I7-930 gaming pc

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dfield

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Everything with a rebate or sale in the next two days, gpu and the rest in 10 days
BUDGET RANGE: 1200USD After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, productivity (word processing, etc)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: OS, keyboard, mouse, moniter

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, amazon.com, and any other reliable online retailer
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:US
PARTS PREFERENCES: None

OVERCLOCKING: Yes
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: I will add a second card later, once gpu prices get lower

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I am planning to add a second graphics card and ssd drive in one or two years. Thus I want a mobo with SATA 3.0 (6Gb/s) and sli/crossfire support

i7-930
Already purchased from microcenter
$210

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
$210

XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029
$50

Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?cm_mmc=TomshardwareSBM-_-SystemBuilderEditorial-_-NA-_-NA&item=N82E16820148247
$170

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product
$70

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
$80 after rebate and discount

GPU
Some 5850, unless the GTX 460 ends up being nice. I'm waiting to buy this part until 10 days from now, since prices can only go down.
~$300

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?cm_mmc=TomshardwareSBM-_-SystemBuilderEditorial-_-NA-_-NA&item=N82E16811119137
$60 after rebate

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
$20

Current total: $1170
 
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dfield

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Well, the i7 was only $210 at microcenter. (I've already purchased it) So going with the i7 instead of the i5 only adds the cost of the extra stick of ram needed for triple channel memory.
I will be adding a second gpu later, but gpu prices are rather high right now, since nvidia doesn't have very many cards that can compete with ATI. I figure that in a year or two, I'll be able to get the second card for a better price.
 
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banthracis

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beerhelmet

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^ + 1

if priority is really with gaming try to skim $100 somewhere and pick up a 5870 at least
or since ur waiting 10 days for the GPU why not get a second job for a week?
my friend did that and earned an extra $400 for one week of sleepless nights
that could get u a 5970 ;)
 
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DoganMods

DoganMods

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Beerhelmet, a 5870 is just overkill, i have a 5650 Mobility, witch lets say isnt the best graphics going around. And on my laptop i can reach 45 fps on MW2 in Maxed out settings, at 1920 x 1200, so i dont see the need to go and blow alot of money on a 5870 when hes on a low budget.
 
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dfield

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I'll switch to the Cm Hyper 212 Plus, instead of the Dark Knight.
I think I'll stick with my current case though. The other ones are much more expensive, and Tom's Hardware did a build similar to mine in the COOLER MASTER RC-690, and it went well.

As for memory, I'm not sure. Will lower timings improve my the computer's performance for gaming?
 
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beerhelmet

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@DoganMods

true, but mw2 is not very heavy, graphics-wise
imo it really depends on where his priority is: heavy gaming = big 'ol card
light-medium gaming = 5770 is really the max u would need at this level
 
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Somebody_007

Somebody_007

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RAM doesn't improve gameplay. Paired with an ssd it will improve app startup times and it will improve overall proggram useage. But it doesn't really improve gaming.

And nvidia DOES make cards that compete with ati. The problem is people look at overall performance instead of the performance you need. Overall the 470 gtx gets an ass-kicking from the ati cards. But on medium res. such as yours with settings on highest it competes with the more expensive, larger and non-cuda or physx supporting 5870.
 
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fastx21

fastx21

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More or less everything looks fine but don't buy crucial memory. Try like the g.skill pi series cas7 6gb kit.

And I tend to agree you're better off with getting a i5 750 and a 5870 vs a i7930 and say a 5770. Yes 5870 is overkill by alot but it'll last him a few good years before needing to be crossfire'd.
 
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dfield

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The reason I am going with the 5850 instead of the 5870 is that the 5870 costs $400 right now, whereas if I purchase a 5850 now at $300, and then another later at the MRSP of $260, or less, I get much more graphics power for my dollar. The 5850 should be powerful enough for me for the time between now and when I upgrade to crossfire.
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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I'd get this MoBo instead for $20 more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

Would suggest the 1st place finisher in the link below ..... Prolimatech Megahalams at $65 or of budget conscious the 3rd place Scythe 2100 $34

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=492&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=4
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=432&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=21
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=432&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=23

RAM - If spending $170 for CAS 9 DDR3-1333, why not move up to DRR3-1600 for an easy 4.2 GHz overclock:

CAS 6 DDR3-1600 $ 215 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226121
CAS 7 DDR3-1600 $185 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227506

I'd grab a 650 watter (Antec EA-650 or Corsair TX650) for 1 GFX card and OC and an 850 for twin GFX and OC

For comparison purposes , the list below contains performance ratings (10 scale) at jonnyguru.com / prices as per newegg on 02/21/2010 and ones w/ double asterisks (**) made it onto silentpcreview.com's Editor's Choice List meaning they excelled at both electronic and acoustic performance:

Antec SG-850 - 10.0 ($220) **
Antec CP-850 - 10.0 ($110) ** requires Antec 1200, P183, P193 or upcoming Dark Fleet series case
XFX 850W Black Edition 10.0 ($185)
Corsair HX850 850W - 10.0 ($180)

Antec TruePower Quattro (TPQ-850) - 9.5 ($150)
Corsair TX850 - 9.5 ($140)
Seasonic M12D 850W - 9.5 (NLA) **
NorthQ Giant Connector 850W - 9.5 (NFS)
Etasis ET850 - 9.5 (NLA)
Silverstone Zeus ST85ZF - 9.5 (NLA)

Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W - 9.0 ($250)

I'd up the case to an Antec 900/902 or HAF 922 as a minimum ... HAF is only $30 more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

GPU - The 470 is comparable to the 5850....following is list of cards and corresponding cost in Dollars per Frame in DX11 @ 1920 x 1200, hi settings

ATI 5970 11.93
nVidi 480 10.01
nVidia 470 9.08
ATI 5870 10.59
ATI 5850 9.19

This one comes with a free DVD burner which puts the price at about $325 (8.43 dollars per frame) after accounting for the burner to the $310 for a 5850 from a decent brand.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121372






 
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banthracis

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I'm not sure of what sort of reputation that review site has, but based on both Tom's Hardware, and Anandtech's anaylsis, the 470 is slightly better performing than the 5850, and the 480 slightly better than the 5870, but neither were worth their price premium. This was at MSRP which both the 470 and 480 are currently above.

From Tom's
What about the bad? Well, getting your feet in the door here costs $350. A flagship GeForce GTX 480 runs $500. Radeon HD 5850s recently dropped back down to $300 and Radeon HD 5870s can be found around $400. Though the GeForce cards are faster than their single-GPU competition, the premium is hard to swallow
Click to expand...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-480,2585-16.html

From Anandtech
Moving on, we have the GTX 470 to discuss. It’s not NVIDIA’s headliner so it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. With a price right between the 5850 and 5870, it delivers performance right where you’d expect it to be. At 5-10% slower than the 5870 on average, it’s actually a straightforward value proposition: you get 90-95% of the performance for around 87% of the price. It’s not a huge bargain, but it’s competitively priced against the 5870. Against the 5850 this is less true where it’s a mere 2-8% faster
Click to expand...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2977/nvidia-s-geforce-gtx-480-and-gtx-470-6-months-late-was-it-worth-the-wait-/20

Both these sites are well respected in the industry, especially anand who many companies actually consult for advice and changes to preproduction products before release.
 
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Somebody_007

Somebody_007

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But that is overall you should look at specific performance!!! The 5850 is a better buy overall but the 470 kicks as with tess on AAx4 and res 1920X1200. Which is what it will be used for. The nvidia cards perform badly on multiple monitors but on single relatively large monitors they win.
 
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dfield

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Well, Tom's Hardware's graphic card roundup says that that anything above the 5850 isn't good value, (other than 2 5850's in crossfire) and that the 5850 gives exceptional performance at 1200x1920.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-radeon-hd-5870-geforce-gtx-480,2621.html
My main concern is that the 5850 won't scale well, when I put it in crossfire later on. But scaling issues for ATI cards seem to mainly afflict 1600x2560 screens.
 
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