[NEW BUILD] Suggestions please - <$1,000

[bigcurt]

Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as possible.

Budget Range: $1,000+

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Movies

Parts Not Required: Optical drive, keyboard, mouse, monitor, video card ( Have a GTX 480 )

Preferred Website: Prefer Newegg if at all possible.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: None

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Additional Comments: The case I am thinking of is the Level10 GT. It's very expensive and if someone has other ideas please let me know. I am looking for something with the removable dust filters, hot swappable bays, etc.

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Here is what I was thinking of so far:

PSU: XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W

CPU: Intel 2600K

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

HSF: Thermaltake SpinQ

CASE: Level10 GT
Questions:
I still need a motherboard, suggestions? Any that have a header for USB3.0? No real requirements there.
That HSF, is that good? I just was thinking about that because it looked cool haha.
Is that case simply too much for what it does? I am open to a better one as long as it has some type of easy access/window.



Thanks!

 

[MadAdmiral]

The Level 10 is a massive waste of money. It's completely worthless. Besides, there is absolutely no reason to pay that much for a case. The HAF 922 is one of the best cases on the market, and it's only $90 (after rebate). Or if you want something expensive that's actually somewhat worth it in performance, pick up the Silverstone Raven RV02-BW for $209 after shipping.

Also, the SpinQ, while it looks cool, doesn't cool that well. Instead, pick up the Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (with the i7 for $33 (after combo and shipping) and get something that will actually cool well.

As for a motherboard, I'd check out the Asus P8P67 LE (around $145), if you're absolutely sure you don't want to do SLI later. There's probably also going to be an ASRock equivalent for under $120, but they haven't released their revised boards yet.

If you go with the HAF, you could look at getting a SSD. I'd suggest Intel's 510 120 GB.

 

[bigcurt]

The Level 10 is a massive waste of money. It's completely worthless. Besides, there is absolutely no reason to pay that much for a case. The HAF 922 is one of the best cases on the market, and it's only $90 (after rebate). Or if you want something expensive that's actually somewhat worth it in performance, pick up the Silverstone Raven RV02-BW for $209 after shipping.

Also, the SpinQ, while it looks cool, doesn't cool that well. Instead, pick up the Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (with the i7 for $33 (after combo and shipping) and get something that will actually cool well.

As for a motherboard, I'd check out the Asus P8P67 LE (around $145), if you're absolutely sure you don't want to do SLI later. There's probably also going to be an ASRock equivalent for under $120, but they haven't released their revised boards yet.

If you go with the HAF, you could look at getting a SSD. I'd suggest Intel's 510 120 GB.

Ya, I was kind of expecting that response for the Level10 haha; I know it's a big waste of money. The Silverstone case looks interesting; but the problem I have with it is the access panel on the right side; the way my desk is setup it just would not work at all..and the IO stuff on the top is a bit weird haha. Any other good suggestions? Like I said, my only real requirements are easy to remove dust filters and hot swappable drives.

How about this HSF - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118075&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

The motherboard I might actually want to do SLI eventually; just all depends on how long I want to make this computer last; is that possible?


Thanks again,

 

[MadAdmiral]

If you wanted to spend that much on a HSF, you shouldn't get anything besides the Noctua NH-D14. It's easily one of the best, if not the best, HSF out there.

As for a case, there's also the Silverstone RV01 that's very similar to the RV02. It's about $30 more than the RV02, but the window is on the other side. Or on the cheaper side, there's the Antec DF-85.

You can get a SLI motherboard (the Asus P8P67 Pro or ASRock P67 Extreme4 would by recommendations), but if you wanted to SLI the GTX 480, you'd need a lot more than a 650W PSU. You'd need something at least 850W, maybe even 1000W. If you wanted to go that route, I'd check out either the SeaSonic 850W for $125 (you'd need a power cord) or the PC Power & Cooling 950W for $142 after promo and rebate.

 

[bigcurt]

If you wanted to spend that much on a HSF, you shouldn't get anything besides the Noctua NH-D14. It's easily one of the best, if not the best, HSF out there.

As for a case, there's also the Silverstone RV01 that's very similar to the RV02. It's about $30 more than the RV02, but the window is on the other side. Or on the cheaper side, there's the Antec DF-85.

ohhh, that case looks pretty sexy haha...wow..never seen that one before. I like it. Any other suggestions?

How about that motherboard? Is there one I can get that is SLI capable? That's really the only thing holding me back now is the mobo..still not sure about that.

 

[MadAdmiral]

You probably missed my edit about the board...

 

[bigcurt]

Got ya; perfect. Well, at this time I don't want to SLI so I will probably stick with the current PSU but probably get the Asus P8P67 Pro so I don't have to upgrade my mobo on top of my PSU if I want to SLI. Sounds good. The ASRock seems cool and a lot of people are talking about it but you can't get that at Newegg yet, right?

 

[MadAdmiral]

That's right. Supposedly it's been shipped to some retailers. Most of them aren't in the US though. If you don't mind waiting for a little, you could see what happens next week. It's not likely that you'll be able to find the P8P67 Pro in stock by then anyway.

 

[bigcurt]

So those are the only 2 mobo's available right now really worth looking at that have SLI as well? ( for this socket of course )

 

[MadAdmiral]

There are a few others, such as Gigabyte's model at about $190 and MSI's model at about that as well, but the consensus seems to be that the Asus is better at $190, and the ASRock is close enough that the $40 you save is well worth it. That might change with the new revisions, but I doubt it.

 

[bigcurt]

Got ya. So it's looking like either way waiting might be needed haha...hopefully Newegg gets the ASUS in stock soon or something. OK, think this might be my last question; what's the difference between 1156 and 1155 socket?

Everything else look good? This is the updated list:

Antec DF-85 case
Intel 2600K
G.Skill Ripjaw Ram 8GB 1600
Asus P8P67 Pro
Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSD
Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B HSF

 

[MadAdmiral]

The LGA1156 socket is the old one. Technically, there is very little difference, but a LGA1155 CPU (the ix-2xxx ones) won't work in a LGA1156 socket and an LGA1156 CPU (the ix-xxx ones) won't work in an LGA1155 board. I believe ASRock acutally made a board that worked with both CPUs, but it handicapped Sandy Bridge a lot.

Essentially, the 1156 is the older, obsolete socket and the 1155 is the new socket. Avoid the 1156 at all costs. The performance difference from the i5-760 to the i5-2500K is something like 20-40% at stock, while both CPUs cost around $200.

 

[mrhoshos96]

First GJ MadAdmiral.
Second the difference between the 1156 socket and the 1155 socket is the following:
1- the 1156 socket is old and dead so intel won't release any new cpu's for it
2- the 1155 supports the new sandybridge processors which are 20% faster than the old 1156 socket cpu's and they are more efficient and overclockable
Edit: damn your fast xD

 

[bigcurt]

Got ya, just wondering as Best Buy had a 1156 one and anything I can put on my BB credit card; the better hahaha. I think you have answered all my questions; thanks so much.

Any last tips, hints, suggestions on something to change? I suppose I have a few days at least till I can order my mobo so let me know if you think of anything else haha. Thanks again.

 

[mdsiu]

Antec Nine Hundred Two case is great tons of room and very cold

 

[MadAdmiral]

The 902 is a good case (I'm using it now), but it's not in the same league as most of the cases in that price range. It looks really good though, but it's just doesn't have as much room or as many features as the other cases it's competing against in terms of price.

 

[bigcurt]

Got ya . Ya, thinking about that Antec you sent me..or maybe the HAF-X.

 

[MadAdmiral]

The HAF X is overpriced. I'd look at the HAF 932 (Amazon, as it's sold out on Newegg) instead.

 

[bigcurt]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7343078&CatId=6978

How about that board?

 

[mrhoshos96]

Nice mobo but a better value would be the Asrock p67 extreme4 (B3)

 

[bigcurt]

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-FAP67B3&title=ASRock-Fatal1ty-P67-Professional-B3-LGA1155-Intel-P67-B3-DDR3-Quad-CrossFireX-Quad-SLI-SATA3-USB3-0-A-2GbE-ATX-Motherboard#

That one looks pretty sweet too.