New Build $1400

[d00mbring3r]

I was thinking about throwing together a nice powerful gaming rig. Here is what I came up with and I would like to hear your thoughts. I have already have a nice corsair 750w Power Supply as well as OS Vista 64bit, 1TB of hard drive space. I just want to know if you agree with this build or should I deviate from it? My budget is sitting around $1400-1500.


CPU:

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W

Mobo:

ASUS Sabertooth X58

GPU:

Zotac 480 GTX

Case :

COOLER MASTER HAF 932

RAM :

240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1866 3GB

 

[JD13]

You will have to reactivate Vista with both a CPU & MB upgrade. There is a work around, but it is a bit tricky.
Consider an SSD drive. They are expensive but I think they are worth it. My system boots in seconds!
Why Vista? Everyone is going with Win7, besides Win 7 has everything that Vista has.
Make sure to get the system builder OS DVD; It's about half the price.

If it's for gaming, then you might benefit more from 2x 260's in SLI. I've read that you get more performance for about the same price.
I was thinking about going that route, but I don't do allot of PC gaming theses days....
If you do go SLI bump your PSU up to at least an 850 Watt.

 

[d00mbring3r]

I do have future plans for the build. This is just to tie me over intil I can SLI two 480's and ill be upgrading to 1000wats PS. As for sticking with vista its my personal choice and gotten use to it really. Im also looking to run everything on stock and no OC anything so I can run on Air not on Liquid Cooling.

 

[calguyhunk]

You can bump a 950 onto ~4-ish on air on a good board.

Anyways, 3 GB RAM just ain't good enough anymore for gaming, especially, if your Vista is 64 bit.

Fast 6GB ram - $140 Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 6GB (3 x 2GB) or if you want to go with Corsair - $155 CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB)

Don't buy your SSD now, even if you're planning to. With the newer, faster ones due out soon, prices are likely to fall.

There's no way you'll need a full tower. Get one of the younger siblings of the 932 the Mid-Tower $60 COOLER MASTER HAF 912 or at most the $90 COOLER MASTER HAF 922

If you're planning on Zotac - $410 ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi)

I prefer EVGA - $ 440 EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi)

Both comes with free Mafia 2. Don't get the overpriced ones with higher clocks. OC 'em at home if you have to or use 'em on stock. You won't really notice that much of a difference anyways.

 

[d00mbring3r]

That Coolermaster HAF 922 is a wonderful case. I must of overlooked it when I was browsing around on newegg. As I am a big fan of Corsair and always had good experiences with their products I think I might be leaning towards that ram.

 

[calguyhunk]

Great choices. Both the 922 & the XMS3 6GB RAM. If you're not planning on SLI'ing the 480 in the future, a 650 watt PSU from Corsair/Antec/Seasonic/XFX should be good enough. Choose a modular/non-mod one depending on your budget.

You can actually go with this combo to get a great full-tower case cheaper than the HAF 922 - i7 950 + Sabertooth + Antec P183

 

[d00mbring3r]

Matter of fact I think ill pickup a better power source now and just use my 750TX as a backup. Been looking at a few modular power supplys. Nothing has really stood apart from the rest of the crowd yet. Anybody got any suggestions on a power supply? Im looking around the 1000watt range.

 

[calguyhunk]

Oh! Yeah you already have a 750TX. Why would you need a 1000Watt PSU for? Are you planning on SLI'ng that 480. If you're not, then that 750 is gonna be more than good enough. Any good 650 watt one is plenty alright for a single 480.

If however you're looking at 1000 Watt ones, here are some choices -

$150 Antec CP-1000

$165 Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000

$120 -950 Watt Non Modular CORSAIR 950TX Power Supply - Best value IMO.

 

[d00mbring3r]

Would the 950TX supply ample power for two 480's?

 

[calguyhunk]

Yup. You need 'bout 70-80 odd amps for a 480 SLI system which a 80+ rated 950 Watt PSU should definitely have on it's +12V rail(s). Also, the TDP for the 480 is around 300 @ peak. So with the 130 W of the 950, you've still got 950 - (300X2 + 130) = 220 watts to play with for everything else which should be enough.

 

[d00mbring3r]

Alright then that is something ill look into buying.