Right now my job is building computer for a living. Depending on your budget here is my recommendation. i7 930 ( Cheeper and about a good ) Noctua NH-U12P ( Cpu heatsink ) That way your computer will be more silent and you will be able to overclock way beyond the i7 975 speed Motherboard : Gigabyte Ga-P55A-UD4P. ( good grafic card spacing and USB 3.0 and Sata 6G/s) 2 X ATI 5770 in crossfire. ( use the model with closed heatsink) theses overclock like mad and will be way fanter then 1 bigger card for the same price. ( and more silent ) 750 Watts PSU That all
Do not use the SPNQ! i had 2 customer that the thing was vibrating soo mutch one had to rescrew it because the vibration got it loose. And the other had to put the whole computer on a styrofoam sheet to absorb vibration ( The pc was on his desk and the vibration was making his mouse mouve... )
oops dobble post ... but to keep you drooling here is what it look like.... http://www.ordinateurarabais.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_0017.jpg P.S. the heatsink is the NH-D14... great stuff
He is using a website with certain parts not building his own system haxo. He also dosen't know how to install his own parts. There is also no way he needs a noctua even if that was a choice since he is a new builder anyway and most likely not even overclocking which he really does not need to do anyway. The computer you posted is a gaming computer basic specs in his post he was looking for a duel purpose computer not just a gaming computer running crossfire would just be a waste of space and money for what he is doing. Besides there would be NO reason AT ALL to just get a 930 if he was going for the upgrade deal because they will set you up with a free 975 it's not about making it overclockable for him it's about making it LASTING (which is why I suggested SSD) and mutipurpose. Btw I also go with Thermaltake when making those stock decisions they are generally pretty good and reliable if you like something else go for it.
I don't think i can fit a Noctua system onto my board. The eVGA x58-758 has a small heatsink near the CPU and I barely got my current heatsink to fit onto it, its barely a business card's "width" from touching the heatsink. I woulda got a Noctua system if I coulda fit it in, good thing I did measurements ;] Good stuff though.
OKAY.. now as I spend more time reading up on cpus and such, I have to ask.. what is the best OVERCLOCKING option that I can get go with? I know that it's likely not going to be an i975 or an i980. Would it be an i930? ~Drag.
i've seen the i7-975 overlocked up to 4.1Ghz w/o water it's actually not bad at ALL. The i7-930 goes to ground 3.5-3.8 on air and Ive seen around 4.1 on water. I don't think an i7-930 would really be the best overclocking choice. Sorry i've been a little busy.
no worries Vhex what would you say is the best? I've actually asked them for a 920 but they ignored me so I'm gonna assume they don't have it available. ~Drag.
I have a 930 and I can get decent temps with my 212+ cooler (isn't a high end cooler but does a lot better than stock) at 3.6ghz stable, I don't think I could push it to 4.0ghz on air though. Water? Definitely. Now, on the eVGa and Overclock forums (which I roll around on daily) there are folks pushing there 920's (mostly) up to 4.5ghz on water (obviously) but haven't seen many 930's being pushed. I got the 930 cause it was on sell (mentioned this plenty of times), but most of the i7's (if not all) run hot anyway. Either 920 or 930, the i5-750 competes very well too if you want to run a 1156 platform - would be just fine.
yeah like Sogetsu mentioned if you can get a 930 on sale it's not a bad idea but if not the 920 is a perfect choice for overclocking you could push it into the 3.5-3.6 range 3.7-3.9 (high end air) and even be able to push it more if you switch your cooling system in the future not sure why they ignored you maybe you could get it from somewhere else?
I'm likely gonna just go water and leave it at that. I think the glimmer in my eyes have finally gone away enough that I can make a good sensible decision on a comp. FINALLY. Thanks for all the help you guys.. I appreciate it. ~Drag.
I know you said you were interested in OC'ing but are you really going to be pushing your system hard enough to warrant a rad system instead of air based cooling? I don't know what you're at right now but what you're going to you really won't need to push the system at all.
Actually I went with a noctua in an antec 1200 so the air is pretty good. With low case settings, I think I am getting about 50c while playing bad company 2 but I would have to double check. Thanks for all the advice.. it has been invaluable. ~Drag.
When you get some free time could you post your 3dMark06 scores? And I'd love to see a picture of your box too.