2010 $1500-2000 Gaming PC

itgl72

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Dec 2, 2002
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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within 2-3 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: Approximation $1500-$2000 but this is not set in stone nor does it need all be used.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Simulation flight and motorsports, photo and video editing, general computing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS Win7 Ultimate

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, tigerdirect.com, zipzoomfly.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: ATI for eyefinity, Intel for CPU

OVERCLOCKING: No, but never say never.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe, want the option to do so in the future.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 24 inch 1920x1080 but future may bring 2 more monitors for eyefinity.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: The video card I would like to have a decent warranty. I doubt anything has a warranty as good as BFG's for nvidia but something of a good warranty and customer service is a plus for me. Below are parts I currently have selected. I still need a good amount of ram for this system. Should I do 4, or 6? It's a Win7 64 bit OS I am planning to install. I am leaning i7 930 over i7 950 because it seems the price difference is too much for what you get back in performance. The Hard drive type is in question too. I want plenty of room, does the speed of these hard drivers out there matter enough to make the price what they are? Your evaluation of these parts and what I want to do would be appreciated.

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=850%20hx

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225&cm_re=i7-_-19-115-225-_-Product

XFX HD-587A-ZND9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB XXX Edition 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150456&Tpk=XFX%20HD-587A-ZND9%20Radeon%20HD%205870%20%28Cypress%20XT%29%201GB%20X

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423&Tpk=GIGABYTE%20GA-X58A-UD3R
 

tecmo34

Administrator
Moderator
1st... You can't get a better warranty than XFX's double lifetime warranty. Meaning the card is warrantied for life and if you sell the card to another person, they get the same warranty for life. No one else can match that deal!!

2nd... You are going with the i7-930, so I would go with 6GB and this is my choice of RAM... G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600

3rd... For your storage needs, I would look to go with a SSD for your OS and pick up a 1TB for your storage drive.
■OS/Apps: Kingston SSDNow V+ Series SNVP325-S2/64GB or Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB
■Storage: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB

4th... Don't forget a cheap DVD drive for your system. :D
 

banthracis

Distinguished
I'd recommend going 1156 and using a 5970. This is doable for ~$1550.

You won't be able to add a second 5970, but then again, you're not gonna need to anytime soon. Gaming companies won't be raising requirements until next gen consoles come out, 2014 earliest.



Full Build

Optical
Sony $22
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Case
922 $90 w/ $10 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

CPU/RAM
i7-860 and Ripjaw DDR3 1600 7-8-7-24 $383
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.365196

GPU
Gigabyte 5970 $700
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125303&cm_re=5970-_-14-125-303-_-Product

HSF/Floppy
Hyper 212 Plus and random Floppy $34
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.366504

They're paying you money to take the floppy... don't ask

PSU
Corsair 750TX $110 w/ $20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

HD
Spinpoint F3 1TB $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

MOBO
ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131620

no xfire, but like I explained earlier you wont need it. If you really want xfire 5970's you'll have to go 1366.

Comes out to $1583 before shipping and $30 MIRg

If you want to add SSD's, go 2 X25-V 40 gb in Raid 0. Intel (and only Intel) now supports TRIM for RAID 0 in win 7 for SSD's.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167025&Tpk=x25-v $115 each.

benchs for that setup
http://anandtech.com/show/3618/intel-x25v-in-raid0-faster-than-x25m-g2-for-250
 

itgl72

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The SSD have my mind going in circles. I know they are fast, but thats a lot of money for so little HD space. Whew... I dunno, I'm thinking about it. It's a tough pill to swallow I have to be honest.
 

itgl72

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Just ordered the case and power supply Still milling over some of the other options. The SSD for one, maybe I should bite the bullet and get the 120GB version. 80GB just seems so small to me.
 

itgl72

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Back to SSD. What form factor do I need to be looking at here? I just
got my cooler master case and power supply. I need to open them up
tomorrow and have a look around. Microcenter has the i7 930 for 199
local so I am going to pick one of those up. I sort have been dragging
my feet with the SSD situation.

I see form factors of 2.5" and 3.5". Will I need some adapter to make
it fit in the tower?

Been eyeing the Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SATA
II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) for roughly $230.

Or the...

Kingston SSDNow V+ Series SNVP325-S2/128GB 2.5" 128GB SATA II MLC
Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) for roughly $320.
 

itgl72

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Dec 2, 2002
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I'm a little confused on the memory. I've read good things about the G.SKILL memory but I think I might want to push the memory up to 8GB on this system.

So I need 3 sticks of ram to go into 3 channel mode. From reading the online manual for the board I want, the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R, I can stay in 3 channel mode even if I have 4 sticks? Just need to put it in the right slot to keep 3 channel mode going?

The ram suggested in the list above says DDR3 1600. But the website product page for this mother board says it supports DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules. This confuses me as I it seems to not be the right ram for this motherboard. However here: http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/FileList/MemorySupport/mb_memory_ga-x58a-ud3r.pdf it does show DDR3 1600.

Hmmm, this new memory setup (to me anyway) has me a little off balance. Need to research and learn a little more about it.
 

tecmo34

Administrator
Moderator
1) You can run triple channel with four sticks (pg16 of manual) You place two sticks in the first two slots next the the CPU and than every other slot.

2) I see no reason based on your needs to go above / use more than 6GB of RAM, so I wouldn't go with 8GB. If you find you need more later, just add 3 more RAM sticks.

3) Newegg can't post all of the supported RAM speeds so they are missed at times. If the official website shows support for DDR3 1600, it will support it. Your RAM selection is okay, so don't worry about. :)