New Computer

[CheeseMan42]

So the last time I built a computer was for my 21st birthday. I am now all done with college and a working man so I want a new one. I don't really have a specific budget, but I'm not looking to spend too much, student loans start within the next month or two. This will be used solely for gaming. I will be reusing my CM Stacker, DVD drive, monitor, mouse, speakers, and headset. I also have a 128GB SSD that I will be using to load games, and will probably buy a smaller one for my OS depending on Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. I want to get this finalized by then so I can look out for my parts. I saw that the Intel Sandy Bridge chips will be coming out soon, but aren't those going to be locked from overclocking? Would it be worth waiting for these? My monitor resolution will be 1680x1050, so keep that in mind.

 

Here is what I have been looking at initially. Please make recommendations as I haven't been able to keep up on everything with school and now work taking lots of my time.

 

CPU: i7-950 or i5-750

MB: No clue

HSF: Xigmatek Dark Knight, Corsair H50/H70, CM Hyper 212+

RAM: Minimum of 4GB, Ripjaws look nice, so do Red/Black Lines from Mushkin

GPU: GTX 460 1GB, Radeon 6850

PSU: Corsair 750W

 

I am also looking for a new keyboard. I have heard good things about the mechanical keyboards, but I'm not sure which ones are good. I will probably also grab a few 120mm fans to replace the ones in my case.

 

Also, unless AMD is about half the price of Intel, please don't recommend it.

[TerryC]

If you want to "future proof" yourself to a certain extent, I would go with a LGA1366 build. You could also look into buying an IPS monitor because those kind of video card at 1680*1050 won't have much to do. I went from a 22inch @ the same resolution to a Dell ultra sharp U2711 and the quality difference is just outstanding! Was well worth its high price tag.

 

Concerning your SSD if it doesn't have TRIM support you might want to consider buying a couple OCZ vertex 2 and put them in a RAID 0 configuration 2 SSD for great performance and 4 of them for insane performance XD.

 

These are the components I would put together.

 

CPU: i7-950 $294.99

HSF: Noctua NH-D14 $89.99 or Corsair H70 $109.99

Motherboard: MSI Big Bang X-Power $269.99 after mail-in rebate

RAM: OCZ 6gb (3*2gb) 1600Mhz 7-8-8 $115.99 with free USB Key 4gb

GPU: Asus Radeon HD 6850 1GB * 2 in CrossFireX $189.99/each or Evga GeForce GTX 460 $179.99 after promo code and mail-in rebate

PSU: Corsair 750HX $99.99 after mail-in rebate and promo code

SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 60gb $119.99 after mail-in rebate

 

Went through every combo pages for every components and I'm fairly confident this is the cheapest it can get. If you need Windows 7 there's a combo with the motherboard/ram/GPU I believe.

 

 

Total: $1,650.91

Shipping: Shouldn't be more than $5

Promo Code Savings: $50

Mail-In Rebate Card: $130

 

Grand Total: $1,475.91

 

And you'll have a kick butt system that will last for a couple years.

[IVIYTH0S]

Do you live near a micro center??

You can get processors really cheap there http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?N=4294966995

get the D14 from El_Capitan on here for $60

three kits of this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211409

two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261075&cm_re=460_1gb-_-14-261-075-_-Product

this motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157189&cm_re=x58_motherboard-_-13-157-189-_-Product

PSU: The one you have

[CheeseMan42]

There is a Microcenter in Boston, but I am at least an hour away and I'm not too worried about prices on processors. My SSD does have TRIM, I have a copy of W7 I've been waiting for a new computer to install, and I think one video card would be fine given my resolution.

[CheeseMan42]

Any more recommendations?

 

I am leaning towards the i7-950, but I will know more later. I need to talk to my friend after I get him fat on turkey and trimmings.

 

I was thinking of grabbing two sets of these and selling one stick so I have tri-channel memory. There is also a combo deal with this 1GB GTX 460.

 

Also looking at this 750W Corsair PSU. It isn't modular but it is ~$30 cheaper.

 

Also looking at one of these 3 SSD for a boot drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550&cm_re=ocz_vertex_2-_-20-227-550-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211479&cm_mmc=BFUS-_-636-_-N82E16820211479&nm_mc=BFUS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139132&cm_mmc=BFUS-_-636-_-N82E16820139132&nm_mc=BFUS

 

As far as motherboards, I'm looking at these 3 for socket 1366. - Any other recommendations?

ASUS Rampage 3 Formula $299.99

Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R $209.99

EVGA X58 FTW3 $269.99

 

No rush on motherboards as none of them are on sale right now.

[El_Capitan]

I'd go with the i7 950, you won't be disappointed. And if you're going to buy my Noctua NH-D14, I can see about going to Microcenter and picking you up an i7 950 and shipping that to you (maybe even driving, lol). Just pay face value.

 

For motherboards, I'd recommend ASUS, the Formula series are all great overclockers, and my ASUS P6X58D-Premium and ASUS x58 Sabertooth aren't bad, either. The Sabertooth is only $160 - $180, and OCC did a review for it.

 

Definitely get the combo deal with the Palit GTX 460 1GB, makes me tempted to buy it just because of the deal. I'm just going to wait until Cyber Monday, and if I don't see anything better, I'm probably going to pull the trigger for it.

 

Also, you end up running in Triple Channel memory with 4 sticks, you don't have to sell one of them. It's also more beneficial to run 16GB than 12GB, imo.

[CheeseMan42]

I'd go with the i7 950, you won't be disappointed. And if you're going to buy my Noctua NH-D14, I can see about going to Microcenter and picking you up an i7 950 and shipping that to you (maybe even driving, lol). Just pay face value.

 

For motherboards, I'd recommend ASUS, the Formula series are all great overclockers, and my ASUS P6X58D-Premium and ASUS x58 Sabertooth aren't bad, either. The Sabertooth is only $160 - $180, and OCC did a review for it.

 

Definitely get the combo deal with the Palit GTX 460 1GB, makes me tempted to buy it just because of the deal. I'm just going to wait until Cyber Monday, and if I don't see anything better, I'm probably going to pull the trigger for it.

 

Also, you end up running in Triple Channel memory with 4 sticks, you don't have to sell one of them. It's also more beneficial to run 16GB than 12GB, imo.

 

Thanks for the offer, but I will be getting the 950 cheaper than Microcenter is selling it for. I know a guy.

[El_Capitan]

Thanks for the offer, but I will be getting the 950 cheaper than Microcenter is selling it for. I know a guy.

Damn. I wish I knew a guy.

[CheeseMan42]

I ended up grabbing 2 of the 2x2GB Ripjaws, as the 8GB were out of stock when I ordered and I decided I didn't need 16GB of RAM. The 8GB kits were back in stock after I finished placing my order though. I got the GTX 460 combo, and also grabbed a Microsoft Sidewinder X4 keyboard.

[MercuryDoun]

Not gonna use triple Channel on the RAM?? Thats sad oh well not much of a big deal anyways, just make sure when you install it on your MoBo to add two chips in per each channel of the ram slots. That way you dont end up with 1 set of triple-channel mem and just one DIMM chillin on its own in single channel. This way you have 8gb of ram running in Dual-channel.

 

Id highly recommend the ASUS x58 Sabertooth. Its a real cheap board thats really good, I have a ASUS P6x58D-E which is the Little brother to the premium version. Its a great board, and overclocks great too! I dont really see any reason to drop the big bones on the Rampage III IMO. Unless you want to go for some super sick OC'in. but even still, my "Cheap" P6X58D-E (compared to the Rampage its cheap) took my i7-930 all the ways up to 4.2Ghz with little issue. I could push it higher but i didnt really have the time or desire. It was getting temps of 75c on the hottest core, and i knew id need a HUGE boost in vcore to get to even 4.4. I know that because i had to give it a ton more vcore just to boot into windows, let alone handle any load. So basically my cooling gave out. But its not like 4.2Ghz @ 75c is bad, lol. Its almost as good as some water cooling.

 

I like your thinkin behind the gtx460, give you the option for some sweet SLI in the future. I think some of your cooling choices are pretty bad thought. The dark knight isnt that great of a cooler anymore. and the Hyper 212+ isnt good enough for serious overclocking on socket 1366 CPU's. Id Recommend the Prolimatech Megahalems or an NH-D14. But they are both Massive things. the Corsiar H50 and H70 are good coolers, just too expensive for what they do. NH-D14 is cheaper than the H50 and the Nh-D14 coolers better by like 10 degrees. Huge difference. The Megahalems is Slightly cheaper, but not by much because you have to get 2x 120mm fans to go with it.

Edited November 26, 2010 by MercuryDoun

[CheeseMan42]

I am most likely going to get a DH14 from El_Capitan, unless something good hits on Cyber Monday. And from what he says, you can run triple channel with 4 sticks. If not, I can go with my original plan of using 3 sticks and selling one of them. I have started to look into the Sabretooth, but again will wait until Monday to decide.

 

I am also still thinking about buying another SSD as a boot drive, as well as a monitor with a higher resolution.

[Speedway]

I ended up grabbing 2 of the 2x2GB Ripjaws, as the 8GB were out of stock when I ordered and I decided I didn't need 16GB of RAM. The 8GB kits were back in stock after I finished placing my order though. I got the GTX 460 combo, and also grabbed a Microsoft Sidewinder X4 keyboard.

 

 

The LGA1366 platform supports triple channel RAM, are you not going this route? I don't think the dual channel will run in triple no matter what config you have it set up in!

Edited November 26, 2010 by SpeedwayNative