hey guys ive taken a look around and there seems to be alot of people n different forums picking up on this build, but all the questions i have yet to see be ironed out. heres the build as it stands. I asked some people on another forum and they gave me this list, but id like to see if i can get a better video card, cpu or mobo or whatever. Basically i have had the same computer for a WHILE so i want it to be pretty good, last a long time and be upgradeable. heres a list of the items: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail 149.99 GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 189.99 Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail 279.99 COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail 59.99 SAPPHIRE 100269SR Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail 199.99 OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Retail CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail 119.99 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM 84.99 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM 6.99 1186.90 (plus a 300 dollar monitor i already bought) My main debate is between the ASUS P6T deluxe MB and weather or not i can get a better vid card that will have a longer life for 100 more. thanks for taking a look! oh i forgot to ask, a friend of mine was saying if i go all out like this (this is all out for me) i might try some of the new cooling systems. I'm prrrreeeeety sure i dont want to bother with a water cooling system, and would rather simply be able to upgrade the computer to be competitive down the line. any other kinds of cooling systems that are pretty good.
What are you going to use the computer for? Gaming? video editing? 3d modeling? I would day the Gigabyte mobo is great unless you plan to OC. If your looking for the best mobo out there that goes to EVGA for the time being. The OCZ RAM I would drop for some Crosair or G.Skill. The Samsung drives have proven to be pretty good so far, but there still fairly new. I personally dont trust them just yet. I would drop it for a Western Digital 1 TB instead. And the rifle cpu cooler can be dropped if your not going to oc. The processor comes with a cooler that will work sufficient as it is. It never hurts to invest some money to bring temps down, but I doubt you need to worry to much. If you drop it, then obviously the AS5 can go as well. Over all though its a pretty solid build.
I was looking at your different selections and unfortunately i cant seem to determine why they are better. in the EVGA instance it seems to me that there are only a few advantages to be had with its more expensive ones. namely increase in pcie expansion slots and more capacity for RAM (which the P6T is competitive with for half the price) but clearly thought I'm no expert on this matter. similarly i was having problems with judging the capacity of the ram (this or this) at the most i'm willing to put in another 150 for either component, but i would like to know precisely what are my advantages. im a graphic designer, comic artist and gamer. I want this baby to be compatible with future upgrade possibilities (obviously the ram, but also if i wanted to by some new GC at a later date, or even a CPU.) I'm not particularly interested in OCing, but if its not too hard id enjoy having the capacity to do so. Never done it before, so id like to try it. as for the WD vs, Samsung; yes i was thinking the same thing, but since changing the brand name is pretty simple (HDD's have basically only a few variables between them, compared to MB's correct?) i hadnt bothered to change it until i finally buy it. thanks!
its more of a quality brand thing with the ram and hard drive. Its just more "safe" to go with corsair and western digital. plus that gpu should last you for a while.
Ok so then what is the difference between this model, this model and this model. they seem to have the same specifics, which is why i cant seem to explain.
The EVGA is the more stable board for OCing from what I have heard. I suppose it comes down to better bios programing. The Gigabyte board is a great board under normal conditions, just not when you OC. As for being able to upgrade the RAM,GPU,and CPU, I would just get high end RAM to begin with, and there will be no need to upgrade as I dont for see any major changes in RAM coming over the next few years. Regardless of which board you go with the gpu will be interchangeable. Of course a higher end card is going to hold out longer then a low end card. Then theres the fact Intel has just rolled out the i7 series, maybe a year ago, and has plans for a full line up of i7 series cpus as well, I believe, as well as i3 and i5 series(which wont be as powerfully as the i7). As for hard drive variables not sure exactly how much changes from brand to brand, but its not just about the hardware, its about the firmware for the drive as well. For example,seagate make some great drives, its just a matter of getting a drive with the right firmware, because if you get one with the wrong firmware...well lets hope you have a back up and money for a new drive. I would only assume that there could be quite a few variables, such as the density of the platters the data are written on, to what is used for vibration dampening to ensure smooth read and writes. Well the middle one is 12 GB worth of RAM and a total waste of money. Otherwise it is the exact same as link #3, except programed to work in a Hexa-Channel Kit, rather then a Triple Channel Kit. The first and third link are the same specs, but the Domination series has a larger heat spreaders which mean cooler temps then the set in links 3.
ah ok great ill go with the first link then for its ability to spread the heat around. Thanks a bunch for the info!
If you do not plan to overclock you can save yourself $60 on the coolermaster v8. The retail cooler which yours will include is actually a decent size and works quite well. But if you do want aftermarked get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003 Cools much better and will save you some money will need the mounting kit for socket 1366 as well which holds it on very nicely http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233027 As for OCZ memory, if you are going to get it be sure to get the platinum not the gold. It has better timing and clocks better as well. I have this kit and have no issues at all. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381
There is no real difference in any of the i7 boards for overclocking, it's essentially just features, the EX58-UD3R is fine. Since Gigabyte boards are more reliable, the UD3R is probably a better buy. OCZ low voltage memory is cack, stick with G-Skill or Corsair. I'd also say use a WD drive instead of a Samsung.
What is so bad about the ocz memory? The "low voltage" is just because the old ddr3 memory which was being used on the c2d boards ran at much higher voltage. The new ddr3 memory for the core i7 can only be at 1.65 volts or it will damage the cpu. The cosair memory runs at 1.65 as well so that would be "low voltage". Check out some of the reviews on the ocz OCZ3P1600LV6GK kit It performs really well and at a great price. It has no problem running at many different timing settings. Also 7-7-7-24 is near the best timing available. If you loosin the timing a bit it will clock up much higher than the spec speed it is rated at as well. http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...ddr3-triple-channel-memory-kit-review-10.html
That isn't really how the memory voltage turned out to be with DDR3, I've yet to hear a case of an i7 being damaged by high memory voltage. OCZ memory is very prone to not running without high voltages being used, and the low voltage stuff from what I can see is worse. Corsair memory for example tends to be much more reliable.
