Will this computer last 4 years or more without needing an upgrade?

OK so i'm planning on a computer that will last 4 years and still play the latest games on medium then. I'm planning to leave the i7 at stock (2.66ghz) for the first 2 years (until the warrenty runs out) and also planning on getting a second 285 when I do overclock it (get it stable then go for another gpu)
Also will the i7 at 2.66ghz stock bottleneck the 285 at all? I really don't want to overclock for the first coupple of years, party because i'm not that great at it but also because I want this computer to last as long as possible.
Everything sound good?

1x ASUS 285 1gig
1x i7 920 at 2.66ghz (won't overclock at first but will after a year or so)
1x OCZ Reaper (3x2gb) PC3-15000 (1866MHz)
1x coolermaster HAF 922
2x WD5001AALS 500gb hard drive (raid 0 stripe)
2x expensive 120mm fans with dust filters
1x MSI X58 PRO iX58 Socket 1366 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
and 1x Hiper M1000 1000W

Looks good except you would be better off if you installed an after market CPU cooler from the get go so you won't have to a year from now when you decide to overclock. Otherwise you might have to take it all apart to mount it later.

As a matter of fact you might as well overclock it to 3+GHz at stock voltages right from the start (not with the stock cooler). It wouldn't shorten the life as long as voltages and temps are sane. 4GHz on air is very possible, but I'm not sure how that would affect system lifespan.

You might consider the faster but still inexpensive 640GB WD black 2 platter drives for RAID 0 duty. But why do you want so much space for apps and OS unless you plan on huge games and apps with multiple operating system partitions.

Go with at least another 2 dives in RAID 1 mirror array for your data. The WD 1TB green or black drives would work fine.

I've got a 60GB Intel Matrix RAID 0 partition (30GB+30GB slices) for OS/apps and the rest of my 900GB slices of my 1TB drives are in a mirror array.

Thanks for the reply! =)

Audioaficionado said:

Looks good except you would be better off if you installed an after market CPU cooler from the get go so you won't have to a year from now when you decide to overclock. Otherwise you might have to take it all apart to mount it later.

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AHH I forgot to add that to the list there
1x Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir =)

Audioaficionado said:

As a matter of fact you might as well overclock it to 3+GHz at stock voltages right from the start (not with the stock cooler). It wouldn't shorten the life as long as voltages and temps are sane. 4GHz on air is very possible, but I'm not sure how that would affect system lifespan.

Click to expand...

I don't actually know how to overclock *shameful glance at feet*
I havn't ever tried it and I don't have anything to try it out on. Was planning to read into it and then take it like to an electronics shop to let someone do it *extra shameful glance at feet*

Audioaficionado said:

You might consider the faster but still inexpensive 640GB WD black 2 platter drives for RAID 0 duty. But why do you want so much space for apps and OS unless you plan on huge games and apps with multiple operating system partitions.

Click to expand...

I already have 1 WD of that so I would just be buying another for raid so better value for money overall. Also this build is more about speed then data security. I have 2 1tb's in raid 1 for all my media/save games/dvd backups

But yeh i'm planning to put all the source games on it (30 gigs or so)
GTA IV (20 gigs)
far cry 2 (I think it's about 10)
crysis and crysis warhead (about 20 gigs)
Music (10 gigs)
OS and all the software stuff (20-30 gigs)

I've got about 370 gigs of games and apps that I need on the main and want to have a fair bit of space for new games (only 200 of that space is for games and os so will have about 250 for later games)

But thanks very much for the reply! Truley greatful =)

I wouldn't count on anything in the computer realm lasting 4 years anymore.

As a reference point, in 2005, I don't even think multi-core CPU's were even available for desktops. At the end of this year we'll have 8 core / 16 thread CPU's.

But the your build looks solid and i7 has the most longetivity of anything available today.

Looks good

Oh and welcome to the forums! You'll learn a lot from visiting and reading

That should be able to last four years but you will have to make upgrades along the way. Somewhere along the line you will need to upgrade the GPU. When I was gaming I tended to change it every year. Stick with the ~$200 range to get a good value and performance for your dollar that allows you to be able to upgrade more often. That's usually what I did every year and sold the old one for ~$100(in essence a new card every year for $100)


Since games are so heavily loaded to the GPU side of things(generally) it may or may not make the duration. i7 is a new socket with a long life ahead of it so if you would need to change you will have plenty of new and used chips to pick from. The core of the system is good and easily upgradable, thats what you need for a system to last over the duartion. I am not familiar with that PSU so make sure you do your research on it. It is also complete overkill. A Corsair 750 would be plenty.

Shiggity said:

I wouldn't count on anything in the computer realm lasting 4 years anymore.

As a reference point, in 2005, I don't even think multi-core CPU's were even available for desktops. At the end of this year we'll have 8 core / 16 thread CPU's.

But the your build looks solid and i7 has the most longetivity of anything available today.

Looks good

Oh and welcome to the forums! You'll learn a lot from visiting and reading

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Serious question here, but does i7 really have the best longevity? I mean with it being as pricey as it is and with i5 coming out in what x<3 months? Not to mention it is being replaced with a whole new socket too (1156 yes?). I would think that any socket Am3 chips would be a tad more prepared since Amd will be producing new chipsets (8 series) and will be coming out with new gpu's to run with the Am3 cpu's which are getting faster and faster with each new stepping and build week. Not to mention the ddr3 support is increasing for the Am3 socket as well.

tinymouse2 said:

I don't actually know how to overclock *shameful glance at feet*
I havn't ever tried it and I don't have anything to try it out on. Was planning to read into it and then take it like to an electronics shop to let someone do it *extra shameful glance at feet*

Click to expand...

Don't waste your $$$ having some geek squad type guy do for you what you can learn in a few days hanging around here. Overclocking isn't rocket science. At least with today's motherboards and their highly functional BIOS hardware controls it isn't. Heck a grandpa or grandma could overclock their PCs and I know of a few grandpas around here who do it all the time.

Audioaficionado said:

Overclocking isn't rocket science. At least with today's motherboards and their highly functional BIOS hardware controls it isn't.

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I know it's not rocket science but this is the most amount of money i've ever spent on a comptuer and I don't want to blow it by overclocking it to an unstable level or screw up with the voltages or something.


If after I put all the components in I go into the bios and record every setting then as long as I don't change the voltages is there ANY risk at all? Any at all, even the slightest? or does all the risk come from overheating by upping the voltage?

Thanks

tinymouse2 said:

I know it's not rocket science but this is the most amount of money i've ever spent on a comptuer and I don't want to blow it by overclocking it to an unstable level or screw up with the voltages or something.


If after I put all the components in I go into the bios and record every setting then as long as I don't change the voltages is there ANY risk at all? Any at all, even the slightest? or does all the risk come from overheating by upping the voltage?

Thanks

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If you follow the proper methods then the risk is pretty much nil. Go slow with very small adjustments and you will be fine. Its the folks that jump in and try to get a 50% OC off the bat that tear stuff up. Use the tried and trued methods, watch your temps, and you will be fine.

The quick answer is NO
I am a strong beliver in this too.
No Computer today is going to play games well in 4 years.

You would be much better off spending 1/2 your budget now
Then in 2 years time get a new computer.

Look back 4 years ago
a high end Video card was a nVida 7800GTX
by todays standards that is sub par.
For a $100 now you will get a better card.


Intel Core 2 Extreme X7800 @ 2.6GHz was king of the hill for $1000
Now you can get a Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.8GHz for $120

IMHO
You would be much better off in the long run to spend half your budget and get a new computer again in 2 to 2.5 years time.

ChanceCoats123 said:

Serious question here, but does i7 really have the best longevity? I mean with it being as pricey as it is and with i5 coming out in what x<3 months? Not to mention it is being replaced with a whole new socket too (1156 yes?). I would think that any socket Am3 chips would be a tad more prepared since Amd will be producing new chipsets (8 series) and will be coming out with new gpu's to run with the Am3 cpu's which are getting faster and faster with each new stepping and build week. Not to mention the ddr3 support is increasing for the Am3 socket as well.

Click to expand...

Well right this very second, I would recommend i7 to anyone looking for the most longetivity.

You can play the waiting game with computers forever. If I just wait a few more months, I'll be able to get something way better! It's a double edged sword in the end.

For me personally, yes I am waiting for i5.

There is no way the video card will be viable for gaming 4 years from now...I have a shelf covered in used video cards that all lasted about 2 years and then lacked enough horse power to be enjoyable.

If your lucky a hard drive could go 4 years but SSD's will obsolete standard hard drives shortly....

The board, CPU and memory will definitely last that long for sure but wont hold a candle to the speed of whats available in 4 years....

It's doable but you would have to figure in replacement of the video card and hard drives as part of the planning...I would think buying a mid level video card every 2 years is a better bet than a big chunk of money on the 285...