[Juaquin]

DO NOT do crossfire or SLI! It may work (with some difficulties) on your current setup, but when you go to upgrade something a year it will suddenly decide to not work. Seriously, WAY more hassle than it's worth. You should always buy the fastest SINGLE card you can afford.

 

[Sasahara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juaquin /img/forum/go_quote.gif DO NOT do crossfire or SLI! It may work (with some difficulties) on your current setup, but when you go to upgrade something a year it will suddenly decide to not work. Seriously, WAY more hassle than it's worth. You should always buy the fastest SINGLE card you can afford.

Out of curiosity, exactly what problems are you speaking of?

 

[smrtby123]

I like SLI, but it is a means to an end, not a solution. I have an 8800 gts 512, and didn't want to buy a new card, so $100 for another used gts 512 was just right. Works pretty well, but I should have saved up and gotten a gtx 260 or 275.

There are two ways to go with this build: It is the "pc of your dreams", so you want a monster, but also what is going to be practical. I do get that sometimes its just the fact that the car can go 200 mph that does it, not the actual going of 200 mph.

You could save a bundle and go with AMD, and save up for when the next wave comes out as well, or just stick with it and go i7. Nothing can touch them in performance, but you pay for it.

My biggest points:
-The VGA cooler will be useless, get rid of the extra NIC, USB card, and possibly the card reader.
-If you are a student of some kind, get the student edition of Win7, its $29.99 for Win7 pro.
-Upgrade your video card to an ATI 5850, better performance for the money you are spending.
-Go with a Xigmatek Direct-Contact heatsink, it will be the best heat-sink ever. Amazing performance for a small footprint, plus you need as much as you can get for that proc.
-If you are spending all that money, get 1 terabyte drive as storage, and use either Raid 0 (yeah yeah fake raid w/e its fast) for installing games on, or just go for a Raptor 10k RPM drive or an SSD drive which are much faster.

 

[jp_zer0]

The OP has not come back to his thread and people just keep echoing the same thoughts over and over again. This should get locked.

 

[Braver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp_zer0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The OP has not come back to his thread and people just keep echoing the same thoughts over and over again. This should get locked.

And how exactly does your post contribute in meaningful and constructive way? You wonder why they didn't make you admin right when you registered

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenixdown110 /img/forum/go_quote.gif One thing to add. Upgrade from Win7 Premium to Pro. Premium doesn't have backwards compatibility.

Just to clear things up, this is not true. Premium does not give access to a free Windows XP virtual machine ('XP Mode'). That's not a solution for anything unless you need to run some really old stuff or need to check websites in old IE versions. Any version is as backwards compatible as the other.
That said, you especially want Pro if you want to be able to connect with your system through Remote Desktop.

My approach would be to spend a bit less, forget about upgrading stuff during its lifespan (except for RAM and video), and think more towards a every-two-year-new-pc buying budget. You know, that dream pc will be kinda slow in two or three years, and you might want to start thinking about a full makeover right now. You might end up with a has-been with nothing but memories of when he was bleeding edge

Oh, and do make it silent, and do go SDD plus a simple terabyte disk. Sweet!

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Braver /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just to clear things up, this is not true. Premium does not give access to a free Windows XP virtual machine ('XP Mode'). That's not a solution for anything unless you need to run some really old stuff or need to check websites in old IE versions. Any version is as backwards compatible as the other. That said, you especially want Pro if you want to be able to connect with your system through Remote Desktop.

Very true. In fact, that Windows XP virtual machine is not intended for consumers who have old Windows XP software which cannot run on Vista or 7--but rather for businesses who still have a lot of old productivity (e.g. word processing, database) software that they want to run on their machines and find that either upgrading to newer versions of such software to be economically unfeasible or the existing database, spreadsheet or word processing documents to be "incompatible" (or not fully compatible) with newer versions of such productivity software apps. And that feature requires a download.

For most consumers, if Remote Desktop is not needed, then they can get away with using the Home Premium version of Windows 7 unless one of their computers have more than 16GB of installed RAM. And, if you have more than 3GB of RAM installed, be sure to install the 64-bit version since the 32-bit version can only use up to 3.29GB of RAM.

 

[bcpk]

Buy a $1000 computer now, and a $1000 computer in 3 years that will be better than the one you pay $2500 for now...

The criteria that you provide aren't exactly demanding - all computers can play music and movies. Gaming depends a lot on the graphics card and to be honest there isn't much right now that an ATI 4890 can't handle, and they don't exactly cost megabucks. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-841-_-Product

 

[somestranger26]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenixdown110 /img/forum/go_quote.gif One thing to add. Upgrade from Win7 Premium to Pro. Premium doesn't have backwards compatibility.

Why? Premium will run 99.99% of programs a normal user is going to want to run. The only thing Professional's Windows XP mode does is give you a VM of XP running seamlessly with 7 which can be done yourself with Sun VirtualBox, Windows XP, and enabling seamless mode.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peerbreed /img/forum/go_quote.gif Main Parts - (2) XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

What a waste of money; a single 5850 costs less for about the same performance and will use less power, less hassle with getting airflow to the card, upgradability by getting a second one, etc.

As far as hard drives are concerned, you do not want to use "green" (anything less than 7200rpm) drives for your OS/programs. They're good for storage and that's about it.

Why are you getting a gigabit PCI-e card when the motherboard already has it? Same goes for the USB card -- do you really need that many USB ports?

The RAM you picked is going to bottleneck your CPU unless you are planning to tighten the timings up. 9-9-9-24 is pathetic when you can get CL7-7-7-24 for $20 more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227381 or combo'd with the mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.297137 and DDR3 2000 to boot.

The mobo is overkill in my opinion, a nice X58 board needn't run you more than $200 unless you know you're going to use all of the additional features the highest-end boards bring.

This CPU cooler will make the one you picked cry, and comes with Tuniq TX-2 thermal grease too so you don't have to spend extra on thermal grease. (Good thermal grease makes as much a difference as a nice HSF) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-004-_-Product

Why oh why are you spending $600 on a processor... get an i7 920 and be done with it. You're better off lighting your wallet on fire than wasting so much money on a slight multiplier increase that you're not going to need unless you plan to overclock heavily and use water cooling. Put the money you saved into the graphics card and get an HD5970 and every game you play will kneel at your feet. GPU >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CPU for gaming.

 

[A<aA?]

Those western digital green drives, I own one, they are like stuck at 5400rpm. Soooo slow. Get at least a 7200rpm hard drive. Other than that, your rig is probably overkill. Spend half as much or less and invest the rest in headphones. Next!

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by somestranger26 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What a waste of money; a single 5850 costs less for about the same performance and will use less power, less hassle with getting airflow to the card, upgradability by getting a second one, etc.

Very true. Very few Windows/DirectX games, even today, can take any advantage whatsoever of more than a single fast graphics card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by somestranger26 /img/forum/go_quote.gif As far as hard drives are concerned, you do not want to use "green" (anything less than 7200rpm) drives for your OS/programs. They're good for storage and that's about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ċãţ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those western digital green drives, I own one, they are like stuck at 5400rpm. Soooo slow. Get at least a 7200rpm hard drive.

Other "green" drives also spin at lower-than-7200rpm speeds. For example, the "green" Seagate Barracuda LP spins at only 5900rpm rather than the 7200rpm spindle speed of the Barracuda 7200.## series and the new Barracuda XT drives (the latter with a huge 64MB of cache and a SATA 3.0 interface).

Quote:

Originally Posted by somestranger26 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why are you getting a gigabit PCI-e card when the motherboard already has it? Same goes for the USB card -- do you really need that many USB ports?

There is no need for more than one Gigabit Ethernet port on any PC (if you really need more than one Gigabit Ethernet port, a 4-port Gigabit Ethernet switch/router is a better bet than a second PCI-e Gigabit card). Second, most PCs have six to eight USB ports already; therefore, a second USB card is not only redundant, it may also cause device conflicts. If more USB ports are needed, an external USB hub is a better bet than a second internal USB card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by somestranger26 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The RAM you picked is going to bottleneck your CPU unless you are planning to tighten the timings up. 9-9-9-24 is pathetic when you can get CL7-7-7-24 for $20 more. Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Desktop Memory or combo'd with the mobo Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! and DDR3 2000 to boot. The mobo is overkill in my opinion, a nice X58 board needn't run you more than $200 unless you know you're going to use all of the additional features the highest-end boards bring.

7-7-7-## memory is only necessary if you're going to significantly overclock your i7 processor (most die-hard enthusiasts will do such a thing). 9-9-9-## is all you need if all you're going to do is stock speed. In addition, most lower-latency memory may need significantly higher DIMM voltage than the settings on most motherboards can provide. After all, what good is a particular company's 7-7-7-24 DDR3 memory if it requires a much higher voltage (2.1V) than JEDEC-standard 9-9-9-30 memory (~1.6V), to even run stably? (I made the last sentence because many so-called "overclocking-friendly" motherboards don't provide DIMM voltage settings above 1.8V or 1.9V.)

However, after looking at the Newegg link above, that OCZ 7-7-7-24 memory is designed to operate at a slightly higher DIMM voltage (1.65V) than the standard JEDEC reference voltage of 1.5V. If that's the case, then, I'd especially recommend it for most i7-compatible motherboards on the market (since 1.65V is within the manual DIMM voltage range of most enthusiast-friendly motherboards) if it costs only slightly more money than JEDEC-reference 9-9-9-## memory modules. (If you see 7-7-7-24 modules requiring a higher voltage than the reference 1.5V, then you can assume that they're native 9-9-9-## parts which have passed vendor testing at the tighter 7-7-7-## settings on a highly overclockable motherboard.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by somestranger26 /img/forum/go_quote.gif This CPU cooler will make the one you picked cry, and comes with Tuniq TX-2 thermal grease too so you don't have to spend extra on thermal grease. (Good thermal grease makes as much a difference as a nice HSF) Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Again, if you're into overclocking this would be my route.

Quote:

Originally Posted by somestranger26 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why oh why are you spending $600 on a processor... get an i7 920 and be done with it. You're better off lighting your wallet on fire than wasting so much money on a slight multiplier increase that you're not going to need unless you plan to overclock heavily and use water cooling. Put the money you saved into the graphics card and get an HD5970 and every game you play will kneel at your feet. GPU >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CPU for gaming.

Normally, with the proper motherboard I would go this route. But some motherboards do not allow overclocking or provide high enough voltage settings to allow such heavy overclocking. If the latter is the case, then it will cost you a lot of money for any speed increase.

 

[Spasticteapot]

If you're using headphones, you may as well just go for a 2-channel external card like the M-Audio Audiophile FireWire.

 

[Peerbreed]

thank you for all the advice. I was away on vacation so couldn't reply. I'll post my new idea for a build in a bit. Thanks a ton for helping an unexperienced builder

 

[deltaspirit]

I would swap both of the 5770's for a single 5870 or 5850. It is a waste to crossfire lower end cards (lower end compared to the other cards) For the same price you can get a single card of equal speed, that used less power, runs cooler and you will not have problems scaling in games with crossfire. I would also recommend you swap the cooler for a Scythe mugen 2, this is one of the best I7 coolers and it's cheap.


edit: May I ask what this PC will be used for? I7 might be overkill depending on what you will use the computer for. Also what res will you play games at?

 

[Roope]

If you are going to get an i7, get the 920, its the same, except at a slightly higher clock speed, which can be achieved with overclocking. Its a simple way to save about $300, which could be used on other things.

 

[Peerbreed]

Okay I have taken much of the advice here. I've cut down my build by few hundred. Now I'm at $2,016.43 including shipping. I'm going to use the PC for gaming and I'd like to use high settings on my games. I'll also use it for music, internet browsing, office work, television and movies. I know you can do that with any run of the mill PC, but I'm a big with multitasking. This PC will be the media center for my home. It's also going to be hooked up to my 32 LCD TV and two separate computer monitors. I haven't figured out which monitors I want, but I know one will be a touch screen that will be a dedicated "jukebox".

Here's what I have.

- Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
- ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
- G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ
- SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity
- HT | OMEGA CLARO 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card
- Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
- LIAN LI PC-V1200Bplus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
- LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 24X DVD-R SATA Black 24X DVD Writer LightScribe Support
- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Cooling
- (3) Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Case Fan
- Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler

Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders

Extras
- Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port
- Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1850 (updated version of 1800) MCE Kit 1128 PCI-Express x1 Interface