New core i7 build, thoughts?

C

CptTrips

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
121
1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Gaming, 3D/video work (Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Premiere)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Going for around a grand, $1200 tops, but cheaper is better
3) Where do you live?
Tampa FL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
New build with the exception of speakers, mouse/keyboard, monitors... I have an old harddrive or two I'll probably throw in here as well. 7200rpm seagates, not planning on RAIDing or anything
6) Will you be overclocking?
I wouldn't mind giving it a try this time around, never have on my previous 3 builds.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Two 19" monitors running 1280x1024 apiece
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next 3 days
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
No raid, need firewire, dual card support probably not necessary
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Windows 7 preordered! Planning on installing the RC until it's released


Here's what I'm looking at so far.

Motherboard:
EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard

OR

ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

I'm wondering what the biggest difference between those two are.

CPU:
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

RAM:
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Case:
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Video card I'm torn between ATI and nvidea. I've had ATI for a long time now but from what I've been reading it seems they're not living up nvidea's stuff.

Either

EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB

or

XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

PSU I am also unsure about, as I'm not sure how much wattage I'm going to need. I saw this combo deal CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W and Sony DVD/CD burner and since I'll need a burner, that'd work, but 550w? Think that's enough?

If I do the overclocking route, I'd probably get this as it's pretty cheap and has good reviews:
COOLER MASTER RR-B10-212P-GP 120mm Long life sleeve CPU Cooler
and
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

Any comments on this? I'm not trying for the super highend, but I've always gone for the cheapest before now, and so now I want something at least middle ground. My last build was an AMD Athlon single core from 3 years ago, so it's about time for an upgrade.
 
First of all, do you have a Micro Center located near you? You can get the 920's for 199 compared to Newegg's 279 price tag.

For the motherboard, I would go with either. I haven't had any problems with either the ASUS board or EVGA board.

For the video card, it's really your preference. Both perform about the same.

For the PSU, I would get a GOOD quality PSU. I'm not sure which brand you would prefer but I would get the PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W. Unless you want modular, then I would recommend Corsair's.

And lastly the case you chose is good but if you'd like, you should just the Lian Lancool PC-K62. I know the 300 and the K62 is about 50 dollars in difference but if you do have a MC located near you then you can use the extra money you saved on the 920 and the get the Lancool. Win-win situation.
 
Well the biggest differnce between those two mobos is that the P6T Se does not support SLI whereas the eGA mobo does. You can see a feature comparison here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16813131386,N82E16813188049

The Antec 300 case is a decent case but I'd personally spend the extra $5 (once you factor in shipping)
for this better quality, better cooling and larger case:
$60 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case

The HD4890 is a tad faster than the GTX 275 in the reviews I've read and it's $40 cheaper than the eVGA GTX 275 you chose. So I recommend going with the HD4890 between those two cards. With that said, are you planning on getting larger monitors anytime soon? As it stands now, either of those cards you chose are complete overkill and excessive for a small 19" monitor with a max res of 1280x1024 each. It's akin to using a nuke on an ant hill. Or using a tank to to pick up some groceries. Or setting your house on fire to kill a single roach, etc

If you're not planning on getting a new monitor that's at least a 22" with 1680x1050 res within the next two months, getting either of the HD4890 or GTX 275 would be a waste of money. In that case, the HD4850 would be more than enough for those small monitors.

Even with the combo deal, that's still a bad price for the Corsair 550VX. While a quality 550W PSU would be eneough for your setup, from a price to performance standpoint, the Corsair 550VX is a poor choice for the money. The Corsair 650TX can be had for the same price as the 550VX:
$100 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU

That Coolermaster HSF is not that good of choice for a HSF in terms of price to performance. I highly recommend springing th extra $10 for a HSF that managed to beat out other HSF that costs $20 to $30 more:
$39 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF
 
Danny Bui said:
The HD4890 is a tad faster than the GTX 275 in the reviews I've read and it's $40 cheaper than the eVGA GTX 275 you chose. So I recommend going with the HD4890 between those two cards. With that said, are you planning on getting larger monitors anytime soon? As it stands now, either of those cards you chose are complete overkill and excessive for a small 19" monitor with a max res of 1280x1024 each. It's akin to using a nuke on an ant hill. Or using a tank to to pick up some groceries. Or setting your house on fire to kill a single roach, etc
Click to expand...

LOL! :D
 
New Hyper 212 is about equal to a Noctua NH-U12P in terms of how well it works... So to say True Spirit is better price to performance than the new hyper 212 isn't total true as the noctua is within 2 to 4 degrees of True Spirit and it uses push pins and not brackets as New Hyper 212.
 
Danny Bui said:
If you're not planning on getting a new monitor that's at least a 22" with 1680x1050 res within the next two months, getting either of the HD4890 or GTX 275 would be a waste of money. In that case, the HD4850 would be more than enough for those small monitors.
Click to expand...

Definitely not planning on any new monitors. Why would either of those be overkill? Sure I can't jack the resolution up as much, but since I'll be at a lower rez, shouldn't I be able to increase other things somewhat proportionally, such as AA and/or texture quality?
 
CptTrips said:
Definitely not planning on any new monitors. Why would either of those be overkill? Sure I can't jack the resolution up as much, but since I'll be at a lower rez, shouldn't I be able to increase other things somewhat proportionally, such as AA and/or texture quality?
Click to expand...

At that low res, you would be able to max out settings with both the HD4890 and HD4850. At that point it's only a FPS difference and even then it won't be noticeable due to the limitations of the monitor's resolution. Also at that low res, you're more CPU limited than GPU limited.
 
Danny Bui said:
At that low res, you would be able to max out settings with both the HD4890 and HD4850. At that point it's only a FPS difference and even then it won't be noticeable due to the limitations of the monitor's resolution. Also at that low res, you're more CPU limited than GPU limited.
Click to expand...

Well perfect! This is going to be a Core i7 system so hopefully that bottleneck is going to be wide open!
 
Ok, here's my final list and comments:

Case
COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 $60

Mobo:
EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 $240

CPU:
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem $280

PSU:
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W $100

RAM:
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $120

Optical:
Sony Optiarc Black $31

I'm pretty much satisfied with those choices. However, I'm having trouble selecting a video card. I will definitely not be running above 1280x1024 so I don't want to go too overboard, but I still want to be able to run games at high settings (just not resolution).

At first i was looking at the HD 4890 $200

But after Danny Bui's advice, I was looking at the

HD 4850 1gb $120.

It's $10 more than the
HD 4850 512mb $110

After doing some more looking I came across the GTS 250 1gb and the HD4870 1gb, both for $145. Both are very similar, and I'm thinking I'm going to get one or the other. My last 2 cards have been ATi, but I always hear good things about nvidea... The radeon has GDDR5 memory however Anyone care to throw in their 2 cents?

Finally, I'd like to get a 3rd party CPU cooler in case I decide to overclock. I'd like to try to OC up to at least 3.5ghz as I've read several reviews that say that is definitely possible. Suggestions?
 
As Danny mentioned earlier, you won't see much difference between the HD4870 (which was "replaced" by the HD4890) and the HD4850. However, IIRC, the true difference between the HD4870 and the HD4850 is the memory used, as the first-gen models of both cards used the same GPU.

If you're sticking with that card, you don't need the Corsair TX650. You can get the Antec Earthwatts EA650 for $20 less, but you don't really need that type of power with your proposed setup. (I believe that you should have a little more power than necessary, for long-term use and future upgrades, but there is a thing such as overkill and many power supplies go far beyond that line. I believe that the TX650 and EA650 straddle that line, but the EA650 is better in this case due to its lower price.)

If you're considering overclocking, either now or at some point in the future, I recommend getting RAM that runs lower than the 1.65V limit recommended by Intel. If you don't mind paying extra for the shipping and/or forgoing the $20 MIR that Corsair offers, the G.Skill 3x2GB DDR3 1600 kit would be a better choice for consideration.

You have plenty of options available for cooling an overclocked Core i7 920. Two of the best are the TRUE 120 1366RT and the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366, but they're also more expensive. But again, as Danny mentioned earlier, the Cogate TRUE Spirit works just as well, yet it costs at least $20 less.

Though the Xigmatek Dark Knight S1283V has been recommended in the past, recent reviews have showed that, due to the layout of the Core i7's CPU cores, its three-pipe HDT design (along with that of other similar HSFs) doesn't allow it to perform as well as those CPU coolers with a four-pipe HDT design or a solid base. In other words, the S1283V would be fine for better-than-the-stock-Intel-HSF performance at stock speeds, but it may not handle an overclocked Core i7 920 as well as one of the above mentioned CPU coolers.
 
Last edited:
What's the reasoning behind the lower voltage ram? Overclocking the CPU requires lower RAM voltage?
 
CptTrips said:
What's the reasoning behind the lower voltage ram? Overclocking the CPU requires lower RAM voltage?
Click to expand...

Grossly oversimplified, lower RAM voltage generates less heat, which increases the potential overclocking threshold of the processor to a certain degree (but YMMV). However, Intel stated (I have to find the source) that 1.65V is the limit for safe operation of the RAM. Taking that limit to a more literal interpretation -- which is why I said "grossly oversimplified" earlier -- the Corsair kit you've chosen earlier would be fine at stock speeds, but if you had to up the voltage that the RAM uses, you may be in trouble. Realistically, there are several factors in play, including the fact that in most cases, by using the motherboard's default settings, you'll never run the RAM at its highest rated speed.
 
Last edited:
tiraides said:
Grossly oversimplified, lower RAM voltage generates less heat, which increases the potential overclocking threshold of the processor to a certain degree (but YMMV). However, Intel stated (I have to find the source) that 1.65V is the limit for safe operation of the RAM.
Click to expand...

Oh I gotcha, Yeah I remember reading about that awhile ago now that you mention it. I'm definitely going to go for the gskill memory instead.

Now I just need to buckle down and choose a video card.
 
Go with the XFX 1GB HD4850. Since you plan on reusing your monitors, you don't really need anything more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top