FIRST BUILD_ WHICH OF THEESE SYSTEMS?

c-note

HEY CHAPS!
i'm embarking on my first diy pc as my current comp is begining creak at the edges!

I'm aiming for a good "do all" pc that'll handle todays games and some into the future. also something that can be upgraded into the future... so a decent mobo is important

I've configured 4 systems, 2 around the i7 and 2 around the i5

seeing as its my first time building a pc, before i buy it'd be great if you could throw your eye over the systems and tell me if i've made any glaring mistakes (poor choice of ram/gfx card mobo... whatever). if i'm paying over the odds for any components, or if a better choice can be made for nearly the same price.
everything you see listed is the price on dabs.ie

finally if you could tell me which one you'd go for and why

COMMON TO ALL BUILDS ARE:
Antec 900 chasis .................94
corsaire tx850 850w psu .......116
win 7 pro 64 .......................125
xfx radeon 5850 ..................233
................................................total 568


system 1 (p55)
MOBO...... INTEL DP55WG .......138
CPU........ CORE I5 750........... 172
RAM........ CORSAIRE 2X2GB
..............@ 1600MHZ(XMP).... 119
drive.........sata dvd drive ........18
.................................................total 1015

system 2 (p55)

MOBO.......... GIGABYTE P55 UD4............... 160
CPU .............CORE I5 750 ........................172
RAM .............OCZ3P20004GK
...................(2x2gb) 2000mhz (NONxmp) ....112
.........................................................................TOTAL 1012


SYSTEM3 (x58)

MOBO............. ASUS P6T....................... 198
CPU............... CORE I7 920..................... 248
RAM ..............CORSAIRE TR3X6G1600C9
.....................XMP(3X2GB) .....................134
.........................................................................TOTAL 1143

SYSTEM 4 (x58)

MOBO........ GIGABYTE X58 UD5 ...................223
CPU.......... CORE I7 920............................. 248
RAM.......... CORSAIRE TR3X6G1600C9
.................XMP(3X2GB)............................ 134
...........................................................................TOTAL 1173


Thanks for taking the time to have a look!

Venom

System 4 gets my vote but 2 thing I wanted to mention.....

1) Would you not consider paying a little extra for a HX850 as the modular cabling is much neater and offers better cooling.

2) You have no cpu cooler listed so are you planing on sticking with stock cooler?

Also for the i7 920 make sure you get a DO stepping one as it overclocks better

leninbenjamin

System three for me. Mainly because I have both the P6T and i7 and find them to be great. There's not a huge amount between the P6T and the UD5 so it's up to you, both come fairly well recommended. But that's only if you really need an i7...

The LGA1156 I'd stick away from for the time being as there seem to be some issues with them that could potentially shorten it's life. Instead I'd consider an AMD Phenom II x4 build. In fact, if you're only gaming then i'd go for this over the LGA1366 builds. The i7s are great but only if you have a specific need for running/developing highly parallelised applications tbh. It's utterly wasted in gaming so i'd stick with the Phenom II for now.

As for the base components: I'd keep away from the Antec 900. Mainly because it's beaten on all counts by the similarly priced HAF 922 (except maybe looks).

Effluo

Hey you say you want a "do all" pc mind telling what you expect it to do?

Is it just for games?

Leman_Russ

System 2, but drop the UD4 for a UD3 (P55 or P55A it doesn't matter) and buy a good CPU cooler.

c-note

Thanks for the quick replies

i was going for the tx850 over the hx as its a bit cheaper but i may reconsider this on your advice;)

i was planning on sticking with the stock cpu cooler as i dont plan on OCing the system initally, and if i do in future a new cooler would be an easy thing to upgrade to

as for the DO stepping i7, thanks for the heads up, i didnt know there were 2 varieties... i'll do a bit of research on this.


the antec 900 got great reviews everwhere i looked but i'm going to check out the HAF 922 Straight away.

as for what i expect the pc to do..
by "do all" i mean that it'll be used as an everyday pc + gaming
this mean internet+office+movies+music etc.
it'll also do ocassional bits of 3d solid modeling, may need to run progs like matlab and will be used for vb6 software development and probably .net in future.
it may occasionally be used for multitrack music development but not photo or movie editing.
i expect the main system stress to come from gaming and the systems were configured with this in mind.

i'd be more inclined to go with the i7 systems, price-wise they're only +10%. and as far as i can tell offer a better overall platform. i understand that some of the features are wasted on gaming but unless their performace was less that the i5's i'd still go with the i7

i hope the pc to last about 5 years (at which stage it'll be obsolete) so i'm anxious to get a decent spec now that can be improved at a later date.

i'll go do a bit more digging!
thanks for the replies

Leman_Russ

c-note wrote: »

the antec 900 got great reviews everwhere i looked but i'm going to check out the HAF 922 Straight away.

Who do you think writes the reviews? :pac::pac::pac:

i'd be more inclined to go with the i7 systems, price-wise they're only +10%. and as far as i can tell offer a better overall platform. i understand that some of the features are wasted on gaming but unless their performace was less that the i5's i'd still go with the i7

+10%? Higher cost of Processor, Motherboard and being forced to buy 6GB (rather than 4GB) of ram adds up to a LOT more than 10%. As for the "Features", Hyperthreading is a massive con, and actually makes games perform worse.

leninbenjamin

Leman_Russ wrote: »

As for the "Features", Hyperthreading is a massive con, and actually makes games perform worse.

Actually the implementation of hyper threading in the i7 is great. Greatly increases the execution of instructions per clock in most applications primarily by eliminating latency in the memory hierarchy (at least I think that's how it works, Solitaire can confirm). Unfortunately gaming is one of the few uses that hyper-threading is completely useless for because it simply doesn't suit those type of applications.

Venom

C-Note adding a decent or better cooler to a 1366 system means using a backplate support bracket for the cooler most of the time and this pretty much requires removing the motherboard from the case to do so, tho some newer cases like the CM HAF's have a cut out section to avoide this.

Also going with a i7 920 system means you dont have to worry about it blowing up unlike with the P55 based rigs

c-note

i've just done a bit of searching on d0 stepping on the i7 920

dabs.ie dont specify weather the chips are d0 or c0
but ebuyer do.. except the chips are labelled OEM and dont come with heatsink or fan.
so i may end up buying the oem d0 chip + good cpu cooler

:panyone rec a good cooler!:P

as for the i7 prices being +10%... i was taking that figure from the systems i'd configured... 1000~1050 vs 1100~1200.

if the i7 systems ended up at 1400-1500 then i'd discard them. but price wise i consider them close enough to the i5 prices for cost not to be a deciding factor.

as its not going to be an exclusivly gaming machine, i dont mind if hyperthreading slows games a little, if it helps elsewhere.

This is all great feedback i'm getting, i'm glad i decided to ask!

Venom

Prolimatech Megahalems cooler seems to be best of the best atm tho you will need to buy a fan to go with it and the Yate Loon D12SH-12 120mm is a perfect match

Leman_Russ

The absoloute best is the Prolimatech Megahalems, however it looks ugly as sin.

The Thor's Hammer is a super sexy beast but expensive.

Carne

What about Noctua coolers, you surely can't beat them for performance.

Venom

Carne wrote: »

What about Noctua coolers, you surely can't beat them for performance.

The noctua's just not in the same league as the two mentioned above.

Venom

Leman_Russ wrote: »

The absoloute best is the Prolimatech Megahalems, however it looks ugly as sin.

The Thor's Hammer is a super sexy beast but expensive.

That why you go for the Prolimatech Megahalems Mega Shadow

Leman_Russ

Venom wrote: »

That why you go for the Prolimatech Megahalems Mega Shadow

Still ugly as sin :pac::pac::pac:

c-note

well i've just checked out some coolers

i like the look of the noctura u12p se, having fans included

thoose Prolimatech Megahalems look serious, 12 pipes vs nocturas 8!

i'll have to think about it! theres no point getting a fancy one unless i'm going to push the cpu beyond factory...

Carne

Do you not think the Prolimatech Megahalem is a little overkill for a i7 920?

Venom

Nothing's as bad looking as the CM V10 tho. Over priced, under performs, loud as a fridge and ugly as fcuk. Talk about a hat trick lol.

Venom

Carne wrote: »

Do you not think the Prolimatech Megahalem is a little overkill for a i7 920?

No I don't :cool:

Venom

c-note wrote: »

well i've just checked out some coolers

i like the look of the noctura u12p se, having fans included

thoose Prolimatech Megahalems look serious, 12 pipes vs nocturas 8!

i'll have to think about it! theres no point getting a fancy one unless i'm going to push the cpu beyond factory...

Yeah but the i7 920 is ment to overclock like a dream so why not

Carne

Venom wrote: »

Nothing's as bad looking as the CM V10 tho. Over priced, under performs, loud as a fridge and ugly as fcuk. Talk about a hat trick lol.

Agreed.

c-note

i'm off to bed now, have an early start tomorrow,:(

learned a lot here tonight, thanks!!

i'm gonna give it some more thought over the w/e and maybe make some final decisions next week!

Leman_Russ

Carne wrote: »

Do you not think the Prolimatech Megahalem is a little overkill for a i7 920?

Good lord no! I have a Thor's hammer (so bitchin it has Heatpipes for its heatpipes) with 2 Sycthe Slipstream Fans on it, on a Core i5 750. Once I enable Speedstep and C1E state, my CPU idles at 0.8v and a gigantic 15*C :P

Carne

Leman_Russ wrote: »

Good lord no! I have a Thor's hammer (so bitchin it has Heatpipes for its heatpipes) with 2 Sycthe Slipstream Fans on it, on a Core i5 750. Once I enable Speedstep and C1E state, my CPU idles at 0.8v and a gigantic 15*C :P

It could all be down to the thermal compound you use.

Leman_Russ

Carne wrote: »

It could all be down to the thermal compound you use.

Oh, yeah, sorry about that!
I use Innovative Cooling Diamond Thermal Interface Material, commonly known as IC7 or IC24.

This stuff is so awesome it has goddamn diamonds in it! It comes in 7 Carat and 24 Carat tubes (7 Carat has enough for 2, maaaaaybe 3 applications) but is not available in Ireland AFAIK, ya'll have to ebay for it.

leninbenjamin

Venom wrote: »

The noctua's just not in the same league as the two mentioned above.

just on this note: the Noctua's performance is actually, or at least it's not far off. I did plenty or reading up on them before i bought them, and in many configurations it was a match for the likes of the TRUE or the THOR, and at the most only a few degrees out. Only the Megahalem consistently outperformed it in all the reviews I read.

Add in that it does all this at least 10 decibels quieter than the opposition it's a very good option for those air cooling.

Leman_Russ

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Add in that it does all this at least 10 decibels quieter than the opposition it's a very good option for those air cooling.

It is INSIDE your case. It's not that much of a factor. And the Thor is Fanless, so it is quieter :P Unless you strap fans to it (like moi) :pac:

leninbenjamin

Leman_Russ wrote: »

It is INSIDE your case. It's not that much of a factor.

eh... it may not bother you man, but all cases have openings. And 10 decibels is a massive difference to my ears. 2 degrees vs. 10 decibels... it's a personal choice.

Leman_Russ wrote: »

And the Thor is Fanless, so it is quieter :P Unless you strap fans to it (like moi) :pac:

All heatsinks are fanless. Unless you strap fans to them

c-note

right lads

i'm going to go with an i7 d0 stepping and noctura cooler.

my problem now is deciding on the motherboard
gigabyte ud5 vs asus p6t

can someone explain this to me.

in the GBud5 manual memory supported are
DDR3 2100/1333/1066/800 MHz, 1.5v

and the p6t
ddr3 2000(o.c.) / 1866(OC) / 1800(OC) / 1600(OC) / 1333 / 1066 MHZ

For the p6t does the (OC) mean that the memory must be overclocked to achieve the speed and that it normally only supports 1333mhz?
edit: i've been looking at the supported memory list, seems (oc) means "only one dimm per channel". thats a bit limited!

for the gbud5.... says 1.5v but all the ram i can see for sale is 1.65?

Leman_Russ

c-note wrote: »

right lads

i'm going to go with an i7 d0 stepping and noctura cooler.

my problem now is deciding on the motherboard
gigabyte ud5 vs asus p6t

can someone explain this to me.

in the GBud5 manual memory supported are
DDR3 2100/1333/1066/800 MHz, 1.5v

and the p6t
ddr3 2000(o.c.) / 1866(OC) / 1800(OC) / 1600(OC) / 1333 / 1066 MHZ

For the p6t does the (OC) mean that the memory must be overclocked to achieve the speed and that it normally only supports 1333mhz?
edit: i've been looking at the supported memory list, seems (oc) means "only one dimm per channel". thats a bit limited!

for the gbud5.... says 1.5v but all the ram i can see for sale is 1.65?

Yes, the OC means the ram has to be overclocked.

As for ram, you can find low voltage 1.5v DDR3. Check out eBuyer and look at the i5 modules and kits.