i7 Gaming Rig - suggestions & critique?

[Klauz]

Hello! I've just finished going through all the stickies and I hope this first post won't be breaking any rules. I will try to include as much info as possible as suggested in the "NOTICE - PC Builders..." thread.
Please let me know if I forget something vital (and apologies in advance if I do)!

I'm building a new PC from scratch and I am looking for a bit of input. It will primarily be used for gaming as I already have a laptop for anything work-oriented - other than that I may do a fair bit of encoding (Fraps and some pasttime hobbies).
Price range is, as mentioned, around ~1500$, but it's pretty variable. I just want parts that are good value, going a bit over budget is not an issue.

All of these parts will be bought from Denmark, so the links I provide are to a Danish site (edbpriser.dk), if necessary I am sure I can look them up on Newegg as well if it is a problem.

I do not plan on overclocking, but I may go down the path at some point. I have no experience doing it so if I do it will be a slow learning process, but feel safe to assume that it will not be done in any suggestions you give.

I already have a sound + screen setup (a friend is selling me an old Dell 24").

I have no brand preference.

I plan to build this ASAP (parts ordered next week or so).

One note: Noise - how do you go about reducing the noise you get and how noisy should I expect this loadout to be? Will the case and PSU make a big difference on how noisy the PC will be?
I do not expect this rig to be noisefree at all (I've heard the 4890 can get slightly noisy by itself), don't worry, but I would love for it to be as quiet as possible, if there any mistakes in the parts I have picked or suggestions, please feel free to share them. For example, should I be looking at getting some coolers to replace the stock coolers to reduce noise? I'm pretty sure I do not have the expertise or the knowledge to set up any kind of watercooling or whatnot though.

Some of these parts are inspired by following a small guide I found on Ars Technica (is this guide any good at all btw? I primarily used the "Hot Rod" setup as inspiration as the "God Box" apparently was server-oriented) and also AnandTech (ie. the GPU guide that was run a short time ago suggested a 4890, among other things).


The list so far (the interesting part I suppose):
Motherboard - honestly, this section eludes me. I can get a decent enough feel for which Graphic cards are good value among many other things, but motherboards are a huge market and it's very hard for me to pick one out of the many. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I may want to get a 2nd 4890 card at some point, so room for both would be handy.
RAM: OCZ Platinum 3 x 2 GB 1600 Mhz (should I be going for another OCZ Series or is this ok? I read an article on MadShrimps that gave OCZ the best value in the DDR 3 market)
CPU: Core i7 I7-920 8 MB (Intel Boxed)
GPU: XFX Radeon HD 4890 (1 GB) (is XFX a safe bet? I've used them once before with no issues and they were listed in the AnandTech guide mentioned earlier + had good reviews on Newegg)
Case - again, I have no idea. Are there cases that would help with noise reduction?
PSU - I have no idea what kind of power or which brands I should be aiming for with this setup.
HDD 1: WD VelociRaptor WD1500BLFS 150 GB (should I go for a SSD instead? They seem quite expensive though so I was thinking I would get this and maybe throw in a SSD later if they drop in prices, the Intel X25 and the OCZ Vertex both seemed quite pricey)
HDD 2: WD Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1 TB (simply for storage)
Sound / Network - I assume this is onboard for most standard motherboards?

I am a bit of a novice in this entire department, so please keep that in mind and I am grateful of any help you all may be able to share!

Edit: Also, would it be a good idea for me to run this all on Windows 7? If not, I suppose I'll pick up a Vista 64 copy, right?

 

[z1ggy]

I won't recommend a mobo to you only b/c I have no exp. hands on with the i7. I will let somebody else do that. Case..Again, I love my Antec 900. Ppl bitch b/c it isnt tool-less, but whatever, atleast your stuff isn't going anywhere right? PSU- a nice 650tx from corsair will be plenty for you, and thats giving you breathing room incase you hook up another gpu, SSD or other internals. XFX is a good brand for sure, but they are pricey as well. There really isn't a huge dif. between MSI, XFX, HIS etc for the 4890. Try n save some money there. Don't bother with an SSd right now, they arn't cost effective yet. Otherwise all looks well {(minus not having a mobo)}

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: z1ggy
I won't recommend a mobo to you only b/c I have no exp. hands on with the i7. I will let somebody else do that. Case..Again, I love my Antec 900. Ppl bitch b/c it isnt tool-less, but whatever, atleast your stuff isn't going anywhere right? PSU- a nice 650tx from corsair will be plenty for you, and thats giving you breathing room incase you hook up another gpu, SSD or other internals. XFX is a good brand for sure, but they are pricey as well. There really isn't a huge dif. between MSI, XFX, HIS etc for the 4890. Try n save some money there. Don't bother with an SSd right now, they arn't cost effective yet. Otherwise all looks well {(minus not having a mobo)}

You RAM doesn't have XMP so choose another set. I wouldn't reccomend using the 650tx for sli/crossfire, instead use the Corsair 850tx, hx750, hx850. Or use the PC P&C Silencer 750W.

 

[Klauz]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: z1ggy
I won't recommend a mobo to you only b/c I have no exp. hands on with the i7. I will let somebody else do that. Case..Again, I love my Antec 900. Ppl bitch b/c it isnt tool-less, but whatever, atleast your stuff isn't going anywhere right? PSU- a nice 650tx from corsair will be plenty for you, and thats giving you breathing room incase you hook up another gpu, SSD or other internals. XFX is a good brand for sure, but they are pricey as well. There really isn't a huge dif. between MSI, XFX, HIS etc for the 4890. Try n save some money there. Don't bother with an SSd right now, they arn't cost effective yet. Otherwise all looks well {(minus not having a mobo)}

You RAM doesn't have XMP so choose another set. I wouldn't reccomend using the 650tx for sli/crossfire, instead use the Corsair 850tx, hx750, hx850. Or use the PC P&C Silencer 750W.

Was the RAM comment for me? I am a bit unsure how I check if RAM has XMP (Extreme Memory Profile, right?), I just saw the OCZ Platinum set was listed as the best value for your money on the MadShrimps review (I mistakenly linked to the Gold set, fixing now).

Thanks for the suggestions, I see Corsair was listed in one of the stickies as well so I may go with a HX750 from there.

 

[funkymatt]

the p6t deluxe v2 has been a great board for me- i just built 50 new i7 systems using this board. onboard raid with the ich10r was nice. the corsair recommended before is a good choice, i ended up with a 750w thermaltake modular PSU, a little overkill in hindsight.

 

[z1ggy]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: z1ggy
I won't recommend a mobo to you only b/c I have no exp. hands on with the i7. I will let somebody else do that. Case..Again, I love my Antec 900. Ppl bitch b/c it isnt tool-less, but whatever, atleast your stuff isn't going anywhere right? PSU- a nice 650tx from corsair will be plenty for you, and thats giving you breathing room incase you hook up another gpu, SSD or other internals. XFX is a good brand for sure, but they are pricey as well. There really isn't a huge dif. between MSI, XFX, HIS etc for the 4890. Try n save some money there. Don't bother with an SSd right now, they arn't cost effective yet. Otherwise all looks well {(minus not having a mobo)}

You RAM doesn't have XMP so choose another set. I wouldn't reccomend using the 650tx for sli/crossfire, instead use the Corsair 850tx, hx750, hx850. Or use the PC P&C Silencer 750W.

Just curious..why isnt a 650tx good enough? My 550hx is Cf ready...I know the newer cards require more and more power..but..jw.

 

[JAG87]

My suggestions:

Mobo:
EVGA X58 LE. Can easily take you to 4 ghz if you want to, and your cpu wants to. You can get the X58 vanilla, but so far there is no evidence that it's any better.

RAM:
Anything DDR3-1600 will do. Timings are irrelevant, buy whatever is cheapest and pleasing to the eye. I like XMP, one less thing to think about, but it's not imperative.

GPU:
You like ati, I like XFX, I see no problems.

Case:
High end Silverstone or Coolermaster. It's a one time investment, do it and it will serve you for many builds. Stay away from Antec IMHO.

PSU:
My hearty recommendation: Enermax Modu 625W for 1 4890, Revolution 850W for 2 4890s, Revolution 1050W for 3 4890s. I'm taking OC into account, leaving you lots of headroom.

HDD:
Intel X-25M is a safe bet if you have the money and you can live with 80GB. Personally I can't.
The velociraptor is a good choice, but beware of the price, if it's approaching 3/4 the price of the 300GB, you might want to just grab the 300GB.
For storage, I'd say grab the Caviar Green 1TB or 1.5TB. I made the mistake myself with the Blacks, for storage you don't need the fastest speed, it's better to have less power and less heat.



Final comments:

The system will be noisy. To keep a system like this cool you need fans, fans make noise. This won't be your typical IBM desktop work PC with 1 tiny fan. Keep noise to a minimum by getting quality fans, such as Arctic Cooling or Scythe. Say NO to sleeve bearing fans. You forgot something vital: a heatsink. What intel gives you is by no means adequate, lets say it's barely sufficient for stock cooling. Get yourself an Ultra 120 Extreme or a Prolimatech Megahalem. Both are at the top of their game (PS. TRUE Black 1366 on the EVGA X58 LE looks pimp). For OS, I recommend downloading the Vista x64 Ultimate SP2 slipstreamed MSDN iso (the file you are looking for is "6002.18005.090410-1830_amd64fre_Client_en-us-FRTMCXFRE_EN_DVD.iso", find it with your favorite downloading method), and pairing it with a valid purchased serial. There is absolutely nothing bad to say about Windows 7, if you like it grab the latest RC and go nuts.


Hope this helps.

 

[glugglug]

Get the SSD. The difference is incredible.

 

[Klauz]

Originally posted by: JAG87
My suggestions:
...

Thanks a lot! Very informative. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

The OCZ Platinum got good reviews, but seeing as it is not listed I am guessing it does not have XMP support. Would this be a good alternative then? I just have a hard time finding these for sale in Denmark it seems. :/ I suppose I could just order from the UK or something for one part if need be.
Edit: Basically, I can find it for the 2 x 2 set, but not for the 3 x 2.

Great points on the Caviar Green, I see your point.

Re heatsink: Wow, these things are cheap! I suppose with prices like this there's no reason at all to stick to stock cooling for the CPU. Thanks for the brand suggestions, I'll probably get an Ultra 120 and have a look at what Arctic Cooling / Scythe can offer me, cooling is still a bit of a mystery to me so I'll do a lot of reading I think.

Originally posted by: glugglug
Get the SSD. The difference is incredible.

I know the difference is quite incredible, but it's just going to get so expensive if I want to have all my games + applications + OS on the SSD (as I don't think 80GB will suffice at all). The performance loss from putting some games that are not as performance-intensive on the slower WD drive would be pretty big, yeah?

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: Klauz

Originally posted by: glugglug
Get the SSD. The difference is incredible.

I know the difference is quite incredible, but it's just going to get so expensive if I want to have all my games + applications + OS on the SSD (as I don't think 80GB will suffice at all). The performance loss from putting some games that are not as performance-intensive on the slower WD drive would be pretty big, yeah?

Nowhere near as big as from having the OS on a Velociraptor instead.

Also, according to The Inq, Intel will be releasing new SSDs on 34nm, including a 320GB model, in about a week. (article is dated June 26)

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: z1ggy

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: z1ggy
I won't recommend a mobo to you only b/c I have no exp. hands on with the i7. I will let somebody else do that. Case..Again, I love my Antec 900. Ppl bitch b/c it isnt tool-less, but whatever, atleast your stuff isn't going anywhere right? PSU- a nice 650tx from corsair will be plenty for you, and thats giving you breathing room incase you hook up another gpu, SSD or other internals. XFX is a good brand for sure, but they are pricey as well. There really isn't a huge dif. between MSI, XFX, HIS etc for the 4890. Try n save some money there. Don't bother with an SSd right now, they arn't cost effective yet. Otherwise all looks well {(minus not having a mobo)}

You RAM doesn't have XMP so choose another set. I wouldn't reccomend using the 650tx for sli/crossfire, instead use the Corsair 850tx, hx750, hx850. Or use the PC P&C Silencer 750W.

Just curious..why isnt a 650tx good enough? My 550hx is Cf ready...I know the newer cards require more and more power..but..jw.

The 650TX only has two PCI-E and the only way around that is to use molex adaptors but that isn't ideal and overall 650W isn't enough. Plus it doesn't cost much more for the 850TX althoguh the HX models are even better in output quality.

 

[JAG87]

Originally posted by: Klauz

Originally posted by: JAG87
My suggestions:
...

Thanks a lot! Very informative. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

The OCZ Platinum got good reviews, but seeing as it is not listed I am guessing it does not have XMP support. Would this be a good alternative then? I just have a hard time finding these for sale in Denmark it seems. :/ I suppose I could just order from the UK or something for one part if need be.
Edit: Basically, I can find it for the 2 x 2 set, but not for the 3 x 2.

Great points on the Caviar Green, I see your point.

Re heatsink: Wow, these things are cheap! I suppose with prices like this there's no reason at all to stick to stock cooling for the CPU. Thanks for the brand suggestions, I'll probably get an Ultra 120 and have a look at what Arctic Cooling / Scythe can offer me, cooling is still a bit of a mystery to me so I'll do a lot of reading I think.

Originally posted by: glugglug
Get the SSD. The difference is incredible.

I know the difference is quite incredible, but it's just going to get so expensive if I want to have all my games + applications + OS on the SSD (as I don't think 80GB will suffice at all). The performance loss from putting some games that are not as performance-intensive on the slower WD drive would be pretty big, yeah?

The OCZ3X1600 kit you picked is great. The black sinks will look very nice on the evga X58 LE. Try to find it! The 2x2 kit is not an option, it was not designed for core i7 and it most likely uses voltages higher than 1.65V. You could also grab the same Gskill set I have, if it's available there. It has red sinks.

For the heatsink, try to find the true 120 extreme black for LGA1366, assuming you care about aesthetics. If you get a case with a window I'd say a sleek black sink looks nicer than a big block of aluminum.

Regarding the HDD, obviously on paper SSD is better, but frankly stop for a moment and think. I almost never shut down my PC, I always use S3 standby so my ram is never cleared. Should you have to restart, Vista's superfetch loads everything into RAM in around 2 minutes. The result is an SSD-like feel for the applications you use the most. The only things that don't prefetch into memory are very large files, such as game files. That's where an SSD would load faster than an HDD. Unless you are one of those people that turns Superfetch off (pretty stupid move), an SSD makes very little difference at the end. My computer resumes in 2 seconds, and my applications load as soon as I click them. Until SSDs are on PAR with HDD prices, I won't be getting one.