New build advice

[ByTheNumbers]

High End - Intel

• Processor - Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
• Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58
• Memory - Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop
• Heat Sink - Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler
• Heat Sink Fans - COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20CR-GP 120mm Red LED Case Fan x 2
• Case -COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Black Steel ATX Full Tower
• Power Supply - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
• Video Card - SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100281VX-2SR Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit
• Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM
• Solid State Drive - OCZ Vertex 2 2.5" 60GB SATA II

Total Price: ~$1400

Long time lurker, first time poster. Not sure if this reply is in the right thread since it's more dedicated to updating the buyers guide. Sorry if it is misplaced.

I've been in the market as of recent for a mid to high end build and have been doing lots of research to get the best bang for the buck. This build above is spot on to what I've been looking for but a few hundred bucks out of my max price range. Granted, I've built stupid-expensive machines before, and been quite happy with them...but this will be the first PC I'll have built since being married, and it took a little coaxing to get the wife to go along with a ~$1k build. A little wiggle room is acceptable, but I don't really want to cap out at more than $1100. That being said:

If you had to cut a few corners on the above, what and where would you?

I was thinking of-

1. Changing case for a cheaper one. There are plenty of bone cheap metal boxes out there. As long as I make sure there is adequate airflow, I shouldn't need anything fancy.
ex. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119202

That saves me $90, and it's still a decent case. (If you believe otherwise, or have an alternate solution I'd love to hear it!).

2. GPU. I haven't done enough research on newer cards so I don't have a definitive opinion on them yet. But, I'm not sure I'm ready to drop $400 on one. It does look great, but I'm sure I can save another $100-150 if I choose an alternative that will still perform well.

3. SSD. I've never worked with an SSD before and I've managed fine. I know loading your OS on it makes your machine boot crazy fast, but I rarely turn my boxes off once they're up and going, save for necessary reboots or extended periods of away time. To me, it's an unnecessary $160.

Any thoughts/input/etc would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking to drop the hammer within next week or so, and the above build as I said is right in line with what I want to go with...just with a few tweaks.

Thanks in advance.

 

[I.M.O.G.]

Moved this to your own thread, to the forums. You'll get better attention with your own thread, because some people won't read through the whole buyers thread update to find your questions. Also its customary to ask your own questions in your own thread, rather than someone elses - kind of an etiquette thing.

First, you forgot to mention what you'll be doing with this build - thats important for our recommendations.

We've reviewed some good cases on the frontpage that won't break the bank, you may want look through them. The case reviews can be found here:
http://www.overclockers.com/reviews/system-components

It used to be that adding more memory was the single highest impact you can make - these days with everyone having a couple gigs of ram, that's less true. Many SSD users will tell you that running the OS on an SSD brings that similar feeling back - everything is snappier and its the single best system upgrade you can make to impact your everyday computing experience. Installing and opening applications from the SSD will be much faster than what you are used to - if it cuts your boot time in half or more, and it does, then its going to do similar things with any application loaded from disk. It's not essential however and you could save some cash here - but a system with an SSD next to a system with a HDD, the HDD will be noticably slower to launch and install applications.

The CPU could be dropped to a dual core, unless you are doing things which benefit from a quad. Lots of savings available there.

GPU could be lowered down, but if you plan on gaming you might be best to drop the CPU to a dual before you compromise on the GPU.

 

[Sloppy2nds]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Not sure if this reply is in the right thread since it's more dedicated to updating the buyers guide. Sorry if it is misplaced.

I've been in the market as of recent for a mid to high end build and have been doing lots of research to get the best bang for the buck. This build above is spot on to what I've been looking for but a few hundred bucks out of my max price range. Granted, I've built stupid-expensive machines before, and been quite happy with them...but this will be the first PC I'll have built since being married, and it took a little coaxing to get the wife to go along with a ~$1k build. A little wiggle room is acceptable, but I don't really want to cap out at more than $1100. That being said:

If you had to cut a few corners on the above, what and where would you?

I was thinking of-

1. Changing case for a cheaper one. There are plenty of bone cheap metal boxes out there. As long as I make sure there is adequate airflow, I shouldn't need anything fancy.
ex. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119202

That saves me $90, and it's still a decent case. (If you believe otherwise, or have an alternate solution I'd love to hear it!).

2. GPU. I haven't done enough research on newer cards so I don't have a definitive opinion on them yet. But, I'm not sure I'm ready to drop $400 on one. It does look great, but I'm sure I can save another $100-150 if I choose an alternative that will still perform well.

3. SSD. I've never worked with an SSD before and I've managed fine. I know loading your OS on it makes your machine boot crazy fast, but I rarely turn my boxes off once they're up and going, save for necessary reboots or extended periods of away time. To me, it's an unnecessary $160.

Any thoughts/input/etc would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking to drop the hammer within next week or so, and the above build as I said is right in line with what I want to go with...just with a few tweaks.

Thanks in advance.

Sounds about right. I got the Full case because of the large GPU coupled with the huge heat sink and fans, but you could go with a Mid tower maybe the Cooler Master RC save about 40 bucks. You could also take the GPU down a notch and go with the 5850 save around $100. I got the i7 950 only because I got it from a friend, but the 950 is only a overclocked 920. The SSd is definitely not a necessity, so if your ok with a slower boot time then that could save you another $160. Also, you could prolly switch out the Megahalem for a smaller cheaper one(or use stock HSF) and that could save you around 60. Thats all I can think of right now, hope it helps!

 

[Knufire]

Try this, lowered the GPU to a 5850 and went with an AMD quad instead of an Intel.

 

[ByTheNumbers]

Moved this to your own thread, to the forums. You'll get better attention with your own thread, because some people won't read through the whole buyers thread update to find your questions. Also its customary to ask your own questions in your own thread, rather than someone elses - kind of an etiquette thing.

First, you forgot to mention what you'll be doing with this build - thats important for our recommendations.

We've reviewed some good cases on the frontpage that won't break the bank, you may want look through them. The case reviews can be found here:
http://www.overclockers.com/reviews/system-components

It used to be that adding more memory was the single highest impact you can make - these days with everyone having a couple gigs of ram, that's less true. Many SSD users will tell you that running the OS on an SSD brings that similar feeling back - everything is snappier and its the single best system upgrade you can make to impact your everyday computing experience. Installing and opening applications from the SSD will be much faster than what you are used to - if it cuts your boot time in half or more, and it does, then its going to do similar things with any application loaded from disk. It's not essential however and you could save some cash here - but a system with an SSD next to a system with a HDD, the HDD will be noticably slower to launch and install applications.

The CPU could be dropped to a dual core, unless you are doing things which benefit from a quad. Lots of savings available there.

GPU could be lowered down, but if you plan on gaming you might be best to drop the CPU to a dual before you compromise on the GPU.

First off thanks for the new thread. I guess I figured that reply in the other thread was so close to what I was wanting to do, a new thread just didn't cross my mind. My apologies

I also agree with the mindset of sacrificing CPU for GPU. This rig is going to be primarily a gaming rig. I do lots of things- my most recent endeavors have been writing for the Android platform- but gaming is the bread and butter. I don't see any real necessity for a quad...unless games these days really benefit from the extra cores (do they?).

Your input on the SSD warrants more research from me. Personally I'd still be willing to invest that extra cash into a GPU/CPU, but if I'm cutting in one place I might be able to apply those saved monies to an SSD. I will admit I've wanted to try one for a while- just haven't been willing to pay the price to play. I'll keep twiddling with this build and see what I come up with.

Knufire- thanks but I'm staying away from AMD on this build. I've used phenoms for a while but I want to have virtualization options (OSX), if and when I decide to OSx86 this thing. I've done a hackintosh on AMD before but it's no walk in the park. Intel is my choice for this build

 

[ByTheNumbers]

I've changed the proc to an i5 dual, changed cases, and removed SSD...cutting the build down to $1200. The original post I never got the price point to $1400- it was closer to $1600, so I feel I've managed to shave off $400. This build will give me the option to upgrade to an i7 and I can always get an SSD later. I decided to stick with that GPU.

Thanks for the help. I'll let ya'll know how the build goes and what benchmarks I get.