~$2,000 i7 build for gaming and etc

[jace5869]

Budget: ~$2,000
Purchase date: ~3 months
Purpose: Gaming, developing and general use
Preferred stores: Any, but Newegg is more convenient
Preferred CPU Brand: Intel (i7)
Preferred parts: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP, Core i7
Parts not needed: OS, Mouse/KB, Monitor

CPU Fan & Heatsink:
XIGMATEK Dark Knight S1283V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029
$39.99

OR

ZALMAN CNPS9900LED 120mm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118046
$77.98

OR … Any other suggestions (I want an ice cold CPU w/o liquid cooling)

CASE:
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
$149.99

CPU:
Intel Core i7 920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
$279.99
OR, if somehow can fit into budget (if it makes sense) the Core i7 950

MOBO:
This one I am stuck on, it’s tough, but I’ve got some choices.
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-EXTREME
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128361
$328.99

OR

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049
$239.99
OR
DFI LP UT X58-T3eH8
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136063
$294.99

OR

EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039
$294.99

OR

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128362

$288.99

PSU:
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-17-703-009-_-Product
$119.99

OR

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009
$139.99

OR

PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS910 910W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703022
$189.99

Hard Drives:

RAID 0 - Qty.(3) - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
$74.99

Suggestions open for Graphics card and RAM

 

[Why_Me]

Here's that build with dual gtx 275's and the new D0 stepping i7 920.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 $149.99
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 $139.99 ($119.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P $222.99 | $207.99 after rebate | Free Ground Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CorssFireX & 3-Way SLI/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

https://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/product.php?productid=16135&cat=282&page=1" $ 280.00
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 Socket 8MB Cache CPU D0 Stepping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99
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 $239.99 ($219.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) 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
Free Cryostasis game w/ registration at manufacturer website

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 $239.99 ($219.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) 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
Free Cryostasis game w/ registration at manufacturer website

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247 $94.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $74.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $74.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $74.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 $23.99
LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) 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±R DVD Burner - OEM

Total: $1,661.88 | $1,586.88 w/mail in rebates

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s until March 2010 and dl the 64 bit version of Windows 7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374 <--- more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that Gigabyte UD4P mobo used in this build

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=584 <---short review on that D0 stepping i7. It runs cooler than the older C0 stepping i7's

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11773&Itemid=1 <--- that's one way you can tell if you have a D0 stepping cpu or not

 

[computersss]

+1 to why_Me,why_Me you should be named the king of savings you are really the king of savings IMO on the forum

edit:to jace5869 you must be kidding you will purchase it after three months ?!!!!!!!! after three months the i5 processors will be out and maybe the nvidia 300 series

 

[gkay09]

@ Why_Me am I seeing 3 hard drives in that build ??? RAID 5 ???

 

[Why_Me]

@ Why_Me am I seeing 3 hard drives in that build ??? RAID 5 ???

The OP wanted three HD's (his first post)...raid 0 and a back up I'm guessing. Anyways I stuck them in there.

 

[gkay09]

Oh...dint notice...

 

[jace5869]

I appreciate the responses, and Why_Me I have seen your posts in many threads and I definitely respect your choices; So I just have a few more questions.


Question : Do you recommend the GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P MOBO over the GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 ?

Question: How does the Tuniq thermal compound compare to the (seemingly) standard of Artic Silver 5?

Question: It seems this Xigmatek Dark Knight cooler is recommended a lot, how does it compare to the Zalman cooler?

Question: I do not plan on doing heavy overclocking, but I will definitely try, so I was wondering if anyone could offer any Liquid cooling solutions? I maybe be interested in trying to install it on a older LGA775 PC I have since it would be the first time. The silence and effectiveness seems intriguing. I believe Maximum PC reviewed a simple/cost effective Liquid cooling solutions that did well.

Question: Do you recommend setting up a RAID 0 (2 drives) of SAS drives or SSD drives and doing another RAID (add-on board, perhaps?) 1 or 5 for some redundancy? It seems with the current build I would have several hundred left over and I would be willing to do continuous upgrades/add-ons as well.
--Would this help in overall quickness of the machine? Boot up, File copy, etc...

Question: Would it be reasonable to go with maybe the i7 940 or 950 and get just one GTX275 or get the 1GB ATI 4890 for $204.99 After Rebate? Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16814161276

The OP wanted three HD's (his first post)...raid 0 and a back up I'm guessing. Anyways I stuck them in there.

^^ - I am either considering a RAID 0 (3-disk) or a RAID 5 array. I will add separate external backup with some external drives and off site backup (SkyDrive, Mesh, FileSavr, DVD, etc...).

The OP wanted three HD's (his first post)...raid 0 and a back up I'm guessing. Anyways I stuck them in there.

^^ - I do not mean I will build/buy it in three months exactly, but instead I expect to have it complete within three months.

^^ - -I like the G. Skill RAM. I use that in my laptop and have not had any issues at all. Do you think this trio will perform as good as the OCZ, Corsair, Patriot comparatives? and in overclocking?

+1 to why_Me,why_Me you should be named the king of savings you are really the king of savings IMO on the forum


edit:to jace5869 you must be kidding you will purchase it after three months ?!!!!!!!! after three months the i5 processors will be out and maybe the nvidia 300 series

Do you have information on the new i5's?


**Again, thank you for the suggestions - this is helping a lot!

 

[Why_Me]

To answer a few of your questions....

Gigabyte UD5P has about the same layout as the UD4P, not really any extra's that are worth the extra cost imo.

Tuniq, Arctic Cooling MX-2, OCZ Freeze, and Arctic Silver 5 are all good choices and for the most part run neck and neck. I like the MX-2 for the fact it's non nonconductive and there is no set up time.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm <--- Xigmatek ftw

Liquid cooling is expensive not to mention a lot of peeps are getting 4.0 + on air. I never understood the concept of shooting for the moon on an o/c for a gaming pc. Means more time screwing with the PC, and less time gaming.

If you can hold off for a few months, you should see a considerable drop in prices on those SSD's. They are fast fast fast!

940 and 950's are a total waste of money. And remember gpu > cpu.

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=532 <---that's the G.SKILL I put in that build....the OP hit 2,000 with it.

A couple of decent links on that i5 down below.

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3570

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/06/03/lynnfield-overclocks-to-5ghz/1