I7 Gaming System - Bang For Buck & Headroom

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Since I moved up to a 24" monitor, should I look for different graphic card options then?

I'm also slowly being swayed into the Phenom II X4 Denab, cause the price w/ mobo sure is hard to pass up....

Could then afford a better graphics card for the 24" monitor....

But would I just be saving cost immediatly, and not down the road if I get my i7 now?
 
Well the setup looks fine...
But I doubt the velociraptor will offer any significant real world performance advantage than the current HDDs...

U can get the WD Black series HDD like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
in RAID 0 and am sure they will offer nearly the same performance...

So u can reconsider the velociraptor...and before buying it, google around the net for its performance comparisions and see if it is a gud buy...
 


Lolz



Well actually a gud idea...but when u r willing to spend about $1500 or more on a computer build, then u shuld go with the core i7

If u are willing to keep it down to around $1000 then u can consider the P II...
 
I'd personally go the Phenom 2 route as well, the platform offers the same or better gaming performance at a reduced cost.

But if you're really set on the i7, here's my suggestions.

Dell S2309W ($299)
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-7339

Or for a little cheaper
DEll S2209W ($239)
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-7438

Dell monitors are among the best in my opinion.

Personally i think that PSU is a tad overkill, especially since i'm going to suggest a single card over a dual-chip design.
Corsair 650watt ($94.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

For the CPU Cooler, if you're willing to go a little more extreme i'd try out the CoolIT Eliminator. It utilizes liquid cooling and uses a TEC. Basically it can cool the processor below ambient temperatures making it extremely valuable for overclocking. It runs about $200. Again it's just a suggestion.

You can double the capacity of your hard drive for another $50. Velociraptor 300gb ($229)

Returning to my previously mentioned graphic card suggestion. I personally am wary about dual-chip designs due to driver issues. And micro-stuttering. I'd steer clear of them and just run a single card like the 4870 1gb till it starts to show its age. At which point you could decide to upgrade or not.

Also i think you mentioned earlier you were worried about the 256bit bus on a graphics card. It's not an issue, the speed of the memory on the 4870 helps prevent it from be a problem.

Hope i provided some god food for thought :)
 
Basically coming down to a $350 difference if I wanna go i7, so I guess my end resulting question is if it's worth $350 to have an X58 mobo, DDR3 ram and the i7 over an X2 Phenom and DDR2 ram with a $130 mobo.... here's a bit more detailed:

Budget:

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H ATX AMD Motherboard &
AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHz Black Edition Quad-core Processor
($288.99)
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 X2 100270SR Video Card
($289.99)
G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Quad Channel
($59.99)

versus

i7 Rig:

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
($288.99)
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 ATX Intel Motherboard
($289.99)
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory
($109.99)
2x EVGA GeForce GTS 250 01G-P3-1155-TR Video Card
($309.98)
 
I could knock it down to about $320~ difference if I went with the same 4850X2 or with the cheaper 512 MB Zotac 250's (the ones I selected were 1GB each)
 
Yep, and for most people the difference in price does not justify difference in performance. It would not for me at any rate, only reason I got an i7 is because my fiance uses it for video editing.
 
And if u choose the Phenom II, their mobos support oly Crossfire and not SLI...
xthekid gave the GTS SLI suggestion for the i7 build...
😀 then my suggestion will be gud...
Get a 4870 1GB now and add another later...
 
think i've settled on the i7 build with the 4850X2, objections?

also, not really sorted on a monitor to take advantage of the rig and at a good price
 


It's not that i wouldn't recommend a 1920x1200, but they cost a fair bit more.
 
If you keep an eye on each item you want on your wish list, you'll get them cheaper. Just look for the sales, I built a sexy i7 rig for 1750.00$ Just don't buy the first cheap price you find, research and do your homework. Visit different websites don't just google.
 
Just make sure to get an IPS based LCD monitor. Those TN panels are complete fricking garbage. The viewing angles, colors, brightness etc are garbage on pretty much anything besides IPS.
 


I wouldn't call TN panels garbage. They honestly aren't bad. They definitely aren't photo grade, true.

Second, you clearly haven't used a good S-PVA panel. I would say either IPS or PVA is an excellent choice for a monitor that looks significantly better than TN.
 
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