I7920 based build

[quicksetup]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: this week BUDGET RANGE: ($1000-$1500) Before / After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: (Multitasking, Non gamer, Running memory intensive programs simultaneously)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: ( keyboard, mouse,speakers, OS)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Will buy in my country. Please give me a general idea

PARTS PREFERENCES: Whatever you guys suggest

OVERCLOCKING:no

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (1920x1080, 1920x1080)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I already have a samsung p2350. I will add one more p2350 and so I need appropriate cards.

I liked the extreme enthusiast specs but

1. I dont require graphic cards at all Bare minimum would suffice. This is going to be a business, developer PC and

2. I would like to have 12gb of ram.

3. I dont need any bling.

4. 1tb hardisk and i7 920 would be cool.

I have not built computers at all. I know I need harddrive, motherboard, processor, ram.

5. No need for any fancy support. I have a good budget but I would love to save costs wherever possible. If I have to pay 50% premium for 10% more performance, I will not

Thank you.

 

[F1RST]

Non-Gamer isn't really my specialty, but you definitely need to go for a 930 instead of the older 920.

 

[hella-d]

You Could Get An AMD 6-Core For The Same Price That Will Actually Be Faster In Most Cases When It Comes To Multitasking, And You Wont Notice A Differance In Memory Bandwith And With An AMD Based Machine You Could Have Your Cake And Eat It Too. Use The Money You Save On A Cheaper Motherboard For Other More Important Things, You Can Get Lower Price Quality Motherboards If You Choose Wisely. And In General AMD Motherboards Are Cheaper With The Same General Features, And THAT Ladies And Gentleman Is Why I Prefer..... SUPRISE!!!!..... AMD.

 

[geofelt]

1) What is your country? Are all US parts available?

2) The i7-930 is probably the best right now. The higher clocked versions give you marginal improvement in performance with a hefty premium. The 930 currently costs the same as the 920.

3) Any basic X58 based motherboard will do, they all have plenty of the necessary features. More expensive ones are for maximum overclockers.
My short list of quality vendors would include ASUS, Gigabyte, and EVGA. If space is a premium, you could consider a micro-ATX motherboard and case.

4) I suggest you get your 12gb of ram in a 3 x 4gb kit. That will leave room for expansion if you might ever want to go to 24gb. The price premium for such 4gb modules has all but disappeared today. Go not pay much extra for faster ram or lower latencies. Synthetic benchmarks will show great benefits, but real application improvements are not noticeable. Think 1-2%. Check that the ram kit you select is supported by the motherboard. It should appear on the motherboard ram QVL list or on the ram vendor's configurator. You are looking for DDR3 of any speed or latency with a maximum voltage of 1.65.

5) Get windows-7 professional 64 bit. Home premium supports only 16gb maximum, and some day you may want 24gb.

6) How much active storage do you need? A solid state drive is the best performing device you can get today. If you have enough room for the OS, apps, and data then your system will fly. Use a 1tb drive for storage and backup.

7) The x58 chipset has no integrated graphics. Any pcie card will do. Something like a fanless GT210 will do. It will support two monitors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130541

8) One of my favorite cases is the Antec Solo. No bling, quiet, washable air filters.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129018

9) Any quality psu of 400w will do. My short list of quality units would incluce Corsair, Seasonic, PC P&C, and XFX.

10) If you will not overclock, the stock cooler is adequate. However, I would recommend a large tower type cooler with a slow turning 120mm fan. It will keep your system quieter under load, and if you ever wanted to overclock, you will have no issues with cooling.

11) If you ever need some computing boost, a simple change in the bios can safely increase the clock rate to that of the $900 975.

12) For keyboard/mice, go to a local store and see how different ones feel to you.

 

[The_OGS]

Hi,
Let me just say, I think you have the right idea with Socket1366.
The whole triple-channel memory setup provides outrageous bandwidth, and you don't even need to use super-fast memory.
Fast memory is just bonus, but really anything over 1333MHz is just overkill.
So:

i7 CPU
You know, i7-930 is the same price as i7-920 at my shop, so they don't even stock the 920 anymore...

Motherboard:
Gigabyte. Trust me; can't go wrong.
X58 chipset. ATX or microATX? mATX is best for most. Many cool 'cube' cases etc.
Latest models will have USB-3 and SATA-3.

Memory:
Intel triple-channel X58 motherboard also makes it easier to run 12GB RAM.
Triple-kits w/6GB are now common and affordable.
3 x 4GB sticks will cost you big; better to get 2 x 6GB kits.
Tom's Hardware has been impressed with Crucial memory, they have RAM with no heatsink that runs superbly.
Just get the 1333MHz - apparently this Crucial will run far faster, but you don't need it anyway.
See, I didn't know Crucial had some good sticks available - I was always scared off by their ValueRAM (just didn't like the sound of it).

Harddisk:
WD Caviar Black. Get 2 or 3, they're inexpensive.
Run two big ones in RAID1 (mirror), avoid RAID0.

Case:
Get a case that mounts a standard Power Supply Unit (but does not come with one).
I can get a gorgeous Silverstone mATX cube case, 100% hard-anodized aluminum, for around $80 bucks.
You might prefer an enormous tower! If you do, don't put a mATX mobo in it. (Faux pas.)
What else?

PSU:
I have i7-920 and a fairly sturdy vidcard that sucks power, and I run a 650W PSU with 3 x 12V rails, and Active Power Factor Correction of course.
Quality, not simply quantity, of power is important even if you're not a gamer.

Vidcard:
ATI has a good thing going with their multiple-monitor hookups.
Something like a HD-5670 would be great for you.
If you want more, get HD-5750.
If you want multiple monitors and therefore a vidcard, do not get a motherboard with onboard video. (Faux pas.)

What else?
If I was building a fancy new rig, I would put in a BluRay, WTF.
They will still burn DVDs and everything, so one will be all you need.
Hope this helps,
Regards

 

[geofelt]

You Could Get An AMD 6-Core For The Same Price That Will Actually Be Faster In Most Cases When It Comes To Multitasking, And You Wont Notice A Differance In Memory Bandwith And With An AMD Based Machine You Could Have Your Cake And Eat It Too. Use The Money You Save On A Cheaper Motherboard For Other More Important Things, You Can Get Lower Price Quality Motherboards If You Choose Wisely. And In General AMD Motherboards Are Cheaper With The Same General Features, And THAT Ladies And Gentleman Is Why I Prefer..... SUPRISE!!!!..... AMD.

I think you may be mistaken about the power of the 6 core AMD offerings vs. i7-930 when multitasking:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/07/19/intel-core-i7-970-review/5

 

[hella-d]

More Cores = More Multitasking, Simple Math; 6 Real Cores Vs. 4 Real Cores

Hmmmmmm........

I Rely On Experiance Not Benchmarks.

Allthough I Will Admit You ARE Correct....In A Way, In Individual Applications Possibly, Im Talking Mutitasking As A Whole.
He Wasnt Specific With His Definition Of Mutitasking.

No Disrespect Intended

 

[geofelt]

More Cores = More Multitasking, Simple Math; 6 Real Cores Vs. 4 Real Cores

Hmmmmmm........

I Rely On Experiance Not Benchmarks

No Disrespect Intended

4 cores + 4 hyperthreads = 8 tasks for more multitasking.

Admittedly, each hyperthread is worth about 1/3 of a core.

I have not actually run multitasked applications on a AMD 6 core CPU and have to rely on benchmarks.
I defer to your actual experience with such a comparison.

 

[hella-d]

Please Notice That My Post Was Edited Above.

 

[The_OGS]

I love AMD too, but for big RAM (12GB +) X58 is the way to go.
The hyperthreading works well, Windows sees 8 cores but I always turn it off for gaming, where more than 4 cores will go unused.
Actually the i3-530 is amazing, a little dual-core that thinks it's a quad-core, inexpensive, and performs like an AMD quad.
If he needs more cores, I was going to recommend an i7-970...
L8R

 

[quicksetup]

@AMD: I would pay a small premium and save compatibility issues. Can You suggest me a whole setup.


@geofelt

India. Yes they are available. Our home lines supply 220v instead of 110v. I am not sure how this will affect the setup. I will call the store and check availability.

2. Will buy 930

3. Thank You.

4. Awesome. Can You recommend me a brand ?

5. Will do.

6. SSD's are pricey. What kind of reallife benefit they offer ? Can I store few CPU hungry files in SSD and movies and stuff in the harddisk? Can I run files in a SSD and HDD simultaneously

7. I am not sure but I may go for 3 or 4 monitor setup in the future. Can I simply take this card out and replace it with something that supports 3 or 4 monitors.

8.-12: Will do.

Thank You very mcuh.

@ogs.

triple channel and 930.

I will see what kind of price difference exists between 2*6 and 3*4gb ram setup

RAID1 is something to consider definitely.

Thank You for everyting

No blu ray. I will save the buck.

 

[quicksetup]

Prices and models available here. This is not a definitive list but hey its a list

i7-930 / 2.8 GHz 8MB Cache, 4.8 GT's available $300


Available motherboards are below. Too bad no gigabyte
Intel DX58SO (X58) 2*16x, 8 Ch. S, L, F $250
Intel WX58BP 2*16x, 8 Ch. S, L, F $210
ASUS P6T 16x, 8 Ch. S, L, $320
ASUS P6T DELUXE V2 16x, 8 Ch. S, L, F $400
ASUS P6T WS SUPER 16x, 8 Ch. S, L, F $600
ASUS RAMPAGE-II-GENE 16x, 8 Ch. S, L, F $300
ASUS P6X58D-PREMIUM 16x, 8 Ch. S, L, F $420
MSI X58 Pro-E 3*16x, 8 Ch. S, L, F $220

memory

4gb transcend ddr3-13333 $75

Further more models will be available.

hard disk


Seagate 1 TB (32MB) $75
Champion Slim 8x RW / NO POWER 1975 Seagate 1.5 TB $105
LG Slim 8x RW / NO POWER - Seagate 2.0 TB $130



graphic cards

Intel DH55TC - 16x,S,L / Vga & H $100
Intel DH55HC - 16x,S,L / Vga & H $120
Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3 16x,S,L / Vga & H $150
Asus P7H55 16x, S, L,V, HDMi $110
Asus P7H55D-M-PRO 16x, S, L,V, HDMi $130
Asus P7H55D-M-EVO 16x, S, L,V, HDMi $160

cases
cm690 by coolermaster $100
stacker by collermaster $300
centurion 590 by collermaster $90

 

[geofelt]

Asus P6T would be my first pick of the listed motherboards.
The QVL supported ram for that motherboard includes
KINGSTON
KHX1600C9D3K3/12GX(XMP) Other similar kits should work also.

Your graphics cards list is a list of motherboards that support integrated graphics of the clarkdale duo cpu's. Not useable for a i7-930 system.

If you are looking for basic video card, something like a nvidia geforce 210 would be able to attach two sdisplays. It is not suitable for gaming.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130541

A SSD for the OS and apps is a good thing. It is much faster than a conventional hard disk. Your OS and apps will load much faster, and everything will feel snappier. Use a large drive for storage. The 80gb intel X25-M gen2 is a decent performer. But, wait if you can for the gen3 drives which will be faster, larger, and cheaper. Coming this fall.

 

[quicksetup]

Should I spend $400 for motherboard ?

Will there be huge difference in performance between the $210 intel and ASUs?



Can You please have a look at the catalogue here and suggest a good graphics card http://deltapage.com/

 

[geofelt]

Should I spend $400 for motherboard ?

Will there be huge difference in performance between the $210 intel and ASUs?



Can You please have a look at the catalogue here and suggest a good graphics card http://deltapage.com/

There will be no difference in performance. $400 motherboards are for enthusiasts looking for record level overclocks and quad video cards. A basic X58 motherboard will still overclock to any sane degree, and will have at least twoslots for dual graphics cards.

GT210 would be fine for two monitors without gaming capability. XFX, EVGA, ASUS are good. The cards are exactly the same reference cards as a rule. XFX and evga give better warranties, at least in the US.

GTX480 is top of the line and suitable for outstanding gaming at all resolutions.