How is my computer build?

I slapped together a build really quick. I wish I was more knowledgeable about hardware, but I think it's a fairly solid build.

If I've made any dumb mistakes (slapping together incompatible parts), or picking any unreliable products please tell me (don't think I did). If you think that I would be better off swapping out some parts for others, feel free to make some reccomendations.

Intel Core i7 920
EVGA GTX 280
EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI
OCZ Gold Tri Channel 6GB DDR3 RAM
C44-3400 Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE
Corsair TX 750W PSU
Hitachi 7K1000.B HD 1TB, 7200RPM, 16MB, SATA-300
HP DVD1160i DVDRW SATA
Tritton AX PC Pro True 5.1 Headset
Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse
Microsoft Nautral Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

I have a 1680x1050 LG monitor that I plan to re-use, as well as a case. Hopefully I haven't forgotten any other parts.

The total price comes to $1671 after taxes and shipping.

Good buy? Any replacements I should make? I'd consider buying a GTX 295 but figured that I would wait until the DX11 cards hit the market and it receives a price cut. Good idea?

Thanks.

you cannot put a 790 SLI motherboard with a core i7.LGA 1336 Processor DONT WORK WITH LGA 775!
SO IF You WANT TO PUT UR Core i7 you need a X58 : X58 Motherboard Run Both 3-way sli / 3 way Crossfire & is Suposse to support incoming Core i9 (2009 Q4)


also where do you live in canada ? I'm experiamanted in canada hardware / list of hardware to say that tigerdirect.ca will sell in 75% of the time to 20-30$ more expensive then ncix.com / canadacomputer.com

You can also use shopbot.ca to being sure which one as the best price

Oh and Hitachi are Much more Scrap Then Western Digital black Caviar & Seagate Barracuda 7200:12 = Fastest HDD 7200RPM on market

you cannot put a 790 SLI motherboard with a core i7. LGA 1336 DONT WORK WITH LGA 775!marcthpro

Thanks, this exactly why I asked if I had made any dumb mistakes. I'm trying to learn more about hardware, but have had a lot of trouble finding and guides that would brush up on my understanding of things.

Do you have any reccomendations for a swap?

I'm here don't worry ;) : id swap the hitachi for a 7200:12 Seagate 1TB / Western Digital Black Caviar 1TB
I could buy for my dad a 7200:12 1TB to replace is 80GB IDE for 110$ : I bough mine for 100$ Samsung Spinfoint F1
if you compare them it about 3-5% slower then 7200:12 but Both have Great reputation :P

id look on ur budget and what you can afford in canada hardware is pretty Expensive i envy USA A bits to have such nice price Cause Last Summer we ad Equal price :shock: I know you must be hype to have a great hardware that will run thing smooth :D

So Il try to help you the more i can id like to know which province you live in canada : so i know if you can get better price at ncix.com / canadacomputer for 2-3 Thing : it is also possible id swap ur thing for AMD Phenom X4 955 + a good cpu cooler to overclock it to make you save money

but we should maybe discuss about Pros & cons of Amd over intel core i7 maybe I don't mind to have few people having to post here and give the idea
It can be pretty Flexible a Build

The pros of Intel X58 is It will run Core i9 as i heard (Westmere Code namd gulftown) Support 3-way sli / 3-way Crossfire / Crossfire X / Quad Sli
Core i7 as the Strongest (current Power if you overclock core i7 at 3.6 to 4.0Ghz in vast majority of game

Cons of X58 & Core i7 (Expensive)

The build is very flexible, it will be a few weeks before I order this PC. If you have some reccomendations, feel free to change up the build entirely.

i re-edited my post to give more info :id Also mind change ur 280GTX for this http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=37430235$CAD
You may Belive ATI Is Weak but ud Be Suprise to see how Strong it is if you overclock that card in a Great case That as Lot of Airflow Example HAF932

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd4890_15.html#sect0

I was actually looking for the 7200:12. I heard that the 7200:11, while not a bad HD, should be avoided since it was seagates first TB drive. Didn't realize that the .12 was on tigerdirect too.

Do you think that the above would be a good build if I swapped out the Hitachi for the Seagate, and replaced the i7 with a Core 2 Quad?

With regards to sockets, is 1366 the newst socket type for Intel, and 775 the second newest? (What are the newest AMD socket types?) Should I buy a 1366 socket mobo so that it's easier to find CPU's when I upgrade again in 1.5 - 2 years?

Also, I don't really need to worry about GPU connectivity as long as the card is PCI-E, correct? nVidia and ATI cards will fit on both AMD and Intel specific mobo's?

I have nothing against ATI. My last card was an nVidia 7800GTX so I feel more inclined to buy from nVidia once more. But if I'm better off with an AMD board, cpu, and an ATI GPU, then great.

Hope that's not too many questions, but I'm trying to learn more about PC hardware.

And I'm from BC btw, how's the weather in Quebec?

I was going to say I thought all i7(1366) were intel X58 chipsets.

i7 is great CPU for Multi GPUs when you decide to SLI.

I don't have experience with Hitachi HDD. but you can't go wrong with a Samsung F1 & Western Digital Cavair Black. Western Digital 10,000rpm Velociraptor wouldn't be bad choice if you have the cash.

The Weather in Quebec is nice : if you from BC : Go to http://www.ncix.com/contact/they have Four Store so one in vancouver
with You know in-store deal only = more mone save / no shipping cost / pc case that usally cost 10-20$ of shipping = zero shipping ect !!

Id Really Look in http://www.ncix.com/ and it would cost you less to ship since it from the same city and maybe free shipping :P

IT REALLY Build ur stuff from ncix.com try =) put the max money you can put for a pc at ncix.com just try i
i bet it beat Tigerdirect.ca price just like it did when i build my pc last summer =) It Beaten Tigerdirect by far when i took all hardware i needed for my pc :P

When i looked shopbot.ca www.shoptbot.ca : I tpyed 4890 1GB and one of the place that ad lowest price is NCIX.COM By 30$ less then Tigerdirect.CA and XFX The Brand was :DXFX:) = Lifetime warranty +1 :D = Transferable Ownership :D + modder Friendly :D
so it like Best Brand to get ATI VIDEO CARD FROM :D

First off, what kind of case do you have? A mid ATX or a Full? A mid ATX is what most people think is a normal PC, it's a HP or Dell size computer. If you have a Mid i'm afraid you'll need to replace that case. Todays gaming rigs require a FULL ATX case, this means more room for heat dissapation. Of course you could use a Mid, plenty of people do but full size really simplifies life.

Video Card - Have you ever used an ATI? I really really really suggest you give the 4890 line a shot, I used to be a die hard NVidia fan myself, then I was broke once and got a ATI because it offered better specs for less cash and I will never go back. They are a lot more powerful and a better price. I seriously suggest giving it a shot.

HDD - I know in the server world Hitachis are rather good hard drives, but for home PC uses I'm not so sure. I would recommend a Western Digital, they are the best. But as my experience with Hitachi is limited I can't give you solid advice on them.

MoBo - Again I believe this is a Nvidia product. I would recommend Gigabyte, it seems MoBo companies rotate every so often, one year Asus is the best, another year BioStar makes a great one. This year Gigabyte is really on the ball, becareful of the DS3L edition though, it's Northbridge is HUGE.

Everything else looks decent from what I can see, I'll give it another look over later and edit my post to add anything I catch over a second looking.

Vividnightmare : i have Cm 690 : super mid ATX case it enough to put Two 4870x2 :P but quite not recommended

but it sure if it one of those dell / HP case they are usally pretty small compare to my case : they are small case like my old emachine and my old standard P4 ATX They are small and tight : it fun to have lot of place

you can recommend a Western digital Black Caviar ? when a Seagate 7200:12 Barrucada is Better :D
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/04/13/seagate-1tb-7200-12-review/6
Why ? Because Velociraptor cost a bunch of $$ and is Small Data : and that there no WAY that Western Digital Sell a black Caviar that is 3-5% slower then Velociraptor :P for load time :D

Tough id like to see bit-tech show there Black Caviar : but they haven't Sob!

Well, the components individually are not bad. But, if you don't know what components work together or not just try customizing your build on cyberpowerpc.com

So here is the PC with a couple minor changes.

EVGA X58 SLI
Intel Core i7 920
EVGA nVidia GTX 280
OCZ Gold Tri Chan 6GB
Corsair 750W
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
HP DVDRW SATA
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse
Tritton AX PC Pro True 5.1

It all comes to $1816 after shipping and taxes. Good PC, great PC? Any changes that might save me some money, or that I would be better off with?

Now for the questions! I'm buying a nice set of 5.1 head phones ($135). Will a $35 Sound Blaster card be enough to give me great sound? Should be a lot better than the onboard, but should I shell out a little extra for an X-Fi card (could someone explain the benefits of X-Fi?)

A lot of the sound cards that I see only have ports for analog connections. I can have a sound card installed and just plug my USB headphones into a seperate USB jack, right?

And finally, the video card question. I'm trying to decide if I should buy a 260 and wait for the DX11 cards and a price drop, or stick with the 280 (and perhaps wait for price drop on the other cards as well - or buy a second 280/260 for SLI).

how much ur paying for A weaker video card then 4890 1GB ? 250-270$ ? for 280GTX ?! 4890 1GB in canada is 230$ :P Lfietime waranty
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=37430 4890 1GB 235$ In British Columbia in-store / online >280GTX 260$ Tigerdirect.ca
Which card you should go with :D ?

and if you want Great Sound : stick with onboard until you get enough money for a X-FI :P

Did You know EVGA X58 Can Crossfire 3 Video card ? and put 3 Nvidia Card : Tough not both at same time ;)
and that imo for price / performances 4890 1GB > 280GTX BY LOT !