Recommend parts for a i7 930 gaming rig

[mfenn]

The budget is somewhat flexible. 800 is ideal, but basically I know I won't be updating my processor and Mobo for at least 4 years, and I want something that is future-proof for that entire period. If I go up to 1000, I'm still ok with it.

Absolutely nothing that you buy today will be worth keeping in 4 years. "Future-proofing" is impossible, so just get that silly idea out of your head.

I agree with everyone else about going 1156 i5. Muskie's build is pretty good, though I would probably get a dual-channel kit. At your budget, just grab a 1TB F3 for $75.

 

[mfenn]

I put the steam folder in the HDD.

Yes, you can partition the SSD. You need two partitions for Windows 7 anyways. And I have no idea why it needs to reserve a 100MB partition...

The 100MB partition is analogous to having a separate /boot on Linux. The bootloader stays contained to its own filesystem so that if something goes majorly wrong with the main filesystem, you'll still be able to get into safe mode.

 

[fffblackmage]

How big is a Windows 7 Install anyways?

Not sure, but my C:\windows folder is 14.4GB, if that helps. Total space I'm using on my SSD is about 24.2GB (35GB free).
edit: lol, darn smilies...

The 100MB partition is analogous to having a separate /boot on Linux. The bootloader stays contained to its own filesystem so that if something goes majorly wrong with the main filesystem, you'll still be able to get into safe mode.

Awesome, good to know. Thanks!

 

[tyl998]

Gah...I went ahead and splurged on the i7 and the Gigabyte GA-x58a-UD3R. I just couldn't resist the sale prices. $199 for the i7 930 and $190 for the UD3R plus an additional 21 dollars off the after-tax price.

*resolves to go to impulse-buying self-control classes*

And for now I think I am just going to go with one HD. Gonna order the Spinpoint F3 from Newegg too. Probably partition just 100 gigabytes for the OS drive (should be MORE than enough right? Even with save games and some music files and photos in MyDocuments) and leave the other 900 GB for all of my stuff.

Edit: Found a relatively cheap 23 inch LCD for 150 bucks woot! ASUS MS236H - 23" Wide (16:9) LCD Monitors - Fusion Just bought it. This wasn'tan impulse buy I swear! I needed a monitor anyways... :whiste:

 

[AstroGuardian]

Hitachis are good drives. Fast and reliable. But man! I would really go with LGA1156 and an SSD. SSD man! Remember those three letters. That tool rocks. It will speed up your rig more than you can imagine (considering you never used SSD before 🙂 ).

i7 is just waste of money. Especially with gaming in mind 🙁

 

[fffblackmage]

SSD man! Remember those three letters. That tool rocks. It will speed up your rig more than you can imagine (considering you never used SSD before 🙂 ).

lol, I'd argue that, other than boot times, you don't really notice the SSD speed boost over HDDs. It's until you go back to a normal computer with a normal HDD that you realize, "holy crap, this thing is slooooooow!" That's what I said to my poor HTPC, while I heard the HDD clicking away as it installed updates (my HTPC is low-end but relatively modern with the Athlon II X2 240 and an old HDD I had).

i7 is just waste of money. Especially with gaming in mind

Yeah... the LGA1366 i7 are nice, but hardly worth ~$100 more when the i5 + P55 could do better for less $$$.

 

[tyl998]

But it can overclock better right? Assuming I can find a guide to teach me how to do it...

Does OCing the CPU matter as much? Isn't the bottleneck the Graphics card anyways?

Edit: Did the calculations...my rig comes out to $896.19 that's CPU, mobo, Win7 Pro OEM, 6gb RAM, 23" LCD display, SATA cable x1, and 1 TB SATA HD. Getting PSU and Case and Cooler from a friend for basically nothing. Pretty decent. Will save up next for a better graphics card. Maybe wait for GTX 470 to go down in price?

 

[Davidh373]

Windows will get a little larger over time. What you are supposed to do with an SSD is have windows and important apps like Adobe CS, Word, Itunes, ect. on the SSD, and large game installs and storage on the HDD. Primarily the Upgrade you'll see from SSD is boot time and program launch time. Where you have apps like games installed shouldn't matter, since they seem to launch pretty fast to begin with.

 

[mfenn]

lol, I'd argue that, other than boot times, you don't really notice the SSD speed boost over HDDs. It's until you go back to a normal computer with a normal HDD that you realize, "holy crap, this thing is slooooooow!" That's what I said to my poor HTPC, while I heard the HDD clicking away as it installed updates (my HTPC is low-end but relatively modern with the Athlon II X2 240 and an old HDD I had).

Yes, the SSD benefit is really insidious. You'll use one and at first everything seems really fast. Then "really fast" becomes "normal" to you. But as soon as you sit down in front of a friend's machine that has an HDD, you just want to end yourself because HDDs are just so damn slow. :whiste:

 

[mfenn]

Gah...I went ahead and splurged on the i7 and the Gigabyte GA-x58a-UD3R. I just couldn't resist the sale prices. $199 for the i7 930 and $190 for the UD3R plus an additional 21 dollars off the after-tax price.

Sure, $200 is a good price on the 930, but you really get screwed on the RAM and mobo. It's called a "loss leader" for a reason. MC may break even on the 930, but they are making bank on the mobo and RAM.

 

[tyl998]

Their loss is the gain of Amazon and Newegg.

I got the i7 from MC, the RAM from Amazon, and the mobo + OS from Newegg. Plus monitor from Amazon and the HDD from Newegg as well.

Is $110 dollars overly expensive for my Corsair 3x2 GB RAM? I'm sure that newegg made good bank from the UD3R yeah.