Updated i7 build up for comments and tweaks! (UPDATED WITH PICTURES!!)

[foolycooly]

Hey guys,

I have been researching and browsing this forum pretty much every day for the past month or so and have hopefully come to a conclusion on what I want to build. Your advice has been incredibly helpful up to this point.

I have decided to go i7 after a long debate between it and the duo. While it's going to cost me an extra $600 or so, I think it will be worth it. I will probably not build until March, but I hope to keep these components the same, and hopefully the prices will have come down a bit by the time I get around to the build. I'm hoping to spend about $1500, not including the monitor which I might ask for for my upcoming birfday. This is what I've come up with.

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CASE:

Coolermaster RC-690 - $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

POWER SUPPLY:

Corsair 750TX - $119.99 (w/o $20 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

MOTHERBOARD:

ASUS P6T - $249.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359

CPU:

Intel Core i7 920 - $294.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

CPU COOLER:

Coolermaster V8 - $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055

GPU:

EVGA GTX 295 - $504.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130449

MEMORY:

OCZ Platinum 6gb - $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

HDD:

WD Caviar Black 640gb - $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

MONITOR:

Samsung 2433BW 24" LCD - $289.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001309

OPTICAL DRIVE:

LG 22x DVD burner - $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152

THERMAL PASTE:

Arctic Cooling MX-2 - $6.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020

OS:

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488


In total it comes to a little over $2,000 after shipping and rebates

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EDIT - Lucky change in plans and I will be order within the next couple of weeks. I made some changes, and am going to go w/ the 295 and P6t non-deluxe. The prices on some of my components are currently up on newegg but hopefully will come down again by the time I order. Also, I just realized there is a microcenter by my house (not college apartment) in VA so hopefully I can snag a 920 during their insane sale. ($230).

One concern I had was that I saw someone post problems w/ the corsair 750 and the gtx295. I believe that there are enough power connectors to handle it (I saw on a picture of the 750w that there were multiple 'PCIe' connectors which looked like 6 pin w/ a separate little 2 pin which I assume could be combined for an 8-pin. The 295 requires one 8 and one 6, so do you think this will be a problem.

Anything else you guys can see? Thanks as always!

 

[theAnimal]

Samsung > Acer.

Since you're using a single video card, the Corsair VX550 would be plenty. Or the PC P&C Silencer 500W.

On the subject of the video card, I would suggest a GTX285 would be perfect for a 24" monitor. Single GPU is always the best way to go, less driver issues and 100% scaling in every game.

 

[hofstra66]

the animal makes some good points. personally i would stick with your current psu to allow you to upgrade in the future. Also if budget is a concern i would go with a 4870 1gb gpu for now. with a 24" this gpu will be more than sufficient for now, you can grab a second and crossfire it in the upcoming months and save yourself some cash. Also i have heard there is some slight clearance issues with the v8 and the evga board. The p6t deluexe has some better clearance and imo is an overall better board, also its 15 bucks cheaper. While im at it, the Noctua 1366 cooler might be a better choice. its smaller, quieter and comes with thermal paste that is fantastic.

 

[foolycooly]

good points guys. For the video card, i'm looking to tear through all modern games at max settings for a while to come, so I'd like to stick w/ at least the 4870x2. If the 295 comes down in price in the next month I might consider it. I will definitely look more into the p6T. Thanks!

 

[foolycooly]

Did some poking around and saw a large number of negative reviews on the p6t regarding multiple RMA's and reliability issues. I also hear if you use a big GPU it can be awkward to get to some of the SATA ports. I read about some people using the coolermaster V8 with the evga board with no problems. Also, can anyone clarify this version 2 thing? Are they releasing a whole new board under the same name? Or is it simply a bios update?

 

[xthekidx]

The V2 doesn't come with SAS ports, and I'm not really sure how the layout of that board looks, but I'm guessing the positioning of the SATA ports will be the same. I have the P6T non deluxe and getting to the SATA ports isn't an issue if you have the straight SATA cables, the 90 degree cables do make it difficult.

The V8 shouldn't have clearance issues in that Case, I have it as well and I have about 3/4" of clearance from my side panel, the 690 is very wide for a midtower. I would say go for the Gigabyte UD5 board if you want another option from the ASUS and EVGA boards in the $300 price range.

I would also go for a smaller PSU if you want to stick with that GPU, in the 650w range. That card is pretty power hungry so you wouldn't be able to xfire another one of them on that PSU, you would have to get 1000w probably for that to work, or an 850w if you wanted to add a regular 4870 (which I think you can do...might be wrong about that though). 750w is kind of an awkward place coupled with the 4870x2. Either go bigger or go smaller I would say.

 

[foolycooly]

well, I feel like the gpu itself is sort of an awkward spot. I feel like the gtx280 would not be able to cut it at the highest settings on the newest games on a 24". However, two of them in SLI could...but like you said I would probably need more power for that.

I feel like the 295 is ultimately the best option because of its low power consumption. I probably wouldn't ever SLI the 295 or xfire the 4870x2. With that being said, do you think a 650w PSU would cover a single 295 or 4870x2 while still leaving enough headroom for potential addons like an additional WD 640 for raid0 and 3-4 additional fans?

Or am I off base on my gpu mindset. Will a single 4870 1gb be plenty to max games out on the 24" for a while? My highest priority is maximum FPS on maximum settings for this PC.

 

[xthekidx]

A single 4870 1gb will have trouble maxing games out on a 24" right now. I have a 19" monitor that runs at 1440x900 with a GTX 260 Core 216 and in Far Cry with highest details and max AA it can get a little jumpy at times, although most of the time its fine. So if you want to max out every game for a while I would say get a GTX 285 or better.

If you plan on adding on a bunch of stuff like you said then maybe you should stick with that PSU. It should cover any GPU you get and any other add-ons you throw at it. Plus if you don't use up all the headroom it gives you, it will run more efficiently saving you money when it comes time to pay the power bill.

I kinda feel like a hypocrite going back on what I just said earlier...lol.

 

[foolycooly]

I think i've decided to bite the bullet and go with a gtx295. Since I probably won't ever buy another one of these to quad-SLI in the future, do you think a different mobo could work? I really don't want to skimp on the mobo if I can help it because I'm looking for the most friendly OC options. Are the OC options largely the same on all of the mobos? Could I go with a P6T non-deluxe or gigabyte's version to save like $70?

I'm looking to probably get the i7 to 3.5 on the v8. If I can, I would like to push 4.0, but I know it's cpu dependent. Will I be held back by my memory?

Thanks guys!

 

[xthekidx]

Ram speed is determined by BCLKxRam multiplier. So to OC to 3.5, you would need a BCLK of 175, which gives you the option of 1404mhz ram speed or 1758mhz (8x and 10x multipliers, respectively; I know this from experience, I am using the P6T non-deluxe and have my CPU OC to 3.5). I can't get my current ram stable at 1758 without going over the 1.65v ram spec from intel, so my ram is running at 1404 (you can get stable overclocks by going over 1.65, some say staying within half a volt is safe, but its unknown what longterm effects are and I want my CPU to last ). So since the memory you are looking at is rated to run at 1600, I think you should be fine. I have the Platinum 1600mhz ram, which is the next step up from the kit you are looking at (only $10 more right now, you should consider it, it has much better timings than the golds). I got my CPU up to 3.8, but I backed it down cuz I didn't like the temps that I was getting. The P6T Deluxe will probably overclock better, so if you want to push it to 4.0ghz I would suggest you get that mobo, but if you can live with 3.5 (which is very fast, I might add) then the non-deluxe version will do fine. And with the GTX 295, you shouldn't have any problems running your CPU at 3.5ghz in games.

 

[xthekidx]

So if your interested, I got my CPU to 3.5 with the following bios tweaks:
1.288 CPU Voltage
1.3125 QPI/DRAM Core Voltage
BCLK 175
DRAM Frequency 1404, 7-7-7-18 1T
DRAM Bus Voltage: 1.64
Disable Speedstep and turbo
All else left on auto.

 

[foolycooly]

beyond excellent info kid, I was looking for some solid stats I could use as a starting point for my first OC experience. I will consider the platinum ram as well. I doubt I should need to go to 4.0 anytime in the near future anyway, so maybe i'll go with the standard P6T. I see it only has two sata cables, but I believe all i'll need cables for are the OEM WD640gb and the OEM dvd burner.

btw, the platinum is actually cheaper right now

gold -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

platinum -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

 

[xthekidx]

Jump on that s**t

 

[foolycooly]

meh...I wish. See my OP - can't build until March most likely. Need to start making money from my internship and stop scraping by my senior year of college

 

[Akebono 98]

If it matters to you, the P6T Deluxe V2 is now out.

 

[foolycooly]

snap diggity...not on newegg yet though?

Also, just to ask more questions...can someone help me differentiate between the deluxe and non-deluxe? I just ran down their spec pages side by side and it looks to me that the only differences are:

deluxe has a different onboard audio (I assume better quality)

NON-deluxe says it supports higher memory speeds (2000/1600/1333 v. 1600/1333/1066)

slightly different PCIe modes (16x 16x 4x mode vs. 16x 16x 1x)

Deluxe has two LAN ports and two more USB slots.

So, essentially I would be paying like $70 extra for some extra cables and possibly better onboard audio?

 

[darkside_gamer7]

Wish that damn V2 wld go on newegg already

 

[xthekidx]

snap diggity...not on newegg yet though?

Also, just to ask more questions...can someone help me differentiate between the deluxe and non-deluxe? I just ran down their spec pages side by side and it looks to me that the only differences are:

deluxe has a different onboard audio (I assume better quality)

NON-deluxe says it supports higher memory speeds (2000/1600/1333 v. 1600/1333/1066)

slightly different PCIe modes (16x 16x 4x mode vs. 16x 16x 1x)

Deluxe has two LAN ports and two more USB slots.

So, essentially I would be paying like $70 extra for some extra cables and possibly better onboard audio?

The Deluxe also has 16 + 2 phase power, whereas the nondeluxe has 8 + 2 phase power, but that makes little difference unless you go for a record OC

 

[foolycooly]

ninja edit bump...

 

[theAnimal]

The connector is called a 6+2 and will work fine.

 

[Akebono 98]

Here is the P6T Deluxe V2 on NCIXUS.com: link. There are only a few left in stock, apparently, so move fast if you want one now (or else wait for Newegg).


Some of the key differences between the P6T Deluxe and non-Deluxe:

1. The Deluxe has better heatsinks and heatpipes.

2. The Deluxe has a better power design, as mentioned by xthekidx, which assists in high OC stability.

3. The Deluxe cannot run tri-SLI, period.

4. The non-Deluxe can't really run tri-SLI either--the third slot is x4, which is likely a problem.

5. Regardless of what they say for "officially supported memory speeds", the Deluxe will OC better than the non-Deluxe and should be able to support DDR3-2000 if everything is just right (a mobo can be picky about memory when squeezing out that last drop of speed).

6. The Deluxe puts an x4 slot in a better place--above the first video slot (i.e. you can run a PCIe x1 sound card there with SLI). I also like the expansion slot layout of the Deluxe better--and this is key for SLI/Crossfire--it leaves a gap between the video cards for better cooling.


The other smaller differences can be seen from running the comparison on Newegg (ports, I/O chips, etc.).

 

[foolycooly]

will I see higher shipping costs if I live in the US when buying from ncixus? The V2 is only $37 more than the standard P6T atm.

I'm just not sure I can justify spending the extra money for features I probably won't need. I probably won't run another gtx295 in quad sli any time soon, and I don't see myself OC'ing to the extreme. I will probably be satisfied with 3.5Ghz, and I've read about people achieving 4.0 w/ the non-deluxe board. Do the better quality heatsinks and heatpipes make a noticeable difference?

 

[Akebono 98]

NCIX does charge shipping to the US, so it will cost more than Newegg's free shipping.

Based on your particular needs and at a modest OC of 3.5 GHz, then the P6T non-Deluxe is all you need. You won't need the fancy power phases and better heatsinks and heatpipes in that case. If you wanted to OC to 4 GHz+, then I would go for the Deluxe V2.

However, I personally don't think that $37 is too much extra to pay for a "long-term" investment in a top quality i7 mobo, since this is one piece that would definitely last for a while, because of the fact that you're buying into i7 at the very beginning of its product cycle. It's just nice to have more features and flexibility over the long-run.

It is always better to have a better cooling design, but that matters most when squeezing out the highest possible OC.

Keep this all in mind, though, because when you go to build in March, then the pricing, etc. may change as well.

 

[foolycooly]

thanks akebono...i'm still thinking about it. The problem is i'm going to have to order next week I think because I plan to build during my spring break (March 6th - 16th), so I'd like to have all the parts by then. I'm hoping newegg will get it in stock soon, although I honestly have no idea. I might send them an e-mail asking if they know when they'll get it in.

Any news on that?

 

[Akebono 98]

No, unfortunately not. I see it on a handful of sites in Canada and Australia, but not Newegg USA. As you might have realized, this V2 thing has caused a problem for Asus and I would think that Newegg also has a lot of inventory on hand to clear out before they allow anyone to buy the V2.