New Computer

[Gandorf61]

I've been thinking about getting a good desktop for a while now and pretty much have enough cash to buy a decent setup. Most likely I'll be getting one custom made through NCIX as I've heard good things about them and I would rather not build the computer myself.

 

My budget is around $1200-1500, preferably on the cheaper side if possible but will be able to pay a bit extra if necessary. I want to be able to play most games on higher detail settings as well as being able to run multiple applications at once. Currently I'm looking at a setup similar to this:

 

1 x Intel Core i7 930 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.8GHZ 8MB L3 Cache 130W 45NM Retail Box

1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM

1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM

1 x D-LINK DWA-552 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter 802.11B/G/N Triple Antenna PCI Adapter

1 x LG GH22NS50 Black 22X SATA DVD Writer OEM

1 x ASUS P6T X58 ATX LGA1366 DDR3 3PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFire SLI SATA2 GBLAN Motherboard

1 x Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1600C8 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 8-8-8-24 Core i7 Memory Kit

1 x Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.8GHZ PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI Display Port

1 x Antec Nine Hundred Two Mid Tower Gamer Case 902 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 eSATA Audio

1 x Seasonic SS-600ET 600W EPS12V 24PIN ATX Power Supply PFC 80PLUS Bronze 6PIN 8PIN PCI-E 120MM Fan OEM

 

Cost: $1,548.41 (inc. warrenty and building)

 

Now for some questions I have:

 

For the processor is it worth getting the i7 model I have listed or would a cheaper i5 model be sufficient? Another option I considered would be getting the AMD Phenom II X6 3.2Ghz which is roughly the same price as the i7.

 

For graphic cards how much better is the Radeon 5770 than the 5750? Is the extra $35 worth the upgrade?

 

Can anyone recommend one or two good motherboards to choose between? Haven't really looked into them much so I'm not quite sure what is/isn't compatible and what would be a good choice.

 

For the RAM how much of a difference will I see when using the 1600 sticks over the 1333 sticks? I know there's a difference in speed but is it really worth the extra money to get the 1600 ones?

 

For the PSU I used this to get a rough estimate and it seems like 600W should be sufficient enough for me, should I be getting one that's higher?

 

Lastly any recommendations for a good case would be great. At first I was set on the Antec one I have listed but I've read that the fans can be fairly loud and would like to look at a few other good options.

 

 

Any help answering some of my questions would be appreciated, and feel free to offer any other setup ideas/criticize any bad choices I have up there. :)

[OldJoe]

Is the Seasonic psu modular?

You won't notice the difference in speed in ram unless your a bit into it.

5770 is worth it. But if you want to play games on high settings it's better to spend more money on the graphics card than cpu.

Never heard about complaints about the 902 case fans. You can get some resistors to them if they are too loud.

Cpu, as i said, i'd spend less money on it and more money on the gpu. Motherboard depends on what you choose, but out of those 3 i'd choose the i7. The i7 and AMD black edition are very nice to have if you like overclocking.

[Kriegsmier]

I have the i7 920, SWEET. I'd recommend the i7 personally...but if its money you want to save then look cheaper. Sweet processor though IMO.

[Gandorf61]

Ok changed a few things around:

 

Corsair TX650W 650W - I don't think it's modular, is there any big advantage in having one that is?

 

Also decided to go with the 1333Mhz memory over the 1600Mhz sticks and save a bit of money. I think I'll stick with the Antec 902 as well after watching a review on it and hearing what the fans are like.

 

Now I just need to figure out which motherboard to get and what I should do for graphics cards. I was thinking of getting just the 5770 for now and possibly a second one at a later date to crossfire them if I want some extra power. Either that or I might just spend the extra cash now and get either the 5830 or 5850. How much better would the 5830 be than the 5770 compared to the 5850?

 

Thanks for the input so far guys.

[Kriegsmier]

A modular power supply just makes cable management easier. You can take off wires you arn't using or plug in more.

[Gandorf61]

A modular power supply just makes cable management easier. You can take off wires you arn't using or plug in more.

Would be handy but not a must have feature I guess.

 

Decided to most likely go with the Radeon 5850. A bit over my budget but this way at least my computer will be able to run everything on higher settings for a longer time.

 

Still haven't decided on a motherboard, was looking at an ASUS P6T but it got a lot of bad reviews. :/

 

One last question, should I get a better heatsink for my CPU or will the one that comes with it be sufficient to keep it cool? I most likely won't be overclocking as I have no idea how to set it up and I'm not sure if I want to attempt it and possibly mess up my computer.

[noble_aloof]

I've been thinking about getting a good desktop for a while now and pretty much have enough cash to buy a decent setup. Most likely I'll be getting one custom made through NCIX as I've heard good things about them and I would rather not build the computer myself.

 

My budget is around $1200-1500, preferably on the cheaper side if possible but will be able to pay a bit extra if necessary. I want to be able to play most games on higher detail settings as well as being able to run multiple applications at once. Currently I'm looking at a setup similar to this:

 

1 x Intel Core i7 930 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.8GHZ 8MB L3 Cache 130W 45NM Retail Box

1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM

1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM

1 x D-LINK DWA-552 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter 802.11B/G/N Triple Antenna PCI Adapter

1 x LG GH22NS50 Black 22X SATA DVD Writer OEM

1 x ASUS P6T X58 ATX LGA1366 DDR3 3PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFire SLI SATA2 GBLAN Motherboard

1 x Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1600C8 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 8-8-8-24 Core i7 Memory Kit

1 x Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.8GHZ PCI-E 2XDVI HDMI Display Port

1 x Antec Nine Hundred Two Mid Tower Gamer Case 902 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 eSATA Audio

1 x Seasonic SS-600ET 600W EPS12V 24PIN ATX Power Supply PFC 80PLUS Bronze 6PIN 8PIN PCI-E 120MM Fan OEM

 

Cost: $1,548.41 (inc. warrenty and building)

 

Now for some questions I have:

 

For the processor is it worth getting the i7 model I have listed or would a cheaper i5 model be sufficient? Another option I considered would be getting the AMD Phenom II X6 3.2Ghz which is roughly the same price as the i7.

 

For graphic cards how much better is the Radeon 5770 than the 5750? Is the extra $35 worth the upgrade?

 

Can anyone recommend one or two good motherboards to choose between? Haven't really looked into them much so I'm not quite sure what is/isn't compatible and what would be a good choice.

 

For the RAM how much of a difference will I see when using the 1600 sticks over the 1333 sticks? I know there's a difference in speed but is it really worth the extra money to get the 1600 ones?

 

For the PSU I used this to get a rough estimate and it seems like 600W should be sufficient enough for me, should I be getting one that's higher?

 

Lastly any recommendations for a good case would be great. At first I was set on the Antec one I have listed but I've read that the fans can be fairly loud and would like to look at a few other good options.

 

 

Any help answering some of my questions would be appreciated, and feel free to offer any other setup ideas/criticize any bad choices I have up there. :)

 

i5 models would be sufficient. you would really only notice the difference if you were doing a lot of Adobe stuff, converting files, hosting a server, etc. (correct me if i'm wrong) but they have a faster initial clock speed, anyway.

 

my friend just got a computer with the 5770 and claims fps lag on crysis at maxed settings. it would be a worthwhile upgrade to get 5770, but if you really want to be able to play everything a game hands at you your better off crossfiring them, at least sometime down the road.

 

no idea

 

not a huge difference. maybe if you went from the slowest 1333 sticks to the fastest 1600 cards (in terms of latency) you would notice a performance increase.

 

only if your looking to add fans or extra hardware down the road.

 

antec makes great cases. general li and coolermaster have some good ones worth looking into

[stars1]

I've owned the IBM thinkpad - ThinkPad X61. This model laptop is very fashion

[jasignhagj]

If you can afford it, I'd reccomend staying with the higher speed RAM, speed is more important than quantity for gaming.

[Gandorf61]

Ok so I've pretty much got my entire setup sorted out and will probably end up ordering it in a few days. This is what I've decided to go with right now:

 

1 x Intel Core i7 860 Quad Core Processor Lynnfield LGA1156 2.8GHZ Hyperthreading 8MB Cache Retail Box

1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT DVD OEM

1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache

1 x D-LINK DWA-552 Xtreme N Desktop Adapter 802.11B/G/N

1 x Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus

1 x ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI SLI CrossFireX USB3.0 SATA 6GB Motherboard

1 x ASUS DRW-24B1LT 24X SATA DVD Writer

1 x Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24

1 x Radeon HD 5850

1 x Antec Nine Hundred Two Mid Tower Gamer Case

1 x Corsair TX650W

 

Cost: $1,637.49

 

I ended up getting the faster ram as it was the same price when buying 2x2GB sticks. I'll probably end up getting another 4GB later this year if I find that I need it. I also decided to go with the i7 860 instead of the i7 930 due to it being better on almost every benchmark test and it'll save me some money. I'm not planning on getting an i9 or anything down the road and most likely wont be getting a second graphics card either so having a x58 board wont be something I really need over the p55 board.

 

Any thoughts on parts I should change?

 

I just need to decide on a monitor/mouse/keyboard/speakers now. Any recommendations? I'd prefer to keep the cost under $400 for them.

[jasignhagj]

Don't i7 Mobo's run RAM in triple channel? You may be better off buying a set of 3 sticks.

 

EDIT - Never mind, it appears your motherboard is set up for dual channel.