grumpy.medic

Hey there... well it has been a little while since I last put a build together... right around 5 years (been using Macs in the meantime)... so I figured it is time once more to throw a box together.

Purpose: Affordable Gaming System

Target Games: Run Aion, WoW, Left 4 Dead II, GW, FC2, Borderlands, Modern Warfare II, Crysis etc. on High settings.

Purchased so far:

• CoolerMaster Haf932 Full Tower
• 2x Hitachi 1TB Serial ATA/300 7200RPM 32MB Cache
• COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
• LG 22X Super Multi DVD Writer Black SATA Model GH22 LightScribe
• LG Black 8X Blu-ray Burner - WH08LS20K - OEM
• ASUS EAH4890/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported - Retail
• COOLER MASTER HTK-002-U1 Thermal Compound – Retail
• ZALMAN ZM1000-HP 1000W Continuous @ 45°C (Maximum Continuous Peak: 1250W) ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 CrossFire Certified – Retail

Looking to Purchase:

• ASUS P7P55 WS SuperComputer LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
• Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail
• G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-8GBRL – Retail

Notes:

Not really set on the memory... I really do want to keep to dual-channel sticks vs quad, preferably in the 8GB range. Please tell me what you guys think about the model, I realize it is not going to be the best machine out there, but I am a little limited in matters of moola. I am building this box with future upgrades in mind such as a second 4890 and CFX'ing it.

Curious about what you guys think... go easy one me ;-)

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~grumpy.medic

Rightwing

Get a better cooler than the V8 haven't heard anything good about it.Get some OCZ Freeze thermal paste.I don't know about the Zalman psu's but the Corsair's seem to be the good buy's right now for price performance,I like mine.You need 1333Mhz RAM to run at stock.The rest look's pretty good.

thefreeduck

How much is your budget?
You have a LGA 1156 CPU for the same price of a i7 920.. Might as well go LGA 1366

The PSU is overkill. a really nice 550-600watt PSU will run that unless you are going to CF then you might need 650-700watt. I'm not too sure on the watts u need to CF but there's a really nice calculator to find out how much power you actually need. browse the PSU section of this website

Switch the 4890 with a DX11 card, again, depending on your budget

Ladiesman101

i really LOVE ur setup man

i just got 3things i would personally change

1.-get a different cooler,preferably Pprolimatech Megahalem
2.-get the Foxconn Bloodrage
2.5/3,-get the i7 920,tahts all i would change since i havnt really seen much OCing of the new chips

but otherwise great build m8

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prophetd7

Powerful machine...
On your place i would reconsidered 2x HDD, i would put 1TB, or maybe 2x 500GB, but i don't know if that would be enough for you , this mobo: asus sabertooth instead p7p55, and instead of 4890 i would put 5870... but all in all very powerful machine..

Edit: U have already purchased HDD and GPU, so u can't reconsider about that, sorry..

Pao

You're commenting on a lot of parts he has already purchased. The i7 920 vs. 860 debate is relevant though.

grumpy.medic

For my overall budget I am looking at about 1450.00. I have about 550-600 left for the last items...

About the HDDs, I plan on having a total of 5x1TBs in there... I will be running a couple different versions of Linux and Win7, like to split it up that way (must be my Mac wired brain).

Sounds like I will have to change my heatsink though, I have gotten good feedback about it, but I am getting more and more negative reports on it... which is unfortunate. Thermal paste is cheap enough to change, so that sounds like a good deal too.

I will have to look into the Foxconn Bloodrage/Asus Sabertooth instead p7p55 though, have not had much chance to research them, but I most definitely will.

My PSU, yes, it is overkill indeed. I do however down the road (in about 3 months) plan on CF it, and I rather have more free wattage on my overhead (bad experience with PSUs running at 90+%).

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~grumpy.medic

prophetd7

Well I would recommend a physically separated HDD for linux and win, do not install linux and win on same HDD but different partition... 5TB of is a lot , but U seem like U calculated that for something, so go for it....

grumpy.medic

Indeed. The 5TB are with purpose in mind... what I also took into consideration is the price-factor. I can purchase a 1TB HDD for 69.97 or a 750GB for 64.99 (that is with a 32MB buffer and 7200RPM). Big, yes. However, affordable.

On a side note, I think I got sold on the i7-920 Bloomfield, really like the idea of a LGA1366 socket...

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~grumpy.medic

grumpy.medic

Ha! Finally got the ASUS Radeon HD 4890 1GB DDR5 shipped to my house yesterday... only have the MoBo/RAM/Proc left! Should be purchasing those at the end of the week (paycheck time!).

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~grumpy.medic