New to Intel any suggestions

[salvizures]

Hi I'm planning to put together a new system by the end of the week, but this will be my first Intel system i put together. The last system i put together was an AMD 3000+ so its been quite some time. This is everything i have bought so far, but i am more than willing to go back, and make adjustments wherever they are needed. This system will be mainly for gaming and i have no plans to overclock. My biggest concern is that i might have a single very strong or very weak component that will hinder the system as a whole. I will include the links to each item thanks so much for any suggestions you might have.

-Intel® Core i7 Processor 860
http://www.frys.com/product/5982744?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

-MSI P55-GD55 Intel 1156 P55 Motherboard
http://www.frys.com/product/6146349?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
(got this combo for $278 i am willing to change both the processor and the motherboard if needed)


-BFG GeForce® GTX 260 OC™ MAXCORE™
http://www.frys.com/product/6148579?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

-4GB Corsair (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz: 1.65V / 240-Pin / CL7-8-7-20
http://www.frys.com/product/6177629?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

-Cooler Master GX Series 650W Power Supply
http://www.frys.com/product/6159379?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

-WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK 500GB 7200RPM 32MB BUFFER SATA
http://www.frys.com/product/6102099?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

-Thermaltake Silent 1156 CPU Cooler
http://www.frys.com/product/6041728?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

-Mid tower case: Have not made up my mind but i was thinking just getting a basic $30-$60 mid case unless that's not recommended for this build

 

[MadAdmiral]

Might want to follow the guidelines. We really need a budget. I'll post a couple of builds below at around what I think is the price range. Judging by the few prices I see, I would stay with AMD. You can't beat them in performance for a price...

In general, that's not a good gaming build. The i7-860 is not a gaming CPU. The i5-750 would be a much better choice and would save money.

The board isn't exactly high quality. I'd take a look at the Asus P7P55D-E Pro.

The 260 is a waste of money right now. In fact, I'd say that about all nVidia's offerings. ATI's 5xxx series cards are going to be more powerful, cheaper, run cooler, and use les power.

I'd stay away from Coolermaster PSUs. They aren't exactly high quality.

WD is getting killed right now. The Seagate 7200.12 and Samsung Spinpoint F3 are both cheaper and faster.

If you're not overclocking, you don't need an aftermarket HSF.

So the total of what you linked to is $763, so I'm guessing a budget of $900 with the case. I'm double-checking the links and prices, but that should be about the best you can get for the budget...

CPU/GPU: X4 955 and HD 5870 $515 after rebate
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $105 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $110
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB $55
Case/PSU: Antec 900 and TruePower 750W $145 after rebate

Total: $930

If you need to save some more money, you can easily drop the CPU down a bit and not have a noticeable effect on gaming. Here's another good CPU/GPU combo: X4 635 and HD 5870

 

[salvizures]

I would prefer to go with Intel on my build whether it be an i5 or i7 doesn't matter to me. Also i had a very bad experience with ATI i would prefer to stay away from them basically Compatibility issues with the system causing blue screens day in day out until i changed to an NVidia card. My budget is about $1000 right now i might be able to squeeze that to $1100 max.

 

[MadAdmiral]

ATI's bad days are about 4 years in the past. Since AMD bought them, they're a new company. I'm dead serious when I say that nothing nVidia has that's under $360 competes with ATI, and even their high end offerings (GTX 470 at $360, 480 at $500) have serious questions about they're price, performance, and efficiency.

The 470 performs like the HD 5850 ($300) and the 480 performs like the 5870. Both cards use a massive amount of power (a single 480 uses more power than the HD 5970, a dual GPU card) and put off a ridiculous amount of heat. The power use is so high that I wouldn't recommend using anything under a 950W unit with either card. The heat is so crazy that to SLI them, you need to buy a massive case with huge amounts of airflow. All told, to get something that would perform similar to the HD 5870 (with Crossfire later), you'd need to spend an extra $250-350 now, which certainly wouldn't let you go with Intel.

With $1,000-$1,100 (assuming nothing else needed besides what's listed):

CPU/Mobo: i5-750 and Asus P7P55D-E Pro $345
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $110
GPU: HD 5870 $390
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $80
PSU/Case: Antec 900 and TruePower 750W $145 after rebates

Total: $1,070

 

[salvizures]

Thanks so much for all the info im defiantly going to return everything i bought, and start from the ground up. I'm going to go out on a lim (from my comfort zone) and give the new ATI a chance. Thanks for all the great suggestions, and i do think im going to go the route you suggested with the i5 processor.

 

[MadAdmiral]

You don't just have to take my word for it. Check out the benchmarks. Performance changes based on the games you're playing, so make sure to check to see if the ones you play a lot make the best use of whatever you choose.

 

[salvizures]

I just want to be as ready as possible for anything coming out in the future like Starcraft 2, Diablo 3. Ive been wanting to get into fallout, and call of duty but they don't run to smoothly on my 3000+ AMD, and 6500gt nvidia. I know this new build will be able to handle anything out right now but i don't want to have to build another one for at least another 4-5 years.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Either of the builds above would do that.