First Desktop Build, Advice Please

[OKith]

Hello all. Its my first time on the site and im looking for advice with my first build. I have a general list of parts but the problem that i keep running into is what processor i should use. Now without further ado, the parts:

Intel Core i7 920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=core_i7_920-_-19-115-202-_-Product

P6T X58 1366 ATX Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365&cm_re=P6T_X58_1366_ATX_Motherboard-_-13-131-365-_-Product
(I'm pretty sure this is the one...)

GeForce GTX 260 OC MAXCORE 55 896MB GDDR3 PCIe 2.0 Graphics Card
http://www.amazon.com/BFG-GeForce-MAXCORE-Express-Graphics/dp/B0029D8D32

XMS3 6GB DDR3-1600 (PC-12800) CL8 Memory Kit (Three 2GB Memory Modules)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16820145222

TX750W 750 Watt ATX 12V Power Supply
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0273362

Deskstar 1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145287&Tpk=Deskstar%201TB%207200RPM%20SATA%20Hard%20Drive

22x DVD RW Burner with Dual/Double Layer Support OEM
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0293049

Cooler Master Sileo 500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119192
(Won at a Lan Party which started this whole build)

Ok that is about all that im thinking about purchasing. I know little to nothing really about building a computer and am depending on my friend to help me put everything togeter. The main problem is the choice between the Core i7 (being discotinued soon) and the less powerful Core i5. The computer will be used to replace the family computer (web browsing, light gaming, photoshop and illustrator).
Any help or tips?

 

[MadAdmiral]

The i7 isn't being discontinued soon. A new one is coming out soon. And both the i7 and i5 are probably overkill for what you're doing, depending on how much photoshop and illustrator are being used.

RAM: Corsair is overly expensive. For the same price (not counting the rebate), you can get faster G.Skill PI Series sticks.

PSU: You can save a bit by going with a different unit. OCZ has a great one for $55 (after rebate) on Newegg right now: StealthXStream 700W.

Mobo: For $20 more, you can get a more future proof board: Asus P6X58D Premium.

HDD: Don't get that HDD. Get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. If that's sold out, get a Seagate 7200.12 1 TB.

GPU: nVidia's cards aren't worth it right now. Get an HD 5770 for future proofing. It's a little lowe performance, but it's $30 cheaper, has DirectX 11 support, runs very quietly, stays very cool and uses only a little power.

 

[p55ibexpeak]

Wrong choice of cpu for your usage. You can get 920 or even a mutliplier unlocked *cough* Extreme Edition *cough* cpu, but you're wasting money on the cpu. Get the i5 from MC if it's $150.

Unless you elaborate on the games or kinds of games you play, an Athlon X2 will more than suffice. PS & Ill. both are 2D.

 

[banthracis]

Give us a budget and we'll work something out for you.

For your use honestly, no point getting anything more than a Phenom II.

 

[OKith]

The budget is $1,000 give or take $200. As far as the processor, I know that the 1156 socket is apparently not going to be around all that long, or at least that is the big question. I know that the 1366 motherboard is supposed to be around for quite some time. That includes apparently up to the new octo-core processors. I have also heard that the AM3 socket may not make it to the octo-core phase. I would like a board that is going to be able to last a while, and the mobo that you suggested was also a 1366, which is only core i7, right?
And the idea behind this computer as far as games would be that it is going to play newer games, and would like for it to be a gaming computer, for at last the most part. This is a change from what was said earlier, but it is the general purpose for this to be able to last a while. And the friend who is helping me build this wants to play crysis on it, so ya. And he is also the one who stole the keyboard, and typed this up.

 

[MadAdmiral]

If it's for gaming, then you should not be using the i7-920. You might not even be using Intel at all, depending on where all the prices land.

As for the AM3 socket not lasting, AMD has stated that the AM3 socket is their socket for a couple of years. The reason that it might not make it to the huge CPUs is that AMD is really far behind in developing compared to Intel.

So here's what I'd recommend if you absolutely have to have Intel:

CPU: i5-750 $200
Mobo: Asus P7P55D-E Pro $190
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $115
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $90
Optical: Cheapest SATA DVD burner you can find $24
PSU: OCZ StealthXStream 700W $55 after rebates. Might be in a combo with the optical on Newegg.
Case: HAF 922 $100
GPU: HD 5770 $160

Total: $934.

Here's my recommendation for best gaming performance:

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 $165
Mobo: Asus M4A79XTD EVO $110 after rebate
GPU: HD 5850 $300
Rest the same

Total: $959. If you get some combos and other deals, you might be able to squeeze in an HD 5870 into this build.

 

[OKith]

Thanks a lot Admiral. We both really like this build. The only problem is that we have to stick to the Sileo 500 case because we already own it. Won it at a Lan Party. Leaning more towards the Phenom now...

 

[MadAdmiral]

Forgot that part. In that case, you could fit the i5 and the 5870 into the same build. The total would be $974.

That case isn't that large, so you might want to figure out exactly how big of a video card you can fit in it. An easy way would be to just measure the space from the expansion slots to what ever is on the other side (HDD cage, front bezel, whatever). The 5850 is kind of long, so just double check what the case can fit.

 

[OKith]

If i did my measurements right, then there is about 8.5-9 inches behind the expansions slots. So i think im going to end up going for the 5770 and maybe crossfire/SLIing it if I end up wanting to with an i5, which looks good right now. Also will the power supply be big enough to handle at max the i5 with the crossfired/SLIed(not sure if there is a differece{newb}) HD 5770's.
Thanks for the Help.

 

[OKith]

Ok, one more quick question. What if instead of using the Phenom II X4, i use the Deneb? Another friend recomended it so I was wondering if it was worth looking into. Also, does it run both DDR2 and DDR3?

 

[MadAdmiral]

Crossfire and SLI are basically the same, but Crossfire is the term for ATI's cards and SLI is nVidia's.

Deneb refers to the core the CPU is built on. The 955 and 965 are built on the Deneb core (the full name is Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb).

It can use both DDR2 and DDR3, but you need to get an older motherboard to run DDR2. The boards that use DDR2 will say AM3/AM2+/AM2. Using DDR2 is not a good idea anymore. DDR2 is on its lat leg and is out of mainstream use. Pretty soon, it won't be easy to find. In addition, DDR3 and DDR2 cost about the same, so there isn't a reason to use DDR2.

 

[greatwhitewhale]

Would the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb have any down sides compared Phenom II X4 955? I mean, I found that they are just about the same price, even though Deneb has a lot more power.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I'm not sure what you're asking. The X4 955 BE Deneb is the same as the X4 955. It's just a shorter name for it. There isn't a non-Black Edition of the CPU.

The parts of the name is the series (Phenom II), number of cores (X4 for quad core), the model number (955), and the core (Deneb). The "Black Edition" refers to the fact that the multiplier is unlocked, allowing for very easy overclocking.

 

[greatwhitewhale]

Thanks for that, I was not sure of its code name.

 

[OKith]

Ive been throwing some things around and was wondering of what you thought of this second build and if it would all go together well.

Processor:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor – Retail
$165.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&cm_re=deneb-_-19-103-808-_-Product
Mother Board:
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402&cm_re=Asus_M4A79XTD_EVO-_-13-131-402-_-Product
RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8T-6GBRM - Retail
$179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231304&cm_re=G.Skill_Ripjaws-_-20-231-304-_-Product
HDD:
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=Samsung%20Spinpoint%20F3%201%20TB
Optical:
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM
$25.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188&cm_re=sata_dvd-_-27-151-188-_-Product
PSU:
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
$84.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019&cm_re=OCZ_StealthXStream_700W-_-17-341-019-_-Product
GPU:
DIAMOND 5850PE51G Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
$299.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103085&cm_re=hd_5850-_-14-103-085-_-Product

Total: $966.93

Tell me what you think.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Everything's good except that RAM is triple channel. You need to use dual channel (2x2 GB). The sticks are alright though.