First time builder, need advice

[BlasphemousMusic]

Hey all,


for 15 years I have been buying name brand (dell, gateway, HP, compaq..etc) computers and I have had to buy a new one far too many times. I want to build my own from now on. Cost is one but upgrading components is easier in a better system I think. Anyway, its what I have configured so far (from maximum PC's Dec 2009 $2000 gaming rig). Im trying to keep the price as low as possible, so I cut corners in a few places.




1. COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

2. EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188046

3. 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/Produc...82E16814102856
** I was going to get the 5970 but its out of stock and $200 more

4. CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-950TX 950W ATX12V v2.3/EPS12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139013

5. 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.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

6. CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

7. Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

8. SAMSUNG 24X DVD+R SATA 24x DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151193

9. Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116754

10. Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - Retail
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835207004

11. Sunbeam CR-LGA1366 LGA 1366 Core I7 Socket Retention Bracket Set - Retail
-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207005

This is what was suggested by a poster on the maximum PC comments after the post
(http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fea...009?page=0%2C2)

(about a few scrolls down in comments there is one that says "scratching my head at the choices" to which I based mine off)


Anyway, long long post short I wanted to know a few things. How easy would it be to build my own system. I am not at an expert level but not a novice either. Second, do I need to add anything to this? Like heatsink, or an extra component here or there? Any advice, guides, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[flabbergasted]

http://www.tomshardware.com/theme-build-your-own,156.html

 

[geofelt]

A couple of comments:

1) You have a 4gb kit of ram. The motherboard wants a 6gb kit.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145258
should do it. Don't pay more for faster ram or better timings, it is not worth it.

2) The psu is much stronger than needed. A corsair 750w unit with 4 pci-e power connectors would be sufficient for a second 5870 card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

3) you might want a tube of thermal compound like arctic silver-5 or MX-2.

It is easy enough to build it yourself. Download and read the manuals for the motherboard and the case in advance.

Take your time, and don't force anything.

---good luck---

 

[MadAdmiral]

More changes:

Mobo: If you can spend a little more, there's a good board with USB 3.0/SATA 6 GBps support: Asus P6X58D Premium for $300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614&Tpk=asus%20x58

Case/PSU: There's a great combo with the HAF 922 (a slightly smaller 932) and an OCZ StealthXStream 700W PSU for $100 after rebate on Newegg. I highly recommend this combo.

HDD: Ditch the WD and get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. It's cheaper and just plain better at everything.

Cooler: I really like the Coolermaster Hyper 212. It's cheap, and one of the best heatsink/fans out there. It also fits any socket.

RAM: Triple kit, as mentioned above.

Rest is good.

 

[BlasphemousMusic]

More changes:

Mobo: If you can spend a little more, there's a good board with USB 3.0/SATA 6 GBps support: Asus P6X58D Premium for $300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614&Tpk=asus%20x58

Case/PSU: There's a great combo with the HAF 922 (a slightly smaller 932) and an OCZ StealthXStream 700W PSU for $100 after rebate on Newegg. I highly recommend this combo.
HDD: Ditch the WD and get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. It's cheaper and just plain better at everything.

Cooler: I really like the Coolermaster Hyper 212. It's cheap, and one of the best heatsink/fans out there. It also fits any socket.

RAM: Triple kit, as mentioned above.

Rest is good.

Is this listed as a combo? I tried to look up just the case witha a combo of this and got these two
- COOLER MASTER UCP RS700-AAAAA3 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Power Supply - Retail

- COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 700 RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $139.99

 

[MadAdmiral]

This is the combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.314199

It's $150 before $50 of rebates.

 

[BlasphemousMusic]

Whats the difference between
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

They are both the same price but the f3 is out of stock

 

[MadAdmiral]

The F3 uses 500 GB platters, is newer, and is a lot faster.

 

[BlasphemousMusic]

1. Hard Drive - SAMSUNG 24x DVD Burner - Bulk SATA Model SH-S243N/ BEBE - OEM $30
2. Video Card - SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFire Supported $409.99
3. Heatsink - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $6.99
4. RAM - CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit TR3X6G1333C9 $164
5. MoBo - EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - $259
6. Proc - Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - $288.99
7. OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - $105
8. Cooling - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" $30
9. Case - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $150
9a. PSU - OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - $0 combo above
10. Hard Drive - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $85

total (without shipping) $1531.99

All ready have soundcard, speakers, monitor, mouse, and keyboard. This is from suggestions here and a little product review on my own. Is there anything else I need? I like mounting brackets, any other components I may be forgetting? I really was trying to keep this as cheap as possible but not sacrificing too much on parts. Basically this computer is a gaming rig ( I think about the only thing I play at the moment is WoW) but I want to keep my options open for newer games in the future that require a bit more. IS there anywhere I can maybe get a better combo, something that I could downgrade but at the same time not sacrifice too much? Again, I am extremely greatful for the advice before I make this purchase.

 

[MadAdmiral]

The 5870 is overkill for WoW. If your resolution is less than 1900x, it's overkill for everything.

For $1 more (with free shipping, after rebate), you can get these much better sticks of RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CAS Latency 7.

GPU: I think there's a combo with an HD 5850 and Windows 7 that will save you money, and not really affect anything you're doing.

Mobo: I don't think a triple PCIe slot board is necessary. For $50 more (which you can get from the decrease in the GPU), you can get the Asus P6X58D Premium, which has USB 3.0/SATA 6 GBps ports. This will be a lot more future proof.

 

[BlasphemousMusic]

ok I changed the mobo, vid card combo and ram. Brought it down to about 1461 or so. I think I can go with this set up. Yeah I know its overkill for WoW but I just wanted to actually run it at full settings for once with leaving room for newer games if I pick em up. Again, I thank you for your advice!

 

[BlasphemousMusic]

What about the Phenom II x4 965 vs the i7 920? The price range is pretty different, but how much different is performance?

 

[geofelt]

What about the Phenom II x4 965 vs the i7 920? The price range is pretty different, but how much different is performance?

It depends on what your workload is, but for a general idea, find each cpu on this chart:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html

If you are into overclocking, I think the 920 will overclock easier, and higher.