Advice for new system

[cimtaurus]

I am currently running a 3.5 year old system that has had minor upgrades over its lifetime.
The only hardware that I am carrying over from my old system is my pair of 8800GT's and my Razer Barracuda sound card.
I was also recently given a WD Velociraptor drive 150GB and I have a few spare DVD drives hanging around.

I have read the numerous comparisons between i7 and PII and my head hurts.
I am a gamer. I play MMOs and a few FPS's on a 24" LCD. I prefer to run everything at native resolution. I like eye candy as much as the next guy so I turn up the effects as far as they will go and remain at a playable frame rate.

I am familiar enough to feel comfortable overclocking but won't feel I am missing life if I run stock.

Win 7 is my planned OS.

My budget is ideally $800 but I can stretch that a little if needed.

So what I need to figure out is do I go with a new Intel or AMD system?
The entire purchase will include CPU, Motherboard, Case, CPU cooling, Power Supply, Memory.

Can anyone give me good reason to select one chip manufacturer over the other?

 

[nerrawg]

If you want to carry over those 8800 GT's in SLI then you should probably consider I7 - that kind of case and PSU do you have - could you potentially carry that over?

GIGAbyte UDR4 and 920 combo: $514 - $20 mail-in
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193606

$80 600W PSUs -both are excellent:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Case:
Antec 300 - $55 or CM 690 - $75 - 2 good choices

Memory: $90 - $70
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

Total ~ $710 - 770

 

[nerrawg]

That gives you a bit for cooling - best bang for buck there is the Xigmatek 1283 and a few others - shouldn't spend more than $50 unless you plan on some extreme overclocking (very little gain)- because it is not necessary.

 

[cimtaurus]

If you want to carry over those 8800 GT's in SLI then you should probably consider I7 - that kind of case and PSU do you have - could you potentially carry that over?

GIGAbyte UDR4 and 920 combo: $514 - $20 mail-in
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.193606

$80 600W PSUs -both are excellent:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Case:
Antec 300 - $55 or CM 690 - $75 - 2 good choices

Memory: $90 - $70
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

Total ~ $710 - 770

I am running a 500w PSU now that I might be able to reuse, but I am worried that later I will have issues. I am recycling the 8800s (and yes continued use of SLI was my intention) with the intention of upgrading to DX11 cards later.

I may even be able to save the case, but I am thinking I can slap my old 7600GTs back into this existing system, use on board sound and have a decent gaming rig for my son to play on. He is only 6 so by decent I mean low end but playable.

 

[cimtaurus]

Ok just noticed a problem with that MOBO.
Slot layout will not support 2 dual slot cards and a PCI sound card....

Thoughts on this one?
asrock

 

[Shnur]

500W should be enough if it's a high-quality PSU. You will be fine with both. I think the build nerrawg proposed is perfectly suiting you. Plus, get bonuses by overclocking your i7... they overclock like mad!

 

[Shnur]

Ok just noticed a problem with that MOBO.
Slot layout will not support 2 dual slot cards and a PCI sound card....

Thoughts on this one?
asrock

I think it's a good one, since you have quad-cf/3sli with it, so you can basically upgrade later to an ATI card and still get the support for 4 of them...

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ and ATi cards already support DX11

 

[cimtaurus]

Ok, I am a little paranoid about the power I guess, but the price difference for the 750w was minimal so I upped to that one. I also would like try my hand at overclocking so I tossed in what I think is a decent CPU cooler.

Here is the build I am considering, comments and suggestions welcome.

ASRock Board

I7 920 CPU

Dark Knight CPU Cooler

6GB Memory

Antec 300 Case

PC Power and Cooling 750w PSU

Add to that the pair of 8800GTs, the Razer sound card, the Velociraptor 150GB drive and the LG Bluray DVD that I have on hand and I am getting excited about this machine.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Helloworld_98]

8800GT's in SLI aren't that powerful, infact they're barely powerful enough to warrant having them in an i7 PC.

 

[cimtaurus]

8800GT's in SLI aren't that powerful, infact they're barely powerful enough to warrant having them in an i7 PC.

I agree they aren't that powerful compared to what is available, but they are hardly junk.
Consider that the 8800 is essentially a 9800 and that is essentially a 250.

Moving from an Athlon X2 with 2GB of DDR1 to an I7 system is much more of an improvement than moving up form the 8800GT's to any other card within my budget. I am really hoping to see some new 40nm cards from ATI by the end of the year. Now that would justify an upgrade for sure! AND, the board I am looking at here can handle quad crossfire, so that would certainly be an easy option later on.

 

[tecmo34]

Switch out the Antec 300 case with the Cooler Master 690 Case. The CM 690 case is the best case for the price, IMO. It provides great cooling and has plenty of space.

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ($74.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

 

[cimtaurus]

Switch out the Antec 300 case with the Cooler Master 690 Case. The CM 690 case is the best case for the price, IMO. It provides great cooling and has plenty of space.

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ($74.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

Reviewed the case options and decided to take the CM 690.
Seems like it has a bit more space than the Antec 300 from what reviewers had to say. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Shnur]

I think you're good to go.

 

[cimtaurus]

Pulled the trigger this morning....

Order Summary
Qty Product Description Price
Order #: XXXXXXXXXXXX
1

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119137

Standard Return Policy



$84.99
$74.99

1

ASRock X58 Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813157155

Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy



$229.99
$219.99

1

PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS750QBL 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817703019

Standard Return Policy



$169.99
$119.99

1

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115202

Processors (CPUs) Return Policy



$288.99
$279.99

1

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227365

Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy



$139.99
$91.99

1

FREE GIFT: IMC KE-11 Blue USB Wired Optical 800 dpi 3D Diamond Mouse - Retail
Item #: N82E16826717004

Standard Return Policy



$15.99

1

Rosewill RCX-TC050 Thermal Grease - Retail
Item #: N82E16835200040

Standard Return Policy



$9.99
$5.99

1

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835233029

Standard Return Policy



$39.99

1
DISCOUNT FOR AUTOADD #2073


-$15.99

Subtotal $832.93
Tax $0.00
UPS 3 Days $32.94
Order Total $865.87

 

[cimtaurus]

Case was just delivered.
OMG this thing is incredible. Plenty of room, fan placement is best I have ever seen, easy installation for everything (or so it seems) built in cable management...CM690 is the case to have.

Thanks for the awesome tip on this case!

Rest of the parts are set to be delivered tomorrow, will update when I have it all assembled.

 

[nerrawg]

Glad you like it mate and looking forward to the update

 

[cimtaurus]

Well, I am submitting this reply from my new system. Assembly went very smooth. I have the i7 overclocked to 3.3 and the temp is sitting at 65C. (running prime 95)
Running windows 7 64bit ultimate and I have to say this is a pretty snazzy OS.

Installing some games now, but I can already tell you this mchine rocks.
Thanks for the advice, and for those considering a new system I would say that the i7 is the way to go.

 

[Why_Me]

Well, I am submitting this reply from my new system. Assembly went very smooth. I have the i7 overclocked to 3.3 and the temp is sitting at 65C. (running prime 95)
Running windows 7 64bit ultimate and I have to say this is a pretty snazzy OS.

Installing some games now, but I can already tell you this mchine rocks.
Thanks for the advice, and for those considering a new system I would say that the i7 is the way to go.

 

[Helloworld_98]

I'm glad you like it.

only thing to dislike is you used rosewill thermal grease not OCZ freeze which probably would have put your temps 5C lower.

 

[Shnur]

I believe your system is good =)
Although I'm currently building a x3 720 system... well, it's just that I can't afford anything more 🙁
I think you can push you i7 a bit more, especially since your not on stock cooling, just let the thermal grease install itself correctly (about 48 hours of running) and you'll see your temps drop again.