Alright everyone, I know you're probably gettin' sick of my questions, but I decided that if I'm always waiting for a price drop, then I'm never going to want to upgrade. Kinda like.. if you wait to have kids until you are financially ready for them - then you will never have them. I got a case, I got a good harddrive, I got a DVD drive, and I got fans from my Antec 900 case (Great case, I've used it through 2 builds so far). So, what I'm looking for now is: CPU + Mobo DDR3 Mem kit (6gig prefer) Power Supply (probably going with a 750w +) Graphics Card (already made a thread about this). - Did I miss anything (that I don't already have)?? I think I can re-use my case, and it will be big enough, but here's what I've researched and I'd like advice / other alternatives (thanks!!) CPU: 1) Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz ($294.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115225 VS 2) Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz ($288.99) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 I know the HEXATHINGAMAJIGS are coming out late in the year (first quarter 2010 last I read) so I guess I could wait that long and see if it drops the price of the current i7's, but let's say it wont. For a few more bucks I can get the 930, but is it really worth it? MOBO: Obviously, if I use either of the 2 chips above, I'll need a socket 1366 board. Here are 2 I'm looking at (please suggest otherwise if you have a better / similiar better priced board!) 1) EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ($229.99,209.99 after MIR) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049 2) ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365 3) ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 (Tom's Hardware recommended buy 2009) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157163 I'm not going tri-SLI/Xfire, possible GPUx2 but.. not sure really. Mem. Kits: 1) G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225 2) CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222 PSU: Like I stated above, probably going to get either the 750w or 850w of these: 750w: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 850w(currently sold out /sad): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 I'll update this more later, since I'm at the office, but this is what I have been looking at so far, again - THANKS in advance for helping me out, and I hope to get to working on this soon.
If we're doing a BOAB (Build on a Budget), which includes getting a new mobo, why did you take AMD off the options list?
A 750W PSU isn't going to be enough to SLI, SLI is basically a case of go big or go home. Check your PSU's website, plug in the hardware you plan on having then they'll give you a better idea of the minimum you should be after.
As someone who use to be really big into upgrading computers, I do not recommend ever getting the latest and greatest. Hardware has far surpassed the requirements of software. 10 years ago, if your Video card was a year old, you would notice a huge difference over a new video card on the same game. Now, you can play Call of Duty MW2, Battlefield BC2, Aion, etc with a 2 year old computer and max graphics. So unless you do graphics rendering on your computer, I wouldn't buy anything that hasn't been out for at least a year. But, if you want to have the latest and greatest to avoid having to upgrade for another 5 years, my only recommendation is for the ASUS mother board. I have always liked the reliability of their product and their customer service has never given me problems when I called for information. Are you going with the on board sound? What kind of hard drive do you have? This is one of those things many people don't bother upgrading, but a 10,000 RPM with a lot of cache will make everything load faster.
Why hello good sir, I was wondering if you've ever taken a look around Toms Hardware You'll find, after scrolling down the front page a bit, sections such as graphics, CPU, MOBO etc. Within these sections are nifty articles like Best Graphics Cards For The Money: March 2010 . I suggest poking around here a bit ;] As far as some personal imput, I wouldn't suggest an i7 at all, at the moment. I think you'll find an i5 with sufficient cooling and some easy OC'ing will server you quite well, for quite a bit less. As for Vandiego's points about PSU's and their needs for SLI, Newegg has a basic wattage calculator, I suggest checking that against what you're looking at getting, to get a better rough estimation.
Sorry I haven't posted much here. I've pretty much picked my processor and I'm looking for a motherboard. I'll be purchasing all my parts in the next few weeks once my heft tax return comes in. I'll post pics of the process and fun-ness! D: Still deciding on gfx card though >_<
Those 900 fans are terrible. Replace them. If you go sli/cross remember it's in the ballpark of 300w per gpu for the current higher end gen. Your cheapest upgrade path is to get a good gpu now and wait until you need to upgrade and just replace the proc and get a second gpu of the same model and you get the performance of the newest card at half the price. your intel i7 will suck some power so...no sli = 750 sli = 1000 which will leave you with alot of headroom but might as well go to 1000 since that is a popular size. also beware of efficiency! 1000w isnt really always 1000w fyi corsair is rebranded seasonic or cwt. look for either of those companies and compare prices. i like seasonic more than cwt in general. 1366 is fine. why wouldn't you spend that 6$ wtf.
Mine have been working great for the past 2.5 years and I haven't had to replace them yet. EDIT: Just did like.. if I added everything I wanted (2 GPU's, etc) and minimal 800w. I'm getting i7-920/930, I know its fine cause its the only socket type that will fit for those processors. I wanted a recommendation on a mobo for it. I'm assuming this is in reference to the processor question, why wouldn't I? Because I can make 2 meals out of $6 and if its not worth the extra money and I can just overclock my 920 decently to perform in the ballpark of a 930 (haven't researched this.. shrug) then I can use that $ elsewhere. Wtf.
It's not about your fans having worked fine for 2.5 years(and considering it's been that long they are more likely to fail now). It's about being able to get better fans for 10$ that will provide better cooling and allow you to get that higher overclock to save that 6$ or more while prolonging the life of your pc while futureproofing it as much as possible. You said you might wait. hence me saying sticking with a 1366 is a good bet. you don't mention what you are looking for in terms of a mb anyways, kinda hard to recommend something if i don't know what you want. you may not be able to overclock your processor much or at all. especially if you are using a stock hs/fan. you likely will get something but it's a not a sure bet. it sounds like you are trying to save money yet so many of your choices contradict that....
Its the principle of saving money where-ever I can. I don't want the latest and greatest if I can get something similar without having to spend so much. I've made my decisions, thanks anyway.
By the way Sogestsu, nice sig! I just realized where that's from (me and my roommates started watching it tonight =3).
Alright, I just got everything put in my system (minus my harddrive - reusing this one, and my gfx card) Posting here (didn't want to make another thread) - if you don't hear from me in like 2 weeks then I blew up my house. See ya on the other side!
Posted first try, no errors, and here I am : ] Also in the real world of Windows 7 now and done with XP heh. Feels good.