About to place this order soon... please comment.

Johnson184 · Jul 26, 2010

I had another thread here, but my build/goals has changed dramatically. I will have to place this order in the next day or so to maintain the pricing, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Intel 930 1366 $290
(I decided against going with the 960 ($470) in favor of the SSD. I figured it'd help with all the loading that goes on in games like WoW. With the H50 I'm hoping to overclock it to a safe level that still outperforms the 960.)

Asus Rampage III Gene $240
(Needed a quality 1366 mobo that had 6GB/s for the SSD and USB 3.0 for the future. I've never done overclocking before, but the ROG connect makes it look much easier to do than navigating a BIOS screen)

XFX 5870 $330
(I originally had my eyes set on a 5850 for $250, but I figured that would be the weakest link of my entire build)

6GB (3x2GB) Corsair Dominator $155
(I'm not too knowledgeable about ram, but it's advertised as being ideal for i7. Are these safe to overclock to 2000mhz? Would I see a noticeable improvement or is it not worth doing? Should I just upgrade to the Dominator GT? $245 I honestly don't even know if the GT's fan would fit next to the H50 on a Rampage board. At about $90 price difference, I could almost get 12GB of the regular Corsair Dominator... but that's overkill... right? )

Crucial C300 128GB 6GB/s SSD $300
(6GB/s sata connection should make start up, app loads, and gaming loads faster. I've seen youtube videos of WoW loading up much faster, but any idea if it'd make gameplay better at all?)

Cooler Master Silent M700 700watt modular $90
(Wasn't sure if the 600watt version was powerful enough. Please let me know which size my setup requires. I won't be overclocking too much, maybe just the CPU. I'm also hoping my setup remains pretty quiet)

Corsair H50 $90
(Is it quiet? Should allow me to overclock the 930 to levels past the 960)

Cooler Master 922 $75
(No clue about cases, but I've heard nothing but great stuff with this case. Are there any issues with fitting a H50 or 2.5" drive in here?)

Silverstone 3.5" to 2x2.5" hard drive bay converter $8
(I figure I'd need to get my SSD in there somehow, but I keep seeing random reports about problems fitting SSD into the 922!)

Microsoft Office 2010 $100
(Definitely need. OneNote rocks... and I've been using openoffice which kind of sucks for my lecture notes as I can't edit the teacher's presentations)

Microsoft Windows 7 64bit $85
(Please oh please let this kick the crap out of Vista)

Samsung 23" LED LCD 2ms 1080p $245
(I trust Samsung's reliability/performance. I wanted a low ms for gaming, and still want 1080p for bluray)

Samsung 8x BluRay drive $70
(Must have for all my bluray movies)

Logitech Z-2300 speakers $120
(No clue about speakers, but I'm pretty sure my monitor doesn't have them. I just needed 2 computer speakers as I don't have room for 5.1 and these seem to get great reviews)

Linksys Wireless adapter $12
(I should be using a wired connection, but just in case I can't due to future room changes... better safe than sorry)

External Hard Drive Enclosure $10
(For my laptop's hard drive. I'm 99% sure the mobo's fried so the hard drive should still have all my music, pictures, movies, and docs!)

Total... $2220

I'll be completely honest... my original limit was $2000, but I totally forgot about speakers/monitor. If I have to, I suppose I can save $200 by shedding the SSD for a 1TB 7200rpm drive. I could then add a SSD later on when after they keep dropping in price... and maybe after Sandforce releases their 6GB/s SATA with 520MB/s read/write. Either that or I can chuck the speakers in favor of cheaper ones.

Thanks again for taking the time, now please post your advice/thoughts!

WayOut · Jul 26, 2010

Johnson184 said:
I had another thread here, but my build/goals has changed dramatically. I will have to place this order in the next day or so to maintain the pricing, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!

What exactly are your goals? What're you using the computer for? If you're looking to save money, we could all help you by cutting down on some things that might be overkill, or to help you find an item better tailored to your situation. It always helps

Johnson184 said:
Intel 930 1366 $290
(I decided against going with the 960 ($470) in favor of the SSD. I figured it'd help with all the loading that goes on in games like WoW. With the H50 I'm hoping to overclock it to a safe level that still outperforms the 960.)

The 930 is definitely all you will need IMO. Unless you're doing some crazy overclocking or something, most all people should be fine with a 920 or 930. I have a 930 sitting dormant in my room right now waiting for the rest of my build to catch up, so I suppose I can give you my endorsement that it is a very good processor for the price (although I got mine for $199 at Microcenter). Do you live on the east coast, or somewhere in southern California? If so, you could save a good chunk of change (around $100) like I did by finding a Microcenter nearby (I actually picked one up on a trip to Boston to visit my uncle a few months ago). But for either price, the 930 is a great choice. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

Johnson184 said:
Asus Rampage III Gene $240
(Needed a quality 1366 mobo that had 6GB/s for the SSD and USB 3.0 for the future. I've never done overclocking before, but the ROG connect makes it look much easier to do than navigating a BIOS screen)

I've never used one of these, but I've heard great things about them. Futureproofing with the new SATA and USB ports are great too. Good choice.

Johnson184 said:
XFX 5870 $330
(I originally had my eyes set on a 5850 for $250, but I figured that would be the weakest link of my entire build)

ATI cards are good at working by themselves, however, if you plan to Crossfire your 5870 down the line, it may suffer slightly. NVIDIA's new series of cards are incredible in dual-card setups, so if you were thinking about SLI in your future, you may want to look at the GTX 460. Here's one of the only 1GB models left in stock (which overclock excellently and rival the 5850 in performance): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333 The GTX 460 has become notorious for its excellent (nearly perfect!) scaling in SLI in most games, and will only get better with new driver releases. I must admit I'm slightly biased towards NVIDIA however, but it's your choice in the end.

Johnson184 said:
6GB (3x2GB) Corsair Dominator $155
(I'm not too knowledgeable about ram, but it's advertised as being ideal for i7. Are these safe to overclock to 2000mhz? Would I see a noticeable improvement or is it not worth doing? Should I just upgrade to the Dominator GT? $245 I honestly don't even know if the GT's fan would fit next to the H50 on a Rampage board. At about $90 price difference, I could almost get 12GB of the regular Corsair Dominator... but that's overkill... right? )

Corsair makes excellent RAM. The Dominators have better heatsinks and overclock easier than regular Corsair RAM, and I believe the GT's overclock even better than regular Dominators, or have better timings, or something. You should head over to the RAM section of these forums and read some of the stickies there on overclocking; I don't know too much about it myself, but I learned a lot of basics from those stickies. I don't want to give you any misinformation, so I'll leave off on anything about what you could overclock your RAM to. I do know that both sets overclock like champs, however.

Johnson184 said:
Crucial C300 128GB 6GB/s SSD $300
(6GB/s sata connection should make start up, app loads, and gaming loads faster. I've seen youtube videos of WoW loading up much faster, but any idea if it'd make gameplay better at all?)

This is a problem, in my opinion. You would be much better off getting a smaller SSD like the OCZ Vertex 60GB, which is nearly $70 off on Newegg at the moment: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227394 and then getting a big hard drive for all your data, like the Western Digital 1TB HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533&Tpk=western digital 1tb (This is the 6GB/S SATA version so you can utilize those sweet new ports on your motherboard

). This way you would have space for your OS and about 30GB of space left for important apps on your SSD, and a whole terabyte of extra space for extras (believe me, it fills up fast)

Johnson184 said:
Cooler Master Silent M700 700watt modular $90
(Wasn't sure if the 600watt version was powerful enough. Please let me know which size my setup requires. I won't be overclocking too much, maybe just the CPU. I'm also hoping my setup remains pretty quiet)

Cooler Master makes pretty good power supplies from what I've heard, although i have never used one. I'm certain of the quality of Corsair power supplies; I've used strictly Corsair in my last 4 builds as they are such incredible units. I'd suggest you look at the 750 watt modular model, it will give you plenty of breathing room for overclocking, and you will be guaranteed a quality product that won't die on you. It's more expensive, but the power supply is the one component you cannot skimp out on. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010&Tpk=corsair 750hx (Alternatively, there's the 850 watt model for $10 more after rebates: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=850hx )

Johnson184 said:
Corsair H50 $90
(Is it quiet? Should allow me to overclock the 930 to levels past the 960)

This is an excellent cooler as long as you have some nice fans on it. You'll be able to exceed a 960 @ stock speeds with ease. I'd recommend Sharkoon, Cooler Master, or Xigmatek for fans to mount on the rad (you should have 2 fans in a push-pull setup to reach the coolest temperatures on your CPU).

Johnson184 said:
Cooler Master 922 $75
(No clue about cases, but I've heard nothing but great stuff with this case. Are there any issues with fitting a H50 or 2.5" drive in here?)

You should have plenty of room in this case. It's an excellently built chassis. However, you should think about painting or powdercoating the inside of your case black. I thought I wouldn't mind a silver interior when I purchased my current case, but it's bugged me more and more every day, and now I'm considering taking all my parts out and painting the inside black. It would just save you a lot of hassle to get it done before you put all your stuff in.

Johnson184 said:
Silverstone 3.5" to 2x2.5" hard drive bay converter $8
(I figure I'd need to get my SSD in there somehow, but I keep seeing random reports about problems fitting SSD into the 922!)

Great idea. There's not much to comment on when it comes to drive converters but Silverstone is a great company.

Johnson184 said:
Microsoft Office 2010 $100
(Definitely need. OneNote rocks... and I've been using openoffice which kind of sucks for my lecture notes as I can't edit the teacher's presentations)

Office is always good.

Johnson184 said:
Microsoft Windows 7 64bit $85
(Please oh please let this kick the crap out of Vista)

Windows 7 does beat the crap out of Vista, trust me. I love it (I'm running Home Premium 64-bit)

Johnson184 said:
Samsung 23" LED LCD 2ms 1080p $245
(I trust Samsung's reliability/performance. I wanted a low ms for gaming, and still want 1080p for bluray)

Samsung makes great monitors, however, if you wanted to save money on your monitor, Asus offers a product with all the same features as your Samsung, for about $60 less (and free shipping!): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4236052&cm_re=asus_23"-_-24-236-052-_-Product

Johnson184 said:
Samsung 8x BluRay drive $70
(Must have for all my bluray movies)

No comment on this, other than a good company.

Johnson184 said:
Logitech Z-2300 speakers $120
(No clue about speakers, but I'm pretty sure my monitor doesn't have them. I just needed 2 computer speakers as I don't have room for 5.1 and these seem to get great reviews)

These are great speakers for a small room. I don't own them but I've demoed them before, and my friend has a set in his room, and they work wonderfully. I've listened to mostly indie rock and electronic music out of them, and played games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Bioshock with them, and they are really immersive. He has them arranged kind of in a circle around his desk, which I think is really really cool as long as you're the one sitting at the computer. These definitely have my recommendation for speakers on a budget.

Johnson184 said:
Linksys Wireless adapter $12
(I should be using a wired connection, but just in case I can't due to future room changes... better safe than sorry)

Linksys is a bit sketchy after one of their router switches died on me a few months ago, but I have no doubt they're a good company. Good choice.

Johnson184 said:
External Hard Drive Enclosure $10
(For my laptop's hard drive. I'm 99% sure the mobo's fried so the hard drive should still have all my music, pictures, movies, and docs!)

Sure! Haha, no comment on this either.

Johnson184 said:
Total... $2220

I'll be completely honest... my original limit was $2000, but I totally forgot about speakers/monitor. If I have to, I suppose I can save $200 by shedding the SSD for a 1TB 7200rpm drive. I could then add a SSD later on when after they keep dropping in price... and maybe after Sandforce releases their 6GB/s SATA with 520MB/s read/write. Either that or I can chuck the speakers in favor of cheaper ones.

Thanks again for taking the time, now please post your advice/thoughts!

After saving money on the SSD+HDD combo, the monitor, and the video card, I think you'll be at least a little closer to your budget. This is a wonderful build, and I really thank you for giving your opinion on every item; it made it a lot easier for me to understand your needs. So I gave you mine on every item back. Hope I helped! Good luck, and make sure to post pictures of your new build once it comes in!

Zzyzx85 · Jul 26, 2010

not a bad build. I am also putting something together that's pretty similar to yours, though I will be adding on a water-cooling system to it. Here's a link to my system: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=649432

I'm also taking the route of SSD (80gb Intel) for OS and frequently used apps, hard disk drives (2x WD Black 750GB, striped) for lesser used apps and misc. storage.

About to place this order soon... please comment.

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