First Gaming Build - $2100 Budget Need Help

[justsocool]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1-2 Months (Gathering parts nowish)

BUDGET RANGE: $2100ish after Taxes/Shipping

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard and Mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com or Tigerdirect.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: Typically anything would work. But I do have a preference for Asus or Sapphire.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes, Mildly. CROSSFIRE/SLI: Yes, in the future.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: I'd like anything in the 24-28 inch range with 1080p and at least one DVI/HDMI port.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'm currently trying to gather parts that's cheap, but also very high end as possible. I guess the phrase, "bang for buck" could be used here. I'd prefer Intel over AMD as HyperThreading sounds very good to me and the performance charts of i7's dominate AMD from what I've seen. I'm also on the fence about graphics card right now because the Sapphire 5870 Toxic 2gb has not been released yet as it was supposed to, and I'm also awaiting the Asus Matrix 5870. I'm a little open to Fermi but the door is nearly closing shut due to all the negativity about it. For now, in my parts list I'm just going to list the Sapphire Vapor-X 5870 until I decide.. Also, I'd like a case with a black interior, with room for big cards such as a 5970. I would also like a window. Not an Antec case because I've worked with one before and I do not like them. So for my parts..



CPU: Intel Core i7-930 $289.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225

Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D Premium $309.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614

Graphics: SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 5870 $449.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102872

RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 6GB $194.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226028

PSU: CORSAIR 850HX $174.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136544

CPU Cooler: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V $44.96
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

Case: Cooler Master Storm Sniper $149.99 (Probably will buy window separate.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194

OS: Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

Optical Drive: Asus CD/DVD Sata Burner $21.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Monitor: Samsung 27" Monitor 2ms $349.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001379


Total - $2176.86 before Taxes/Shipping.

Additional note: Not sure how long the sale is gonna be there but I do have a Microcenter 30 minutes away to potentially get the i7-930 for $199.99.

 

[shoosta]

Newegg.com has a nice combo that includes the same motherboard and cpu you have and a thermaltake powersupply 850W...saves you about 100 bucks

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.359249

Im building the exact same computer you have...but im using corsair dominator ram instead..and im on a 1800 budget so i ahd to leave out my monitor and use my hdtv instead =P

 

[gkay09]

^ Frankly spending that much money and not getting a SSD as a boot drive makes a high-end PC incomplete...
Some options to reduce cost...
1. RAM - Check these out...as good and cheaper...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226116
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148278
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

2. Mobo - Why not the trimmed down Gigabyte X58A-UD3R - would save about $100 easy ?
See if you will be using the so called premium features of the ASUS board and then decide...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%201070545356%201796849719&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=280%7C13%2D128%2D423%5E13%2D128%2D423%2DTS%2C13%2D128%2D422%5E13%2D128%2D422%2DTS%2C13%2D131%2D614%5E13%2D131%2D614%2DTS

3. PSU - Even a 750W PSU would do for HD 5870 crossfire...Some very good modular PSU options...
Silverstone 750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256059
XFX 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003

4. SSD options -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227394
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167023
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139133

5. Graphics card -
Check out the ASUS HD 5870 RED...though not factory overclocked, but can easily cross 900MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121374
Or Factory overclocked Powercolor HD 5870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131352

 

[justsocool]

These are answers/reasonings, and also sort of questions for anyone who can expand on my reasons. Thanks for the good responses.

1. On the RAM, I was actually thinking about getting the G.Skill ones, but I feared for the tall Heat Spreaders and G.Skill's reputation for not being reliable.

2. I was on the fence between the Asus P6X58D Premium and the EVGA 3-Way SLI board for a while. The main reason were the brands and the crossfire capabilities, (2 slots at x16), instead of 1 at x8 which the Gigabyte one I BELIEVE is. Although, I'm not quite too sure, because the explanation is slightly confusing. I went with Asus because of the future technology (Sata 6.0 and USB 3.0). Perhaps I might trim down to the EVGA 3-Way SLI board.

3. I was also going for 750W HX Corsair before I bumped up to 850W mainly for two reasons.. 850 is 80 plus silver and I was worried about having good effiency with an overclocked CPU and 2 5870's on a 750W unit. I thought it'd be pushing the limitations on full load.

4. If I could get the price down to below to 1900 in order to add an SSD. I will for sure do it. It's just not in my budget range and it has no effect on gaming performance. I do realize the loading/boot/system times are amazing, it's just not worth it for gaming just yet if it's not in my budget.

5. I don't want to overclock any graphics cards really. So factory overclock is a thing I'm looking for. Plus, the Vapor-X cooler from Sapphire is great from what I've read. Also, the self-overclocking Matrix 5870 that can increase performance really intrigues me. Both should be about 450 dollars initially so that's the route I'm going.

 

[gkay09]

1. AFAIK GSKillz are one of the high quality RAM manufacturers...I have not seen any grave issues related to them...
And as for the tall heat-spreaders, it depends on the CPU cooler that you will be using...

2. All the X58 boards offer 2 slots running @ x16 - even the Gigabyte...And also even they sport SATA 6GB/s and USB 3.0

3. 750W would suffice and also the ones that I had listed are also 80+ Silver and cheaper than the Corsair but equally good IMO...

4. With the changes that I had suggested, I think you can get the SSD in your budget...
And I dint suggest the SSD w.r.t gaming performance...but day-to-day activities - PC boot up, apps loading, level loading in games...I dont think you will be gaming 24X7 right ?

5. Well if you check the ATI's CCC, they provide you with the slider, just by using them, it overclocks the card to 900MHz without any issues. It is as simple as that.

 

[justsocool]

Going down to the XFX 750W PSU, G.Skill RAM, and Lancool PC-K62 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112239&Tpk=pc-k62 ) case instead of the Sniper brings me down to around 1880ish (not counting the Hard Drive price cause I'm getting it somewhere else through a different means). This allowed me to grab an Intel 80GB X25-M SSD to bring me up to 2100ish. So specs are:

Intel i7-930
Asus P6X58D Mobo
Asus 5870 Matrix 2GB (whenever it comes out)
G.Skill 6GB 1600 MHz CAS 7
XFX 750W PSU
Intel 80G SSD
WD 1 Terabyte HD
Asus Optical Drive
Xigmatek Dark Knight CPU Cooler
Lian Li Lancool Dragonlord PC-K62 Case
Windows 7
Samsung 24" Monitor

Total comes out to be $2110ish before Tax/Shipping.

Does that sound good? Opinions?

 

[justsocool]

Anyone? Any bottlenecking going on or something?

 

[gkay09]

^ That is a good build...
Check out this case too...
HAF 922 - A very good mid tower, which has enough space even for HD 5970...But even that Lian-Li is very good...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

 

[justsocool]

Major thing that I dislike about it is it is not a black interior. It just doesn't look good enough to me.

 

[gkay09]

^ Ya...the black interiors would have made it better...Stick with that Lian-Li...you cant go wrong with that one...

Here is another case but not sure if you would like it though...
Its a real value for money if you consider the Mail-In-Rebates...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058
It was also used in the SBM Dec 2009 and it turned out to be pretty good...