Finalizing my i7 920 build

[presse1]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1 week from now
BUDGET RANGE: $2000-$2500
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Pretty much solely for gaming
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: need everything
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: best site I know of is newegg / willing to go anywhere, however, if quality, service, and price are good
PARTS PREFERENCES: none / looking for best performance for my money
OVERCLOCKING: Yes, absolutely
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: maybe
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 or >
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Willing to spend $2500 and possibly a little more if significant gains could be had for it. Looking to run graphic intensive games at max resolution and get the best possible performance from my system as a whole. This is, by the way, my first ever attempt to build a system.

-------------------

The main concerns I have will this build are:

1. The monitor, I have read mixed reviews on this monitor. Some love it, others say they have had nothing but problems. For 28" and 3ms it seems like a good price point.

2. The HAF 922 case combined with the Megahelems CPU Heatsink. I'm worried that the cooler will not fit in the HAF 922 case and whether I should go for a HAF 932 case instead?

Any help/suggestions for my build are greatly appreciated.


Monitor: 28" Hans-G $309.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254043

or

SAMSUNG ToC T240HD Rose-Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 10000:1 Built in DTV Tuner & Dolby Digital Surround Speakers $249.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001280


Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor $288.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202



ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $309.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614


G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335


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 $409.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102856


SSD X25-M G2 80 gb $289.95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6&cm_re=intel_x25-m_g2-_-20-167-016-_-Product


Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb $84.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...52185&cm_re=samsung_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product


Case HAF 922 and Coolmaster 700W Power Supply Combo $159.97 after MiR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.311576


Bay Converter $7.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product


Optical Drive Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R $25.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030


OS Win 7 Professional $64.95
http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx


Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242001&Tpk=megahalem

with

2 x Scythe DFS123812-3000 "ULTRA KAZE" 120 x 38 mm Case Fan $19.98 for both

 

[foolycooly]

this looks like a very strong build.

Is there a reason you want a 28" monitor? Will it be sitting far away from you?

That case/PSU combo is great, but you will likely be limiting yourself to the single 5870. You're ok with that?

 

[mavanhel]

Looks like a great build to me. I don't think there should be any worries about that HSF since the HAF 922 is the same size as most other full size towers. Another great cooler for about half the price is the Cooler Master Hyper 212, and that will fit in your case for sure. The 932 is just if you want some epic overkill. Just one thing to note, RAM prices have gone up today *tear* and your RAM is now listed at $179.99.

 

[presse1]

this looks like a very strong build.

Is there a reason you want a 28" monitor? Will it be sitting far away from you?

That case/PSU combo is great, but you will likely be limiting yourself to the single 5870. You're ok with that?

I'm ok with a single 5870 for now. I'm pretty sure I should be able to run pretty much any game out now max settings at 1920x1200 resolution. The main reason I'm not opting for the 5970 is that for 200-250 more $ I don't see that its entirely worth it for today's games. I don't really plan to run eyefinity or at resolutions > 1920x1200 and the 5870 can accomplish this exceptionally from the reviews I have read. I am still up in the air about whether to get a 5970 or a 5870.

As for the monitor, the main reason I have this monitor included in my build is that a 28" monitor for 300 $ seems like a very good price to me. I am actually more concerned with overall quality of the monitor and response time then anything else though. I would be perfectly happy with a 24" or possibly even as low as a 22" monitor that produced better quality with better response.

Any suggestions for quality monitors that are around or not much more than 300$ ?
I have heard this 700W PSU is a good one and it comes as a good deal as part of a combo with my HAF 922 case. If down the road I did want to crossfire a 2nd graphics card with the one I'm getting now would the 700 W PSU not be enough?

Thanks for the replies.

Edit: Another thing that concerns me about the monitor is that the quality of the speakers in it are said to be very low. If they are that bad I will have to buy speakers (and maybe a sound card?) in addition to my current build which will add expense.

 

[foolycooly]

newegg is still running their fantastic deal on what is (IMO) one of the best 24" monitors out there:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001280

I own one and can vouch for its outstanding picture quality. At $50 cheaper than your current selection, I think it will be perfect for your build. Others can chime in on this, but I believe 24" to be plenty of monitor for anyone not sitting across the room for their screen.

TBH, I am not sure what kind of power the 5870 draws, but with all of the other components you're sporting (as well as the possibility of an overclock), I wouldn't leave it all to 700w. Corsair makes some of the best PSUs out there and I wouldn't be shocked if it could handle two cards, but I would look to get at least an 850w model to be safe. That being said, I agree that one card should be sufficient for now, and that case/PSU combo no newegg is excellent.

Edit in response to your edit: the ToC that I linked comes with built-in speakers as well. I can't vouch for their quality since I use external speakers, but I hear some good things about them.

You shouldn't need a sound card. The onboard sound on today's mobos is quite good and no one but nitty audiophiles should really have any need to buy a card.

 

[presse1]

I like that monitor a lot, if I were to get it would I need to buy an HDMI cable to connect it to my video card?

 

[foolycooly]

no, it comes with a DVI port just like any other monitor. I wouldn't recommend using an HDMI cable unless you wanted to run a blu-ray player or ps3 on the monitor as a separate input.

 

[coldsleep]

Looking at the specs on newegg, it looks like it has lots of options:

Connectors: 15pin D-sub, DVI-D, HDMI, Component, DTV Tuner, Optical SPDIF Out

A DVI cable is likely to come with whatever graphics card you have.

I will say, however, if you are in the market for HDMI cables, just go to monoprice. Most short HDMI cables are under $10.

 

[presse1]

Yeah I thought if I used a hdmi cable I would get better graphics/sound from my monitor, but if I will get the same quality in games with a dvi cable i'll just stay with that because I really don't plan on watching blueray or anything like that on my monitor.

 

[presse1]

one quick question:

the SSD I picked supports TRIM right? (I have heard that this support is important in selection of a drive)