My first build

[elkaiserr]

Hello people, I would like to know your opinion about the final list of parts for my first build. One of the things I am not so sure about is the RAM I should get so please tell me what you think.

All the components prices are from amazon.

CPU: Core i7-930 $290

Mobo: ASUS P6X58D-E $223

RAM: 6 Gb 1600 DDR3 (I am between four brands: Patriot, G.Skill, Corsair and Mushkin.)
These are the links to the RAM:
1) http://www.amazon.com/Patriot-PVT36G1600ELK-Extreme-Performance-PC3-12800/dp/B001JQLHOW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1292188399&sr=1-1
2) http://www.amazon.com/Patriot-PC3-12800-9-9-9-24-Enhanced-PV736G1600ELK/dp/B003WUX2XM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1292188438&sr=8-1-catcorr
3) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002X59ARO/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=
4) http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-TR3X6G1600C8-PC3-12800-1600Mhz-240-pin/dp/B001VNMSEQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1292188785&sr=1-3
5) http://www.amazon.com/Mushkin-Enhanced-Blackline-Frostbyte-998681/dp/B0020ZRA2E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1292188843&sr=1-4
6) http://www.amazon.com/Mushkin-Enhanced-Blackline-Ridgeback-998827/dp/B003TSTDM6/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1292188843&sr=1-9

GPU: EVGA GTX 460 SLI $400 ($200 x 2)

CPU Cooler: Noctua Nh-D14 $80

HDD: Samsung 1 Tb Spinpoint 7200 Rpm $64

Optical drive: Samsung DVD-RW Drive $31

PSU: Corsair 750HX $140

Case and Monitor I will buy later; already have sound, keyboard, mouse.

Please tell me what you think, all opinions are welcome. I need help with the ram as I don't know which one is the better brand.

Thanks for you help!

 

[adam_x_brookes]

The one thing that I would say is that it is never clever to go for a SLI/xfire solution straight away. If you do you are taking away your potential to upgrade by just adding another card, also it creates more heat, and some games still have SLI/xfire incompatibility issues. Why not go for a more powerful single card? and then SLI that when you feel you need more power?

As for the Ram you will never go wrong with a top brand like corsair, I'm currently using G.skill and I'm finding it very reliable

 

[geofelt]

1) Are you near a microcenter? If so, they will sell you a i7-950 for $230, the last time I heard to walk-in's.

2) You want compatible ram. It should be on the motherboard's ram QVL list or listed as supported ram on the ram vendor's configurator. If you should ever have an issue, you want supported ram. A cursory look says that they are all equally good. If in doubt, check out the forums and what kind of support you are likely to get. I have happily used Patriot, Corsair, and Kingston. They are all good; don't agonize over a name brand.

3) DDR3-1600 is good. Don't spend much extra for better timings or fancy heat spreaders. They do not translate into better real application performance or fps. Do not be seduced by synthetic benchmarks unless you are a record seeking overclocker.

4) Do not go sli unless you have to. Get a single great card instead. Something like a GTX570 or GTX580. Some games do not scale well in sli, and your future upgrade options get limited. A single good card will run any game well on a single 1920 x 1200 monitor. Only if you have a 2560 x 1600 monitor or want to try triple monitor surround might you need sli.

5) Consider spending $100-$200 on a SSD for your OS and app drive. Everything wil feel much snappier.

6) With sandy bridge due out Jan 9, I would wait. Read about it here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871/the-sandy-bridge-preview-three-wins-in-a-row

7) Before you buy, download and read the motherboard and case manuals, cover to cover. Many questions will be andwered.

---good luck---

 

[elkaiserr]

The one thing that I would say is that it is never clever to go for a SLI/xfire solution straight away. If you do you are taking away your potential to upgrade by just adding another card, also it creates more heat, and some games still have SLI/xfire incompatibility issues. Why not go for a more powerful single card? and then SLI that when you feel you need more power?

As for the Ram you will never go wrong with a top brand like corsair, I'm currently using G.skill and I'm finding it very reliable

Thank you for your help. I think it might be better to get a gtx 570 $360 and upgrade later on to 2 570 or a new single card; what do you think?

 

[geofelt]

Thank you for your help. I think it might be better to get a gtx 570 $360 and upgrade later on to 2 570 or a new single card; what do you think?

I agree.

 

[elkaiserr]

1) Are you near a microcenter? If so, they will sell you a i7-950 for $230, the last time I heard to walk-in's.

2) You want compatible ram. It should be on the motherboard's ram QVL list or listed as supported ram on the ram vendor's configurator. If you should ever have an issue, you want supported ram. A cursory look says that they are all equally good. If in doubt, check out the forums and what kind of support you are likely to get. I have happily used Patriot, Corsair, and Kingston. They are all good; don't agonize over a name brand.

3) DDR3-1600 is good. Don't spend much extra for better timings or fancy heat spreaders. They do not translate into better real application performance or fps. Do not be seduced by synthetic benchmarks unless you are a record seeking overclocker.

4) Do not go sli unless you have to. Get a single great card instead. Something like a GTX570 or GTX580. Some games do not scale well in sli, and your future upgrade options get limited. A single good card will run any game well on a single 1920 x 1200 monitor. Only if you have a 2560 x 1600 monitor or want to try triple monitor surround might you need sli.

5) Consider spending $100-$200 on a SSD for your OS and app drive. Everything wil feel much snappier.

6) With sandy bridge due out Jan 9, I would wait. Read about it here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871/the-sandy-bridge-preview-three-wins-in-a-row

7) Before you buy, download and read the motherboard and case manuals, cover to cover. Many questions will be andwered.

---good luck---

Thank you very much for the detailed info. Unfortunately I don't live in USA, I live in Argentina and I'm going to Orlando for vacations and the nearest microcenter is in Atlanta Georgia so it is not an option. About the GPU I think I will be getting the gtx 570 instead of gtx 460 Sli. I would like to wait for the new sandy bridge processors but I will be in the US until Jan 6. I may consider buying an SSD to make things a little faster.
Thanks again!

 

[elkaiserr]

Best answer selected by elkaiserr.