Building a new system with i950 intel CPU

[chrisbek]

I have an intel i950 processor. I would like to know if you are considering building a gaming computer what motherboard would you select for this processor and why.

Here is the processor: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211&Tpk=intel%20i7%20950

Not sure if this would help but I decided to fill out this form if it would help get an answer for me.

Any help is most appreciated as always.



APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Sometime this year with in the next few months.

BUDGET RANGE: $1000 to $2000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:

This is what I would like to do on this system

High End Graphic PC Gaming
Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Access, Excel
Regular Email (Example: google, yahoo, etc)
Downloading/Uploading Streaming Video

Music Player
Computer Programming (Visual Basic, C++, Java, Perl, HTML/XHTML)
Games to be played on System: Counterstrike 1.5, Counterstrike Source, Bad Company 2 & 3, Diablo 3, Any high graphic end first person shooter game that comes out later in future. Would like to make certain that this system will be able to play any future games.

Would like Raid capability.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: CPU, Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speaker, Operating System (Win 98, XP, Windows 7, Fedora), HAFX computer case


PARTS REQUIRED:

Motherboard
Graphics Card
Memory
Hard Drive
Power Supply
Heat Sink
DVD/CD Burner

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.canadacomputers.com - Or any other website that has good prices to order from for Canadian dollar.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada, Ontario

PARTS PREFERENCES: N/A

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes (Not needed but good in the future)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Using a SyncMaster 931w with 2000:1 Dynamic contrast. Using windows XP Pro with the following settings at 1152 x 864

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Computer needs to be able to do multi-tasking with multiple windows open without freezing or clogging.
Ablility to ALT TAB out quickly launch or access programs
Computer Fans Need to be quiet (Friend has a computer and sounds like a vacuum cleaner/airplane combo when turned on - don't need this)
Low to moderate power consumption if possible
Something that will suit my needs and will continue on in future for quite sometime.

 

[g-unit1111]

Computer needs to be able to do multi-tasking with multiple windows open without freezing or clogging.
Ablility to ALT TAB out quickly launch or access programs

The 950 will handle that and then some.

Computer Fans Need to be quiet (Friend has a computer and sounds like a vacuum cleaner/airplane combo when turned on - don't need this)

That's not a problem - most case makers are very wise to noise factors any more.

Low to moderate power consumption if possible

You're probably looking at a 650 to 750 watt PSU. But you want to make sure you get one that's certified and rated - the higher the rating the more energy efficient it will be.

Something that will suit my needs and will continue on in future for quite sometime.

Even though X58 is nearing the end of the line - the 950 will handle just about anything you can throw at it. I'm still running a 920 and I can play games and do anything else at max settings.

Try this:

Power Supply: Seasonic X750 Gold - $129.99
Motherboard: EVGA X58 FTW3 - $249.99
RAM: 12GB (3 x 4GB) G.Skill Sniper G1 PC10666 1333MHz 1.5V - $69.99
Video card: EVGA Geforce GTX 570 - $349.99
Fan: Noctua NH-U9B - $59.99
SSD: 128GB Crucial M4 - $219.99
HD: Seagate 1TB - $149.99
Optical: Lite On 12X BD-R Burner - $99.99

Total: $1359.87

 

[chrisbek]

Thanks for the reply g-unit.

Any reason you would select : EVGA Geforce GTX 570?

Also Just to fill in a background story I basically bought this i950 last year on boxing day. The price had went so drastically down (They had a special on that processor) that I bought 2 of them. I had planned to build my first pc and if everything went well I would build the second one at a later date.

Due to work and other things I only had time to build the first pc.

This is what I ended up with:


CASE - Coolmaster HAF X
MOBO - ASUS P6X58D-E Socket 1366
HDD - 2x Western Digital Caviar Black 1000 GB (1 TB) - currently in RAID 0
VIDEO CARD - EVGA GeForce GTX 460 768 MB (768-P3-1360-TR)
RAM - GSKILL Ripjaws Series DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800) 6GB (3x2GB) Tripple Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8T-6GBRM)
CPU - Intel Core i7 950 QUAD Processor
Power Supply - Corsair HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX EPS12V Power Supply
CD/DVD - Sony AD-7260S-OB Black Sata DVD Writer 24x DVD-/+R 48x CD-R
OPERATING SYSTEM - Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit OEM

I am quite happy with the build. I haven't overclocked anything yet.

Now that I have the time I figured its been about almost a year now and its time I get that 2nd PC going.

So basically now I am looking for some suggestions and to hear what others would suggest.

 

[chrisbek]

Looking to see if I anyone else has any other suggestions.

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks for the reply g-unit.

Any reason you would select : EVGA Geforce GTX 570?

EVGA is the best NVIDIA maker on the market - the 570 is a really top of the line model. I'm not sure I would have gone with a 460, or the 2 1TB hard drives (I would have gone for one and a mid-range 100-120GB SSD) but otherwise fairly solid selection of components.

 

[chrisbek]

Anyone have any other suggestions for motherboard boards for an i950?

 

[Ohmybad]

the 570 is over kill for 1152 x 864

buy a 560ti and a 1080 monitor.

 

[chrisbek]

EVGA is the best NVIDIA maker on the market - the 570 is a really top of the line model. I'm not sure I would have gone with a 460, or the 2 1TB hard drives (I would have gone for one and a mid-range 100-120GB SSD) but otherwise fairly solid selection of components.

Yeah I love the system and its done me good so far.

At this time I was given 2 suggestions to consider for the mobo for the 2nd computer which are:

1) Asus P6X58D-E Socket 1366
2) Asus SABERTOOTH X58

I am almost leaning towards getting another P6X58D-E but i'm not sure.

Money is not a big concern to me but performance, realiability and the ability to overclock later on is.

I was almost considering getting Gigabyte G1.Sniper as its on sale atm for $239.99 ($100 price drop) but I couldn't find any reviews on this board and just decided to pass it up.

Are there are any boards worth considering from here that deserve a good honorable mention ?

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?cPath=26_342&sort=0&brand=0&price=2&location=0

 

[g-unit1111]

Money is not a big concern to me but performance, realiability and the ability to overclock later on is.

I was almost considering getting Gigabyte G1.Sniper as its on sale atm for $239.99 ($100 price drop) but I couldn't find any reviews on this board and just decided to pass it up.

Are there are any boards worth considering from here that deserve a good honorable mention ?

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?cPath=26_342&sort=0&brand=0&price=2&location=0

The Gigabyte G1 is an excellent choice for sure but if you want reliability for overclocking, I'd heavily recommend taking a look at the EVGA FTW series. I'm going to be using that in a future build when the Z68 successor is released.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_342&item_id=031548&sid=s69barpoc546phf4bagklrbbg2