Number Cruncher for {Video Ed, Avg. Games} - Finalizing Steps

[VidusDvD]

COMPUTER NAME: zenchan Finalizing
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: March 15, 2010
BUDGET RANGE: ~1600 before rebates, tax, shipping, etc.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: video editing/encoding, average gaming, compiling, "server" for home theater (XBOX), office

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor, keyboard, mouse, dvd-rw, tuner, card reader

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, amazon.com
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA, "Chicago Land"

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel i5/i7, Asus MOBO, ATI
DESIRED EXTRAS: Card Reader; Front Side Audio, USB, eSATA; good Headphone & Mic, 2.1 TV Speakers

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: +1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
■Quiet and cool machine.
■All fans should be completely off in shutdown mode, ACPI. (Current computer drives me nuts this way).
■Stepping stone into PC gaming, namely Oblivion, Prey, Spore, Ragnarok Online, TF2. (Hence ambivalence to OC and SLP/XF, low resolution and ATI card mininums.)
■I do home movie conversions (VHS tape). E.g. 6 hours of uncompressed AVI to h264, daily. (That currently takes 18 hours to crunch.)
■More USB is probably better. E.g. keyboard, mouse, printer, 2 gamepads, phone/pda charger, thumb drive, external hdd = 8 ports!
■Computer is hooked up to TV (via HDMI hopefully.)
■Not sure if I should bump up to Windows 7 Prof to Ultimate.
■Unsure of completely "find out till it's too late but it's so pissing me off" secondary factors like placement of the '\' key, front side ports, case arrangements, etc. (Sometimes '\' is to the left of Backspace, sometimes it's underneath it.)
■I have lots of experience with the insides, just never put one completely together by myself.

Thank you for any help.

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CPU
Intel i7 920 (on sale local)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=i7-920-_-19-115-202-_-Product
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727

MOBO
ASUS P6X58D Premium Intel X58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614&Tpk=p6x58d%20premium

RAM
G.Skill Pi Series 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

GPU
ATI HD ???
■greater than or equal too 3850
■HDMI out

HDD
SAMSUNG Spinpoint 1TB 7200 rpm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

PSU
Earthwatts 650W (case & psu combo)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345228

Case
Antec 300 Illusion (case & psu combo)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345228

Cooling
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus
■ will this be too big for the 18.30" x 8.10" x 18.00" case?

OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116758

Monitor
Toshiba 19AV600U 19" 790p LCD TV
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-19AV600U-19-Inch-Portable-Black/dp/B001TOD3HS

Mouse & Keyboard
Logitech MX518
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104178&Tpk=Logitech%20MX518

Saitek PZ30AU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175103&Tpk=Saitek%20PZ30AU

Extras
Hauppauge 1850 (white box)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116044&cm_re=Hauppauge_1850_white-_-15-116-044-_-Product

Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820816001&cm_re=Nipon_Labs_Delux_3.5_All_In_One-_-20-816-001-_-Product

??? DVD Burner
■Not sure on this but it's not too important.
■Cheap = loud.

 

[MadAdmiral]

You're asking for a lot of extras for a $1,000 budget. With everything you need, this is literally the best you can get in terms of the computer.

CPU/Mobo: X4 620 and Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $221
RAM: CL 7 1600 mhz Ripjaws $115
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $55
GPU: HD 5770 $65 after rebate
Case/PSU: Antec 300 Illusion and Earthwatts 650W $125
HSF/Optical: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus and cheap SATA DVD burner $45

Total: $580. Add on another $140 for the OS, and figure $75 for the keyboard and mouse, $50 for the capture card, and you'e got $185 left for the card reader, speakers, wireless card, etc. You may be lucky and have an extra $40 to up the CPU to an X4 925, but I doubt it. This will not be a powerful machine.

If you really want a powerful number cruncher, you need to spend at least $1,200 for the tower alone (no OS). The extras you're asking for will likely bring the total cost to around $1,500-1,600, if not more.

 

[VidusDvD]

I guess my suspicion for 1k to 1.5k was right. Let's see what take 2 brings up.

 

[MadAdmiral]

CPU: i7-920 $289
Mobo: Asus P6X58D Premium $310
RAM: G.Skill Pi Series 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $180
Rest is the same

Total: $1,023. So I guessed a little high on the cost of the tower. If you've got the extra $180 after everything else, I'd grab some more memory if you run memory eating programs, but it shouldn't be necessary.

As for all of the other parts, I really don't know too much about video capture cards and all of the extras you can get.

 

[VidusDvD]

OK final stretch. I did research and cross checked everything. Just two more issues:

Re: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212
The user reviews say that it's very big. My desired case is 18.30" x 8.10" x 18.00" and a review comments "very large - need a case with at least 8" diameter [emphasis mine]". Another complaint is that the fan (120 x 120 x 25 mm) covers some of his MOBO ram slots. Is the large size a nit pick or possible situation of it being too big to use? Should I try another fan for a newegg combo deal?

Re: GPU
Your post says "HD 5770" but it now links to "HD 4670". I can find ATI HD 5570 for $169 when your post says $69. Can you clarify?

Thank you so much for your help and being patient with me.

 

[coldsleep]

I don't know how anyone finds anything on the microcenter site. Every time I try to browse processors, it sends me over to a "Product Not Available" page.

You initially listed an i7-920 from microcenter which has typically been on in-store special for $200. Your link goes to an i7-860 at $230. Is that the price/processor you were looking at? The i7-860 doesn't use the same socket as the i7-920, so please be aware of that so that you don't buy an i7-860 and a socket 1366 motherboard and expect them to go together.

You should also check out the i7-930, which was just released, and is $10 more than the 920 at newegg, but I have no idea what it is at microcenter.

 

[VidusDvD]

You initially listed an i7-920 ...

You should also check out the i7-930, which was just released, and is $10 more than the 920 at newegg, but I have no idea what it is at microcenter.

Fixed the link. You may need to pick a location before it shows you stuff on the site. Anyways my choice then would be 920 local for $220 (tax incl) or 930 newegg for $295 (ship incl).

But I would like some clarify on my card and fan choice from people in the know.

 

[coldsleep]

I'm guessing he meant the 4670, as there's no way a 5770 is $70.

If you don't do a ton of gaming, that card should be ok. I'm guessing the recommendation is based on THG Best Graphics Cards for the Money February 2010.

If you have extra cash, and depending on your priorities, you should consider upgrading the graphics card (for gaming) or adding more memory (for editing/crunching).

I don't have any first-hand experience with the Hyper212, but I would expect it to fit in most mid-tower cases. I'm also a little skeptical of someone who posts a review that replaces the word "width" (or "depth" depending on how you want to look at it) with "diameter".

Again, please take this with a grain of salt, as I have no first-hand experience of that heatsink, but I would expect that unless you get memory with tall heatspreaders, you should be fine as far as the RAM slots go.

 

[VidusDvD]

Best answer selected by VidusDVD.