Core i7 Build - Advice needed for 1st time poster

[JustinWhite]

Fist off, thanks for taking the time to give me your input! Its my first post, but have been reading AT for years. I have read so many reviews and posts my head is spinning! Am looking for any general suggestions you can provide to help me before I click purchase. Here is what I am thinking:

Case: Antec 1200 (already own)
PSU: PC Power & Cooling 700w ($100 - $60 rebate = $40)
Mobo: Asus P6T - $249
CPU: Core i7 920 - $275
Video: EVGA GTX 275 Superclocked - $255
Ram: 6gb OCZ Platinum 1600 - $105
Main Drive: Intel X25-M SSD 80gb - $314
Storage Drive: WD Black 1TB (already own)
Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm - $35
OS: Windows 7 RC1: free (upgrade later)
Misc: Arctic Silver 5, Crysis, and Half Life 2: - $85

Uses are pretty varied between gaming (especially MS Flight Sim X - 1920 x 1200) and video editing / Photoshop, etc...

Am not planning on overclocking at first, but would like to have the option down the road.
Would like to order within the next week or so.

Thoughts / questions:

Would it be worthwhile to upgrade to P6T Deluxe? Have read the differences and they don't seem that big. But, it is only $20-$35 more.

I know an i7 950 is not worth it for the extra $, but I have a stupid itch to get one. I assume that is nonsense. Especially since I am not loaded with cash. The main game I play (FSX) is very CPU intensive, but guess I could OC a 920 later if need be.

Any different video card recommendations for around the same price? ($250) Prefer to
stick with Nvidia. Not sure why.

The ram I am not so sure about. Is it ok to get 1.65v ram for a newbie that has never overclocked? If not, any other recommendations for some ram that would still let me OC a little down the road? Corsair XMS3 maybe?

I could possibly hold off on the Intel SSD and wait for better prices, etc, but kind of want to start out with it in this rig. Am concerned the X25-M doesn't support the trim command and may never get that in a firmware update.

As for the cooler, am not set on this, but want to stay in that price range. Also must be easy to mount as I haven't done a lot of this. I want to get a cooler from the beginning so I have the option to overclock.


As for a side note, I am upgrading from a 3ghz P4, 1gb ram, and a Radeon 9800 agp. Am guessing this will be quite an improvement?

Any little things I may need? I hate not being able to finish a build because I have to order something like an adapter for my power supply cable, or a sata cable, or a cooler mounting bracket, or something.


Thanks for the help! I will try to post some pics of the build when it is done.

 

[JustinWhite]

Anyone? Nothing in almost a week? I went ahead and bought a PNY GTX 275 video card while Newegg had the 20%off sale. Am debating on the ram and motherboard now. Will probably order soon. Will at least get the motherboard since NewEgg has the $15 off coupon code. Can I still overclock with 1066, or should I stick with 1600? I don't want to OC much, and none at first.

 

[jae]

its a nice system

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Go with an ATI 4890 instead. Your RAM is way overpriced. Do you really need an SSD? If you want to stick with ASUS I'd suggest going up to the deluxe for the better cooling. I don't think PC P&C makes a 700w, could you please link me to that? Also pick up Crysis: Maximum Edition.

 

[Pokeylicious]

I was in a similar situation as you, as I was upgrading from a Northwood 1.8GHz P4 circa 2002. Here's what I did:

CPU: i7 920
RAM: 6 GB OCZ Platinim 1600
PSU: Antec Quattro 850
Video: EVGA GTX 275
Case: Lian-Li PC6070B (Already Own)
Main Drive: Velociraptor 300GB
Secondary Drive: Seagate 7200.11 1TB
Cooler: Intel Stock Cooler
OS: Vista Ultimate
Monitor: Samsung 2232BW
Mobo: EVGA X58

As an FSX'er, I was building my components with having a good flight sim experience in mind. I have to say, I am impressed on all fronts. FSX is still a little bit jumpy at big airports, but it's not too bad. You're looking for smoothness in FSX, not high framerates. I also use my system for transcoding DVD's, and I've gone from 30 Hours+ on my P4 to about 2 hours with this rig.

I also have ZERO experience with overclocking, and am running a stock Intel HSF, and I flipped on the DUMMY OC option in the X58 BIOS and instantly got a 24/7 stable 600MHz overclock. To say I was impressed was something of an understatement.

I'd say you have a super-duper system there, Justin. You won't be disappointed, I promise!

 

[Pokeylicious]

I was in a similar situation as you, as I was upgrading from a Northwood 1.8GHz P4 circa 2002. Here's what I did:

CPU: i7 920
RAM: 6 GB OCZ Platinim 1600
PSU: Antec Quattro 850
Video: EVGA GTX 275
Case: Lian-Li PC6070B (Already Own)
Main Drive: Velociraptor 300GB
Secondary Drive: Seagate 7200.11 1TB
Cooler: Intel Stock Cooler
OS: Vista Ultimate
Monitor: Samsung 2232BW
Mobo: EVGA X58

As an FSX'er, I was building my components with having a good flight sim experience in mind. I have to say, I am impressed on all fronts. FSX is still a little bit jumpy at big airports, but it's not too bad. You're looking for smoothness in FSX, not high framerates. I also use my system for transcoding DVD's, and I've gone from 30 Hours+ on my P4 to about 2 hours with this rig.

I also have ZERO experience with overclocking, and am running a stock Intel HSF, and I flipped on the DUMMY OC option in the X58 BIOS and instantly got a 24/7 stable 600MHz overclock. To say I was impressed was something of an understatement.

I'd say you have a super-duper system there, Justin. You won't be disappointed, I promise!

 

[heyheybooboo]

Phenom 955BE / Asus 790GX AM3: $340

G.Skill 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600: $95

Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 1GB: $190

That's around $625.

SSD: Too soon - Too expensive

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Phenom 955BE / Asus 790GX AM3: $340

G.Skill 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600: $95

Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 1GB: $190

That's around $625.

SSD: Too soon - Too expensive

It seems every time someone has a Core i7 build someone insists on Phenom II. Core i7 dominates the PII and they are not in the same league. PII competes with Core 2. Core i7 is still unmatched.

Read this comparison on Tom's Hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...gamer-dragon,2337.html

A Core i7 920 at 2.66GHz with GTX 260 SLI beats/competes with a Phenom II 955 at 3.6GHz with 4890 Crossfire.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Phenom 955BE / Asus 790GX AM3: $340

G.Skill 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600: $95

Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 1GB: $190

That's around $625.

SSD: Too soon - Too expensive

It seems every time someone has a Core i7 build someone insists on Phenom II. Core i7 dominates the PII and they are not in the same league. PII competes with Core 2. Core i7 is still unmatched.

Read this comparison on Tom's Hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...gamer-dragon,2337.html

A Core i7 920 at 2.66GHz with GTX 260 SLI beats/competes with a Phenom II 955 at 3.6GHz with 4890 Crossfire.

LOL ... s - t - r - e -t -c - h, much ? Perhaps you went to Tom's because you didn't like Anand's Phenom 955 / Intel 920 game benches ?

The OP could actually purchase a second video card and his AMD system would still cost less. Think that second video card would cover the less than 1 FPS difference in Crysis ?

In FSX he is looking at a smooth 35-40 FPS either way. From what I have seen on FSX sites most folks disable hyperthreading to improve performance and there is virtually no difference between AMD and Intel.

Just because you say it does not make it true. If the OP wants to go Intel that's all well and good but your Fanboy FUD "Core i7 dominates the PII" doesn't seem to 'jive' with Anand's game benchies.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Phenom 955BE / Asus 790GX AM3: $340

G.Skill 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600: $95

Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 1GB: $190

That's around $625.

SSD: Too soon - Too expensive

It seems every time someone has a Core i7 build someone insists on Phenom II. Core i7 dominates the PII and they are not in the same league. PII competes with Core 2. Core i7 is still unmatched.

Read this comparison on Tom's Hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...gamer-dragon,2337.html

A Core i7 920 at 2.66GHz with GTX 260 SLI beats/competes with a Phenom II 955 at 3.6GHz with 4890 Crossfire.

LOL ... s - t - r - e -t -c - h, much ? Perhaps you went to Tom's because you didn't like Anand's Phenom 955 / Intel 920 game benches ?

The OP could actually purchase a second video card and his AMD system would still cost less. Think that second video card would cover the less than 1 FPS difference in Crysis ?

In FSX he is looking at a smooth 35-40 FPS either way. From what I have seen on FSX sites most folks disable hyperthreading to improve performance and there is virtually no difference between AMD and Intel.

Just because you say it does not make it true. If the OP wants to go Intel that's all well and good but your Fanboy FUD "Core i7 dominates the PII" doesn't seem to 'jive' with Anand's game benchies.

The Core i7 is obviously GPU limited which is shown by how dominates in Tri-SLI vs anything else. The PII did bottleneck the two 4890's. If the PII can't handle two 4890's, how would it handle 3x GTX285? Second, FSX only uses one card so a second card would be useless. Besides, the PII would bottlenecked it anyway. I am not a fanboy of anything. I just built an AMD/ATI rig for a friend and I plan on using an AMD in a HTPC for a friend as well. I go for what gives me the best performance at the selected price point. It actually seems like you are the Anandtech/AMD fanboy. Anandtech's review didn't work because they were only using one GPU. And since when was citing info off another site treason? The OP obviously wants a high-end pc so give him what performs best.

 

[NA1NSXR]

I would take a better look at the 4890 vs GTX 275 benchmarks just to make sure you want the 275. Also, I just got my 4890 for about $180, so that price on the 275 is a bit much, even if it is a factory OC. From my research and recent purchase, at 1680 and 1920 the 4890 has more meaningful wins against the GTX275. In cases where the GTX275 is better the games are usually already easily playable on both cards. I think in games where the framerates average around 30-60, that is the critical area where wins matter, not when both cards are doing 60+ avg and one beats the other by an additional 30. I'm not saying you should change your mind and get the 4890, but just double check and make sure its what you want.

 

[JustinWhite]

Well, I just ordered the rest of my components. I think I will be more than happy when everything gets here.

For the most part, I stuck with my list with the following exceptions:

Went with a Corsair 650w PSU for $80 after rebate.
Got the PNY GTX 275. Was $180, and I admit I prob should have considered the 4890 a little more. But I think I'll be happy.
Went with OCZ Gold 1600 ram
No SSD - Am spending enough already and this will be plenty fast. By the time I get the upgrade itch again, SSD's will make sense.

Also went a little overboard on games and bought HL2 Orange Box, Crysis Maximum, Rainbow 6 Vegas 2, and FSX Gold.

Thanks for all the input! Just to follow up on some of the specific posts:

WaitingForNehalem - I made a typo in my OP. Should have been a 750w PSU. Not 700w. In the end went with 650w. I didn't go with the P6T deluxe for several reasons and hope I don't regret it. Am thinking I will be ok on the cooling with good airflow and the cooler listed in my OP. Thanks for the recommendations!

Pokeylicious - Thanks! Sounds like we are in the same boat. Am curious, when you turned on the dummy OC, did you notice an improvement specifically in FSX as well? Did your temps rise much?

heyheybooboo - I think you are right about the SSD's. But I think I will be much happier with an i7 than a PII. Plus, with the i7 920 being $199 at Microcenter, it is a no brainer.

NA1NSXR - I wish I had looked into it a little more. But, I think I will be more than happy with the GTX 275.


Now its time to download the motherboard manual and read up on the specifics of the P6T. And download all the drivers and make an .iso of the Windows 7 install disk. Am pretty excited! Hope to have it up and running by Thursday if all goes well. Am really not looking forward to installing the heat sink / fan. I have never done an i7 and have always been nervous doing it before. Will do a lot of research and look at some videos if YouTube has any.