New Build Suggestions

[altabraun]

I am putting a new system together for my granddaughter for Xmas. It will be her first experience putting a system together from scratch This is a list of parts I have decided to put together. Our budget is a maximum of $1500 CDN and that includes GST. She will be gaming at 1680 X1050 and there are no plans to go SLI or overclock. The OS will be Windows 7 home Premium 64.

Intel Core™ i7 Processor 920 2.66GHz w/ 8MB Cache
Part#: BX80601920 $329.99

Asus P6T SE X58 w/ TripleDDR3 2000, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E, CrossFireX
Part#: P6T SE $204.99

Corsair 6GB XMS3-1333 PC3-10666 Core™ i7 Triple Channel DDR3 Kit (3 x 2GB)
Part#: TR3X6G1333C9 $209.99

eVGA e-GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 55nm PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out
Part#: 896-P3-1255-AR $225.99*

Corsair HX 650W Modular Power Supply
Part#: CMPSU-650HX $134.99

Cooler Master HAF 922 Mid Tower Case, Black
Part#: RC-922M-KKN1-GP $139.99

Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA II w/ 32MB Cache
Part#: WD1001FALS $109.99

Samsung SH-S223B 22x SpeedPlus™ DVD-Writer, SATA, Black, OEM
Part#: SH-S223B/BEBE $28.99

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler
Part#: RR-B10-212P-GP $34.99


I would appreciate any feedback with additions, suggestions etc.

 

[MadAdmiral]

DDR3 2000 is overkill. There's an article about how the speed of the RAM makes little difference. Stick to 1333 and CAS Latency 7 for great performance for a good price. I also think that Corsair is very expensive for the performance you get.

Ditch the nVidia card. ATI has some killer cards out in their HD 5xxx series. The best card out there now is the 5850 for $300, but the 5770 is still extremely good at $170.

Trade the WD for a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB for $85. It's one of fastest drives out there, as well as one of the cheapest.

 

[p55ibexpeak]

Execellent time to buy before the HST kicks in sometime next year.

All but the gpu looks great. I would've put together the same list if I were buying a gaming rig. Except the gpu. The GTX 260 is a great card, but it's on the way out. I assume you're getting Windows 7 as well? Then you want a DX11 card like the HD 5770 mentioned above. Or better yet, the HD 5850. Now if that will go over budget, dumb down your i7 to i5. You can do it. i5 is fine for gaming. I have i5 + 260, but I'm planning to get either HD 58xx or GT 300 if they come out sometime next year. You can shave $200 off with i5. 200+225 = $425 CND is plenty even for HD 5850 if you can get it.

 

[altabraun]

Execellent time to buy before the HST kicks in sometime next year.

All but the gpu looks great. I would've put together the same list if I were buying a gaming rig. Except the gpu. The GTX 260 is a great card, but it's on the way out. I assume you're getting Windows 7 as well? Then you want a DX11 card like the HD 5770 mentioned above. Or better yet, the HD 5850. Now if that will go over budget, dumb down your i7 to i5. You can do it. i5 is fine for gaming. I have i5 + 260, but I'm planning to get either HD 58xx or GT 300 if they come out sometime next year. You can shave $200 off with i5. 200+225 = $425 CND is plenty even for HD 5850 if you can get it.

If I were to go to the i5 I would have to change out the MB no? Given that everything else will stay the same, any MB recommendation for the i5? The 5770 is not a problem

XFX Radeon HD 5770 1GB DDR5 PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
SKU: MX26092 Part#: HD577AZNFC $199.99

 

[altabraun]

Lol, I just looked at the MB and it supports ATI already. I can get the 5770 instead of the GTX 260, save $25.00 and not have to change out the processor or MB.

 

[shadowduck]

Yes i5 is a totally different socket than i7. You would need to get another (and cheaper on the plus side) motherboard.

Most certainly go ATI over nVidia. ATI is really rocking on the video card front right now.

Asus board if you ever want to Crossfire. Otherwise get the single slot verison

As for CPU look at the i5-750. i5-750.

I would personally stay with i7 though if you plan to upgrade before you buy a whole new system. For ex: drop in a 6 core i9 CPU.

 

[p55ibexpeak]

If you go i5, there are many choices of mobos. These are the latest. I doubt you'd need to upgrade the mobo if you get any of these in the foreseeable future, unless you switch socket again.

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412&cm_re=usb_3.0-_-13-128-412-_-Product

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128409&cm_re=usb_3.0-_-13-128-409-_-Product

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD6 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128410&cm_re=usb_3.0-_-13-128-410-_-Product

ASUS P7P55D-E Premium LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131606&cm_re=usb_3.0-_-13-131-606-_-Product