new i7 860 build

[jprussellenterprises]

I'm new to the forum, recently stumbled upon anandtech and am really impressed with the product reviews and forum posts.

I've got a great rig I build a while back with Athlon XP3000+, 1GB RAM, 512MB ATI Radeon 1600XT thats been running XPP fast and stable for years. I'm ready to build a new box for Windows 7, and after a little research, here is what I came up with:

Qty Desc
1 Core i7 860 Processor Boxed
1 Hyper 212+ Universal CPU Cooler supports Socket LGA1366/1156/775/AM3/AM2/940/939
1 ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
2 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
1 LIAN LI PC-7F Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
1 PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
1 LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Reader & 16x DVD Burner - Bulk Model UH08LS10K LightScribe Support - OEM
1 AMD ATI Radeon HD 5850
2 Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
1 Hannspree HF-289HJB 28" LCD Monitor 1920x1200

Grand Total $1,676.88

Intentions:
I occasionally do some gaming, nothing crazy, I also have a PS3... I run Office plus viso and project, Adobe CS4, some architecture software for CAD and rendering, and do basic photo and video editing, all recreationally. I would consider adding a TV tuner, or using the monitor for a separate TV input. I may do some video conferencing from this system. I want to build a box that will run Windows 7 and be stable and relatively fast for the next 3-4 years.

Questions:
Will I gain anything by going with a dedicated RAID controller (sub-$50) for RAID 0 or should I just stick with the on-board?

Should I consider upgrading to 2TB WD Caviar Black with the 64mb cache? I dont need the space right now, but am always interested in faster IO times, but also dont feel the need for SSD at its current state of maturity/price. I am a fan of RAID 0, and I back up my stuff to external regularly so not worried about redundancy on primary disk.

My main goal is to build a QUIET system. It seems the power supply and processor fans are both adequate and relatively quiet, but I'm interested in recomendations. My current Athlon XP3000+64 rig with Thermaltake Volcano sounds like a shop vac

Any experience with this monitor or alternatives in the 26-28" class budget price range? Again, I'm not doing any hardcore gaming or graphic arts stuff. Just considering single big instead of dual smaller. I mostly use this for work-from-home stuff.

Will all this stuff work together? I'm thinking it will but anyone that sees anything out of the ordinary please let me know.

Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated.

 

[mc866]

Welcome to Anandtech!

Originally posted by: jprussellenterprises
Questions:
Will I gain anything by going with a dedicated RAID controller (sub-$50) for RAID 0 or should I just stick with the on-board?

Save your money and use the onboard RAID controller, you won't see any difference between onboard and a sub $100 controller card anyway.

Will all this stuff work together? I'm thinking it will but anyone that sees anything out of the ordinary please let me know.

Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated.

I think it looks like a nice build, I just ordered something similar myself, one thing I wanted to point out is that newegg is now doing a $20 combo deal with Gigabyte mobo's and the Gskill DDR3, I've heard good things about the UD3, it could save you some $$ there. I personally went with the UD2 because I had a tight budget and doubt I will ever use more than one video card anyway.

 

[dmw16]

If you don't do much gaming there are some more budget-friendly video cards out there to choose from.

As for hard drives, I think 1TB is the sweet spot right now. No need for a 2TB drive at the moment.

Personally, I have a smaller drive in my computer and keep my important data stored on my ReadyNAS. I think it's a safer way to keep data and is handy with multiple machines in the house.

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231279

you should look at these memory modules, better performance for $10 more.

Just ordered some for my i7 860 build

 

[latch]

Giving your casual gaming, I would:
Buy a cheaper video card (4870 comes to mind)
Buy a cheaper PSU (750W is a waste for your system)
Drop 1 HDD
Buy a X25 G2 SSD (80gb or 160gb)

In other words, I'd try to free up some money, in order to buy an SSD...the SSD will give you _way_ more performance than RAID 0 + a better video card + more wattage.