Core i7 Build for around $1,500, here is what I have…

[Matt_Smi]

I am prob going to wait before buying because I am sure some new Motherboards will come out and prices will drop in a bit. And I will prob also start with just the MB, CPU and RAM. And reuse my current components for now. My main goal is to have a machine that is insane at multitasking, has plenty of room for expansion in the future and can drive up to 4 hi res displays at the same time with ease (3 LCDs and one HDTV), I may also start gaming once again as well.


Case: Antec Nine Hundred (Already Own this)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

PSU: Corsair CMPSU-1000HX 1000W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139007

Motherboard: EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 (I want this over the Asus P6T)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188039

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115202

RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (3 more GB will be added shortly after it is built)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145221

Video Card One: EVGA 896-P3-1265-AR GeForce GTX 260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130398

Video Card Two: EVGA 7950GT (Already Own)

OS Hard Drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136260

Storage Hard Drives: Two Seagate 7200.10 750 Gb, and Two Seagate 7200.10 320 Gb drives (Already Own)

Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106266


The total is $1,580 and here are some things that I have considering changing.

PSU: I could prob make do with the Corsair 620 Watt version, But I love how the 1000HX has 6 PCI-E connectors, I am going to need three of them as it is, and down the road I may add another GTX 260, so I want to make sure I have plenty of headroom on the PSU

Motherboard: I know that many recommend the Asus P6T over the Evga, but I love that board's layout and features, when it is time to buy I am sure there will be a revision on it tho.

Hard Drive: Some may say go solid state, but they are still a little too much IMO. I really don't need another drive, the only reason I am even buying a new drive is because I figure if I have to re-load my OS, mine as well load it onto a faster drive that I have now.

Video Card: I have considering just getting a GTX 280, but for someone who is not obsessed with gaming I am not sure it is worth it, then again part of the reason I am building this is that I want to make as few comprises as possible withing reason (I wont spend 2k on it)

Let me know what you think.

[chuck4456]

Originally Posted by Matt_Smi Let me know what you think.

What i think is that I'd skip X58 all together and wait for X68.
X68 is going to be the real deal.
X58 is a stepping stone.
Kind of like P965 was to the P35.

If you absolutely have to build something now, go with a C2D/C2Q platform.
More affordable and will deliver any performance that you need or will ever need.

X58 is a total waste of money.

[JJs809ny]

i agree with chuch4456 about the board and why usin thos Ram when u can get this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145214


and i dont like ur case
use something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112122

[Masaki 7-11]

The build looks pretty good and all parts should work together properly. SSDs aren't really that much better than most hard drives for desktops, real world testing shows that hard drives can keep up quite well with SSDs and hard drives still have the advantage of higher capacity. If you are going for higher end build, I would go with Core i7 since it's faster than the Core 2 series and is more future proof. I would take a look at replacing the ram with this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231223.

[Matt_Smi]

I do plan to wait until new MB/Chip sets are available, but that is the board I would use if I built today. I am not wasting money on another case, I have spent a lot of time painting my Antec case with a Black/Dark Metallic Blue color scheme and done other customizations. Besides it was cheap when I bought it and it is big enough for what I need.

Masaki 7-11, I will def consider that RAM, much better deal, and then I can max my board out with 12 Gb down the road too haha.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Matt_Smi I do plan to wait until new MB/Chip sets are available, but that is the board I would use if I built today. I am not wasting money on another case, I have spent a lot of time painting my Antec case with a Black/Dark Metallic Blue color scheme and done other customizations. Besides it was cheap when I bought it and it is big enough for what I need. Masaki 7-11, I will def consider that RAM, much better deal, and then I can max my board out with 12 Gb down the road too haha.

I've heard a lot of good things about the Antec Nine Hundred, so there probably isn't any real reason to change the case. I would just double check to make sure that the video card fits in there though, some video cards are too long for cases such as the Antec Nine Hundred and won't fit. From the 50+ reviews I've read on the x58 chipset and motherboard, I don't see why you would need to wait for a new motherboard/chipset with better quality, ect. Most of the complaints I've seen with the x58 motherboard is that it doesn't support ram voltages higher than 1.65V and that some don't work with SLI/Tri-SLI.

[Matt_Smi]

Good point on the card, I know that most of the newer cards are about nine inches long, some even twelve, my Antec case measures 12" of clearance without the drive bays in, with the drive bay and a Hard Drive that drops down to 10 or 11", so it will be tight but I can always reposition the drive bays. For example put one at the top of the case and one at the bottom leaving the middle open for clearance. I think it will work but I am going to see if I can find out how long a 260 is...I am pretty sure I have seen a pic of a 260 tri-sli setup in an 900 before tho.

[RotoRX]

Hi Matt,

Since I am new to this I really cannot offer any advice except for good luck with your future build!

However, I am looking to purchase the same case as you own and wanted to know how do you like it? Any dislikes? I chose it for a few reasons a) looks cool b) it looks and people have commented that it vents very well - the price isn't too bad

Thanks!

[Matt_Smi]

Originally Posted by RotoRX Hi Matt, Since I am new to this I really cannot offer any advice except for good luck with your future build! However, I am looking to purchase the same case as you own and wanted to know how do you like it? Any dislikes? I chose it for a few reasons a) looks cool b) it looks and people have commented that it vents very well - the price isn't too bad Thanks!

Hey Roto,
I am actually not currently using the Antec 900 yet, I bought it almost a year ago when I was planning a new build, but I decided to wait leaving me with just a case, so I painted it metallic black and blue, you can see pictures in this thread...

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=203720

But from what I can tell by having the case in person and seeing many peoples custom builds the possibilities with this case are almost endless if you are willing to mod it. If you are not going to mod it then I would almost not recommend it, since in its "Stock Form" cable management is very difficult since the PSU is on the bottom of the case. But if you are willing to at least cut a few holes in the case for cables then you can make it look very clean, check out the thread below for plenty of ideas.

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=562756&mpage=1&key=

[RotoRX]

Thanks for the heads up on the space issue regarding the power supply.

Nice looking case BTW

[Matt_Smi]

Originally Posted by RotoRX Thanks for the heads up on the space issue regarding the power supply. Nice looking case BTW

Thanks, as far as the actual room in the case goes it is very good for a mid tower case and has a lot of clearance for today's super long video cards. Also like you said the case does have exceptional air flow, two 120mm fans in the front to draw air in, a 120mm fan on the rear and side (optional) to let hot air escape and don't forget the 200mm fan on the top which is very unique and nice since hot air rises. I have recorded the temps in my current case and am going to see how much they drop when I switch to this case.

[RotoRX]

Very cool!

I am kinda worried as you mention trouble with space since the PSU is on the bottom?

I do not plan on modding this case but I really do like the case..I shouldn't have too much trouble should I? The case has received outstanding reviews over at newegg..

Thanks again!