$1200 Gaming Rig

[meeow]

-------------

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1 week or 2 BUDGET RANGE: $1200-1300

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, other stuff.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor (1920x1080), OS (Vista64), Speakers, DVD drive

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg is fine.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Don't care, best bang for buck atm.

OVERCLOCKING: Most likely

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes but not initially.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Been building/repairing computers for years now (family owns a small computer store, been helping out since i was a kid) but our customers are usually people who don't even know how to install drivers/software . So I haven't had much experience with Gaming rigs (parents would never let me spend that much money on my own rig, but i'm older now so ).

I have no problems putting a computer together but i've never overclocked anything. I did my best to get as much info as I can on OCing, but theory is never as good as experience imo. So I've turned to you guys to make sure i'm on the right track.

Motherboard
Asus m4a79t-Deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131363


CPU
pII x4 955 BE w/ Xigmatek S1283 Dark Knight and Arctic Silver 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674&Tpk=955%20black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233024
I'll be overclocking as far as I can ago.

Graphics Card
xfx 1GB 4890
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150359
I'm going to put another one in some time soon. Just not right now.
In the mean time I plan to overclock this. A few questions, does overclocking require an aftermarket cooler? Does adding an aftermarket cooler and/or overclocking void XFX warranty? Should I go with a different brand other than XFX, if so, which one?

Ram
G. Skill 4GB DDR3 1333 (9-9-9-24)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253
Is this ram good enough to overclock with?


PSU
Corsair 750TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=corsair%20750%20tx
Is this enough to add another 4890 later on?

HDD
WD 1TB black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Case
I was thinking either.
Antec 900
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021


or

CM Storm Scout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196&Tpk=cm%20storm%20scout


Which one is better? Preference goes to Cooling (air cooled), Noise, Space/Cable management and then everything else in that order. Any other suggestions?


If my calculations are right that works out to about $1130 and i'll add a few case fans when i figure out which case i'm going to get.

How does this sound? Anything I should change? Will any of these bottleneck each other? Have I gone overkill on any item? Can I get better performance with an intel build for this price? Is there any new technology coming out soon(as in within a month) that i should probably hold out for? etc. etc. etc.

Thanks for your time, and I will greatly appreciate any help/advice you offer.

 

[rewindlabs]

I can't give you any recommendations but from the parts you have chosen i must say you are on the right track to having one SERIOUS gaming pc...overclocking should be ridiculous on your system....

 

[rewindlabs]

Forum lag...

 

[mindless728]

wow, you will be happy with that

 

[mwayne5]

I would pick up 2 HD4770's instead of one HD4890, that is unless you want to eventually add another 4890.

Tom just did an article on this...plus you'll save some cash.


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-4770-crossfire,2288.html


Edit: Oh shoot, nevermind, I just saw where you said you'll eventually crossfire.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3551&p=1 <---AMD 955 vs i7 920

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id=1665&product_id=2912 <--- More pics and specs of the case used in this build.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375 <---More pics, specs, and customer reviews of the mobo used in this build.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-275,2266.html <---gtx 275 benchmarks and review

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gigabyte-nvidia-sli-motherboard,7463.html <---Gigabyte: Enable SLI On X58 Boards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196 $109.99
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 $119.99 ($99.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U3R $179.99 | $164.99 after rebate
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.192479 Combo Discount: -$7.00 Combo Price: $367.98 $20.00 Mail-In Rebate
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99 Free Shipping*
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 $249.99 Free Shipping*
EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 $24.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $69.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM

Total: $1,142.91 | $1,087.91 w/mail in rebates

 

[meeow]

Interesting. How important is that RAM? Would dropping to 1333 instead of 1600 hurt much? Because triple channel ram is quite expensive here, especially OCZ.

OCZ 6GB 1600 ram is like $200+ over here, and 1333 is about $170.

Does it matter if i change brands?

Kingston/G.skill 6gb 1600 is like $170 and 1333 is like $130.

I read the articles and it seems the i7 build is better but it wasn't anything jaw dropping on paper. Plus the smaller hdd is a bit of a setback, I can make do with 640gb but 1TB would have been a bit more satisfying.

I mean I would really love an i7 build and I know on newegg it's about the same price, but it works out $100-200(about $75-150USD) more expensive for me, which might not be a lot to some of you, but it's a huge difference for me. Is it worth it? Would you pay $100 USD more for an i7 build? I mean I can get the money but i'll have to wait another week or so and I want to know if it's really worth it or not.

Either way thanks for the info. I didn't think I could even pull off an i7 build. I always had the impression I needed a much more expensive MOBO. So thanks.

 

[Why_Me]

Interesting. How important is that RAM? Would dropping to 1333 instead of 1600 hurt much? Because triple channel ram is quite expensive here, especially OCZ.

OCZ 6GB 1600 ram is like $200+ over here, and 1333 is about $170.

Does it matter if i change brands?

Kingston/G.skill 6gb 1600 is like $170 and 1333 is like $130.

I read the articles and it seems the i7 build is better but it wasn't anything jaw dropping on paper. Plus the smaller hdd is a bit of a setback, I can make do with 640gb but 1TB would have been a bit more satisfying.

I mean I would really love an i7 build and I know on newegg it's about the same price, but it works out $100-200(about $75-150USD) more expensive for me, which might not be a lot to some of you, but it's a huge difference for me. Is it worth it? Would you pay $100 USD more for an i7 build? I mean I can get the money but i'll have to wait another week or so and I want to know if it's really worth it or not.

Either way thanks for the info. I didn't think I could even pull off an i7 build. I always had the impression I needed a much more expensive MOBO. So thanks.

To be honest, you have a pretty good build posted there. I would probably stick with that AMD build you posted. It looks to be a good one.