New Intel Build - Gaming PC

shablya

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Nov 22, 2010
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Hi guys,

I am new here, and I am an avid PC enthusiast and right now I am taking classes in college to bolster my knowledge in computer science. This is my first serious from scratch build and I would really appreciate any feedback. I will be buying all the parts on black Friday from newegg. BTW I will probably spend about $1500.00.

Thanks in advance for all the help. :bounce:


CPU
Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=19-115-211&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=19#scrollFullInfo

Comments:
Will buy a third party heatsink, my top picks below.



3rd Party Heatsink:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm sleeve CPU Cooler
COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
ZALMAN CNPS9900ALED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler

The above 3 CPU Coolers where the most referred to on newegg.

Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler
I included this one, even though it was mentioned once, but it was the highest rated among the ones that were only mentioned once.



Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS Rampage III Formula ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS P6X58D Premium ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg 3 motherboard comparison
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%20600007887&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280|13-131-614^13-131-614-TS%2C13-131-666^13-131-666-TS%2C13-128-423^13-128-423-TS

ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-131-665&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Comments:
So far the most referred to mobo I've found on newegg comments would be the Asus P6T V2, and then the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R & the Asus Sabertooth were mentioned about the same amount of time, the least mentioned was the Asus Rampage III Formula.



Video Card:
EVGA GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 012-P3-1470-AR Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600030348&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=48|14-130-549^14-130-549-TS%2C14-130-550^14-130-550-TS

This is actually a comparison of the "same" card, the only difference is the Core Clock, Shader Clock & Effective Memory Clock.

What do you guys think of a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295?

Comments:
This is a comparison of two EVGA manufacturer cards, I don't know which video card manufacturer would be best, there is quite a lot on newegg. So, I am open to suggestions.



RAM:
Again on the newegg comments I heard a lot about Corsair & g-skill, but I am again open to suggestion as to what kind of RAM I should get. I will be getting 6GB and of course most mobo that I have listed support the 2200 MHz RAM, I will probably not want to spend too much, but I would like the speed to be somewhere around 2000Mhz.




Case:
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Comments:
This is by far the most mentioned case on newegg and it is second on ratings. I am open to suggestions.





Hard Drive:
Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV425-S2BD/64GB 2.5" Desktop Bundle 64GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Comments:
I want to have one SSD for my main system, to prevent any malfunctions.



OTHER:
I believe I've covered most of the major parts, but here is what I will also be purchasing and I would like your feedback:

Power Surge Suppressor
DVD ROM
Modular Power Supply
 
Solution
The i7 950 is a nice processor, I would stick with it. Best part is you can upgrade to the 980X in the future! Waiting for sandybridge is not for me and it doesn't have anything to compare to that.
As far as the cpu cooler goes I would try the Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler for $65 and put some Panaflo 120mm, pick from here for your best choice. Remember, the higher the cfm's the cooler your CPU runs.
When looking at your choice for motherboards I like the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R ATX Intel Motherboard. It's the one I'm running. And it's the only one that states on the page you linked that supports raid on the sata 6GB/s. A couple SSD's on that and you'll be smokin.
And for the video card, are you set on...

shablya

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Nov 22, 2010
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Well, I have put this build off for already a year. I have heard of the Sandy Bridge chipset, but i don't know how will it affect the prices of the mobo's (it is for the mobos right, replaces the N. Bridge) I can't indulge myself too much, since my funds are really limited as it is.
 

vindictive

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Oct 27, 2010
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24413.png

the one beasting the i7 980x extreme is supposed to cost $209-$218
lga 1155, jan 5th.
 

suteck

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The i7 950 is a nice processor, I would stick with it. Best part is you can upgrade to the 980X in the future! Waiting for sandybridge is not for me and it doesn't have anything to compare to that.
As far as the cpu cooler goes I would try the Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler for $65 and put some Panaflo 120mm, pick from here for your best choice. Remember, the higher the cfm's the cooler your CPU runs.
When looking at your choice for motherboards I like the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R ATX Intel Motherboard. It's the one I'm running. And it's the only one that states on the page you linked that supports raid on the sata 6GB/s. A couple SSD's on that and you'll be smokin.
And for the video card, are you set on Nvidia? ATI makes some great cards. My choice would be the XFX HD-687A-ZNBC Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition. Cost a little more than what you had but the reviews explain mostly nothing but happiness with them.
Looking at the ram I'm inclined to go with the corsair. The X58A board will run the TR3X6G1600C7D at latency of 7-7-7-20 and it does that with 12 GB's installed. As far as the 2100 or 2000MHz speed goes I've read many forums and often enough there are links to sites that explain you will never get those speeds out of the memory. So the 1600MHz works for me. That and I overclock my cpu and turn down the memory speed to 1333 and run at 6-6-6.
Nice case you picked out there.
I don't know much about SSD's yet so I'll leave that up to the users to give you advice on that one. But you will probably want to get a spinpoint f3 1 TB drive to store things on. Shoot for the $55 you might even want 2 of them. :pt1cable:
Only other thing I noticed is that you mention as a side about a PSU. That is one of the MOST important parts. Make sure you get one with an 80+ rating and I would recommend a 1K so that later when you go to CrossFire you will be power enabled already. This SILVERSTONE OP1000-E 1000W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply for $150.
 
Solution

shablya

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Nov 22, 2010
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Thank you for all that helpful info, I will definitely keep all those points in mind. And yeah, I will be getting a really good PSU, because their importance is ignored.

Thanks Again :D
 

shablya

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Nov 22, 2010
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Hey guys, thank you for all of your help, here is what I finally chose if you are interested. :sol:

1 x ($17.99) SURGE SUP CYBERPOWER | 850 R

$17.99



1 x ($169.99) PSU ANTEC|TPQ-1000 1000W RT

$169.99



1 x ($17.99) DVD BRN ASUS | DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS% - OEM

$17.99



1 x ($79.99) HD 2T|SAMSUNG HD204UI % - OEM

$79.99



1 x ($109.99) CASE CM|RC-932-KKN1-GP BK RT

$109.99



1 x ($259.99) MB ASUS P6X58D PREMIUM 1366 R

$259.99



1 x ($279.99) VGA SAPPHIRE| 100281-3SR HD5870 RT

$279.99



1 x ($279.99) CPU INTEL|CORE I7 950 3.06G 45N R

$279.99



1 x ($139.99) MEM 2Gx3|CORSAIR CMX6GX3M3A2000C9 R

$139.99



1 x ($62.00) CPU COOL PROLIMA| MEGAHALEMS REV.B

$62.00