New Rig

[venom831]

Hey guys.
I've built 12 PCs for personal and business use now as a hobby. I recently sold my newest desktop and purchased a macbook for mobile use..and well...I'm not digging the horrible performance from the MAC.

So..I've decided to build a budget PC. Normally i would just got out and buy the best...but this time it's gotta stay under $1000...and frankly, there is a lot more choices then 2 years ago, and I could use some help . Tell me which is better and why. It's either i5 or i7. My primary focuses are Gaming and Photoshop. I have roughly 8800 pictures to process, and I play FSX(i have over 75GB of add ons).

First is the i7:
Asus P6T X58 LGA 1366
Cooler Master HAF 922M ATX
Radeon HIS 5770 1GB GDDR5 IceQ 5
Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 7200rpm 16MB cache
Ultra X4 750W Modular PSU
4098MB Corsair XMS3 1333MHz
Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz ($189.99 at MicroCenter WOOT!)

Second is the i5:
Cooler Master HAF 922M ATX
Asus p55D-E Mobo LGA1156
Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 7200rpm 16MB cache
Radeon XFX 5830 1GB GDDR5
4098MB Corsair XMS3 1333MHz
Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz
Ultra X4 750W Modular PSU

So what do you guys think? I'll take all feedback and recommendations
Thanks,
Chris

 

[Lmeow]

I'd go for the first computer, although I'd change the motherboard to an ASUS P6X58D-E. Also, the HDD to a SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3, and you will need instead 6 GB (triple channel, 3x or 6x sticks of RAM), and instead of that PSU the Cooler Master Silent Pro M700.

 

[banthracis]

Fill out the form in the sticky please.

Resolution and games you use are important.

Offhand it's entirely doable to get a i7-930 + 5850 build for under $1000. Does require a few changes though.

i7-930 $190 microcenter
Ga-x58-UD3R $210 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423
G Skill Pi 1600 Cas 7 6gb $170 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335
OCZ 600w 80+ and Optical $72 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.418940
Antec 902 and 1TB 7200.12 $129 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.416550
xfx 5850 $287 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.422132

promo code MBTEN save $21

Comes out to $1,016 including shipping. Also have $20 in rebates if you wanna get it.

 

[venom831]

Best answer selected by Venom831.