New Build, in need of opinions please

[su593ct]

Hello all, I am currently in the market for a new home built rig. I have two computers in mind however i would like to know if the performance difference and quality for the second constitutes the price difference (difference between a 1156 and a 1366). I will be using my computer for mainly gaming purposes, however regular everyday stuff will also be done. I am open to opinions on any of the selected pieces from any of the selected builds. I was also considering a XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 over the EVGA; benchmarks convinced me otherwise. As for ssd, not entirely needed but if it makes a significant upgrade i will not hesitate to include it.
Thank you all in advance!

Computer A:




COOLER MASTER HAF X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128425

EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

ZALMAN CNPS9900
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118054&cm_re=zalman_9900-_-35-118-054-_-Product

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204


Computer B:

COOLER MASTER HAF X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665

EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130549

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 Triple Channel\
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2K5 2.5" 40GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167030

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Same CPU fan and dvd drive.

ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound for both

 

[Griffolion]

You may as well wait till Sandy Bridge next year. They will provide better performance than current gen CPU platforms and will make sure you're on the latest platform from an upgrade point of view.

 

[sadams04]

+1 on waiting for Sandy Bridge. LGA1156 is "dead" and LGA1366 is toward its end-of-life. Buying either of these platforms now may limit your ability to upgrade the processor down the road.

A 40 GB SSD is pretty small for a boot drive. You will find it filling up pretty quickly and having to continually cleaning up / moving files. Check out the OCZ Agility 2 60GB...

 

[su593ct]

Is there an estimate as to when sandy bridge would be released? What will be price range for this cpu, would it be priced as the LGA1366 is today (290ish)? Also what are your thoughts on the gfx card? Is there some thing i should wait for as well, and if so what and when?

Thanks

 

[sadams04]

Historically, prices for SB will be in line with the current products and the current products will have a drop in price. SB release date is early Jan (4th or 5th).

I like the GTX 470, but would opt for either a GTX 460 or Radeon HD 6850. IMHO you get better performance for the dollar with those cards and consume less power (the GTX 470 is power hungry). You chose motherboards capable of multiple GPUs and adding a second 460 / 6850 later is a good setup if the single doesn't handle your gaming requirements.

 

[su593ct]

Is that expected date guaranteed, or speculation from some source? Yeah, i was originally thinking of getting a HD 6850, might look back at it and see. What is considered current products, what are they priced at? Are you referring to products ranging in the 400+ range or lower end like the 1366 cpu i chose?

Another question, how is this ssd technology with reference to reliability and performance; compared to a reg hd. Is it something i will continue to change every year, or will it last me a few?

Thanks all for the answers

 

[sadams04]

That is the actual release date... A lot of speculation still, but the assumption is that anything in the LGA1156 or LGA1366 platform will drop in price and its respective SB processor will takes its price mark. http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic157230.html

Reliability of an SSD should not be a big concern. The mean time to bypass is 1.5 million hours ). Performance is undeniable with an SSD. Below is from an OCZ Agility 2 60GB SSD. The read / write speed is about tripple a good platter HD. Investing in a good SSD now will easily be a 3 - 5 year investment. The common idea is making an SSD your boot drive and add a regular hard drive (1 or 2 TB) to install programs / store files. Upgrading your boot drive to an SSD is one of the best upgrades you WILL notice.
Sequential Access - Read: up to 285MB/s
Sequential Access - Write: up to 275MB/s
Power Consumption (Active): 2W
Power Consumption (Idle): 0.5W
MTBF:1,500,000 hours (thats 62,500 days if left on 24/7 by the way...)

 

[su593ct]

Alright thanks a lot for the info guys; i think i might as well just wait for the sandy bridge cpus to release; not too long from now and in the long run it will be well worth it from what ive read here and other places. I have heard of a new radeon series being released as well, soon; any dates thrown out there yet or price ranges as well? I keep hearing mixed things from several individuals; no clear consensus as to what direction to go in: EVGA GTX470 v. HD Radeon 6870.

 

[su593ct]

Computer B:

COOLER MASTER HAF X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225&cm_re=COOLER_MASTER_HAF_X-_-11-119-225-_-Product

ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665

OR

ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 Triple Channel\
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

OCZ_Agility_2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227542&cm_re=OCZ_Agility_2_60GB_SSD-_-20-227-542-_-Product

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

Alright i decided it would be pointless for me to wait, i am not one that will continue to upgrade every few months. I honestly just need a pc that can give me three to four years and i feel that this can do just that? What do you guys think of this build? Is there 750 psu needed, or can i stick with the 650 version?

I am still a bit stumped on the GFX card however, should i go with the reg GTX 470? the superclocked version? or something like the one mentioned below, as sadams04 had states that the 470 was really power hungry? All linked below:

EVGA GTX 470
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550

EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130549

XFX Radeon HD 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506

 

[sadams04]

I would still wait for the release of SB in a few weeks before buying these parts. Prices will drop...

WD Caviar Black - IHMO scratch that drive! Too high of a failure rate... Hitachi or Samsung.

MB => ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58

GPU => If you go the 470 route... The SuperClocked card is a reference board with a factory overclock. Save a little money and buy the reference card and OC yourself.

PSU => That Corsair will do you well!

 

[su593ct]

Will the 1155 outperform the 1366? i understand that it will be upgradeable and all but how well will it perform in reference to the 1366? Def wont be able to wait for 2011...

 

[sadams04]

They would be close in performance... Generally 1366 > 1155. 1366 has tripple channel memory vs dual with the 1155. 1155 also has less PCIe lanes for traffic.

 

[su593ct]

Alright, I decided to go with the Sapphire 5870; seems to be the best bang for the buck esp after the rebates (not the combo, just the card; still sticking to corsair ram). I just have one more question before i go ahead and buy this rig, again i thank you guys for the responses, been very helpful. I was recommended the following motherboard from a friend, told me it would be a better choice than the asus, what are your thoughts? He also states that that particular asus motherboard has certain issues i should watch out for.

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423


VS.

ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-131-641&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=3#scrollFullInfo


Again, thanks a lot for all the help, should be ordering soon

 

[sadams04]

Did he say what those issues were?

Those are both good boards! Can't really go wrong with either of them. Um... The Asus board shows support for DDR3 1600. The Gigabyte board goes from 1333 straight to 2000 (not a big deal). The internal NICs are different, but again... minor. Flip a coin! I like Asus only because I have a good personal history with their products. Have had good luck with Gigabyte also, but in lesser volume.

 

[su593ct]

Yeah, i dont think he had a valid reason. I feel as if though he just listened to some of the reviews on newegg. It seems someone always has an issue with something. What are your thoughts on the Sapphire 5870 btw, going for 279.99 after 30 instant rebate with also a $30 mib being offered as well. All benchmarks i have seen, seem to have the 5870 clearly topping the 470

 

[vibhas]

Mid range sandy bridge CPU's rival the i7 980X.....

For what... probably 1/4 of the cost?