New i7 Build with a couple questions

[Buddyd]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Light Gaming, Multimedia (On 2nd Monitor while doing everything/anything else on primary monitor), AutoCAD, Higher resolution GIMP projects, and very light web design/maintenance (I maintain my company's website)

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$2000 US (would like to be under but if Im only $2-100 under and spending that extra will gain a bit Im ok with it)

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA (Newegg/Microcenter)

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

Partial to Intel, Nvidia, and WD

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

None, currently on a Pentium-m laptop. I will however be using my 720p tv as a second monitor and a usb2 Hauppauge Wintv-PVR analog cable tuner

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Several over the past 6-8 months

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

never have but would definatly be willing to try it out later on in the systems life

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

No specific date but prices seem to be at a sweet spot for performance/$ right now

So far I have spec'ed out from newegg and microcenter:

Motherboard: EVGA X58 SLI 1366 ATX Motherboard (Lifetime Warranty after registration) - $299.99
Processor: Core i7 920 - $229.99
Ram: Corsair XMS3 6gb DDR3-1600 - $89.00
Graphics: EVGA Nvidia GTX275 - $259.99
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750w - $99.99 (w/ coupon + $20 rebate)
Hard Drive: WD Black 1TB OEM- $99.99 (w/coupon)
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc 24x SATA Drive OEM - $24.99
Wireless: Edimax PCI Card - $19.99
Monitor: ASUS 25.5" 1920x1200 - $349.99 ($30 rebate)
Case: Antec 902 - $119.00

A few questions I had were:

Is the EVGA motherboard reliable or are there better options the only real information I could find on it was EVGA's own forums which were very helpful and makes it seem like a good choice for the support alone?

Does anyone have any experience with the Corsair XMS3 ram if so is that set ok?

Would I be better of getting an 850W Corsair power supply if I will potentialy go SLi and overclock down the road or will the 750W PC Power and Cooling be ok?Answered

Wireless would I be better off getting a second router and put dd-wrt or tomatoe on it and set to client mode or will the headache of the setup not really be worth it?

Operating system I have an unused windows xp pro sp3 32-bit - OEM disc which I was going to use on my netbook but never got around to it would it be better to install that now then wait for windows 7 64bit or should I get vista 64bit, I need to occasional VPN into my office computer and have heard vista may have issues with vpn. I'll dual boot with a 64bit linux so the extra ram will not be totally wasted if I go the 32bit xp option?Answered


The case I have been reading very mixed responses on as to how much room is left after one of the newer/larger video cards is in place If I only ever plan to have a max of 3 hard drives in the case would there be a space issue. I guess the better questions is has anyone been fed up to the point that they regretted purchasing the case?Answered


Thank you for any help with these questions/looking over the components.

 

[masteryoda34]

Where is the i7 920 $229.99?

 

[Buddyd]

Microcenter in store pick-up only though

 

[somethingsketchy]

750w PSU is a bit overkill for the current build you have right now, however since you are keen to upgrade in the future with SLI, the 850w PSU would be a good choice as it will give you some headroom for further upgrades (i.e. more HDDs and DVD/BD drives). You probably could get away with with a 600-650w PSU, but the savings may only be marginal, so my first point could be moot.

As for the VPN issue you could probably get away with installing a VM (virtual machine) of XP on your Linux partition and use that VM to VPN into your company's network. If you have the cash I would personally recommend getting Vista 64 bit (doesn't matter if it's Ultimate or not) just so you have the full 6GB of your RAM. No sense in getting a lot of RAM if you can't use it with a 32-bit Operating System. You can upgrade in the future when Windows 7 proves to be as great as people have been claiming it up to be.

The 902 is a spiritual successor to the 900 (first generation). That being said, I currently have 3 HDDs in one HDD cage and a GTX 260 (216sp) mounted in my case. Of course I moved my HDD cage to the top 3 5.25" bays for easy cable management, while the second HDD cage is used for cooling the video card. In a long about way of saying this, you should have no problems mounting 3 HDDs with a GTX 275 in that case. On a side note the only change I made, was to slide the cages "forward" about one screw hole over. In other words I made the HDD cages flush with the front bezel of the case. This would give you about 3" of space between the leading end of the graphics card and the "exit" end of the second HDD cage.

Hope this helps.

 

[Buddyd]

Yeah it was only about $20 extra to jump up to the 750W it'll be about a $30 jump to go to the 850W.

I hadn't thought about the virtual machine seems vista might be the way to go as I can already vpn through linux so if I am dual booting anyway it makes sense to get the 64bit vista.

Thank you for the info on the case I was having a heck of time trying to find anything other than a few photos showing a larger card in the case.

 

[Buddyd]

One other questions do you know if the cooler master v8 cpu cooler fits in the antec 900/902?
I have been reading that the stock cooler for the i7 is fairly underpowered.

Nevermind, found some images online showing this cooler in an antec 902 may need to remove the side fan mount but I do not see that as being a big issue

 

[Buddyd]

I received the monitor today and all I can say is wow the resolution is the same as my 17" laptop screen at 1920x1200 but the colors and brightness and far and above the laptop screen. Also the 25.5" size is great now I can sit normally at my desk and read text on the screen.
I should be receiving all the other parts monday and will be picking up the motherboard, cpu, ram, and case this weekend from microcenter.

 

[nomunk]

I use the stock cooler and my CPU temps are between 30-34 degrees C, it stays frosty and cold, my Antec nine hundred 2 case may also contribute to those cold temps also

 

[Buddyd]

I ended up getting the cooler master v8, corsair 850w power supply, vista ultimate 64-bit cause it came with the hardrive at a $60 discount, and LG blu-ray drive all in all I still came in under my budget which I was very happy about.