New i7 Build..

Chandler_90

Chandler_90

Chandler_90

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I envisage this may be a big post so apologies about this...


After 4 years with the same rig, bar a few upgrades on the memory and GFX fronts, I have decided to move from 939 to 1366.

I have been looking around the site.. and have earmarked a few products.
This is my basket so far...

basketci1.jpg


First thing is that I am missing a few components.. a PSU, HDD and Cooling.

Second thing.. SSDs.. are they actually any better than regular HDDs to the regular consumer?
I am between 2 products.. a 150GB VelociRaptor and a OCZ Solid Series 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive. Which of these is the better option? (I know very little about this area of computer hardware)

Third thing.. I am only looking to clock this chip to 3GHz, if it can make it. So would it be a good idea to drop down to a lower priced MB, still keeping 16000Mhz compatibility on the RAM front, and sticking another £100 on the GFX card and possibly going for a 4870x2 or 285?

The machine will mainly be used for Playing games and watching 1080p media.. which my current machine really struggles with.

It will be hooked up to a Sony Bravia 40W4500 with a native resolution of 1920x1080.

Budget for this is around the 1200 - 1300 mark.. lower if possible.

I will not need a Keyboard, Mouse or Display.

Thanks for looking.. sorry its such a large post.. just with this kind of cash level I wanna make sure I get this right.
 
I wouldnt consider buying an SSD, they have a much shorter storage and lifespan than a normal hard drive, raptors arent brilliant either, just go for a normal hard driver with a large cache. The i7 should be easily be able to make it to 3.0ghz, not sure about that foxconn board tho, saying that i havent looked at any reviews for it.
 
Jon1818 said:
I wouldnt consider buying an SSD, they have a much shorter storage and lifespan than a normal hard drive, raptors arent brilliant either, just go for a normal hard driver with a large cache. The i7 should be easily be able to make it to 3.0ghz, not sure about that foxconn board tho, saying that i havent looked at any reviews for it.
Click to expand...

I can't find any reviews on it.. only previews.. in which they state that it has potential to be one of the best boards for the i7 platform.

I'm seriously considering dropping down to a different board so I can fund a larger GFX card..
 
If i was to upgrade this would be my recommendation. Then get another hard drive for storage and use the SSD for the OS. The vertex drives aren't out yet but should be due end of Feb and will hopefully cure the issues that current SSD's have at the moment..
Untitled-3.jpg
 
Thats what I'm thinking too.. as I'd like to play some games maxed out.

I'm not expecting Crysis maxed.. just without AA and AF.

What about PSU.. what wattage or type would be recommended?
I'm presuming modular.. I have been looking at the Corsair and OCZ models.

Also.. cooling.. is it possible to get an adapter for some of the 775 coolers of should I just go with a 1366 cooler??
 
Chandler_90 said:
Thats what I'm thinking too.. as I'd like to play some games maxed out.

I'm not expecting Crysis maxed.. just without AA and AF.

What about PSU.. what wattage or type would be recommended?
I'm presuming modular.. I have been looking at the Corsair and OCZ models.

Also.. cooling.. is it possible to get an adapter for some of the 775 coolers of should I just go with a 1366 cooler??
Click to expand...

As above ^^
 
I've just built my i7 rig and went for the gigabyte ud5 motherboard, which seems very well designed.
Get the noctua cooler as its a monster.

PSU wise I went for a coolermast m700 - modular 700w thing which currently is performing without problems.
 
Winston said:
If i was to upgrade this would be my recommendation. Then get another hard drive for storage and use the SSD for the OS. The vertex drives aren't out yet but should be due end of Feb and will hopefully cure the issues that current SSD's have at the moment..
Untitled-3.jpg
Click to expand...


No MB tyhere tho.. other than that it looks awesome..
 
Ok.. this is what I'm thinking of placing an order for 2moro night...

88169321nh9.jpg


I will be adding either a 4870x2 or a 280GTX to this next week.

Does this look like a decent setup?

Is the PSU up to the job?

I've chosen a UD4P over the biostar.. is this foolish?

Is the 900 type 2 large enough to house 4 HDDs and one of the above cards or should I go with the 1200?

I've heard the cooler is a bit of a fiddle to get on.. is it?

Thanks :)
 
I think that Coolermaster HAF 932 Case - Black or coolermaster 690, can be better than 900. Both of then are bigger and plenty of coolers. And about CPU cooler why not TRUE black?? I think is better than noctua.
 
I'd go with winston's spec. The noctua thermal paste is better than the as5 and the ocz ram has much more headroom. But change the case to a lian li a70.

jzanatta said:
I think that Coolermaster HAF 932 Case - Black or coolermaster 690, can be better than 900. Both of then are bigger and plenty of coolers. And about CPU cooler why not TRUE black?? I think is better than noctua.
Click to expand...

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/880/1/
 
Last edited:
will the reaper fit with that big cooler? my reaper modules have only a tiny bit of clearance from my wimpy freezer 7 pro.
 
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