheaper. The F3s could possibly be the best HDD out today.

You don't really need another fan. I have the 902 and it's plenty cool without the extra fans. If you're really worried about heat, pick up an aftermarket CPU cooler. The Coolermaster Hyper 212 is a good one that will work on pretty much every socket out today.

With these changes, you'll probably save a good $100-$200, and have a better gaming computer.

EDIT: Added links.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MadAdmiral

MadAdmiral

Splendid
Nov 11, 2009
6,998
0
26,960
Maybe outperforms is the wrong thing to call it. More like "outperforms when comparing price" or more like doesn't make a difference.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-gaming,2403-11.html

The key is the second to last paragraph, and this isn't a really good test. I couldn't find what I was really looking for, but test like this are all over the guides. Basically it comes down to the bottleneck. The GPUs aren't intense enough to really cause the i5/i7 to be the bottleneck of the systems, thus why spend the huge chunk of change to buy the i7 system when you're not getting anything more.

The reason for it is the i5 turbo settings. When only one core is being used, the CPU automatically shuts down the others and boosts the one doing the work. Thus, when gaming, you get a much better performance. Also, the i5 is actually newer than the i7s.

Also check the "Best Gaming CPU" article here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2466-5.html. Notice how everything above the i5 is "Beyond the Point of Reason". That's because there is no reason to go past it...

EDIT: Found a good comparision, but wish it was a chart: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts/compare,1398.html?prod%5B2617%5D=on&prod%5B2884%5D=on. Notice on the games (L4D, GTA 4, Far Cry 2), the i5 performed either better or similiarly. I could be wrong, but I think all of these were before the i5 was released, which means the turbo mode (mentioned above) was capped at 2.8 GHz (not th 3.2 GHz at retail). I'd say that's pretty much "outpreformed" for a CPU that's nearly $100 cheaper...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

aznice

Distinguished
Dec 14, 2009
8
0
18,510
Thanks alot for the quick reply! But im just wondering, will i5 be a good enough platform for a years to come? Im just worried that if i switch from i7 to i5 that few yrs down the road it wont be enough for newer and more hardcore games. The other problem concerning i5 is the 1156 socket and 4gb ram instead of 6gb. Will they be efficient enough in the years to come? Thanks alot again for the quick replies.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
vznoobie12

vznoobie12

Distinguished
Nov 10, 2009
145
0
18,710
Going with an i5 is totally future proof, just in a different context that you probably want to hear. True, going with an i5 is pretty much top-of-the-line for the p55 platform, save for maybe an i7 870. But really, an i5 will last you a good amount of years, with only probably needing to upgrade to a better video card down the line. So, no.. there's not much upgrade potential, but the running assumption is that if you get a high end machine now, you won't have to upgrade. You can just build a totally different/new machine down the line, far into the future when your i5 is extinct. The x58 platform will offer the ability to upgrade to a 6-cored cpu... but really, games at the moment are still catered to 2 cores, much less 4.

4 gb of ram is also good enough. Dual channel is pretty good ATM. IIRC, there isn't that much of a performance difference between that and triple channel anyways. If you wanted more RAM, most mobos offer 4 DIMM slots anyways.

My current build is actually almost identical to the one Mad suggested, except for the mobo and RAM. So needless to say, the man offers some fine suggestions :D. My only difference would be to go for a different mobo. This is a cheap mobo that uses dual x8 for crossfire, since you stated that you are interested in getting another gpu in the future.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138162&cm_re=t5_xe-_-13-138-162-_-Product

Of course, there are plenty of alternative mobos, just make sure you see "dual x8" or "x8/x8" somewhere to make the most out of a dual card setup.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

cory1234

Distinguished
Dec 26, 2005
628
0
19,010


If you want a future proof platform buy the i7 920. The i5 750 performs equal to the 920 in some gaming benchmarks because of a higher turbo frequency, but in any non-gaming situation the i7 wins because of hyper threading. (If you overclocking the 920 wins hands down.)

With your budget their is no reason to go with an i5. There is no upgrade path down the line for the 1156 socket. The i7 socket will get the i9s @ 32 nm, not to mention the 2 x16 full pci-e lanes.

If you want to save money the i5 is a good choice for the price, but if you live near a microcenter you can pick up a i7 920 for $200.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

aznice

Distinguished
Dec 14, 2009
8
0
18,510
Hey guys thanks alot again for the replies, i have changed my HDD and CPU cooler to what Mad has suggested, but i am still debating with the choice of i5/i7. IF i were to stay with i7 would there be any need for me to change mobo or ram? And thanks alot guys for the help, greatly appreciated.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
knucklepuck

knucklepuck

Distinguished
Dec 14, 2009
31
0
18,530


Yeah the i7 920 is LGA 1333, wheras the i5 is LGA 1156. You would need a mobo with LGA 1333, ASRock makes a great motherboard, I have one myself (X58 Deluxe).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MadAdmiral

MadAdmiral

Splendid
Nov 11, 2009
6,998
0
26,960
@OP: Maybe. The i7-860 runs on the same socket as the i5, but the higher end i7-920 runs on the LGA1333. There is (almost) no reason to go with the i7-860, as the only benefit would be hyperthreading, which doesn't help gaming performance.

If you go with the i7-920, you will also need to grab some triple channel memory (3 sticks) for the best performance. Stick with DDR3 1333 CAS 7 sticks, and it will probably cost $150-180.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

aznice

Distinguished
Dec 14, 2009
8
0
18,510
Hey darksupreme i cant find the ocz platinum in newegg, and guys i have updated my build after alot of revising that i5 would be a better platiform for my build. Hope you guys can give me feedback on my updated build. Thanks Alot.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom