Just joined the forums bc i'm about to build my first pc and I know i'm going to run into problems and wanted to have some support. All in all this is probably a pretty routine build. I'll get started by listing what I've got and what I plan on getting, hope to start the actual build withing a couple of weeks. Any advice would be great, though I'm already locked in on a lot of stuff. Also, im here in the US so I'll be using NEWEGG.com for my parts. So here it is:
ALREADY HAVE:
Processor: Intel i7-950
Originally planned on i5 760 build as it seemed to be best bang for buck...enter black friday sales and picked up a i7 950 for $217 (basicaly same price as the i5) and changed the direction of the build.
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Seems to get universally good reviews. I hope to eventually have the confidence to overclock, but not to extreme levels. I think I wont go higher than say 3.6-3.7gHz so I think this will be a good enough cooler. Also it was cheap normally $35, I stole for $18 at Microcenter (local PC shop) on black friday. Guess I'll throw in here that i got a tube of Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste...seems to be very popular so if its not the best im sure it's up there towards the top.
Motherboard: Asus P6x58d-e
Was a tough decision. I originally wanted to go with Gigabyte UD3R because I own a Gigabyte gtx460 so the color scheme and brand would all match. The Gigabyte seemed to get really good PROFESSIONAL reviews; however, the user reviews scared me away. On Newegg it had almost 25% one egg/star reviews. The next two in line were the P6x58d-e and Asus Sabertooth x58. Really liked the Sabertooth as it was $40 cheaper and seemed to have everything I needed. But since i already had the gigabyte videocard which has a BLUE PCB I thought that would look bad...even though no one other than I will be looking in the case much. So one day newegg had the P6x58d-e on sale for $209 only $10 more than the Sabertooth and I jumped on it. One thing I dont like is it didnt have an eSATA connector but there are ways around that.
Optical Drive: Samsung Blu Ray
Picked up a Samsung Blu Ray drive for $50 also on black friday only 8x bluray rom drive, not sure if that really has any negative effect as many are 10x/12x. But for now wont be using a lot of bluray media.
Case: ANTEC 902
Ok I know everyone and their brother have the 900 or 902 but seemed to be a great cooling case and in my price range. This normally goes for $110 plus $10 shipping. I picked it up on CyberMonday for $100 minus $35 MIR so basically $65 or half price. Will probably pickup a couple extra 120mm fans for it...may have some questions about this. Side fan intake (antec recommendation) or exhaust. The second attached to drive cage...if it'll fit between the cage and video cards.
Graphics: Gigabyte GTX 460 1gb...sli eventually but probably not initiall
Already have this gigabyte card. Im a little concerned about it because it also gets a lot of negative user reviews. So when i go to buy a second card I'm considering going with something else, but i do like my gigabyte as it's quiet and runs cool....However, in sli thought it might be better to get a 2nd card that would vent out the case to put on top to help temps...might this help, any thoughts? Also, placement question...the ASUS MB had a third pcie slot at the bottom, can i put card one in top slot, skip middle slot and run 2nd card in bottom slot. I know it would probably be in 8X mode, the other issue here may be interference with Power Supply. Everyone complains about have two cards "back to back" so this seems like a way around that but i didn't know if the motherboard allowed for this type of arrangement.
Power Supply: OCZ ModXstream 700w
OK so this is my one major issue/concern. Basically i picked this up awhile back bc i needed a new supply for my current pc. I got it for like $45 bucks after rebate and at the time thought it to be future proof. I've searched all over trying to decided if this is good enough for my sli build, my conclusion is BARELY. I think it would work, but I'm strongly considering buying a Corsair tx-850, which is a little overkill, but only $20 more than the tx-750 and would be more future proof. I know the ocz would be fine until I got the 2nd videocard, but I really dont want to cable manage twice. Just curious if anyone thought the ocz would be more than fine for the sli setup so i could save $120?
Hard Drive: Western Digital 1TB Cavier Black
Planned on Cavier Blue 500gb, but got this in a combo deal with the motherboard for about the same price. Really want a SSD boot drive(Crucial 300C sata6 64gb), but I think I'm going to pass on it for now...especially if i decide to buy the new power supply.
SO i think that leaves me with still needing:
MEMORY
Going to start with 6gb (3X2gb) triple channel kit then will add another later. Basically it's memory I'm leaning 1600mHz cas 8. I like corsair xms or maybe the gskill ripjaws...Open to other suggestions...budget...$120.
Windows
Obviously going with windows 7. The toughest decision now is how to go about it. The retail version is rediculous at $175. Can go OEM for $100 or Upgrade version family 3 pack for $130, which means i could update my current pc from vista also. I really like the upgrade route, but of course it's technically not suppose to work on a bare drive. I've read that it's a pretty easy work aroud though. So have u all done the Upgrade Install on a bare drive???? Do the methods i've seen really work the double install or registry edit methods?
OTHER:
Couple of blue cathode tubes
Considering fan controller
IF YOU HAVE READ THIS YOU ARE AWESOME. I'M TIRED OF TYPING SO HOPEFULLY I DIDNT LEAVE ANY THING OUT AND APOLOGIZE FOR TYPOS AND SPELLING ERRORS. ANY ADVICE WOULD BE WELCOME
ALREADY HAVE:
Processor: Intel i7-950
Originally planned on i5 760 build as it seemed to be best bang for buck...enter black friday sales and picked up a i7 950 for $217 (basicaly same price as the i5) and changed the direction of the build.
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Seems to get universally good reviews. I hope to eventually have the confidence to overclock, but not to extreme levels. I think I wont go higher than say 3.6-3.7gHz so I think this will be a good enough cooler. Also it was cheap normally $35, I stole for $18 at Microcenter (local PC shop) on black friday. Guess I'll throw in here that i got a tube of Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste...seems to be very popular so if its not the best im sure it's up there towards the top.
Motherboard: Asus P6x58d-e
Was a tough decision. I originally wanted to go with Gigabyte UD3R because I own a Gigabyte gtx460 so the color scheme and brand would all match. The Gigabyte seemed to get really good PROFESSIONAL reviews; however, the user reviews scared me away. On Newegg it had almost 25% one egg/star reviews. The next two in line were the P6x58d-e and Asus Sabertooth x58. Really liked the Sabertooth as it was $40 cheaper and seemed to have everything I needed. But since i already had the gigabyte videocard which has a BLUE PCB I thought that would look bad...even though no one other than I will be looking in the case much. So one day newegg had the P6x58d-e on sale for $209 only $10 more than the Sabertooth and I jumped on it. One thing I dont like is it didnt have an eSATA connector but there are ways around that.
Optical Drive: Samsung Blu Ray
Picked up a Samsung Blu Ray drive for $50 also on black friday only 8x bluray rom drive, not sure if that really has any negative effect as many are 10x/12x. But for now wont be using a lot of bluray media.
Case: ANTEC 902
Ok I know everyone and their brother have the 900 or 902 but seemed to be a great cooling case and in my price range. This normally goes for $110 plus $10 shipping. I picked it up on CyberMonday for $100 minus $35 MIR so basically $65 or half price. Will probably pickup a couple extra 120mm fans for it...may have some questions about this. Side fan intake (antec recommendation) or exhaust. The second attached to drive cage...if it'll fit between the cage and video cards.
Graphics: Gigabyte GTX 460 1gb...sli eventually but probably not initiall
Already have this gigabyte card. Im a little concerned about it because it also gets a lot of negative user reviews. So when i go to buy a second card I'm considering going with something else, but i do like my gigabyte as it's quiet and runs cool....However, in sli thought it might be better to get a 2nd card that would vent out the case to put on top to help temps...might this help, any thoughts? Also, placement question...the ASUS MB had a third pcie slot at the bottom, can i put card one in top slot, skip middle slot and run 2nd card in bottom slot. I know it would probably be in 8X mode, the other issue here may be interference with Power Supply. Everyone complains about have two cards "back to back" so this seems like a way around that but i didn't know if the motherboard allowed for this type of arrangement.
Power Supply: OCZ ModXstream 700w
OK so this is my one major issue/concern. Basically i picked this up awhile back bc i needed a new supply for my current pc. I got it for like $45 bucks after rebate and at the time thought it to be future proof. I've searched all over trying to decided if this is good enough for my sli build, my conclusion is BARELY. I think it would work, but I'm strongly considering buying a Corsair tx-850, which is a little overkill, but only $20 more than the tx-750 and would be more future proof. I know the ocz would be fine until I got the 2nd videocard, but I really dont want to cable manage twice. Just curious if anyone thought the ocz would be more than fine for the sli setup so i could save $120?
Hard Drive: Western Digital 1TB Cavier Black
Planned on Cavier Blue 500gb, but got this in a combo deal with the motherboard for about the same price. Really want a SSD boot drive(Crucial 300C sata6 64gb), but I think I'm going to pass on it for now...especially if i decide to buy the new power supply.
SO i think that leaves me with still needing:
MEMORY
Going to start with 6gb (3X2gb) triple channel kit then will add another later. Basically it's memory I'm leaning 1600mHz cas 8. I like corsair xms or maybe the gskill ripjaws...Open to other suggestions...budget...$120.
Windows
Obviously going with windows 7. The toughest decision now is how to go about it. The retail version is rediculous at $175. Can go OEM for $100 or Upgrade version family 3 pack for $130, which means i could update my current pc from vista also. I really like the upgrade route, but of course it's technically not suppose to work on a bare drive. I've read that it's a pretty easy work aroud though. So have u all done the Upgrade Install on a bare drive???? Do the methods i've seen really work the double install or registry edit methods?
OTHER:
Couple of blue cathode tubes
Considering fan controller
IF YOU HAVE READ THIS YOU ARE AWESOME. I'M TIRED OF TYPING SO HOPEFULLY I DIDNT LEAVE ANY THING OUT AND APOLOGIZE FOR TYPOS AND SPELLING ERRORS. ANY ADVICE WOULD BE WELCOME
