- May 8, 2009
- 15
- 0
- 18,520
Hello everyone!
I've been wanting to build a desktop for the past few years now, and I decided to spoil myself as I get ready to go off to college and blow (invest) much of my cash on a sweet gaming rig. A few weeks ago I found tomshardware.com, and after going through... a lot of articles, in addition to reading the forums and searching other websites, I came up with this build:
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishLists.aspx?guid=963865fae6c04992857d243581a70344
That should work, I made the Wish List shared.
I'll break it down here, though (prices include mail in rebates, and are rounded):
2- GTX 280: $450
1- XCLIO STABLEPOWER 1000W Power Supply: $150
1- OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory: $110
1- LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner: $23
1- Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case: $60
1- EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX: $270
1- Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366: $280
1- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750GB 7200 RPM SATA: $80
3- IPCQUEEN IPC-12025 120mm Case Fan: $11
Total (including mail-in rebates and shipping): $1459.52
So, I'll explain the parts I chose and why I chose them.
Graphics Cards:
For $225 a pop, I really couldn't resist the idea of having two of them in SLI. I will be playing FPS games, among other things, at 1920x1200, and I would really love to have all the fancy effects on (AA, etc.). I am planning on overclocking them somewhat (I am planning on overclocking much of my build, actually), so they should be quite potent.
Power Supply:
Alright, so for calculating the size of the power supply I would need, I drew from a few sources. I saw from a few articles on tomshardware.com and on other sites that two GTX 280's in SLI drew, at the most, 575ish watts. I was planning on overclocking the I7 to 3.3ghz, which, according to the article here, drew a peak of 251 watts. I called eVGA, and the representative told me the mobo would draw a peak of 50-60 watts (that would be including the ram, I believe). The hard drive will draw a peak of 7 watts, and I have no numbers for the DVD drive. So, that gives me a peak draw of 900something watts. Now, seeing this, I wonder if I could afford to go down to a 950w power supply, or if I should just play it safe with the 1000w. If I were to go to the 950, I could save $30 and buy this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182096
Ram:
I wanted 2000Hz. This was the cheapest option in a 6GB format. I admit, not much thought went into this one...
A question, actually. The rep I talked to said that the only way that I could use more than 1600Hz was if I overclock my CPU (which I was planning on). Why is that?
DVD/CD Drive:
It had good reviews, it was cheap, the same specs as the DVD drive that is recommended by this website (the one they recommend is a few bucks more 🙁 ).
Case:
I chose the case largely based on the review given on this website. I also liked the three fan bays, and the way it opens up. And, it wasn't too expensive.
Mobo:
Again, I used tomshardware.com's article on the $200-$300 I7 mobos. I wanted a card that could have two cards with space between them, so it was this one or the DFI LANPARTY DK X58-T3eH6. However, the iffy reviews on newegg.com made me lean torwards the one I selected. However, if you have experience with the LANPARTY mobo and recommend it, please let me know!
Processor:
Going into this, I knew I wanted an I7. And I knew I wanted to overclock it. I will be trying to overclock it to either 3.3 GHz or 3.6 GHz.
Hard-drive:
It was the cheapest hard-drive I found that went at 7,200 RPM and was of a sufficient capacity for what I need.
Fans:
They were the cheapest fans, they have many good reviews, and the numbers seem good.
So, that's my build. Any advice or comments are appreciated!
And, I guess I should ask. As I see this now, I wouldn't mind taking the price down a bit. Would you all recommend going with an AMD processor an overclocking it to save some dough?
Edit: I forgot to follow the rules
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next two weeks
BUDGET RANGE: Ideally, it would be around $1200. However, it seems that if I want to go with the I7 and the two GTX 280's it will be $1500.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Internet, CAD, Word Processing
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor, Sound System
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: None. I used newegg.com, but I have no real preference.
PARTS PREFERENCES: None. Will buy a part based on its merits.
OVERCLOCKING: Yes
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1200
I've been wanting to build a desktop for the past few years now, and I decided to spoil myself as I get ready to go off to college and blow (invest) much of my cash on a sweet gaming rig. A few weeks ago I found tomshardware.com, and after going through... a lot of articles, in addition to reading the forums and searching other websites, I came up with this build:
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishLists.aspx?guid=963865fae6c04992857d243581a70344
That should work, I made the Wish List shared.
I'll break it down here, though (prices include mail in rebates, and are rounded):
2- GTX 280: $450
1- XCLIO STABLEPOWER 1000W Power Supply: $150
1- OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory: $110
1- LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner: $23
1- Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case: $60
1- EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX: $270
1- Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366: $280
1- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750GB 7200 RPM SATA: $80
3- IPCQUEEN IPC-12025 120mm Case Fan: $11
Total (including mail-in rebates and shipping): $1459.52
So, I'll explain the parts I chose and why I chose them.
Graphics Cards:
For $225 a pop, I really couldn't resist the idea of having two of them in SLI. I will be playing FPS games, among other things, at 1920x1200, and I would really love to have all the fancy effects on (AA, etc.). I am planning on overclocking them somewhat (I am planning on overclocking much of my build, actually), so they should be quite potent.
Power Supply:
Alright, so for calculating the size of the power supply I would need, I drew from a few sources. I saw from a few articles on tomshardware.com and on other sites that two GTX 280's in SLI drew, at the most, 575ish watts. I was planning on overclocking the I7 to 3.3ghz, which, according to the article here, drew a peak of 251 watts. I called eVGA, and the representative told me the mobo would draw a peak of 50-60 watts (that would be including the ram, I believe). The hard drive will draw a peak of 7 watts, and I have no numbers for the DVD drive. So, that gives me a peak draw of 900something watts. Now, seeing this, I wonder if I could afford to go down to a 950w power supply, or if I should just play it safe with the 1000w. If I were to go to the 950, I could save $30 and buy this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182096
Ram:
I wanted 2000Hz. This was the cheapest option in a 6GB format. I admit, not much thought went into this one...
A question, actually. The rep I talked to said that the only way that I could use more than 1600Hz was if I overclock my CPU (which I was planning on). Why is that?
DVD/CD Drive:
It had good reviews, it was cheap, the same specs as the DVD drive that is recommended by this website (the one they recommend is a few bucks more 🙁 ).
Case:
I chose the case largely based on the review given on this website. I also liked the three fan bays, and the way it opens up. And, it wasn't too expensive.
Mobo:
Again, I used tomshardware.com's article on the $200-$300 I7 mobos. I wanted a card that could have two cards with space between them, so it was this one or the DFI LANPARTY DK X58-T3eH6. However, the iffy reviews on newegg.com made me lean torwards the one I selected. However, if you have experience with the LANPARTY mobo and recommend it, please let me know!
Processor:
Going into this, I knew I wanted an I7. And I knew I wanted to overclock it. I will be trying to overclock it to either 3.3 GHz or 3.6 GHz.
Hard-drive:
It was the cheapest hard-drive I found that went at 7,200 RPM and was of a sufficient capacity for what I need.
Fans:
They were the cheapest fans, they have many good reviews, and the numbers seem good.
So, that's my build. Any advice or comments are appreciated!
And, I guess I should ask. As I see this now, I wouldn't mind taking the price down a bit. Would you all recommend going with an AMD processor an overclocking it to save some dough?
Edit: I forgot to follow the rules
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next two weeks
BUDGET RANGE: Ideally, it would be around $1200. However, it seems that if I want to go with the I7 and the two GTX 280's it will be $1500.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Internet, CAD, Word Processing
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor, Sound System
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: None. I used newegg.com, but I have no real preference.
PARTS PREFERENCES: None. Will buy a part based on its merits.
OVERCLOCKING: Yes
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1200
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