First Time Builder

[almisson]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Sooner the better, but I'm willing to wait if there's some new technology that will come out soon (1-2 months) to drop the prices/change my current choices.

BUDGET RANGE: Prefer to keep it under 1000 after rebates, but I could stretch.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming - SC2, D3 when it comes out

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: None

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe in the future.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Low power/quiet are nice, but not necessary

Here's the build I've come up with so far and the reasons for picking each part (all newegg).

Case/OS Combo - $189.98 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437504.11-129-021
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Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Decent reviews on Newegg, 3 Fans
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM - Standard OS

Processor/Video Card Combo - $459.98 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.444063
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Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Tom's best value ~$200. Should run SC2 fine, can overclock in the future if needed.
HIS H585FN1GD Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 - Tom's best value for ~$290. Potentially crossfire in the future.

Memory/Mobo Combo - $244.98 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.469792
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EVGA P55 SLI 132-LF-E655-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Not too sure about this one. I basically picked it because it supported crossfire and was part of the combo with the memory.
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) - From what I've read on the intel website, the i5-750 only supports up to 1333.

PSU/HD Combo - $159.98 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.466027
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CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready - Great reviews, on sale, supports crossfire.
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Combo with power supply

DVD/CD Drive - $19.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
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ASUS Black Burner - Bulk - OEM - Cheap, good reviews.

Total: $1,074.91 (~1000 after MIRs)

Here are some of my outstanding questions:
1. Does the manufacturer of the video card make a huge difference?
2. Tom's article about the best gaming CPU says the i750 only has 16 PCIe lanes for graphics. Does this mean if I use two cards in crossfire that each will only get 8 lanes? Will this cause bottlenecks?

I'm open to any suggestions/help. Thanks a ton!

 

[MadAdmiral]

1.) Not really. It mainly just affects the warranty.

2.) Yes and no. The 8x/8x speeds will affect Crossfire, but it's not enough to really matter. It's something like a 4% decrease the last time I saw a comparision. It's not noticeable.

That said, I have some major changes to the build. To start, with your budget range, you should be looking at AMD. You'll get roughly the same CPU power at a cheaper price, allowing a bigger/better GPU. Also, you'll keep an upgrade path as Intel is ditching their current sockets by the end of the year.

Here's what I'd build (I'm double checking the combos):

Just noticed you need an OS. I'm working on the prices...

CPU/GPU: X4 955 and HD 5870 $520 (with $10 gift card)
Mobo/OS: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 and Windows 7 $215 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Eco 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $105
Case/Optical: Coolermaster 690 and cheap SATA DVD burner $73
HDD/PSU: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB and XFX 650W $130 after rebate. A much faster drive.

Total: $1,043 (with $10 gift card). You could drop the 5870 to an HD 5850 (there's an XFX one in a combo with the X4) to save $90 if that's too high. Another option if you really like the Antec 900 is to get this combo Antec 900 with Earthwatts 650W and cheap SATA DVD burner for $146 and drop the XFX PSU.

 

[almisson]

Thanks for the advice. Just a few questions around some of the choices and future overclocking.

- Any reason you chose that PSU and Mobo over cheaper alternatives?
- Do you have any advice on a cooler if I decide to overclock the CPU?
- If I ever need to overclock the graphics card, what sort of additional cooling will I need?

 

[MadAdmiral]

Those are two parts you don't want to skimp on quality with. If you get a low quality board or PSU, you would be risking losing a lot down the road.

The Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus and Sychte Mugen 2 Rev. B (SCMG-2100 I believe) are both excellent and cheap coolers.

Nothing really. The stock coolers on GPUs are pretty good.