Please review my build...

So this will be my first build, but I have been familiar with some of the things as far as connecting everything. (Father gave me some lessons with his computer) The only problem I could see having is of course getting everything programmed properly. But anyways, I have put something together and I would like everyone's professional help to see if there's anything I need to change.

My Main Goal: I would like to build a pc that lasts at least 2-3 years from now without having to upgrade. With that said, I would at least like to play games on HIGH, or MAX if possible. I would like to stay under $1200, but *IF* you guys recommend something that will put me over, I won't mind spending a little more. Here is my build:

1. Mobo= EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX SLI LE=$214.99 (after $20 rebate)

2.CPU= Intel i7 920 2.66 Nehalem=$279.99

3.RAM=Corsair Cominator 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)=$189.99

4.GPU=EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 896MB SLI ready=$174.99 (after $20 rebate)

5.Case=NZXT Apollo Black=$49.99 (after $20 rebate)

6.HDD=Western Digital 1TB Cavier Black=$94.99

7. PSU=OCZ StealthXStream 700W SLI/Crossfire Ready=$59.99 (after $20 rebate)

8. Disk drive= LG DVD burnerBlack SATA model=$29.99

Total= $1093.92

Now here is what I am wondering....

1. I understand the new cards are rolling around the corner, and I know that once the GTX 295's come down in price, I would like to pick one up, so will the GTX 260 be good at least for the time being? (Playing COD4, ARMA3, etc??)

2. I also understand if I go with a Quad Core setup, I know the setup I choose will be a lot cheaper, because the mobo and ram won't be as expensive. Is going with the i7 920 a good choice, or will the Quad core last for a couple more year in terms of maxing out games?

1. yes, the gtx 260 should be fine

2. the i7 IS a quad core.

I would go for the cheaper, more energy efficient, and sometimes faster Core i5 750. It'll save you 200$+ on the overall build and will give you about the same performance especially with you aren't using two very, very high-end GPUs.

I would stick with I7, unless you want to go AMD. I5 is a fail. Also, if you can't wait 20 days get 260 Core 216, if you can, you can probably get 295 at a price of about a bit more/less than double of a 4870.

i5 is fail? What? It out performs the 920 and AMD 965/955 often. Uses about 100-150 watts less on full load and 40 watts on idle. That saves you a lot in the long run. The only difference is the hyper threading which won't be used in games for years, the memory speed which doesn't make much difference, and the 8x/8x which won't matter unless you're using two overkill cards in SLI.

Ok great, I'll start looking at the i5's then. I'll have to go with another mobo as well since the one I have does not support i5. And that makes since going with a 9800GTX+, since they a re dirt cheap.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a i5 motherboard??? I see some on newegg, but there are only so many reviews, its hard to tell which ones are reliable. Is the EVGA p55 SLI 132-LF-E655-KR LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX a good choice?

Are the i5's easy to OC? I know the i7's had two models (D0 and C0 stepping) which affected its OC'ing capalities. (Not sure of how that works?)

For Cry's sakes, no. I5 is greatly inferior to both PII and I7 (much more). If you have tochange the CPU get AM3, it performs about the same as I5 although it will be more future proof because Intel will have 3 sockets for I3 I5 and I7, and AM3 will get a refresh with 32nm CPUs.

For Cry's sakes, no. I5 is greatly inferior to both PII and I7 (much more). If you have tochange the CPU get AM3, it performs about the same as I5 although it will be more future proof because Intel will have 3 sockets for I3 I5 and I7, and AM3 will get a refresh with 32nm CPUs.

Slig0

If your only going to game then it's way more important to get a beast of a GPU if you want it to last for 3 years. If I was the one going for this build I would drop the expensive Intel crap and for a cheaper AMD Phenom II build. The performence would not be that different especially in gaming compared to the intel setup but you would save alot of money which you could then invest into a good GPU. I would recomment u buy the new 5870 which comes out this month. Or even better wait a couple of month and go for 5870x2 then you would be set for years.

My opinion is go with a seriously cheap Phenom II system, since you are not going to overclock parts would not matter that much. I would got for a cheap AM2+ mobo, P2 940 and 4GB of DDR2 ran and the rest spend on a sick of a GPU.

One thing is for sure the 260gts will strugle to run games on max in three years time, especially if you are going for his res.

Good Luck

I would stick with I7, unless you want to go AMD. I5 is a fail. Also, if you can't wait 20 days get 260 Core 216, if you can, you can probably get 295 at a price of about a bit more/less than double of a 4870.

Slig0

1. The GTX260 is fine. You can probably be able to play game on medium to max for another year. If you want to max every game that comes out for the next two years(maybe) then you should get one of the new cards coming out this fall. ATI 5000 series or Nvidias 300 series.

2. Not sure what you mean, but yes going with a Quad core setup is a good choice. Only a few games take advantage of a quad but that is changing in the upcoming years. The i7 920 can last you 3-5 years. All you would have to upgrade is the graphics card.

So go with that setup and just upgrade the 260 when you need to.

If you go with the i5 remember that its not as "future proof" as the i7 920 since the i5 uses socket 1156 i believe and i7 920 uses 1366 which will be useful if you want to upgrade to an i9 6 core cpu(comes out next year) or in the future.

For Cry's sakes, no. I5 is greatly inferior to both PII and I7 (much more). If you have tochange the CPU get AM3, it performs about the same as I5 although it will be more future proof because Intel will have 3 sockets for I3 I5 and I7, and AM3 will get a refresh with 32nm CPUs.

Slig0

You're horribly misinformed. Every benchmark in existence disagrees with you.

If your only going to game then it's way more important to get a beast of a GPU if you want it to last for 3 years. If I was the one going for this build I would drop the expensive Intel crap and for a cheaper AMD Phenom II build. The performence would not be that different especially in gaming compared to the intel setup but you would save alot of money which you could then invest into a good GPU. I would recomment u buy the new 5870 which comes out this month. Or even better wait a couple of month and go for 5870x2 then you would be set for years.

My opinion is go with a seriously cheap Phenom II system, since you are not going to overclock parts would not matter that much. I would got for a cheap AM2+ mobo, P2 940 and 4GB of DDR2 ran and the rest spend on a sick of a GPU.

One thing is for sure the 260gts will strugle to run games on max in three years time, especially if you are going for his res.

Good Luck

Mitjastiskovski

Don't forget that an i5 uses much, much less power than the Phenoms so in the long run the i5 is cheaper.

I wouldnt get one large HDD, just **** you over if you decide to reformat, or if your forced to unexpectedly.

I'd stick to getting a AMD PII or 1366 i7 build if your going multi gpu setup. 8x will limit the next gen of GPUs if we're considering the step the 5000series seems to be taking from the 4000series. If your gonna run 1 High end card like a 5870, having a one 16x and not worrying about having it split into 8x/8x then i5 should be fine.WWII_Warrior

A P2 has the same 8x/8x limitations that an i5 has.

For Cry's sakes, no. I5 is greatly inferior to both PII and I7 (much more). If you have tochange the CPU get AM3, it performs about the same as I5 although it will be more future proof because Intel will have 3 sockets for I3 I5 and I7, and AM3 will get a refresh with 32nm CPUs.

Slig0

[QUOTE="WWII_Warrior"]I'd stick to getting a AMD PII or 1366 i7 build if your going multi gpu setup. 8x will limit the next gen of GPUs if we're considering the step the 5000series seems to be taking from the 4000series. If your gonna run 1 High end card like a 5870, having a one 16x and not worrying about having it split into 8x/8x then i5 should be fine.Nokanhav

A P2 has the same 8x/8x limitations that an i5 has.

Proccessor - Intel i7 920 Nehalem - $280
Motherboard - EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR - $215
RAM memory - mushkin Redline 6GB DDR3 1600 - $205
Video Card - GIGABYTE GV-N275UD-896I GeForce GTX 275 896MB - $220
Hard Drive - Seagate 1TB 7200.12 - $85
Optical Drive - Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe - $34
Power Supply - OCZ StealthXStream 700W - $60
Case - NZXT Apollo Black - $50
Operating System - Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 x64 64-Bit - OEM - $10
Subtotal - $1159


You could make an equally powerful AMDPIIX4-965 for like $300 less!

[QUOTE="Nokanhav"]

[QUOTE="WWII_Warrior"]I'd stick to getting a AMD PII or 1366 i7 build if your going multi gpu setup. 8x will limit the next gen of GPUs if we're considering the step the 5000series seems to be taking from the 4000series. If your gonna run 1 High end card like a 5870, having a one 16x and not worrying about having it split into 8x/8x then i5 should be fine.WWII_Warrior

A P2 has the same 8x/8x limitations that an i5 has.

Of course they do. They're designed to support future CPUS. the i5 mobos supportrd 16x/16x as well. The CPU, however, does not.

[QUOTE="Slig0"]

For Cry's sakes, no. I5 is greatly inferior to both PII and I7 (much more). If you have tochange the CPU get AM3, it performs about the same as I5 although it will be more future proof because Intel will have 3 sockets for I3 I5 and I7, and AM3 will get a refresh with 32nm CPUs.

Nokanhav

You're horribly misinformed. Every benchmark in existence disagrees with you.

You just don't know when to stop with the missinforming, do you? Heh, enjoy:

Don't forget that an i5 uses much, much less power than the Phenoms so in the long run the i5 is cheaper.

Nokanhav

You're horribly misinformed. Every benchmark in existence disagrees with you.

Nokanhav

[QUOTE="Nokanhav"]

Don't forget that an i5 uses much, much less power than the Phenoms so in the long run the i5 is cheaper.

markop2003

You're horribly misinformed. Every benchmark in existence disagrees with you.

Nokanhav

It is simple and true, thanks. With overclocking I am certain I5 would beat PII because it generaly overclocks better (mine is only stable up to 3.8 on stock voltages). But the chips on stock have very similar performance, both I7, I5 and PII. PII has a bit of the edge in gaming, I7&I5 in encoding and synthetics. +1.

Yeah, sure. I'll spend hundreds of dollars for something vastly inferior just so that I can save a few dollars a month instead of spending maybe 40-60 more for a i5 build that almost always performs exactly the same or far better to save a few dollars a month. Makes sense. Thank you.

As for the benchmarks, I'll use a maximum of one benchmark per site so that you get a variety of input.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/intel_corei5750_corei7870/11.htm
http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-750-core-i7-860-870-processor-review-test/18
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=19979&page=9

And, now, the only way you can save yourself without admitting you're wrong to accuse all of these sites of lying .. and that's going to take a lot of work for you to prove.

Basically, the Phenom and the i5 either perform almost identical with only a few frames a part or the i5 leaves it in dust. Which would you rather have when the i5 uses much less power and can save you enough a month to more than pay for itself in one year? Every single other benchmark (and there are dozens) has the Phenom performing less than 4 FPS faster. Wow, that's really worth the extra cost *rolls eyes*. I'm guessing by the Phenom in your sig that you're extra aggressive so that you can make your purchase feel like it was the right one.

Regardless of what you've led yourself to believe, at best the i5 destroys the Phenom by dozens of FPS. At worst they are almost the same. Yeah, the i5 really is huge fail :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Who plays at those resolutions?

And the one with Crysis over 100fps cracked me up.

In the first benchmark even the Q9650 was ahead of PII 965, and it is known FC2 is Intel optimized when they even recommend that game on their official site. Second benchmark ties between I5 and PII. Low results? People, which of you buys a $200+ CPU for playing on low, I'll give ya a medal and appeal for you to get a nobel prize. Tied. 3rd benchmark. No difference. I do not consider a difference with 60+ fps. Fourth... The same story, even without taking into consideration that it is a biased site. And you are smart, you've put a single benchmark so it looks like i5 wins overall.

Who plays at those resolutions?

And the one with Crysis over 100fps cracked me up.

smc91352

Exactly. Whoa, I got an I7 975. What should I do? Hm... I KNOW, PLAY CRYSIS ON LOW TO PROVE MY CPU POWER! If it can run on low with a bit better fps than the other while it gets crushed on high settings, who cares? I'm gonna play on low.

I would say the chips are about equal for gaming right now. If you live near a Micro Center there is a great deal on the I5. It only cost$179.99 if you buy it in store. Deal is not online. Just select a location near you and go there and pick it up. Personally I would go with an I5 because it's awsome for over clocking.

Who plays at those resolutions?

And the one with Crysis over 100fps cracked me up.

smc91352

You have to do that to check the CPU speed. Otherwise, you're only checking the GPU speed. And we might as well all just use medium range dual cores.

Ironically, I just noticed your AMD logo avatar. That says it all.

Good day :D

Ironically, I just noticed your AMD logo avatar. That says it all.

Good day :D

Nokanhav

Wow, what intelligence. Bravo!

[QUOTE="Nokanhav"]

Ironically, I just noticed your AMD logo avatar. That says it all.

Good day :D

Slig0

Wow, what intelligence. Bravo!