Finalising Build Choice

[xsistor]

Approximate Purchase Date: Before/By Next Week at least.

System usage from least to most important: surfing, watching movies, programming, gaming

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse, Speakers, OS

Preferred Websites: Overclockers.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk

Parts Preferences: NVidia Geforce, Intel

Overclocking: Yes

SLI: Yes. Plan to add second card later. (Or, would like to replace it with GT300 when prices aren't through the roof)

Monitor Resolutions: 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2048x1152

Additional Comments:
1) Looks are secondary, but wouldn't hurt to have something stylish (preference: RED LEDs)
2) Quietness isn't a big problem


Okay, I've narrowed down my rig to a Q9500 build. But also considering a competing i7 build.

First Build

Asus GeForce GTX 285 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(Includes Terminator Salvation PC Game) £239.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-190-AS

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB)
Processor - Retail + World In Conflict PC Game £179.89
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-203-IN

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad-Crossfire PCI-E 750W Power Supply £83.98
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-PP

Coolermaster Storm 'Scout' Gaming Case - (No PSU) £79.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-175-CM

EVGA 750i FTW nForce 750i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £72.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-103-EA

OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-9200C5 Low Voltage Dual Channel £57.99
(OCZ2B1150LV4GK)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-170-OC

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD1001FALS) £44.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-226-WD

Akasa AK-967 Nero Direct Contact Heatpipe
CPU Cooler (AM2/AM2+/939/LGA775/LGA1366) £23.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-052-AK

LG GH22NS30 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-090-LG

OCZ Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound £3.44
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-OC

Logitech Deluxe Keyboard (Black) - OEM (967738-0120) £6.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-088-LG

Coolermaster LED Silent 12cm Fan Red TLF-S12-ER-GP Fan £5.43
(I get free delivery from amazon for stuff I buy direct through Amazon Prime)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coolermaster-LED-Silent-12cm-TLF-S12-ER-GP/dp/B000WL5CVO

Total Cost: £827.5 (including VAT and Delivery)


I am leaning towards the Q9550 build because I want high performance in games (will be using 3D Vision which needs at least 40FPS - better minimum of 60FPS - average in all games at highest settings at 1650x1200) and all good parts. I'm also considering an alternative i7 build by compromising on a few of the parts (graphics card, casing, and no third-party CPU cooler).
Price is similar but I wonder if it's worth it to go i7 just to get a stripped down PC. I can always buy a good cooler later on and overclock to the extreme, but for now I don't want to go over budget. The mainboard and RAM choices along with the processor were based on the overclockers uk bundle where they have overclocked this i7 920 to 4.0ghz


Competing i7 Build

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) £212.98
- Retail + World In Conflict PC Game
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-280-IN

XFX GeForce GTX 275 896MB GDDR3 Dual DVI (PCI-Express) £176.99
- Retail (Includes Terminator Salvation PC Game)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-129-XF

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £143.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-159-GI

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad-Crossfire PCI-E 750W Power Supply £83.98
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-PP

Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600MHz) £75.99
Low Latency Tri-Channel (PVT36G1600LLK)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-008-PA

Coolermaster CM-690 Dominator Case - Black (No PSU) £49.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-145-CM

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) £44.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-245-WD

LG GH22NS30 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-090-LG

Scythe Kaze Maru 140mm Cooling Fan - 3 Pin £10.34
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-013-SY

Logitech Deluxe Keyboard (Black) - OEM (967738-0120) £6.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-088-LG

Total Cost: £841.04 (including VAT & Delivery)

 

[rescawen]

buy OCZ memories with atleast 8-8-8 latency. Get microsoft x6 keyboard which is definitely worth every penny and logitech g9 as mouse or if you have big hands, the lazer death adder.

I'd lean to the i7 cause its more future proof and what agmes are u gonna play? a 650w power supply is good enough for 1 GTX275 i think.

 

[rescawen]

oh and if u buy terminator salvation, SKYNET WINS!!!! hahaaaa

 

[xsistor]

🙁 SPOILER!!

anyways, quick update. I found this for slightly less. It's the OEM i7 920 D0

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) £204.99
OEM + World In Conflict PC Game
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-283-IN

worth it?


Yeah I already got a mouse. I just put the keyboard price in there cos I had included it in my shopping list. I just want something wired and really cheap, so no worries.

 

[Helloworld_98]

go for the i7 build but get a P6T instead of that mobo

edit: whoops, forgot about the 3D vision thing.

with the OEM edition you lose a warranty so it isn't worth it.

 

[xsistor]

great. thanks for the input...

now as for RAM

my original selection:
Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600MHz) £75.99
Low Latency Tri-Channel (PVT36G1600LLK)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-008-PA
OR:

OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel £77.99
(OCZ3G1600LV6GK)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-129-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1389

 

[Helloworld_98]

the patriots overclock further so I'd go with those.

 

[xsistor]

Btw, Just wanted to add. I'm hoping to burn Windows 7 RC on my laptop and use it as the OS... hope there won't be any issues with the hardware here.

edit: Thanks!

 

[DataCabbitKSW]

You shouldn't have any problem using Windows 7 RC on that hardware. I hope you will go get it before August 15th, as Microsoft is cutting off the downloads and new licenses for the Release Candidate at that time. The Windows 7 RC will work until June 1st of 2010, but it will start doing reboots every two hours starting on March 1st of 2010. Still that is over four months from the official retail release on October 22nd of this year.

The other thing to be careful of, is there is no "in-place" upgrade from the beta, RC, Pre-RTM builds, etc to the retail version. Be ready to do a fresh install when you get a retail or OEM version, make sure to keep your stuff backed up (save-games, settings, bookmarks, documents, etc). Invest in a large flash drive or an offboard drive for backups. You'll thank yourself in the long run. Keeping your stuff available even if your machine is down or rebuilt is worth it.

That said, go pick up the Windows 7 RC. It is good. I have it running on a six year old laptop and on a nice new Core2 Quad development box at home. It works really well and I'm rather pleased with it. It took a bit to get used to the new task bar ("super bar"), but it ends up being a lot faster really, especially with the Aero-Peek enabled.