My first build!! Opinions? HELP?!

[mgrinnell87]

Hello, I am a Senior Airman in the Airforce, currently serving in Afghanistan. With roughly a month and a half left I'm finding myself with some money to burn and thought now might be the time to get crazy and build something worthwhile. I've done a fair amount of research and while I'm certain these components will play nice together I am after all a "Security Specialist" hehe. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. This build is at the top tier of my budget so if anything could be swapped out with something cheaper but as effective let me know. Here she goes.
Mobo - Asus P6X58D-E
CPU - Intel i7-960
GPU - XFX HD6950 2gb
RAM - G. Skill Ripsaw X series (3X4gb) 1600
PSU - Corsair Enthusiast TX750
HDD - 2 X WD Caviar Black 500GB (RAID 5)
1 X WD Caviar Black 1TB

 

[AdrianPerry]

Slightly cliché but ill post this link for you to check out and reply/edit your first post with. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/261222-13-build-advice

Most important information really is "What will the build be used for?"

 

[9_breaker]

its a good build . you havent put the case it could help . heres a cheaper motherboard EVGA 131-GT-E767-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58
and maybe 8gb ram instead .

 

[mgrinnell87]

Hello, I am a Senior Airman in the Airforce, currently serving in Afghanistan. With roughly a month and a half left I'm finding myself with some money to burn and thought now might be the time to get crazy and build something worthwhile. I've done a fair amount of research and while I'm certain these components will play nice together I am after all a "Security Specialist" hehe. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. This build is at the top tier of my budget so if anything could be swapped out with something cheaper but as effective let me know. Here she goes.
Mobo - Asus P6X58D-E
CPU - Intel i7-960
GPU - XFX HD6950 2gb
RAM - G. Skill Ripsaw X series (3X4gb) 1600
PSU - Corsair Enthusiast TX750
HDD - 2 X WD Caviar Black 500GB (RAID 5)
1 X WD Caviar Black 1TB

Ahh. Sorry, I'm new what is really important here. Allow me to reformat.

Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as I'm satisfied


Budget Range: Best I can do for $1,500 or less.


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Purely gaming. Both single and multiplayer. Something that could rock BF3/Skyrim on high levels would be ideal.


Parts Not Required: All peripheral including the monitor.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com, Tigerdirect.com


Country of Origin: United States


Parts Preferences: CPU - Intel i7-960 http://3btech.net/incoi7960bl3.html
Mobo - Asus P6X58D-E http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131778
GPU - XFX HD Radeon 6950 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=93094&CatId=7005
RAM - Patriot Extreme Performance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220609
HDD - 2 X WD Caviar Black 500gb http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7288041&CatId=2459
PSU - Corsair Enthusiast TX750 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
Case - NZXT Phantom Black Steel http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068
DVD/RW - Whatever
I am in no way stuck on this config, just where Ive gotten myself in what research I've done. This puts me a little below my budget contraint.



Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Yes


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1200


Additional Comments: It doesnt need to be "future proof" but I would like flexibility as well as reliability.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Since this build is for gaming ill go with a totally difference approach to the build..

CPU: i5-2500k
Mobo: P67 or Z68 board (with SLI support)
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 (2x4GB dual channel)
HDD: Single 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3
PSU: providing you stick with 6950/560Ti a good 750w Corsair/XFX/SeaSonic/OCZ/Antec unit will be sufficient for crossfire/SLI, however if you jump up to GTX 570 or 6970 id recommend 850w PSU.
Case: Any mid/full tower ATX you like
GPU: 6950/GTX 560Ti or the next price up; GTX 570/6970

With $1500 budget you might be able to sneak in a nice 40-60GB SSD for a boot drive aswell

 

[mgrinnell87]

its a good build . you havent put the case it could help . heres a cheaper motherboard EVGA 131-GT-E767-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58
and maybe 8gb ram instead .

Thanks. I'm taking a gander at the EVGA. As far as the RAM goes I really want to take advantage of the triple channel capabilities of the board and processor together so 8gb wont really work for me. However, I did find this beaut http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220503. From Patriot, cheap and at 6 GB its not to crazy. Easily expandable to 12 with another kit.

Thanks again keep em coming

The case... NZXT Phantom Black Steel http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811146068

 

[mgrinnell87]

Since this build is for gaming ill go with a totally difference approach to the build..

CPU: i5-2500k
Mobo: P67 or Z68 board (with SLI support)
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 (2x4GB dual channel)
HDD: Single 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3
PSU: providing you stick with 6950/560Ti a good 750w Corsair/XFX/SeaSonic/OCZ/Antec unit will be sufficient for crossfire/SLI, however if you jump up to GTX 570 or 6970 id recommend 850w PSU.
Case: Any mid/full tower ATX you like
GPU: 6950/GTX 560Ti or the next price up; GTX 570/6970

With $1500 budget you might be able to sneak in a nice 40-60GB SSD for a boot drive aswell

It's been a long day, and I have a completely different build now thanks to you. It allowed me a couple luxuries when it was all said and done though which is cool. Here it is.

CPU - i5-2500k (hyperthreading just sounds cool I guess) Obvious choice!
GPU - HIS IceQ X Turbo H695QNT2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB
MOBO - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO
RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600mhz Dual Channel
HDD - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)--->$90!!
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
PSU - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750
CASE - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case

All of this as well as the this and that to button it all up brought me to just over $1,300. Which means I am going to buy a nasty monitor when I get home, total project from the ground up will be no more than 2k. Now I just have to wait out the next 6 weeks in Afghanistan before and get my hands on any of it hehe Thanks for the help.

 

[phenom90]

since you're going to use the builds for gaming i'm sure sandy bridge is better investment...

cpu - intel core i5-2500k
mobo - asrock z68 extreme3 gen3
ram - G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR1 Low Voltage Memory
ssd - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
hdd - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
psu - XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular
cpu cooler - CORSAIR CAFA70
graphics card - SAPPHIRE Toxic 100312TXSR Radeon HD 6950 2GB
case - silverstone raven rv02b-ew

 

[AdrianPerry]

Both of the above are solid builds. 750w PSU + the motherboard listed will allow for a second graphics card to be added in future if you ever wish to do so.

Also depending on the price difference in PSU's listed, id be tempted to go for the XFX one since its modular (means you dont have any unnecessary cables left floating about inside your case).

 

[tomatthe]

Looks like pretty much everyone was suggesting different drive setups, but do not buy WD black drives with the intention of putting them in a raid setup. They made some changes to them, around Jan of 2010 and the old trick to disable tler no longer works. You would need a min of 3 drives for Raid 5 btw.

 

[mgrinnell87]

Both of the above are solid builds. 750w PSU + the motherboard listed will allow for a second graphics card to be added in future if you ever wish to do so.

Also depending on the price difference in PSU's listed, id be tempted to go for the XFX one since its modular (means you dont have any unnecessary cables left floating about inside your case).

It's done. I went with with the build I last listed, along with a Thermaltake Frio CPU cooler. I'm pretty stoked but deff wish I had been more schooled on Modular PSU's before I hit "Checkout". This is a learning process after all, the bulk of which will happen when I try to get all of this on my MOBO!!. Thanks again for everyones input.

 

[tomatthe]

I wouldn't worry about the modular thing, some people actually prefer ones that aren't saying there is a slight power loss or something like that from the extra connection. Regardless you can probably bundle them up and put them out of the way. One of my machine uses a modular one and one doesn't.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Yeah the modular thing is mostly down to preference and ultimately makes no real difference at all