Building a new computer- Hows this look?

[Danzic]

First I should say that while I am not computer illiterate, I don't know much about building computers. However, I do think its finally time to build a new computer. Ideally, I would like to reuse whatever possible, like maybe my tower. However, I don't want to do this half arse, if I'm going to build a new computer, I want it to last another 4 years like my current one has.

Here is my current computer:
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (Ideally I would like to reuse this)
Memory: CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model Twinx2048-3200c2 - Retail
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 SP2B for System Builders - OEM
HD 2x:Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Mobo: ABIT AT8 32X 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon Xpress 3200 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2.2GHz Socket 939 89W Dual-Core Processor Model ADA4200BVBOX - Retail
Power Supply: ENERMAX Whisper II EG565P-VE FMA(24P) 535W ATX12V Ver 2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Retail
Video Card: XFX PVT88PYDD4 GeForce 8800GT XXX 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Monitor: LG L226WTY-BF Black 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Currently, I can play with large unit size, on high/medium settings and it gets a little laggy if there myself and my oponent have full stacks in Empire/Napoleon TW. Of course I play many other games such as Fallout 3 etc, which I can't run max settings wbecause it would lag like crazy. Ideally, I would like to be able to play everything on max settings.

My friend who actually knows something about building computer put something together for me and I would love your guys input.

He suggested:
My same case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
My same video card: XFX PVT88PYDD4 GeForce 8800GT XXX 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail (I feel I should upgrade this though)

Memory:CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D - Retail
HD: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Mobo: ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Powersupply: Hes not sure. Any suggestions?
OS: Windows 7, whatever version that I get my student discount on (7 home edition?).
He also suggested I buy one of these: http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/prod...roduct_id=2869

Basically I ask of my fellow TW community:
- Will this setup actually work together? Fit in my tower?
- How do all of these look for a close to the top-of-the-line computer?
- Will this computer be quiet (its 4 feet from my pillow)
- Should I indeed buy a new video card and a new tower?
- If you don't like something here, what do you suggest?

Ideally, I would like to spend $500-$1000. Also, I know next to nothing about building computers so please keep it simple if you would be so kind. I will of course relate people's input to my friend. Thank you for your time in reading this post.

-Danzic

[GodofCats]

Hey Dan,

It all looks generally good, the only suggestions I have are:

1) if you're going to spend money on an aftermarket CPU cooler (the one you linked to looks awesome btw), you may as well spend the extra $6 and go with the core i7 930: (link to it on newegg)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115225

2) as far as PSUs go, I would recommend Corsair, as they are highly reliable and well-rated. Here's a newegg link to the one I have now: (850watt) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139009

So that adds 136 dollars to your budget, because the added $6 from the CPU and the Power Supply Unit is $130 w/ free shipping. Other than that, everything looks good... if you calculate your funds and what's on the list so far and figure that you have extra $$ leftover, the only thing I would recommend to upgrade would be your video card... right now you can get an Nvidia card that will downright outperform the one you have for $125 but the choice is yours.

If you have any more questions, I'll pay attention to this thread for a while...

[mrcrusty]

- Will this setup actually work together? Fit in my tower?

With the exception of the V8 cooler, I believe it should all fit. There's really not much besides Graphics Cards, CPU coolers and possibly uber high end Motherboards that fail to fit into a decent Mid Tower Case.

- How do all of these look for a close to the top-of-the-line computer?

Barring the Graphics Card & Case, it's pretty high end. You should know though, that your friend is suggesting you get a needlessly expensive hard drive. You could get a good, solid 7200 RPM hard drive with an SSD to store the OS + vital apps for the same price, with superior performance and much much more storage space.

OCZ Vertex Series SSD 30 GB - $79.99 after rebate. + Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive - $84.99

You actually save a little money compared to the WD Velociraptor.

- Will this computer be quiet (its 4 feet from my pillow)

Well, is it quiet now? Since you will have the same case and graphics card, the only variable that would make a noticable difference in sound is the CPU cooler.

- Should I indeed buy a new video card and a new tower?

I don't know about tower, it would be optimal if you did, if nothing else, you could buy a bigger one to accomodate a large CPU cooler, as well as more headroom for GPU's. However, if you are not going to do massive overclocking, SLI/Crossfire configs using hot cards and your airflow and cooling are the way you like it, then don't bother. Would be better if you did, but it's not a necessity, especially if you're on a budget, or working on a budget build.

If you did decide to buy one though, the Cooler Master 690 II Advanced, the Lian Li Lancool PC-K62 and the Antec Nine Hundred are all at the $99.99 mark. The Antec Three Hundred Black Illusion & Nine Hundred Two, are $30 cheaper, and more expensive respectively.

As for video card, I recommend a new one. 8800 GTX is a great card, but it's outdated. As for which one, personally, I'd wait until the mid range Nvidia cards come out. The GTX 470/480 are good cards, but they are pretty big and run quite hot. There are also the ATI cards, in particular, the HD 5850, doesn't run as hot but still may have trouble fitting nicely into your case. The HD 5830 or the HD 5770 seem like good fits, but like I said, when the mid range Nvidia cards come out, it may be a different story. A GTS 450, or a GTX 460 in particular, seem appealing if the GTX 260 is anything to go by.

As for the CPU cooler, the V8 isn't really my cup of tea. Sure, it looks and performs great, but the thing is a little too pricey for my tastes. Personally (and I may be biased here ), I'd suggest the same cooler that I own, the Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight, for $44.96. Comparable cooling performance, and you save yourself a little bit of cash. ChaosSiboc might disagree though, seeing as he as a V8 as his avatar.

Downgrade your RAM kit, to a lower Corsair model here: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model for $169.99.

Well, it's not really that much of a downgrade, the major difference is that you don't get the massive ram heatsinks. But still, you're not going to need them unless you undertake massive overclocking including voltage increases. If you use them in default settings, the only difference you'll notice is the heatsinks. Saves you $40 too.

$40 here, $30 there another $20 somewhere else and you've bought yourself the case too. You could also shave off a lot by downgrading the motherboard into one that's less extravagant.

So, here's my final recommendations. Keep in mind, House MD, Freddie or someone else may make better ones. I'm still relatively new to PC building myself.

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two Case - $129.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R - $209.99
Memory: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model - $169.99
Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex Series SSD 30 GB + Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive - $164.98
Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight - $44.96
Power Supply: Corsair TX750 750w Power Supply - $99.99 The extra $10 it costs over the TX 650w model is nothing, and the extra wattage could be useful in the future. Though, if money is that tight, then the Corsair TX650 650w Power Supply - $89.99 is the recommended choice.
OS: I believe the student edition offer has already expired (end of March), so bad luck. In any case, Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium OEM Edition - $99.99
Video Card: I suggest you keep your 8800 GTX and upgrade later this year, but if you need one now... PowerColor PCS+ HD 5850 - $299.99

All up, excluding shipping, $1408.88 for the entire package.
$1108.99 minus the Graphics Card.
$1098.89 minus the Graphics Card & if you switch the 750w power supply for a 650w one.

You could downgrade the case to CM 690 II @ 99.99.

If you do that the total is $1068.99 for the system w/ your 8800 GTX and 650w power supply.

You could also lose the case altogether, but you'd also have to get rid of the cooler and most likely any chance for a good overclock on the CPU. The cooler probably won't fit in your case, and without a good cooler, it would be hard to overclock the CPU.

Of course, you can just get an AMD system. You would literally save hundreds on the CPU and Motherboard. Then again, expect your performance to be inferior to the Core i7's.

Sorry I couldn't get it cheaper, hard to get a top system on the cheap when buying a Core i7 & X58 Mobos.

Oh, and as for sound... well, that kinda depends on the case fans more than anything. But I think the default fans wouldn't be very loud.

[HansDuet]

What he said.

Say no to velociraptor.

[GodofCats]

First I should say that while I am not computer illiterate, I don't know much about building computers. However, I do think its finally time to build a new computer. Ideally, I would like to reuse whatever possible, like maybe my tower. However, I don't want to do this half arse, if I'm going to build a new computer, I want it to last another 4 years like my current one has.

Here is my current computer:
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (Ideally I would like to reuse this)
Memory: CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model Twinx2048-3200c2 - Retail
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 SP2B for System Builders - OEM
HD 2x:Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Mobo: ABIT AT8 32X 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon Xpress 3200 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2.2GHz Socket 939 89W Dual-Core Processor Model ADA4200BVBOX - Retail
Power Supply: ENERMAX Whisper II EG565P-VE FMA(24P) 535W ATX12V Ver 2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Retail
Video Card: XFX PVT88PYDD4 GeForce 8800GT XXX 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Monitor: LG L226WTY-BF Black 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Currently, I can play with large unit size, on high/medium settings and it gets a little laggy if there myself and my oponent have full stacks in Empire/Napoleon TW. Of course I play many other games such as Fallout 3 etc, which I can't run max settings wbecause it would lag like crazy. Ideally, I would like to be able to play everything on max settings.

My friend who actually knows something about building computer put something together for me and I would love your guys input.

He suggested:
My same case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
My same video card: XFX PVT88PYDD4 GeForce 8800GT XXX 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail (I feel I should upgrade this though)

Memory:CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D - Retail
HD: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Mobo: ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Powersupply: Hes not sure. Any suggestions?
OS: Windows 7, whatever version that I get my student discount on (7 home edition?).
He also suggested I buy one of these: http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/prod...roduct_id=2869

Basically I ask of my fellow TW community:
- Will this setup actually work together? Fit in my tower?
- How do all of these look for a close to the top-of-the-line computer?
- Will this computer be quiet (its 4 feet from my pillow)
- Should I indeed buy a new video card and a new tower?
- If you don't like something here, what do you suggest?

Ideally, I would like to spend $500-$1000. Also, I know next to nothing about building computers so please keep it simple if you would be so kind. I will of course relate people's input to my friend. Thank you for your time in reading this post.

-Danzic

OK I missed the part where you are trying to keep it at or under $1000

So here's what I would now recommend.

I hate to post a different link than newegg on here (newegg is really the way to go except in this instance for the processor), but here it is: www.microcenter.com

If you have one near you, or you can ship to your location, they have a killer deal on the i7 930 right now ($200) That'll save you around $90
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0331303

So CPU: $200

You don't need a fancy motherboard like that, unless you are super-hellbent on "future-proofing" your system. (and even if you are, there are alternatives on newegg and I would wait anyways) I would recommend to NOT get that motherboard if you really can't afford to spend more than $1000 right now.
Here's a perfectly good x58 mobo for $180 on newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188051

so so far $380

Unfortunately, RAM prices have gone up in the past year or so since I have built my i7 system.

Here's the link to the Corsair RAM mrcrusty suggested: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145222

which is $170 so you are now at $550

then, as mrcrusty posted, the Windows 7 disc (he's right about the student thing as well) will be $100, so that's $650

next, the power supply he posted as well, Corsair is the way to go, and you won't need more than 650 watts. So the 650Watt Corsair for $90 leaves you at $740 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

then the graphics card (I just remembered that the 8800s can get kind of laggy when putting anything over medium-to-high on nowadays video games)
I recommend either the $215 NVidia GTX 260 if you want to stick with Nvidia:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130434

OR if you want to try ATI, here's a $240 HD 5830 which will do just fine:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102878

either one will leave you with little room cash-wise to work with, but take to heart that you really don't NEED to upgrade the case (as far as I can tell) or hard drive, although you will get better performance out of a SSD or 10000 RPM hard drive, it won't be as significant as taking away from the other parts to do so...

If you have any questions, let me know. I have been repairing/building systems for about 8 years now, but even I have been known to leave out details and overlook them myself.

[Freddie]

The V8 is a good good cooler but it's no where near the best especially since you want it to be quiet. A V8 has a decent 120mm fan with a variable 800 to 1800 RPM fan now I can tell you now that a PWM fan will only stay at around 800 rpm on a cold boot so temps will go up and after half an hour sitting at idle temps will stabilise but the fan will be spinning at around 1000 to 1200 RPM at which point you will notice it.

I would suggest you get the Prolimatech Megahalems and combine it with the Noctua NF-S12B ULN 120mm, for the ultimate balance between performance and noise. The Megahalems as a heatsink is pretty much the ultimate in heatsinks (but there's plenty of other heatsink that are about as good but all cost the same sort of money) it's contact plate is 4 microinches which compared to the Coolermaster V8's 16 microinches will mean the cooler will get a much better transfer of heat from the CPU to the heatsink. The fan runs at a maximum speed of 700 RPM (although speedfan see's it at 775 RPM) and only produces 6.8 DCB which means you can only hear it when you ear is close up to the fan its self.

If noise is a big issue for you since you want to sleep with your PC on that's in the same room you might want to consider replacing the case fans with the same Noctua fan linked above. Your video cards fan is the next source of annoyance but there's a free way to fix it, download Rivatuner which will allow to manually adjust the video cards fan speed down to 20% which on a 8800GT is very quiet.

So that's the CPU, case and video card all dealt with which leave just the PSU and hard drive. Now I will tell you now the VelociRaptor will make a hell of a racket and you can get hard drives these day at 7200 RPM which are just as good like the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1Tb (linked above by mrcrusty) or a Seagate 1Tb 7200.12 which are known for there low noise levels.

Lastly your PSU - the one you linked is not available but for quietness, stability, efficiency and everything that makes a great PSU great you should seriously consider one of these Seasonics the ultimate in PSU's, I have the one at the bottom of that list (I think the one on the link is a revised model) and I've had my PC in the same room as me at night and the fan is barely audioable but nothing to keep you awake. It doesn't matter how good the fans or products you get if you buy something with moving parts they will create noise so bear this in mind.

[Roman_Man#3]

A Phenom II 955/965 or an Intel i5 750 will both match an i7 920 in gaming, the only time where you might need an i7 is if you do Crossfire or SLI or are running a very high-res, ala triple monitors. But if you just do gaming with no 3d rendering, audio rendering, or anything like that, then an i5 or Phenom II is definitely a better buy for the price. I'm more familiar with AMD, so I'll recommend either a Phenom II 955 or 965 with one of the new motherboards, an 890G chipset, or wait a bit for the 890FX/890X. For 1680x1050, anything above the 5850 would be a waste of money, even the 5850 might be a bit of a waste. I'd look at the XFX 5830, or a 5770 if you need money savings somewhere yet want a new GPU. If your 8800 is playing everything fine now though, there's no real point in upgrading. 650tx FTW, or 750tx if the difference is small enough. And I second the 30gb SSD + conventional harddrive, that should work nicely. Although thats a Vertex he linked to, thats high end, even if you got an agility or Intel 40g one, then you'd notice a difference either way. All up to how much money you have.

@ Mr.Crusty, the 5830, barring some cards, are actually the same length as a 5870, so a 5850 would fit before most 5830s.

[mrcrusty]

@ Mr.Crusty, the 5830, barring some cards, are actually the same length as a 5870, so a 5850 would fit before most 5830s.

Really? I had no idea. I knew they had higher power draws than the HD 5850 and were too expensive to justify price ($100 more than the average 5770, but only $60 less than the average HD 5850), but now you're saying it's as big as big as the HD 5870? Wow, sucks for the HD 5830. Black sheep of the otherwise awesome HD 5000 series. Hell, buy an MSI Hawk HD 5770, voltage tweak that mofo with afterburner or rivatuner and you can probably match the HD 5830 running at stock.

Freddie, Seasonic Gold is massive overkill, and mucho expensive. Probably the best Power Supplies on the market are the Seasonic Golds, but yeah... expensive.

A good balance between affordability, quality & wattage would probably be the Corsair HX 750. 750w Power Supply, 80 Plus Silver, & $139.99 after rebate. Corsair HX 750.

Also, Crossfire may not be perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than when it first was introduced.

[Freddie]

Argh, I can't stand the 5830 it's performance is terrible for the price it's been set at it's bar far the worst card ATI have launched for the 5000 series but I agree with going down the PII route it makes a lot sense if your a gamer since games really don't benefit from Nehalem based CPU's.

[Taiji]

If you're thinking of gaming then an overclocked i3 530 with a cheap aftermarket cooler is a very nice budget option IMO.

Here's a review http://www.anandtech.com/show/2921/1

I agree with Freddie about avoiding the 5830. ATI released the 5850 at a very good price, and it makes the 5830 look like very bad value.

[HansDuet]

I bought some upgrades to bring my PC up to date. Decided to go lga1156 since it was cheaper and now offers a better deal (maybe not in future since gulftown CPU's will be for lga 1366) Maybe gives some advice.

Finnish prices, you can probably get better deals in various tax havens you happen to live in.

OCZ Platinum Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333mhz - 120€
Intel Core i7-860 2.80GHz - 280€ (I wish we had that killer deal of 930 here. Would have gone with that but since it now has same price than 860 and lga 1366 is the expensive choice here...could have gone with 750 too. Thats a good deal) with Zalman CNPS9900NT - 50€ (Pleases my visual senses! while offering good cooling performance)
OCZ Vertex Turbo 30GB 2.5" SSD SATA II - 144€ (For OS)
Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 LGA1156 - 176€ (Looks like a solid not too expensive Mobo, pleased with Asus's boards performance in the past.)

So thats 770€.

Components I will not change are
Antec 900 ATX case - 110€
Samsung Spinpoint F1 320GB SATA 3.0 Gb/s - 40€
Samsung Spinpoint F1 750GB SATA 3.0 Gb/s-kiintolevy - 70€
(You'd rather just get 1TB HDD instead of this solution)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer - 100€ (Not really needed upgrade)
OCZ Gamextream PSU 600W (700W version is 70€)
XFX 9800GTX - 130€ (You will want a better one, this will be the next I upgrade. ATM it performes very nicely though)

Makes around 1100€ not counting sound blaster and other accessories (Mine would be like 300€ for 5.1 speaker set Sennheiser HD555 and pretty basic logitech lazor mouse and keyboard)

New parts should arrive shortly so I can get to testing...

[Danzic]

Wow guys I really appreciate all the quick and helpful comments. I put this together based on everyone's comments. I have yet to show it to my friends to review but check it out.

Mobo: EVGA 121-BL-E756-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX SLI Micro Intel Motherboard - Retail
Powersupply:CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail
Processor: Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80601930 - Retail
Memory: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C9 - Retail
HD:
-OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail
- SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-My understanding is that the 30gb drive holds my OS and say, my games. While the 1TB drive can hold my music, other files, etc. Is that correct?Because I don't understant why a 30GB drive would cost so much lol.
CPU: XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Total = $1,249.88

As far as noise, I'm used to a little. My current setup doesn't bother me at all, its relatively quiet except when running Total War games lol. I just don't want a big loud buzzing or something. However, performance is just as important as it being quiet for me.

I think I'm going to stick with my 8800GT video card for a while and upgrade it later sometime this year when I have more money to spend. I'm on the fence about reusing my tower. If I got a new tower, I could sell my computer to someone and maybe make a hundred bucks or so once I got a new video card. So the incentive is there.

[Freddie]

If you really want to go down the Inel route then I would suggest getting a P55 board like this Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3P, USB 3, SATA 3, it's not suitable for multiple video card setups as the 2nd PCI-E x16 slot only runs at 4x but I can't say I big fan of SLI/Crossfire as you always relying on driver updates. Anyway with that board you can get the Core i5 750 which would save yourself a fair bit cash for just about the same performance.

On the PSU front unless your looking to go SLI/Crossfire get a Corsair model that 650watts as they are made by Seasonic, above that Corsair uses Channel Well and you might want to get a 850 watt to future proof yourself. As a rule of thumb you want a PSU that can deliver twice the amount of power your PC is drawing because at 50% load your PSU is at its most efficient.

[Danzic]

If you really want to go down the Inel route then I would suggest getting a P55 board like this Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3P, USB 3, SATA 3, it's not suitable for multiple video card setups as the 2nd PCI-E x16 slot only runs at 4x but I can't say I big fan of SLI/Crossfire as you always relying on driver updates. Anyway with that board you can get the Core i5 750 which would save yourself a fair bit cash for just about the same performance.

Deffinitely don't want to go for the crossfire thing. My current computer originally had 2 "Radeon X1900XTX" I believe and it was nothing but problems, so one video is ideal.

Is there a big different between the one you suggested Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3P, and the one that mrcrusty suggested (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128423)? Enough to justify $50?

On the PSU front unless your looking to go SLI/Crossfire get a Corsair model that 650watts as they are made by Seasonic, above that Corsair uses Channel Well and you might want to get a 850 watt to future proof yourself. As a rule of thumb you want a PSU that can deliver twice the amount of power your PC is drawing because at 50% load your PSU is at its most efficient.

The reason I stayed away from the PSU you suggested SeaSonic X650 Gold 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail is because its $60 more and less watts. But then again, I don't know anything about building computers.

[mrmouth]

I know a system builder who has been leaning heavily on the 30GB vertex drives. He has installed dozens, and had quite a few problems with them. And the availability of replacements via RMA is very small.

I had previously recommended OCZ for just about everything, but after having dealt with their RMA recently, and having talked with some PC people who have been in the business for 20+ years, OCZ should be considered only after looking at Corsair, etc. And I saw a lot of people complaining about their SSDs on the OCZ support forum.

When they first hit the scene they offered very good enthusiast ram, which was still cheap back then. The company started to outsource everything to Taiwan, and things went downhill fast, because their OEM partners were just short of criminal. They were bought with promises of changing, but in recent years they have again gotten worse, if there ever were any improvements at all. That was followed by a few embarrassments. Namely, their silver thermal paste that actually contained no silver, and re-stamping ram with false timings.

So knowing that as of now, their RMA system is largely broken, and some of their OEM partners are still terrible, I dont think I would recommend anything other than their PSU's which are solid, and some of their ram depending on price and the industry wide lifetime warranty. They have been getting a ton of business with their SSD line, but again, they appear to be not very reliable. Appear to still have serious issues with their OEM partners that effect some of their ram, flash drives, and now SSDs.

Having said all of that, I do own a 300GB V-rap, which was bought before SSDs became a viable alternative. And I went with the 300GB because the price difference over the 150GB(?) was $10, at the time. So I am plenty happy with it, but I would certainly recommend the SSD/7200. I just think you might want to look elsewhere in terms of the SSD, though. Which doesn't leave you many options.

OCZ claims they sell thousands every month, and released numbers to show that. But they refused to release RMA numbers when asked. It is safe to say that the chance you end up ok is better than not, but this would be your OS drive, and any issues could be a major headache. Not worth the risk in my mind.

I also third the i5 recommendation, unless you plan on staying extreme high end.

And I really went the long way round, there...

[Roman_Man#3]

I have never heard problems with OCZ's ssds. Maybe original ones, but not the newer generations. OCZs are usually the most recommended drives after Intel ones, especially by reviewers and by people who have used SSDs, and they're recommended for a reason.

[mrcrusty]

I add my voice to the Core i5 750 suggestions. Core i7 is obviously much better, especially in CPU heavy applications, or video encoding and the like. It is high end, and will stay high end until Octo Cores come out.

However, for gaming and basic things (movies, net, music, etc), the Core i5 750, or the Phenom II's for that matter, are basically identical in performance to the i7's provided you're not running a high end multi GPU setup.

The plus side though, is that you save almost $100 on the CPU. You will also downgrade to dual channel RAM, but really, 4 GB is still going to last you a while, and you can just grab another pair of sticks later on if needed. That will also save you money. With that extra money, you can get better components and/or reduce the total cost of your rig. I'll repost my suggestions if they were done with Core i5/Phenom II in mind.

Intel Core i5 750 Build:

Case: Cooler Master 690 II Advanced - $99.99

Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus Formula III - $249.99 or the MSI P55-GD85 Motherboard - $229.99 or the Asus P7P55D-E Motherboard - $154.99

CPU: Intel Core i5 750 CPU - $194.99

Memory: Corsair XMS3 4GB RAM - $114.99

CPU Cooler: Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight - $44.96

Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex Series SSD 30 GB + Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive - $164.98 or Intel X25-V SSD 40GB + Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive - $214.98 if OCZ really does have so many problems as Barnaby is saying.

Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium OEM Edition - $99.99

Power Supply: Corsair TX 650 - $79.99

Graphics Card: N/A (Keep your 8800 GTX until the mid range Nvidia cards come out later this year).

Total:
Asus ROG Motherboard/OCZ SSD = $1049.88 excluding shipping.
Asus ROG Motherboard/Intel SSD = $1119.88 excluding shipping.
MSI Motherboard/OCZ SSD = $1029.88 excluding shipping. My personal choice.
MSI Motherboard/Intel SSD = $1099.88 excluding shipping.
Asus P7P55D-E Motherboard/OCZ SSD = $954.88 excluding shipping.
Asus P7P55D-E Motherboard/Intel SSD = $1024.88 excluding shipping.

Add $20 if you want to get a Corsair TX 750 Power Supply.


AMD Phenom II Build:

Case: Cooler Master 690 II Advanced - $99.99

Motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70 Motherboard - $167.99 or the Asus M4A89GTD Pro USB 3.0 - $149.99 or the Asus M4A79XTD Evo - $109.99

CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition - $183.99

Memory: Corsair XMS3 4GB RAM - $114.99

CPU Cooler: Xigmatek S1283V Dark Knight - $44.96

Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex Series SSD 30 GB + Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive - $164.98 or Intel X25-V SSD 40GB + Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive - $214.98 if OCZ really does have so many problems as Barnaby is saying.

Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium OEM Edition - $99.99

Power Supply: Corsair TX 650 - $79.99

Graphics Card: N/A (Keep your 8800 GTX until the mid range Nvidia cards come out later this year).

Total:
MSI Motherboard/OCZ SSD = $956.88 excluding shipping.
MSI Motherboard/Intel SSD = $1026.88 excluding shipping.
Asus 890 Chipset Motherboard/OCZ SSD = $938.88 excluding shipping. My personal choice.
Asus 890 Chipset Motherboard/Intel SSD = $1008.88 excluding shipping.
Asus 790 Chipset Motherboard/OCZ SSD = $898.88 excluding shipping.
Asus 790 Chipset Motherboard/Intel SSD = $968.88 excluding shipping.

Again, add $20 if you want a Corsair 750w power supply instead of a 650w one.

[mrmouth]

I have never heard problems with OCZ's ssds. Maybe original ones, but not the newer generations. OCZs are usually the most recommended drives after Intel ones, especially by reviewers and by people who have used SSDs, and they're recommended for a reason.

They are recommended because they are cheap. Just trying to pass on some history, take it or leave it.

OCZ has a very real history of partnerships with terrible memory chip makers. This directly affects their flash drives, ram, and now their SSDs. And that doesn't even go into the apparent short write lifespan of the chips they use.

Every SSD manufacturer is pouring money into campaigns to get people behind SSD tech, and to counter the unofficial numbers that show high failure rates. While not actually providing any numbers to counter the claims. Which in all fairness, a good bit of returns would be labeled as people not being happy with the speeds. But part of the OCZ Vertex 2 campaign was a major sell of "increased reliability, durability".

All they would have to do is provide some numbers...

This is new territory. The days of still making a profit off of ram chips that might be less than desirable, even with the industry wide lifetime warranty, are over, when you are talking SSD tech. Add to that a chip industry that almost collapsed, is being reshuffled, and subsequent reliability issues that have crept up due to trying to chip makers trying to still make a decent profit by loosening standards, and you have a great technology leap that simply came at the wrong time.


Put it this way, guys I know who build for a living, or have been in the business while I was still in Junior High (early 90's), all look elsewhere, before looking at OCZ. Probably wouldn't put so much stock into it if I didn't know someone who was a fan of the Vertex line, but then jumped ship after most of his installs bit him in the ass. That, and just having dealt with OCZ RMA for three months...

[HansDuet]

They are recommended because they are cheap. Just trying to pass on some history, take it or leave it.

Not really... they have their cheaper and more expensive models just like anybody else.

I don't really buy this either, I've yet to see the huge moaning about their poor quality you talk about.

[Roman_Man#3]

I'd like to see the numbers that show the high failure rates. Concerning the life span, lets look at the Vertex. It has a Mean time between failure rate of 1.5 million hours, or 62500 days, or 171 years. That's quite a lot.

Now, the executive editor at Benchmark Reviews has something interesting to say about life spans of SSDs. Quoted from a thread about the OCZ Vertex and answering a question about the OCZ Vertex life span.

I have been using SSDs for over 16 months now, and one of my first SSDs is still seeing daily usage in my notebook computer. As a rule of thumb, SSD or otherwise, I disable indexing to improve performance of Windows XP. Other than that, I don't do anything else to improve or increase SSD performance and longevity.

Based on manufacturer specifications, any of the SSDs available today meet or exceed the MTBF of top-class hard drives, so you can expect many years of performance out of an SSD. Since I have no long-term real-world basis for making a longevity judgment on the technology, I would lightly expect no less than ten years of perfect performance from Solid State Drives.

If you don't believe manufacturing specifications, than even then many SSD benchmarkers agree that 10 years is pretty much the min if you take proper care of your SSD.

I'm sorry, I don't buy your argument about OCZ. They (the good ones) are recommended because not only are they relatively cheap compared to other companies, but because the firmware support and drivers is outstanding and because they are fast.