New Tax Build i7-860

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igloo15

Senior member
Jun 2, 2004
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Just got my tax return and I am building my computer looking to spend around 2000 total. I do alot gaming and looking to get a build to play Bad Company 2, Mass Effect 2 etc. I also do a lot of programming for work and other things as such looking to do dual monitors. Not planning to OC at all just don't want to have to deal with it. In the past maybe I would do it but I would rather not have to deal with tweaking settings.

I currently have a 24" 1920 by 1200 monitor and a Corsair 750TX psu from my previous computer as well as some dvd burners and an Antec 900 case. I also already have Win 7 pro from work.

Here is my current build:

CPU: i7-860 = $199 (Microcenter)
Heatsink: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro = $37
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 = $134
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 = $224
SSD: Intel 80gb G2 = $290
Harddrive: Western Digital Caviar Black 750gb = 70
Monitor: ASUS VW266H Black 25.5" = $300 (New main monitor)
Graphics Card: XFX ATI 5870 = $400

Total = $1655

Any changes or better suggestions before I buy this build?
 
J

Jd007

Senior member
Jan 1, 2010
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If you plan to CrossFire in the future, that board's not good as the second PCI-E only runs at 4x. Get the GA-P55A-UD4P instead. Otherwise that looks like a solid build.
 
I

igloo15

Senior member
Jun 2, 2004
300
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76
Don't plan to ever go crossfire is there any other reasons to go with the other motherboard
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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www.mfenn.com
PeteRoy said:
I would drop the SSD for a better gpu and gpu.
Click to expand...

What are you smoking? He's already got a 5870 and i7 860. He's already way out there on the $/P curve on both parts. An SSD will make much more of a difference for the money than upgrading the CPU or GPU.
 
ehume

ehume

Golden Member
Nov 6, 2009
1,511
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Upgrade from UD3 to UD3P. The -P and -R (unavailable in the US) are designed with 12-phase VRM's and other bits that make them a lot better than the plain UD3. That's why I got one.

The AC FP7 is a competent cooler for non-overclocking. And it's easy to put in. I have it in the first rig I built. Apparently there are better coolers that cost no more.

BTW - I'm looking for a new monitor myself. What led you to Asus?
 
bigboxes

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
42,229
12,415
146
vailr said:
If any of "some dvd burners" are IDE, I'd recommend not re-using and going "all SATA", no IDE (optical or hard drives).
Click to expand...

Please tell me why you'd recommend this. I'd love to hear your reasoning. Personally, I'd just use your optical drives until they fail. At that time you can replace them with a SATA drive.
 
vailr

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
54
91
bigboxes said:
Please tell me why you'd recommend this. I'd love to hear your reasoning. Personally, I'd just use your optical drives until they fail. At that time you can replace them with a SATA drive.
Click to expand...

If the Intel chipset doesn't support IDE, then you're required to use a 3rd-party IDE controller, such as JMicron. I've experienced problems using an IDE optical drive running under a JMicron controller, specifically with a Gigabyte 965 chipset board. Many upgraders still re-use IDE optical drives with the newer Intel chipset + JMicron IDE controller boards. But I prefer to simply avoid using IDE optical drives.
 
bigboxes

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
42,229
12,415
146
vailr said:
If the Intel chipset doesn't support IDE, then you're required to use a 3rd-party IDE controller, such as JMicron. I've experienced problems using an IDE optical drive running under a JMicron controller, specifically with a Gigabyte 965 chipset board. Many upgraders still re-use IDE optical drives with the newer Intel chipset + JMicron IDE controller boards. But I prefer to simply avoid using IDE optical drives.
Click to expand...

My X58 uses a Marvell controller which I populate with a couple of IDE hard drives. I have no problems whatsoever. What problems have you experienced with jMicron controllers? Is it just poor drivers? The mobo the OP linked uses an iTE IT8213 controller. I've mix-n-matched drives for quite a while. I recently got a SATA optical drive for the first time, but it was for the new build and SATA burners are common now. I figure if the drive is still working the OP might as well continue using it. If it's a problem then he can purchase a new one.
 
bigboxes

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
42,229
12,415
146
ehume said:
Much much much better airflow by ditching PATA drives.
Click to expand...

I have used rounded cables for over five years. No airflow problem here. :p

p8190184.jpg
 
I

igloo15

Senior member
Jun 2, 2004
300
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76
I decided on the monitor because it was recommended in the LCD thread in the Video Cards and Graphics thread. I will switch the motherboard over to UD3P version also for better stability.
 
vailr

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
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91
bigboxes said:
It didn't list the chipset on Newegg's page so I went to Gigabyte's site to get my info. If you scroll down to the 'Storage Interface' it says they use the iTE IT8213 chip for the IDE support.
Click to expand...

If you look at Gigabyte's driver support page, they offer a "Gigabyte" (aka JMicron) driver version 1.17.52. If you compare that with the official JMicron driver support at:
ftp://driver.jmicron.com.tw/jmb36x/XP_Vista_Win7/
Which offers the same (+ newer) version number JMicron driver.
There's no "iTE IT8213 chip" driver offered on Gigabyte's support page.
So: they either made an error on the board's "Specifications" page, by listing the iTE IT8213 chip. Or else: by omitting the required "iTE IT8213 chip" driver on the driver support page. And by including the "Gigabyte" (aka JMicron) driver.
If someone can verify which IDE controller is actually on that board, please comment...
 
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M

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
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www.mfenn.com
vailr said:
If you look at Gigabyte's driver support page, they offer a "Gigabyte" (aka JMicron) driver version 1.17.52. If you compare that with the official JMicron driver support at:
ftp://driver.jmicron.com.tw/jmb36x/XP_Vista_Win7/
Which offers the same (+ newer) version number JMicron driver.
There's no "iTE IT8213 chip" driver offered on Gigabyte's support page.
So: they either made an error on the board's "Specifications" page, by listing the iTE IT8213 chip. Or else: by omitting the required "iTE IT8213 chip" driver on the driver support page. And by including the "Gigabyte" (aka JMicron) driver.
If someone can verify which IDE controller is actually on that board, please comment...
Click to expand...

I've got a GA-P55A-UD4P (not the same mobo I know) and my IDE Controller comes up as PCI Vendor ID 0x1283 and Device ID 0x8213. I did a lookup on these and it is listed as a IT8213F. The Vendor comes back as "Waldo", but I would imagine that that is a case of a company buying/merging/etc. with another and acquiring the PCI Vendor ID. Windows 7 has a driver for it, so I guess the specific chip is no big deal.

For reference, I also have 3 SATA controllers listed. They are:

  • Vendor: 0x197B Dev: 0x2363 JMicron JMB362/JMB363 AHCI Controller
  • Vendor: 0x8086 Dev: 0x3B22 IBEX AHCI Controller(6Port) (Intel so I'm assuming IBEX is referring the P55's codename Ibex Peak)
  • Vendor: 0x1B3B Dev: 0x9128 PCI-SIG lists this Vendor ID as belonging to Marvell, but the online databases of Dev IDs (that I've searched) don't seem to know about this Vendor ID for Marvell. Its probably a new assignment.
I believe that the Marvell controller is the SE9128 SATA 6GB/s controller (which fits the Dev ID and would explain its absence from the database) and that the JMicron controller is for the eSATA ports.
 
vailr

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
54
91
@mfenn:
Thanks for the info.
It would appear that even though the JMicron chip is present and is probably capable of doing the IDE port controller function, that task has been delegated (for unknown reasons) to a separate chip: the iTE IT8213.
 
bigboxes

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
42,229
12,415
146
Ok vailr, as you can see we are both being honest in our research. What experience do you have with jMicron's controllers? My board has a jMicron chip for 2 extra SATA connectors. I'm populating 3 of 4 on the main Marvell SATA controller so I haven't had a need to use them. But we're talking about the IDE controller here. Is it the chip or the driver that is craptastic?

Yeah, I have heard bad things about jMicron's SATA controllers on my motherboard so your comments are not out of the blue. Just wondering.
 
vailr

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
54
91
@ bigboxes:

My current board is a Gigabyte P45-UD3R, which has the JMicron chip but has no iTE chip.
I prefer focusing on the possible future, when the only motherboard I/O controller will once more belong exclusively to an Intel chipset.
No legacy IDE or floppy ports for me, please.

But if your current inventory of IDE drives warrants using them on new system builds, then go ahead and use them. But if you run into problems later, don't say I didn't warn you...
 
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bigboxes

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
42,229
12,415
146
vailr said:
@ bigboxes:

My current board is a Gigabyte P45-UD3R, which has the JMicron chip but has no iTE chip.
I prefer focusing on the possible future, when the only motherboard I/O controller will once more belong exclusively to an Intel chipset.
No legacy IDE or floppy ports for me, please.

But if your current inventory of IDE drives warrants using them on new system builds, then go ahead and use them. But if you run into problems later, don't say I didn't warn you...
Click to expand...

Well, in my main rig I have been using a SATA Raptor for ~4 years now. The two IDE HDDs are just for storage. I have had zero problems with them so far. I did have one fail due to a bad PSU, hence the reason for the new 1366 build. In my file server I use an IDE HDD for the OS drive as well as four out of eight storage drives. No reason to throw out 400-500GB drives just because they are IDE. I have been migrating to 1.5TB SATA drives, but I buy two drives for each time I put one in the file server. One for the file server and one for the backup (external enclosures). I'm limited by finances. My wife's PC and my HTPC both use IDE HDDs as well as the DVD burners. I try to use my older hardware while it's still viable. Many of these drives are RMA drives. They are going into older hardware so I see no need to throw them out.
 
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