First Build

[obione]

hello, my first post and was hoping for some opinions on my first build. i am in Canada, no skills in actually building the computer, just picking each piece from NCIX and they build it for me. the duty/taxes/shipping from American companies bumps up the price more than i would like. so the choices at NCIX are not quite as good as some other sites.

here is what i picked - total price 2000 canadian.

1 x LG BH12LS35 Blu-Ray Writer 12X BD-R 16X DVD+R Lightscribe 3D Ready SATA
2 x Seagate Barracuda XT 7200.12 2TB SATA 6.0GB/S 3.5IN 8.5MS 64MB Hard Drive OEM
1 x Corsair Professional HX650W 650W ATX 12V 52A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan
1 x Bitfenix Colossus Black ATX Full Tower Case 5X5.25 1X3.5 7X3.5INT No PS Front USB3.0
1 x AMD Radeon HD 6870 900MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.2GHZ PCI-E 2 X DVI HDMI 2 X Mini Display Port
1 x Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1333C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 Memory Kit
1 x ASUS Rampage III Black Edition EATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 4PCI-E16 CrossFire SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
1 x Intel Core i7 950 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 3.06GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA1366 4.8GT/S

i made a few changes so far, since i won't be overclocking or gaming, i got rid of the cooling. i lowered the power supply. as well as lowered from 12 gig ram to 6 gigs of ram.

i go at least 5 years between buying new computers so with this set-up i was hoping it would still be a good computer in 4 years.

i have a stereo amp with some good headphones and a 42 inch 1080p LCD monitor. music, movies and terabytes worth of HQ images is about all i do.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[circulate]

As most people on here will agree that the i7 isn't neccessary, the i5 2500 is a great unit and will be more than enough for gaming/programing/editing/etc for years to come. IMHO i wouldn't spend the extra buck for the i7 over the 2500 i5.

Great mobo choice.

Change your RAM choice. Get 8 gigs and get 2x4 setup. 3x2 is weird.

Is there any reason you need 4tb of HDD space? That's just insane.

 

[008Rohit]

I'd get a i7 2600K based on the newer Sandy Bridge architecture. LGA1366 is an old socket.

 

[Why_Me]

hello, my first post and was hoping for some opinions on my first build. i am in Canada, no skills in actually building the computer, just picking each piece from NCIX and they build it for me. the duty/taxes/shipping from American companies bumps up the price more than i would like. so the choices at NCIX are not quite as good as some other sites.

here is what i picked - total price 2000 canadian.

1 x LG BH12LS35 Blu-Ray Writer 12X BD-R 16X DVD+R Lightscribe 3D Ready SATA
2 x Seagate Barracuda XT 7200.12 2TB SATA 6.0GB/S 3.5IN 8.5MS 64MB Hard Drive OEM
1 x Corsair Professional HX650W 650W ATX 12V 52A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan
1 x Bitfenix Colossus Black ATX Full Tower Case 5X5.25 1X3.5 7X3.5INT No PS Front USB3.0
1 x AMD Radeon HD 6870 900MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.2GHZ PCI-E 2 X DVI HDMI 2 X Mini Display Port
1 x Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1333C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 Memory Kit
1 x ASUS Rampage III Black Edition EATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 4PCI-E16 CrossFire SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
1 x Intel Core i7 950 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 3.06GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA1366 4.8GT/S

i made a few changes so far, since i won't be overclocking or gaming, i got rid of the cooling. i lowered the power supply. as well as lowered from 12 gig ram to 6 gigs of ram.

i go at least 5 years between buying new computers so with this set-up i was hoping it would still be a good computer in 4 years.

i have a stereo amp with some good headphones and a 42 inch 1080p LCD monitor. music, movies and terabytes worth of HQ images is about all i do.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hello and welcome

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice <---- If you would, please copy and paste this on here so we all have a better idea

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Hard to make suggestions when we don't know what apps doing with it.....other than "not gaming" If it's for big spreadsheets, CAD, video editing, 3D modeling, CS5, etc......these are reasons to consider 1366. For gaming tho, Sandy Bridge is where peeps wanna be. If ya want the best of both worlds then I'd get a 2600k for demanding apps like CS5. Totals $1905 ... with the cooling..... Intel designed SB for overclocking...... 3.4 Ghz ???..... The thing easily does 4.6 GHz w/o a hiccup. My son is minoring in photography in college .... he runs at 4.6 for the school work, 4.8 Ghz (HT off) when gaming.

Antec DF-85 - $ 130 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087
Antec Red 120 mm - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209013
Antec CP-850 - $ 140 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024
ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution - $ 540 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.701085
Intel Core i7-2600K - incl in above
Scythe SCMG 2100 - $ 50 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185168
Shin Etsu - $ 11 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
(2 x 4GB) Mushkin CAS 7 - $ 95 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226178
EVGA GTX 560 (900MHz) - $ 229 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130651
Barracuda XT 2TB - $ 140 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148506
Same as above $ 140
OCZ Vertex 3 2.5" 120GB - $ 250 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706
LG BR Combo Drive w/ LS - $ 110 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106348
55 in 1 Card Reader - $ 70 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820314001

You could save $60 or so on the MoBo but ya had the budget so I figured I'd leave the bandwidth in there. Double up on the RAM if ya think you'll need it.....still under budget.

As for the monitor....have not been impressed by any TV ... especially for video editing and photography. For that I'd want an IPS monitor such as the Dell U2711 or U2410. If it's just for entertainment rather than professional or "enthusiast" usages, I wouldn't worry tho.

The card reader and "Hot Swap" bay in the case will be a godsend for HD images. The PSU is super quiet .... Kinda important when ya using it for entertainment.

 

[obione]

updated with preferred format, thanks for replies so far.


Approximate Purchase Date: 1 - 2 Months


Budget Range: 2000 - 2100 Canadian


System Usage: HQ Images, Movies, Streaming Movies, HQ Audio


Parts Not Required: Monitor, Headphones, Speakers, Keyboard, Mouse, External HD's


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: NCIX.Com


Country of Origin: Canada


Parts Preferences: Intel, ASUS, Gigabyte


Overclocking: No


SLI or Crossfire: No


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Additional Comments: Lots Of Storage, at least 5 years between computer purchases, audio & movies important


DVD/BLU-RAY
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58930

STORAGE - 2 x 2 TB
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=44639

POWER SUPPLY
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=42532

CASE
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=59205

VIDEO CARD
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=56262

DDR3 RAM
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=34256

MOTHERBOARD
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52159

PROCESSOR
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=39590

OS
Windows 7 Home Professional OEM

Price As Built from NCIX - 2038.00 Canadian

 

[obione]

i tried a different configuration at NCIX.com and came up with this


1 x M-AUDIO Audiophile 2496 PCI Digital Audio Card 24BIT/96KHZ SPDIF MIDI Retail BOX(US41500)
1 x LG BH12LS35 Blu-Ray Writer 12X BD-R 16X DVD+R Lightscribe 3D Ready SATA
2 x Seagate Barracuda XT 7200.12 2TB SATA 6.0GB/S 3.5IN 8.5MS 64MB Hard Drive OEM
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64BIT DVD OEM
1 x Corsair Professional HX650W 650W ATX 12V 52A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan
1 x Bitfenix Colossus Black ATX Full Tower Case 5X5.25 1X3.5 7X3.5INT No PS Front USB3.0
1 x AMD Radeon HD 6870 900MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.2GHZ PCI-E 2 X DVI HDMI 2 X Mini Display Port 1 x Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
1 x Vengeance 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit
1 x ASUS Maximus IV Extreme REV3.0 EATX LGA1155 P67 4PCI-E16 PCI-E4 PCI-E Sandy Bridge B3 Motherboard
1 x Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB

total price - 1979.00 canadian

save about 100.00 dollars. is this comparable to my original build?