My New Computer

[hiworld]

Hello everyone,

I have been reading Tom's hardware for over a decade, but have never been in the forums. I decided to change that today after seeing how many people freely offer great advice and feedback on these forums. I assume I am not the only person who prefers to hang in the shadows, but still appreciates all the useful information on this site.

I'm posting the specs for my tentative computer build that I would like to purchase in the next few weeks. It will be replacing a Pentium 4 single core 2.6ghz w/ hyperthreading coupled with an Asus P4P800 Deluxe motherboard, 2GB of ram, and a ATI 2600 HD AGP video card. This set-up has performed quite admirably, I can still play most games and get things done in terms of image editing and programming... But... After the past few months I have had a few games purchased for me that I cannot run at playable frame rates, the YouTube HD option is for the most part unwatchable, and video editing has become a bit more time consuming (rendering, loading, etc) than I'd prefer.

That being said, I'm wondering if any kind souls could take a quick look at what components I have chosen and let me know if there are any compatibility issues, poor choices. or otherwise unworthy components. I'm also interested in suggestions for a decent CPU cooler. My aim was to balance price with performance while keeping power use in mind. I do wish to include a few next-gen components (i.e., SSD). I intend to overclock the CPU, but not very aggressively.

I already have an Antec 902 Case.

1. Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz S1156 Processor

2a. Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P Intel P55 S1156 ATX Mainboard (Audio/Gigabit LAN)
OR
2b. MSI P55-GD65 P55 S1156 ATX Mainboard (Audio/Gigabit LAN)

3. OCZ Platinum TC 12GB PC3-1600 DDR3 Memory Kit

4. Intel X25-M 80GB 2.5" SATA Solid State Disk (I was toying with getting the 160GB version, but my current C: is 40GB and I have 10GB free. I figure I can upgrade this when price are lower 5 years from now)

5. WD Green 1TB IntelliPower 32MB 3.5" SATA Hard Drive

6. LG LightScribe SATA Blu-ray/DVDRW Combo Drive, Black (I don't need to be able to burn BDs)

7. Diamond Radeon HD5870 1GB PCIe Video Card, Retail (TBH, I just selected the first 5870 I came across)

8. PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750Watt Quad ATX Power Supply, Blue (enough power for this system?)

9. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 (I could see no compelling reasons to get Ultimate)

Thanks for any feedback you have!

 

[randomkid]

Hi Hiworld,
I think this question will get more response if you also open it in the CPU & Other Components or Home Built section. I myself can not offer advise as I am more inclined towards AMD.

 

[hiworld]

Will do randomkid!

@dogman_1234: I was thinking about going X58, but the i5 750 is just so affordable and efficient. The 930 does look decent. Maybe I'll include an X58 build.

 

[formerDScustomer]

I'd go with x58. I'm building myself and it x58 offers the most bang for the buck. I would suggest a differnt power supply though the Corsair 1000 H there more to the model number. But its the modular 1000w powers supply. Not sure on the SSD, they are new, so good luck but troll the web you want a special version drawing a blank on the what and why but the new SSD (newereest) has more features and the older SSD will not work with the Firmware update. (I am going with a Raptor) And read up on the SSD if you stick with. (They need to be used differently than platters, trim and defraggin issues)
I like the pro OS7 and the gpu (Straight ATI are problem I had two they sucked ) get the MSI afterburner either way, and update driver as often as necessary, and
CPU I"D go with 920 most bang for buck.... not sure about ram, on your other drive the green what the price difference between that and black? on mobo EVGA has really good customer service???? If you go with more than one (or are) gpU get a case thats big and has good flow ? on the antec. Good Luck