Hi all,

I am a new member of this forum so please be kind. If this is a stupid question or can be found elsewhere, please let me know and I apologize in advance.

Anyway, I am looking to build a new mid-high performance computer in the next two months. I have never done it before, but I am reasonably competent with computers and hardware.

My aim with this computer is smooth game performance on the current generation of games, entertainment including streaming and running HD video, high capacity, high quality audio, and of course word processing, web surfing, blah blah. That is a pretty generalized intention with the computer but I will clarify if the need arises.

My OVERALL budget is $2000. I am looking to make sure all of this is compatible with one another and that it will fit and run properly. If you have suggestions for better parts or sources for these parts, by all means let me know. Here is my current list of components (prices are all based on NewEgg):

Case- NZXT Tempest Crafted Series- $82 (after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

HardDisk- WD Caviar Black (1TB)/ PQI 32GB SSD (for OS and pertinent programs)- $100/ $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141419

GPU- EVGA 896MB GTX275 Superclocked- $235 (after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130478

CPU- Core i7 920- $280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Motherboard- ASUS P6T LGA- $250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359

Memory- OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 1600- $80 (after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

Sound Card- HT OMEGA Striker 7.1- $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

Power- CORSAIR 750W- $100 (after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

Monitor- ASUS MK241H 24" LCD- $260 (after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236033

Speakers- Logitech Z-5500- $292
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121120

Keyboard- Logitech G11- $59
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126009

Mouse- Logitech G9- $69
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104079


Total W/o shipping and applied mail in rebates: $1980

This is my COMPLETE list. As I have never done this before, will I need additional SATA cables, thermal paste, etc or will that be included with the parts I have? Thanks guys and I am looking forward to getting to know this forum!

nice build. theyre all compatible, and that will be a good rig. as for whether you need additional parts, dont worry. the processor should come with thermal paste, and the motherboard should come with SATA cables for your drives, so your all set.

however, you dont need the sound card. your motherboard supports 8 channels as it is, and you are buying a 5.1 sound system, so youre basically wasting money on the sound card. you can use the extra money to get better hardware - either a better cpu, or gpu, depending on whether you have enough or not. if not, then youve save yourself some money

and welcome to neoseeker

Thank you for the feedback.

While I mostly have compressed mp3/ mp4 crap audio files, I am a bit of a audiophile when I can get the quality. Would I have any noticeable decrease in sound performance without a dedicated card?

not with these days onboard sound. basically the card offers a few more features, which arent worth the money at all, as you can work around them quite eaasily.

honestly, i used to have some 10 year old piece of crap computer several years ago, and the sound had no problems with its basic 3 channel standard stereo onboard sound. IMO, your sound is only as good as your speakers.

I agree. I used to have a similar 10 year old crappy computer with 2 channel sound, and it sounded OK with my 4.1 speakers connected up to it. Of course, it wasn't running in surround sound, just stereo, but I used a splitter to get all the speakers working, and your onboard sound supports 7.1, so you'll be fine connecting yours up in surround.

quote hiigaran

nice build. theyre all compatible, and that will be a good rig. as for whether you need additional parts, dont worry. the processor should come with thermal paste, and the motherboard should come with SATA cables for your drives, so your all set.

however, you dont need the sound card. your motherboard supports 8 channels as it is, and you are buying a 5.1 sound system, so youre basically wasting money on the sound card. you can use the extra money to get better hardware - either a better cpu, or gpu, depending on whether you have enough or not. if not, then youve save yourself some money

and welcome to neoseeker

Wait isnt the i7 the best cpu out right now?

There are multiple i7 clock speeds you can purchase up to $1k for the extreme addition. I have heard, with the proper cooling, you can overclock the 920 big time and I don't get why you would buy anything but the base model unless you have money to burn.

You are totally right the source sound makes no difference if the speakers are crap, but I thought the Logitech 5500s were the top of the line and could make use of the clarity of good source sound. Regardless, your comments have put my purchase of a sound car in doubt and will not purchase it now. It would be no problem to add it later.

Now that I got the main "does it work" question out of the way, I have a few more:

Is the case a good choice? My first thought was the Antec 900 but I saw that it is very hard to get GTX2xx cards in due to length so I went with what appeared to be the next best thing. This case is apparently good for water cooling, I would consider it for the processor in the future.

Is it a good idea to go with a (relatively) small SSD (32gb) instead of a 10,000rpm drive? For the same price I could get a 76gb 10k drive.

Is the OCZ platinum worth an extra $20 or is the gold just fine?

Any comments on the mobo? Seems like it has good ratings but I just wondered if the layout is good for eventually running double or triple SLI?

How about the monitor/ keyboard/ mouse? Maybe not the monitor, but I am sure you guys are opinionated on the human interface stuff.

Whew, ton of stuff there haha. Let me here what else you guys got!

quote

There are multiple i7 clock speeds you can purchase up to $1k for the extreme addition. I have heard, with the proper cooling, you can overclock the 920 big time and I don't get why you would buy anything but the base model unless you have money to burn.

theres more to processors than just clock speed and cores. however, the 920 is actually harder to overclock. the more expensive i7 editions are the ones with less restricted overclocking capabilities, and the extreme is completely unlocked.

quote

You are totally right the source sound makes no difference if the speakers are crap, but I thought the Logitech 5500s were the top of the line and could make use of the clarity of good source sound. Regardless, your comments have put my purchase of a sound car in doubt and will not purchase it now. It would be no problem to add it later.

ive never seem much good come out of sound cards when the onboard was more than enough, but you are right - if you feel that you arent getting the sound you expect, then you can always buy the card later.

quote

Is the case a good choice? My first thought was the Antec 900 but I saw that it is very hard to get GTX2xx cards in due to length so I went with what appeared to be the next best thing. This case is apparently good for water cooling, I would consider it for the processor in the future.

im not one for water cooling unless youre doing extreme overclocking. but the case i recommend to all, if they have the money for it, would be one of the CoolerMaster HAF series cases...namely, the 932. those massive fans that it comes with are sure to keep the innards supplied with cool air, helping a lot with other hardware temps.

quote

Is it a good idea to go with a (relatively) small SSD (32gb) instead of a 10,000rpm drive? For the same price I could get a 76gb 10k drive.

SSD's are a lot faster, and they have very small chances of failure compared to drives (especially 10k's). however, id usually go for at least 40 gigs (theres are really good one from OCZ with a blue colour, but i forgot the link from newegg).

quote

Is the OCZ platinum worth an extra $20 or is the gold just fine?

depends - if its the same capacity, and faster, then yeah. what are the speeds and latencies of both?

as for the rest of your hardware - the monitor, keyboard and mouse, theyre really just user preference, but make sure you will use any features it has or you just waste money.

What makes the 920 harder to OC? It is unlikely I would ever go nuts overclocking but maybe get it to 3.0ghz or 3.2 with proper cooling.

Ill look into the case and the larger SSD. Again, not being a super techie, when running one fast drive and a slower larger drive, you install Windows (or whatever) to the quick drive and generally use the larger one for most applications and data? Unless of course there is some program (maybe an internet browser?) that you want to startup more quickly?

As far as I can tell, the Platinum and the Gold are the same speed (1600) and same everything. I also checked out NewEggs combo deals and there are actually some good ones. I am now thinking I want the P6T Deluxe V2 mobo, Corsair Dominator 1600 Memory, and the G15 instead of the G11 keyboard. Those are all more expensive than what they replaced but overall Ill actually save $30...

i dont have a 920, so i wouldnt be fully aware of it, but according to several people i know, including a member on neoseeker, had issues even raising it by a small amount.

but look, if youre only doing that much overclocking then you should be fine i think. the way you posted before was suggestive of more overclocking.

as for the SSD question, yes. you most frequently used programs should go on the SSD. i suggest having the OS, and some games you play frequently, and everything else on the larger hard drive. make sure you leave 20 percent free space for optimisation though.

if platimum and gold are the same thing, the go for the cheaper one. im sure there is somedifference, maybe a different heatspreader, or tighter latency, but if its the latter, its only worth the 20 bucks if CAS is 2T tighter, or more.

I think I like the level of components that I have, but assuming I wanted to save some money, where is the best place to save some money? Lower priced motherboard? Or what?

memory, motherboard and case.

memory speed only truly makes a difference for hardcore gamers. besides, you can overclock if need be. and if youre getting slower memory, then you can get a cheaper board which doesnt support speeds as fast as others...basically one speed higher than your rams stock speed. and the case...well, theyre mostly aesthetics anyway.

Here are some suggestions:

Get a combo Logitech mouse and keyboard instead of individual.


Maybe this mobo will work for you and it's cheaper.

quote hiigaran

i dont have a 920, so i wouldnt be fully aware of it, but according to several people i know, including a member on neoseeker, had issues even raising it by a small amount.

I got mine to 4.3GHz

Ya I saw that combo and thats why I switched to the G15 keyboard. As for the mobo Ill compare it to the the P6T and see how I like it.

And wow on the 4.3ghz. Share what you did and what you are running.