i7 Build Opinions Please!

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cinohpa

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
288
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Software Development, Photo/video editing, eclectic gaming, web browsing.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
1700, all together.
3) Where do you live?
MA.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything except Monitor, keyboard, mouse.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific
about the power supply. List make and model.
Monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Maybe. If I do it will be an after thought. I'll probably want to write good code that uses the system better as it is.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24 in.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Buying end of the week.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
RAID. Although, not for right now. I'll probably get some more hard drives and change configurations around towards the end of the summer.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Thinking of using win 7 rc until it's released. Does anyone say differently?

Am I missing anything besides optical drives (just didn't bother putting those in)?

mobo: evga e758
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

cpu: i7 920

GPU: XFX hd 4890
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150360

case: cool master HAF 932 rc
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

psu: CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

ram: mushkin 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226034

os hd: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640 gb 7200 rpm??
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

data hd: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

cpu cooling: COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055

thermal: ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020

TOTAL: ~= $1,512.87 (including optical drives, no shipping)

haha I shared a public wishlist but it isn't up yet. I'll post the link when that goes up.

I know the PSU is kind of overkill. I was originally thinking more ambitiously in terms of hardware, but I think the hd 4890 will do everything I need it to (gaming on 1920 X 1200 moderate settings) for a while. But it has good reviews and I can always reuse the psu later?



So yeah, have I forgotten anything?

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
The biggest problem with your setup are the OS drives: They're very very slow.

Why not just have a single significantly faster drive with two partitions on it for your OSes?

As for Win 7 RC, I'm personally planning on using it until the retail version shows up in my MSDNAA :) But yeah, go ahead and use Win 7 RC until the retail version comes out. The 7 RC is pretty stable as is.
 
Build looks good but I agree with Danny. Get the Western Digital 640GB Caviar Black as your main OS drive. It will be much faster than those 2 80GB drives.
 
I would agree with Danny's point about the HDDs - something like a WD6401AALS would be much better.
 
Thanks for the catch on the ram.

Would you recommend something like raptors or just something larger and pretty fast like the WD6401AALS 640GB? I guess where I'm not doing a raid configuration right now or anything like that, the bigger one might actually be more convenient?
 
Arkanian said:
Also, you will want to get a set of 1600 DDR3 RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365
Click to expand...

Go with this G.Skill DDR3 1333 kit instead. It's cheaper, it runs at a lower voltage, which is beneficial for overclocking, and it allows you to obtain a modest overclock, should you decide to pursue it later on. For $5 more, you could also consider this Mushkin DDR3 1600 kit. (To put it another way: Even though I tend to ignore MIR amounts/totals, the G.Skill kit costs as much as the OCZ kit without the need of the MIR, whereas the Mushkin kit is cheaper before and after MIR than the OCZ kit. G.Skill and Mushkin are both good brands that offer limited lifetime warranties and free shipping.)

cinohpa said:
Would you recommend something like raptors or just something larger and pretty fast like the WD6401AALS 640GB? I guess where I'm not doing a raid configuration right now or anything like that, the bigger one might actually be more convenient?
Click to expand...

The WD6401AALS is about 10% slower than the VelociRaptor in most benchmarks, yet it is cheaper and has more storage. I recommend sticking with the WD6401AALS.
 
I see the g. skill for $95.

Are any of these going to have significant effects on over clocking later?

Do I want to stay towards the muskin or 1333 g skill for the lower voltage?
 
This is the kit that PC_User was referring to.

Both G.Skill kits and the Mushkin kit run at a level of 1.5V-1.6V. For simplicity's sake, you could stick with either the G.Skill or the Mushkin DDR3 1600 kit.
 
OK so I'm going to go with the mushkin.

Otherwise things look good? You guys agree the hd 4890 will do the trick?

I'll probably order in the next couple days.
 
Otherwise looks good. 4890 is a great videocard, especially if you overclock it.
 
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