So here is the list...

[TahoeDust]

I probably should have posted this before ordering, but I just noticed all the builds in this section. This machine will be used for gaming, folding, video editing, etc... Here is what I have on the way...

i7 2700K
Asus P8Z68 Deluxe
Sapphire HD 6950
gSkill Sniper 1866Mhz CL9 1.5v (on sale same price as 1600)
OCZ Vertex 3 60gb (moved from my HTPC)
1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm
Corsair H100
Corsair 650D
OCZ ZT 750w PSU
Samsung s23a550h 23" LED

I could still make a change if needed.

I also still need a keyboard and 2.0/2.1 speakers. Any suggestions?

 

[mnewsham]

over priced motherboard, and unless you are doing serious work on this machine (ie. it makes you money) then getting the i7 was useless. Also the H100 is useless as good air cooling works just as well or better.
Oh and your PSU is about 200w over kill (but meh it's good for a 2nd 6950)

 

[TahoeDust]

over priced motherboard, and unless you are doing serious work on this machine (ie. it makes you money) then getting the i7 was useless. Also the H100 is useless as good air cooling works just as well or better.
Oh and your PSU is about 200w over kill (but meh it's good for a 2nd 6950)

Got the MB for $200 NIB, 2700k for $290 NIB, and H100 for $80 LNIB...all shipped. With the MB and 2700k I thought the price difference between the less expensive alternatives I was looking at was close enough to buy what I did. I went H100 because I didn't want a massive cooler and it is supposed to perform well. I wanted a PSU with room to run SLI/xfire in the future.

This build was not about spending as little as possible to get the performance I need...which seems to be a common trend. I wanted to build a machine with nice parts that performs well.

But thanks for being a Debbie downer...lol.

 

[General Kenobi]

I'd say that if you don't have any problems with the price of the components, then there's no problem. However, it's likely that you won't utilize the full capacity of this build unless your uses for it are cutting edge.

I'm wondering why you only went for a 23" monitor with that kind of hardware though.

 

[TahoeDust]

I'd say that if you don't have any problems with the price of the components, then there's no problem. However, it's likely that you won't utilize the full capacity of this build unless your uses for it are cutting edge.

I'm wondering why you only went for a 23" monitor with that kind of hardware though.

I actually have a 27" Samsung P2770HD and for the viewing distance it feels a little too big. I figured I would give the 23" a try. I can always switch back.

Price was really not a top concern with the build. I am very aware I could have gotten similar performance out of a stripped p67 board and a 2500k. The parts list was driven more by what I wanted then the cost. I also wanted it to a look good. I like a little show with my go.

 

[General Kenobi]

Ah, that explains the monitor issue. Although you could always exchange that monitor for some other model that supports 1920x1200 instead of just the Full HD resolution, if you think that you would benefit from some extra screen estate while remaining at 23-24".

 

[TahoeDust]

Ah, that explains the monitor issue. Although you could always exchange that monitor for some other model that supports 1920x1200 instead of just the Full HD resolution, if you think that you would benefit from some extra screen estate while remaining at 23-24".

I thought about going 1920x1200, but the price jump to the ones I am interested in was at least twice as much as what I bought and I just wasn't sure. I have not had any real time with one. I am going to give this a shot and if I don't like it sell my 27" and 23" and go 1920x1200.

 

[General Kenobi]

I thought about going 1920x1200, but the price jump to the ones I am interested in was at least twice as much as what I bought and I just wasn't sure. I have not had any real time with one. I am going to give this a shot and if I don't like it sell my 27" and 23" and go 1920x1200.

I recently bought a Dell UltraSharp U2412M (24" @ 1920x1200) and I've been happy with it so far. Granted, it has a bit heftier price tag since it's a low-end IPS panel, but it definitely has a good price/quality ratio.

 

[mfenn]

Got the MB for $200 NIB, 2700k for $290 NIB, and H100 for $80 LNIB...all shipped. With the MB and 2700k I thought the price difference between the less expensive alternatives I was looking at was close enough to buy what I did.

Not quite. If you had gotten an i5 2500K (save $50), ASRock Z68 Extreme3 (save $85), a Hyper 212+ (save $50) and a Corsair 400R (save $50), you would have enough money to get a second 6950 2GB while keeping the overall budget the same. Needless to say, i5 2500K + 6950 2GB CFX stomps all over i7 2700K + 6950 2GB.

I went H100 because I didn't want a massive cooler and it is supposed to perform well. I wanted a PSU with room to run SLI/xfire in the future.

:awe: :awe: :awe: Have you ever seen an H100? It is way bigger than even a monster DH-14.

 

[TahoeDust]

Not quite. If you had gotten an i5 2500K (save $50), ASRock Z68 Extreme3 (save $85), a Hyper 212+ (save $50) and a Corsair 400R (save $50), you would have enough money to get a second 6950 2GB while keeping the overall budget the same. Needless to say, i5 2500K + 6950 2GB CFX stomps all over i7 2700K + 6950 2GB.

Or I could have just bought another a 6950 and kept the 2700k. If I wanted two I would have bought two. There was never a "overall budget".

:awe: :awe: :awe: Have you ever seen an H100? It is way bigger than even a monster DH-14.

Yeah, I am looking at it now. Too bad I can't tuck a DH-14 in the top of the case almost out of sight and take all that weight off the MB.

 

[aphelion02]

I don't see the point of this thread. You don't care about price or relative performance, you don't have a budget, you don't wish to listen to the opinion of others and you have already bought your parts. Just admire your own rig and move on. If this is meant to be a brag thread, then it has also failed because that rig isn't impressive at all.

 

[TahoeDust]

I don't see the point of this thread. You don't care about price or relative performance, you don't have a budget, you don't wish to listen to the opinion of others and you have already bought your parts. Just admire your own rig and move on. If this is meant to be a brag thread, then it has also failed because that rig isn't impressive at all.

I guess you're right. I was really only asking about suggestions for a keyboard and 2.0/2.1 speakers and I could have done that in the Peripheral section. I guess I listed my parts in case I had made a critical error that I was not seeing.

 

[Hybris2000]

to be honest i see a lot of averkill there
i7 2700K >>> 2600k, anyting above for gaming is wasted money
Asus P8Z68 Deluxe : carefull, there are some reboot issues (i know i have one), even after resetting multiplier in UEFI
Sapphire HD 6950 >>> to be honest, if i had to put money somewhere i would put it there, and go for a 6970 which is great value for the money, its even gonna be cheaper when the 7900 series are out
gSkill Sniper 1866Mhz CL9 1.5v (on sale same price as 1600) >>> fair enough, dunno really what is better compared to Corsair dominator or vengeance kits
OCZ Vertex 3 60gb (moved from my HTPC) >>> if its for gaming, keep in mind that games are more than 15GB nowadays, i think BF3 is more than 25GB, so if you are planning to have Win 7 64 bits on top+ few other games, i would go for at least 128GB SSD
1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm >>> 1 TB is very few nowadays.. i would go for 2 TB at least
Corsair H100 >>> overkill, H80 more than enough, even with OC to 4Ghz+
Corsair 650D >>> very nice case, i have one.
OCZ ZT 750w PSU >>> go for Corsair or Seasonic
Samsung s23a550h 23" LED >>> if you can afford it, you will be able to play comfortably on a 27", and btw, im not sure LED is worth it for gaming... put priority on IPS pannel instead imho

 

[TahoeDust]

I guess I perhaps went about this build incorrectly. I had no final price in mind when I started. Over a period of weeks I scooped up individual parts that I thought were good deals on quality components. I was originally going with a 2500k, but came across a good deal on the 2700k and went for it. Was looking at some less expensive MBs but came across a good deal on the Asus Deluxe. Same story on the H100. The 6950 I picked up used to hold me over until the 79xx...figured if I was not thrilled with the 79xx I would just add another 6950.

Storage is not really an issue. I have plenty of room on my HTPC/Media server. Hence the 1TB drive.

 

[mfenn]

Well, at least you realize your mistake now. :awe: It's not like what you have is bad, you just could have done a lot better with proper planning.

 

[mfenn]

I don't see the point of this thread. You don't care about price or relative performance, you don't have a budget, you don't wish to listen to the opinion of others and you have already bought your parts. Just admire your own rig and move on. If this is meant to be a brag thread, then it has also failed because that rig isn't impressive at all.

My bet is that somebody missed rule #10.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.

It's OK OP, you are at least somewhat recognizant. :awe:

 

[TahoeDust]

Well here is the finished product. I ended up going with 2 Sapphire 6950s unlocked to 6970s. You guys were completely right about needing larger than a 60gb SSD...so I added another and ended up with 2 60gb Vertex 3 drives running Raid 0.

 

[mfenn]

Looks very nice! Come back next time before you buy and we'll get you hooked up right!

 

[TahoeDust]

Looks very nice! Come back next time before you buy and we'll get you hooked up right!

Haha...yeah. Because obviously I did it wrong. This machine is garbage!

 

[mfenn]

Haha...yeah. Because obviously I did it wrong. This machine is garbage!

Wow dude, chill out. The machine is not garbage, but you did pay way too damn much for it, as you yourself have admitted.

 

[mnewsham]

Wow dude, chill out. The machine is not garbage, but you did pay way too damn much for it, as you yourself have admitted.

Not worth the effort to talk to this guy. He just doesn't get it.

Also OP you said you got a 2nd 60GB because one 60GB wasn't enough, but you run them in RAID 0, basically still giving you 60GB...what was the point then?

 

[TahoeDust]

Not worth the effort to talk to this guy. He just doesn't get it.

Also OP you said you got a 2nd 60GB because one 60GB wasn't enough, but you run them in RAID 0, basically still giving you 60GB...what was the point then?

What are you talking about? Raid 0 is striped giving me ~110gb. Raid 1 is mirroring...which is what you are talking about.

Oh, I get it.

 

[mnewsham]

What are you talking about? Raid 0 is striped giving me ~110gb. Raid 1 is mirroring...which is what you are talking about.

Oh, I get it.

The point is if you needed more space you should have gotten a mechanical drive. or a larger SSD from the start.

 

[fffblackmage]

Awesome rig! Could have saved money here and there without much impact on performance, but at least it looks cool.

btw, anyone know if TRIM works on RAIDed SSDs now?

 

[mnewsham]

Awesome rig! Could have saved money here and there without much impact on performance, but at least it looks cool.

btw, anyone know if TRIM works on RAIDed SSDs now?

AFAIK intel released some drivers that allowed TRIM and RAID. I think it might have only been a certain type of RAID though...