High End i7 Build

[nhardware]

Hey forum,

I have a budget of $2k, and I'm scrapping the old Mac (not an innuendo, I'm actually selling my Mac). So, with that $2k, I thought I'd come here, and ask for advice. I previously had posted on the Prebuilt forum, but I decided that I wanted to build my own. This build will be used for gaming and 3D rendering. I have roughly $400 dollars for the mouse, speakers, monitor, and keyboard. On to the specs...

Processor: An i7.

Motherboard: 3-way SLI should be a possibility. It should also be able to run Hackin(cough)tosh

RAM: 6GB sound alright?

Graphics Card: GTX 460 SLI? Or, something ATI. Just looking for max performance. DX11... Crysis maxed 60 FPS... The works.

Hard Drive: Meh, 1TB? Is SSD really an asset? Just need it to load faster than my XBOX.

Case: Anything big enough. Preferably no crazy-ass blinking lights!

Power Supply: It should work, and work well.

DVD Burner: Sure!

 

[Somebody_007]

let me trhow something together and see if you like it.

460gtx sli: 500

HDD: 80

ram 6gb: 180

mobo: 200-300

cpu: i7 950: 300

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112244&cm_re=lian_li_pc-_-11-112-244-_-Product or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163162&cm_re=silverstone_ft02-_-11-163-162-_-Product or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139002R&cm_re=corsair_700d-_-11-139-002R-_-Product all pretty exepensive but I think you just might find the looks worth it.

psu: If you are who I think you are go for an ax850: 180

Now let me ask what are you planning on doing with this pc? Are you planning on permanently running OS X or just sometimes. Because I would reccomend 2d surround but I doubt it'll work on OS X.

Let's assume you're going to be using win7 for gaming

screens: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052 a tripplet of these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823114004&cm_re=razer_lycosa-_-23-114-004-_-Product

and to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826153055&cm_re=razer_deathadder-_-26-153-055-_-Product match

For the rest I'd get

http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATH-AD700-Open-air-Audiophile-Headphones/dp/B000CMS0XU/ref=sr_1_5?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285366562&sr=8-5

http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Microphone-Zm-Mic1-Sensitivity-Headphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285366591&sr=8-6

http://www.amazon.com/Xonar-DX-Channels-Express-Interface/dp/B0017DJXG6/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285366615&sr=8-1

Hope I helped

 

[Twoboxer]

A starting point to consider, assuming your screen will be 24"-27" running at 1920 resolution.

- The case is large and majors on air flow, you can probably spend much less.
- Memory is minimum speed/timings, you could add a few bucks here if overclocking.
- Cooler is very good. Can save money and get adequate performance with some other models.
- Disk: The Samsung Spinpoint F3 1GB is fastest and cheaper if you want 1GB, or even to mount 2 of them for 2GB.
- Disk: An SSD is included, one of the faster SSDs available that has been high quality since its launch - could save money here as well.
- PSU is high quality, and plenty for this configuration. Can save money with non-modular Corsair (or Seasonic or Antec Earthwatts).
- Vid Cards - You could start with one 460 to save money, and see if you are happy. Most are. The second 460 could be added at any time. Vid cards from other manufacturers are certainly available, you can buy OC'd cards or buy stock and dial them up yourself if you wish.

1 Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930 Item #: N82E16819115225
$284.99

1 Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler Item #: N82E16835242001
$62.00

1 GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Item #: N82E16813128423
$199.99

1 G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7T-6GBPK Item #: N82E16820231230
$139.99

1 CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply Item #: N82E16817139010
$149.99 $10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card

2 GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card Item #: N82E16814125333
$439.98 $20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card

1 Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B Item #: N82E16827118039
$37.98

1 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders Item #: N82E16832116754
$99.99

1 Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822136456
$179.99

1 SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV02-BW Matte black 0.8mm Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case Item #: N82E16811163154
$159.99

$1,975.90 before MIRs, no combos looked for.

 

[nhardware]

Thank you both for your advice.

Somebody_007, I'd probably be using it for everything but gaming.

Twoboxer, what would you recommend otherwise, since I am planning to overclock? More RAM? Also, noob question, but what would be the difference between the 1GB 460 and the 2GB, gaming-wise? It's only about $60 more by my calculations.

 

[Somebody_007]

So you'll be using win7 for gaming right?

If you plan on overclocking you'll need faster ram.

The 460 can't make much use of 2gb. There will be a difference but it won't warrent the price. If you plan on heavy OCs however you might want to consider it because then the 460 can make more use of the amount of ram.

The problem is that in gaming GPU ram isn't that important as in some proffesional apps. Where you wouldn't overclock, so the 2gb cards aren't very much OC cards as this hawk can fly past a 5870 on stock cooling.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518&Tpk=460%20hawk

 

[nhardware]

So you'll be using win7 for gaming right?

If you plan on overclocking you'll need faster ram.

The 460 can't make much use of 2gb. There will be a difference but it won't warrent the price. If you plan on heavy OCs however you might want to consider it because then the 460 can make more use of the amount of ram.

The problem is that in gaming GPU ram isn't that important as in some proffesional apps. Where you wouldn't overclock, so the 2gb cards aren't very much OC cards as this hawk can fly past a 5870 on stock cooling.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518&Tpk=460%20hawk

I do plan on overclocking. I don't think I mentioned this perviously, but this is my first homebuilt rig. Can you suggest faster RAM?

 

[Somebody_007]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335&cm_re=g.skill_6gb-_-20-231-335-_-Product this is faster, but they are tall so might be in the way of some heatsinks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226121&cm_re=mushkin_6gb-_-20-226-121-_-Product this even faster and doesn't have these issues.

 

[Somebody_007]

For very heavy OCs you might also want to up the motherboard.

 

[nhardware]

For very heavy OCs you might also want to up the motherboard.

Overheating?

 

[Somebody_007]

Overheating?

That too but mostly just getting a very high stable overclock with respactable benefits.

 

[nhardware]

Best answer selected by NHardware.