2200$ I7 Gaming build 1920x1200

How far are you sitting from the pc? If it's arm's length, get the smallest LCD out of the 3. It's your eyes that I'd be concerned about. If it's 6'+, get the biggest LCD.

The specs look fricking awesome. Don't listen random single user comments/nitpicking about parts. There WILL always be unhappy buyers. Maybe their expectations/standards are too high. Or their expertise is too little. They screw up and blame it on someone/something else. If you want reputable reviews, read 'em. Have you seen one that mentions crashes, gray lines, artefacts? These are possible symptoms of overheating in a small cramped mid tower stuck in a cheap-s office desk cabinet.

I'm sitting about an arm's length from the monitor. You're right then, the HANNS G might be too big, it's really huge from what I've read on the web. Too bad I don't know where I can see any of those monitors in a store around here.

As for the XFX 5870, it's this thread that scared me at first : http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1466677

Still, there's plenty people with no problem whatsoever.

I've also read a few posts about problems with some of Gigabyte's EX58 boards but then again....you find that with every manufacturers. I've owned a GA-P35-DS3L for 2 years now and going strong.

Thanks !

Only thing I would do is change to a Samsing F3 1TB or Seagate 7200.12 1TB HDD. The Caviar black 1TB is not using 500GB platters yet so its not as fast.

You might get a couple percent better performance out of Cas7 RAM instead of the Cas9 you have linked.

I would get a thermalright venemous its the new version of the Ultra and has been getting some ridiculous benchmarks

i'm no expert, but it would seem to me if you are spending 2000+ on a PC it would be worth ponying up for an SSD

@dndhatcher: NCIX and Newegg (in Canada) do not seem to have that particular 1TB Samsung HD. As for the Seagate is it this one you're referring to ? :
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=37232&vpn=ST3100...
It does have good reviews.


@Aloid: Nice, I wasn't aware that the Thermalright Venomous-X was the "evolution" of the Ultra 120 Extreme. I'll definitely look into that !! It doesn't come with any fans though but I guess any regular Yate loon 120mm fans would do the job ? I just hope it's gonna fit on the mobo/case and not interfere with the RAM slots :|

@KeithMoonsLive: I thought about it but I don't know much about these SSD's. What are the "good" SSD's which are not too expensive ? What's a good size/price for someone who uses his PC mainly for gaming ? I guess I'd install my OS on it + a few games ?


Also I managed to find a store which had the Asus VW266H LCD on display. It looks great imo ! Haven't seen any games on it but I like it ! It's prolly gonna be the winner ! =)

Thanks for your input guys ! Appreciated !  

OCZ Vertex 30GB SSD. I'd raid two in 0 and back up the whole thing to the TB drive just in case. That's if you can fit the budget.

Wouldn't it be better to use only one OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD to be able to use TRIM ?

Unless it is now supported in RAID 0 ?

That would cost about 275$ over here. I now the improvement in access time is great but I gotta think about it :|

If I were you I would get a motherboard with SATA 6GB/s and USB 3.0 for future-proofing. Just get a cheap hard drive for now, don't get an expensive SSD or SATA 6gbps hard drive. Soon Western Digital will release a 2TB SATA 6GB/s hard drive for way cheaper than the Seagate SATA 6GB/s
http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/16678/38/

and it won't be long until they have SATA 6GB/s SSDs. When they come out, they will be faster than the current SSDs, and people who just bought the old SSDs will be regretting it.
http://www.overclock.net/hardware-news/626840-pcper-sat...


You should definitely buy from newegg, they have some good deals.

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Hanns·G HH-281HPB Black 28" 3ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 400 cd/m2 DC 15000:1(800:1) Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...
This monitor is the newer version of the one you chose.

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8T-6GBRM - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

ASUS EAH5870/G/2DIS/1GD5/A 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.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...
The ASUS model of the 5870 is $20 less, and it comes with voltage tweaking and overclocking software, so you can easily overclock it WAY over the XFX clocks.

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1683...

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.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...
Grand Total:* $2,199.40

I think he's paying only 5% tax if he buys from outside of NCIX. He's in QC. If he buys from the eggs, he's paying 13% tax. What'd I do is to buy from ncix AFTER price matching at:

http://www.pricecanada.com/browse.php?cat_id=50&order=p...

Works like every time for in-stock items on both nicx & competitor's site.

@dns7950: You're probably right that investing in a SATA 6GB/s MOBO would be a better investment than buying an expensive but low storage SSD right now. You've also convinced me on the Asus GPU instead of XFX. Why pay more when I can easily o/c it myself ?

I googled the Asus board you mentionned. Seems like a good board, everyone's happy wit it.


@p55ibexpeak: Don't worry, I will buy from NCIX and pricematch almost every item using pricanada/shopbot ;-)

So here's my updated list so far :

CASE : Coolermaster Haf 922 Mid Tower ATX Case Black 5X5.25 5X3.5INT Front Audio USB eSATA No PSU

CPU : Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.66GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA1366 -SLBEJ-

MOBO : ASUS P6X58D Premium X58 ATX LGA1366 3PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFire SLI USB3.0 SATA 6GB/S Motherboard

GPU : ASUS Radeon HD 5870 850MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.8GHZ 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card

RAM: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Triple Channel Memory Kit

PSU : Corsair TX850W 850W CMPSU-850TX 12V 70A 24PIN ATX Active PFC 140M Fan Power Supply

OS : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT French DVD OEM

CPU Heatsink : Thermalright Venomous X 6 HeatPipes CPU Cooler LGA1366 1156 775 *Fan Not Included*

CPU Heatsink fans : Noctua NF-P12-1300 120MM Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan 1100-1300RPM 63-92M3/H 12.6-19.8DBA Molex
2 of these in a push/pull configuration for the CPU heatsink.

HDD : Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM

DVD : LG GH24NS50 24X Super Multi SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

Monitor : Asus VW266H 1920x1200


With pricematch, that would cost me around 2800-2900$

A bit more than expected but I think this rig can last me a while.

Since the Asus 5870 is backorder on NCIX I might buy it locally for about the same price. Just gotta call the store when they're opened to make sure they really have it in stock.

Thanks a lot for your feedback guys !  

Do you have a 5870 xxx card for sale at all? i'm looking for one!