My New Core i7 Build

[rsean]

Hey guys -

Just wanted to send out a quick thank you to everyone; the posts in these forums have been very helpful for me while building my new machine.

A few quick notes:

I started with the "high end build" by RickyTick and made a few adjustments. This machine will be used mainly for web design / development.

I considered just going with a Core 2 duo, but considering the length of time that processor has been on the market and the recent introduction of the i7, I thought it best to go w/ the newer, cooler cpu on the block. Many of the threads and reviews gave priase to the core i7. In addition, the price was right. For a few hundred dollars more, I could get the i7, X58 Mobo and DDR3 RAM and will likely still be ahead in a few years.

I'm not a gamer, so I went with a lesser video card. I also downgraded the X58 mobo to Gigabit's UD3R; many of the features of the UD5 weren't required for me.

I got everything at Newegg.com; when a competitor was close to Newegg's price, it was negligible.

The Parts

Case: Antec P183 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129061)

Power: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006)

Card Reader: VANTEC UGT-CR905 58-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader/Writer for 3.5” or 5.25” Drive Bay with Built-In USB Port - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820276003)

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375)

Video: EVGA 512-P3-N963-TR GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130437)

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202)

RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1333C9 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145220)

Optical: SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319)

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488)

Total Cost

Total Cost w/ shipping and BEFORE MIR: $1152
Total Cost after MIR: $1092

Final Review

waiting on parts...

[The Wise Monkey]

Looks good. :D

[RickyTick]

Looks great. Can't wait to see the final review. I bet it blows you away. :D

[rsean]

Final Review:

I've had the machine for one week and it's been complete bliss; I love it! It's still running at the factory 2.66GHz; no need to overclock yet.

Performance Marks:

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/cpu.png

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/disk.png

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/memory.png

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/2dgraphics.png

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/3dgraphics.png

Photos:

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6309-1024x768.jpg

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6310-1024x768.jpg

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6320-1024x768.jpg

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6322-1024x768.jpg

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6324-1024x768.jpg

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6325-1024x768.jpg

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6326-1024x768.jpg

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6327-1024x768.jpg

http://sean.gravener.net/blog/uploads/2009/05/img_6330-1024x768.jpg

[RickyTick]

That's terrific. I'm so jealous. :D

Great pictures. Thanks for showing them.

Go to evga.com and register your card. You have 30 days to get that done. You'l need that if you have any issues with the card. Plus, you have the option of using their 90-day Step Up program if you want to.

Did you run into any problems? Anything you want to share with us?

[rsean]

Thanks for the EVGA tip, RickyTick...

Surprisingly no, I had no trouble at all. Everything went smoothly with not a single issue. The Antec P183 case made the cord management a cinch and installing the CPU and drives are cake now-a-days too... I remember when I built my first cyrix machine... I spent all day getting the jumpers right!

Thanks again for your great advice in the forums... I wouldn't have had such a smooth build without it!

Sean

[The Wise Monkey]

Congrats - glad everything went so smoothly. :)

[JeffAHayes19]

Looks great to me, too, Sean!

Having just (FINALLY) made my purchase (most of my parts came via UPS today -- still waiting for the case, power supply, DVD drive and card reader, which I didn't get around to ordering until yesterday), I know how hard it can be making all those decisions.

I wanted to go a little higher-end than you did on some of the components, but money is ALWAYS an object, and I've been saving for this for A LONG TIME. I admit I don't quite "get" why you spent that much on a case, yet downgraded to that motherboard (I ALMOST bought that one by mistake, and had to get up WAY early in the morning to call NewEgg and change my order before it shipped, lol), but as long as you got what suits YOUR needs, that's what counts, and we both got the same processor, so I think we're both looking at a bit of POWER for the next few years, lol. Now I just have to get the rest of my parts and get MINE built, lol.

Wish me luck, lol. Hope yours is still "smokin' along!"
Jeff

[rsean]

Thanks for the reply, Jeff :)

I see your point regarding the case and mobo... In the end, my decisions were based more on what i needed (and wanted) rather than price. I didn't get the UD5R because I didn't need it; the UD3R is more than sufficient for me (a non-gamer). but you've already stated it's more about what I needed, so thanks for that :)

Make sure you post a review with pictures and performance stats!! Would love to see your progress.

oh, and yeah - i'm still smokin over here!

Sean

[JeffAHayes19]

You're most welcome, Sean.

The biggest issue for me, after upgrading to a really fast processor, what HARD DRIVE... Thus far, every factory computer (Dell, HP, Apple) I've bought has always seemed to have a major limitiing factor in a hard drive that will restrict my speed and efficiency, no matter WHAT I do.

My current Dell system, after it's finished booting, the hard drive (which I keep cleaned of everything but the OS and program files), simply "chases its tail" for like 5 minutes AFTER booting, during which time there's not much I can do... I can click to load AOL or Internet Explorer after my last (visible) init on the toolbar loads, and it might still take 3 or 4 or more minutes before the program loads (and these programs load pretty much INSTANEOULSY if I click them after the computer's been booted a while). So for my primary boot drive, I bought an Intel 25 XM Solid State drive. And for my secondary drive, I got the WD Velociraptor 10,000 RPM 300 GB. I caught both on sale at NewEgg, for a total combined price of only $589!

That still seems like a lot, BUT, considering how fast those two drives are, it's a pittance. I'll use the 300 GB drive as a storage drive for Photo and Video files I'm in the process of editing. I have close to 4 TB of external storage on which I can store my actual user files, which is what I've already been doing, with one of them acting as a backup disk.

I've yet to read ANY other threads on here where someone used an SSD as their boot drive, although I know others have SOMEWHERE. I'm looking forward to it, at any rate.

Take care and Happy Computing!
Jeff

[chronicbucks]

i have a question about this, im going to build the same pc, its about time to boost something, and similar to you, i am a web-designer and do not use my pc to game much, the only game i do use on the regular would be SecondLife (laugh it up), anyway, I want this to run super smooth, with the new windlight graphic effects, i am wondering if i will need the super high end card in order to do that, or if I can use a lower one?

[JeffAHayes19]

Ah man, Chronic, ya just GOTTA spring the $20 smackeroos and get Plants vs. Zombies. They're really promoting that thing in A BIG WAY, now... Full page ad on the first major inside page of this month's issue of PC World, PLUS a big writeup about it in one of the columns.

I still haven't actually paid for it (but I spent more than five, highly-addicted, seat-glued hours drooling on my keyboard playing the FREE version before it finally told me I'd need to fork over $20 to play more), and although it was past 4 a.m. at that point, the only reason I DIDN'T fork over the $20 was that something screwed up with my computer, I had to reboot and decided to call it a night, lol. I DID try. I was (and AM) hooked. It WILL be the next piece of "fun" software I pay for.

As for the graphics card, hmmmmm, all I know is that right now NewEgg has a great deal on the 256-bit version of the 2 GB 4870 ($229 after $20 rebate), but that goes off at midnight tonight. If you're more of the nVidia bent (that's included me for the past few years), I can't say... I just like the fact that the 4870s have DDR5 on them. Theoretically, that should mean faster processing, shouldn't it?
Jeff

[rsean]

Hey Chronic -

I really can't say much about getting a card that supports the new Secondlife effects, but I can say, as a web designer, the EVGA GeForce card I got is a great low cost gpu (it's $60 right now on newegg!).

Photoshop takes full advantage of it too - there are some enhanced features available, which rocks...

If you're on a budget, take Jeff's advice and carefully consider where you are putting the money you have to spend (eg: less in the case, more in the video card).

I'm extremely happy with my build... so if you're like me, you'll love it too :)

Sean

[RickyTick]

A really great card for a non-gamer would be an Nvidia 9600GT or 9600GSO, or an ATI Radeon 4830 or 4670.