Core i7 build $ 1500 Range

[htoonthura]

Hello there,

I am going to build a pc for gaming and solidworks. My budget is US $1500 including tax and everything.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within 2 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: $ 1500 including tax, shipping and after rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming and Solidworks

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Need everything except OS.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, frys.com, buy.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: INTEL, Gigabytes and Asus

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Below is my current parts list. I need to squeeze it into my budget. Can you help me?


Tentative list

1. Motherboard : 300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614

2. CPU : 200
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727

3. GPU : 405
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150443

4. PSU : 90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

5. CASE : 70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

6. HD (1.5 TB) : 115
http://www.frys.com/product/6002438?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

7. OPTICAL DRIVE : 28
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136168&CMP=AFC-C8Junction

8. CPU COOLER : 85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-018-_-Product

9. MONITOR : 312
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=208166510

10. KB : 7

11. MOUSE : 45

12. RAM (6GB) : 120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

I need to fit the total into $ 1500. Right now i am at $ 1777 before tax. Please take a look.

Thank you in advance.

 

[glaex]

monitor: 140, savings 172
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+23%22+Widescreen+Flat-Panel+LCD+Monitor+-+Black/9183224.p?id=1218049006792&skuId=9183224
heatsink 29, savings 57
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=212-_-35-103-065-_-Product
HD (smaller yet faster) 55 savings 60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395&cm_re=7200.12-_-22-148-395-_-Product

total savings 289
new total 1488

 

[p55ibexpeak]

High-end i7 gaming for $1500 is pushing it. I'd get the i5 for $150 at mc, P7P55D-E PRO & 2X2GB OCZ DDR3 and same everything else except for storage. I'd get a 500GB HDD for storage & a 30GB SSD for OS. This i5 rig will wipe the floor with your i7 HDD oldie. The only area the i7 wins is multimedia. Not worth the extra money IMO.

 

[htoonthura]

High-end i7 gaming for $1500 is pushing it. I'd get the i5 for $150 at mc, P7P55D-E PRO & 2X2GB OCZ DDR3 and same everything else except for storage. I'd get a 500GB HDD for storage & a 30GB SSD for OS. This i5 rig will wipe the floor with your i7 HDD oldie. The only area the i7 wins is multimedia. Not worth the extra money IMO.

it is likely that i will add second gpu in the near future. I do not think i5 platform is a good idea. What 30gb ssd is in your mind? i would probably get one. Also, i will need at least 1 TB storage.

 

[p55ibexpeak]

Vertex.

 

[htoonthura]

gettin a high end gaming pc with i7 for 1500 is quite a strain and you might lose out on important things like the gpu etc, my idea is to go with i5 and then put the extra money into ram and graphics, you will be surprised at how much faster it will be http://imagehoster911.co.cc/imgs/signature_YellowSmile.jpg

it is hard to stay within my budget but I need HT. i920 is cheaper than i8. I think i am going with 5850. and this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375

That would save me 230$. what do you think of that board. i want to have sata 6 and usb 3. if then i have to increase my budget. hard to decide. how important is sata 6 and usb3. how soon they become mainstay. do you think i can use expansion unit like pci card for sata6 and usb 3 later.

 

[blackhawk1928]

High-end i7 gaming for $1500 is pushing it. I'd get the i5 for $150 at mc, P7P55D-E PRO & 2X2GB OCZ DDR3 and same everything else except for storage. I'd get a 500GB HDD for storage & a 30GB SSD for OS. This i5 rig will wipe the floor with your i7 HDD oldie. The only area the i7 wins is multimedia. Not worth the extra money IMO.

Agreed, if you had 1500 liquid cash on just the hardware inside the computer then yes an i7 would be in the budget but seeing how you need all the external accessories for it and etc, an i5 would be a better choice for you. And to reply to your above post, htoontur, USB 3 will provide benefit to external hard drives that can support it, other then that nothing really as USB 2.0 is very universal and is faster then all external devices except for HDD's. SATA 3 will provide you absolutly no benefit, you dont even have an SSD...so SATA II will give you no benefit, your computer can't even make full use of sata 1. So sata 6GB's shouldn't be on your list of things to consider.

 

[htoonthura]

Agreed, if you had 1500 liquid cash on just the hardware inside the computer then yes an i7 would be in the budget but seeing how you need all the external accessories for it and etc, an i5 would be a better choice for you. And to reply to your above post, htoontur, USB 3 will provide benefit to external hard drives that can support it, other then that nothing really as USB 2.0 is very universal and is faster then all external devices except for HDD's. SATA 3 will provide you absolutly no benefit, you dont even have an SSD...so SATA II will give you no benefit, your computer can't even make full use of sata 1. So sata 6GB's shouldn't be on your list of things to consider.

If you are asked to cut the expense to fit my budget, where would you cut.

Thanks.

 

[cory1234]

You could easily cut $200 off your budget with an i5 build. There is no difference in performance if gaming is your main concern.

I would recommend getting a SSD also. I would get the Kingston 40gb drive that uses the intel controller or the 30gb vertex.

 

[blackhawk1928]

htoonthura, do you mean cut something from an i7 or i5 build? Tell me which way you are sure decided to go with and then i'll be able to zero in on things you can cut down on.

Edit: The first thing you can cut down on is the GPU, you are buying such a high end GPU for 1080p?...lower to a 5850, or a 57xx. Thats a start.

 

[htoonthura]

htoonthura, do you mean cut something from an i7 or i5 build? Tell me which way you are sure decided to go with and then i'll be able to zero in on things you can cut down on.

Edit: The first thing you can cut down on is the GPU, you are buying such a high end GPU for 1080p?...lower to a 5850, or a 57xx. Thats a start.

@ Blackhawk192,

i will go with i7920. i am ok with 5850. I am willing to cut as long as it fits into 1500 budget.

Thanks.

 

[blackhawk1928]

Alright, well I think you can safely get 5770, but if a 5850 fits the budget then get that.
-You aren't SLI-ing or Xfiring now, so get a 550-600watt PSU from coolermaster, corsair, seasonic or Antec, just find the one with the best price now, all of them are very good.

-You can get a regular Asus P6T, the one you have in your main post supports a USB 3 and Sata 6GB which both are pretty much useless to you and I am sure PCI-expansion cards will be out soon for both. SATA 6GB is of no use for you and unless you have an external hard drive that SUPPORTS it, then USB 3 is also useless so save like 50+ bucks and get the regular Asus P6T to something even cheaper.

-Unless you are overclocking your 920 to 10Ghz, that cooler is absolutly ridiculous, its good but way overkill for you and your budget. Get a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ or something of similar price range.

-You said you are playing on 1080P which is 1920x1080, but the monitor you are getting supports 1920x1200. You should get a smaller monitor maybe a 24'' or 23'' that has 1080p as native, it will look better and save you cash as non-native resolutions look like crap 99% of the time.

-Since Gaming is your main thing here, you can get cheaper 6GB ram, like obsidian series, they have higher cas timings but you will notice almost no difference.

Hopefully that will sqeeze into your budget.

BTw which OS are you going to run?...if its XP you can easily get 3GB of ram and if its vista/7 you should stick with 6GB.

 

[htoonthura]

Alright, well I think you can safely get 5770, but if a 5850 fits the budget then get that.
-You aren't SLI-ing or Xfiring now, so get a 550-600watt PSU from coolermaster, corsair, seasonic or Antec, just find the one with the best price now, all of them are very good.

-You can get a regular Asus P6T, the one you have in your main post supports a USB 3 and Sata 6GB which both are pretty much useless to you and I am sure PCI-expansion cards will be out soon for both. SATA 6GB is of no use for you and unless you have an external hard drive that SUPPORTS it, then USB 3 is also useless so save like 50+ bucks and get the regular Asus P6T to something even cheaper.

-Unless you are overclocking your 920 to 10Ghz, that cooler is absolutly ridiculous, its good but way overkill for you and your budget. Get a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ or something of similar price range.

-You said you are playing on 1080P which is 1920x1080, but the monitor you are getting supports 1920x1200. You should get a smaller monitor maybe a 24'' or 23'' that has 1080p as native, it will look better and save you cash as non-native resolutions look like crap 99% of the time.

-Since Gaming is your main thing here, you can get cheaper 6GB ram, like obsidian series, they have higher cas timings but you will notice almost no difference.

Hopefully that will sqeeze into your budget.

BTw which OS are you going to run?...if its XP you can easily get 3GB of ram and if its vista/7 you should stick with 6GB.

What do you think of this board ? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375

is it on par with asus p6t?

if i am getting 600w from corsair and do you think i can upgrade another powerful card (for example ati 6850) without changing psu as long as it is a single card solution?

can i crank up game resolution to match 1920x1200 native resolution?

Thank you for your time and help.

 

[blackhawk1928]

As long as you stay with a single card solution, a 550-650watt Power Supply will be more then enough. Corsair only makes psu's in x50 increments so its either a 550 or 650. Coolermaster makes normal 100watt incrememnts so you can get a 600. I personally suggest getting a Corsair 650TX, it might more then you need but it doesn't cost that much more and better be safe then sorry, a PSU is something you never slack on in quality.
And if you get a 5850, i think you can crank it to 1920x1200 no problem and acheive very high settings on most of todays games.

That motherboard is very good, its less expensive then the p6t but certainly no slouch, its Gigabyte which makes great boards. It supports everything you need and should suit your needs very well.

 

[htoonthura]

As long as you stay with a single card solution, a 550-650watt Power Supply will be more then enough. Corsair only makes psu's in x50 increments so its either a 550 or 650. Coolermaster makes normal 100watt incrememnts so you can get a 600. I personally suggest getting a Corsair 650TX, it might more then you need but it doesn't cost that much more and better be safe then sorry, a PSU is something you never slack on in quality.
And if you get a 5850, i think you can crank it to 1920x1200 no problem and acheive very high settings on most of todays games.

That motherboard is very good, its less expensive then the p6t but certainly no slouch, its Gigabyte which makes great boards. It supports everything you need and should suit your needs very well.

I know pretty much what i want now. I will focus deals on the parts i want. hopefully, i find a good deal in 2 weeks.

Thank you for your inputs.