Building a new computer, need some feedback...

[Prales]

So I'm finally going to break down and put a new computer together. My budget is some-what big, but any deals I can find will be a plus. I'm looking to use this computer for awhile for various things, mostly games (CS:S, World of Warcraft at the moment), graphic design, and video editing. Needless to say I want everything to run at max settings, with no drop in performance in "high traffic" or "high load" situations. I started with a large list of components, which I posted on my WoW guild's website, and after some feedback from them I've narrowed it down to the list below, and figured now would be the time to get additional feedback.

I based the components off of an Alienware computer, and the price came to about $5000 on the Alienware website, though it might be slightly less now with tweaks, but needless to say I can attest to the fact that building it myself is going to save me quite a bit of money. Note that the list below contains some Misc things, like a power strip, and a thermal compound, just for my sake at keeping the list consistent with the order I place, so I have an idea of the absolute total price.

Also note that I'm open to ordering from other sites if the deals are there, but NewEgg is my preffered site.


Here is the list of components (with links to NewEgg):

Case: NZXT Tempest - $109.99
Motherboard: ASUS P6T - $284.99
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem - $288.99
Video Card: Geforce GTX 295 - $504.99 (I'm open to recommendations of SLi/Crossfire with two cards, but WoW has limited support for SLi at the moment)
RAM: OCZ Reaper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM, 1866Mhz - $190.99
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB, 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0GB/s - $104.99 (I was talked out of a VelociRaptor 300GB, and was told the difference from 7200RPM to 10000RPM was not noticeable, so any more personal insight into this would be nice)
Disk Drive: SAMSUNG DVD+R/RW Reader and Burner, with Lightscribe - $25.99
Power Supply: Corsair 750TX - $299.99
Monitor: Hanns-G 27.5 inch 3ms Widescreen - $369.99
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium, 64-bit - $99.99
Other: Just so I can get as much feedback as possible, I was also talked out of buying a Killer NIC Gaming Network Card, I was told it provided a minimal performance boost (if any) compared to the price tag on it. So any personal insight into that would be nice. Other than that I wasn't talked out of too many things other than what I already listed above in parenthesis in the list.

Total Price: Sorta got lost in my cart...added a few misc things to fix a seperate PC >.<

I'm also looking into a liquid cooling kit for the CPU, it looks like a "cheap" pre-built setup for just a CPU will cost me about $70. Anyone who has experience with liquid cooling is welcome to comment on if it's worth it, it seems like it would be to me though. That and I hate having to clean dust out of fans every couple weeks, thankfully the case I picked has removable/reusable filters on the all of the intake fans, so that should help quite a bit in terms of dust removal.

Also I'm really looking to do this right, and get a top-of-the-line PC built without falling into any of the gimmick-ie parts that won't give that big of a performance boost, but cost hundreds of dollars more. I'm semi-new to the computer building scene so any insight is welcome.

I appreciate any feedback!

 

[Rogue Sniper]

Theres an ASUS card of the same model but it has 3 fans and stays much cooler. Dont have link but its on Newegg though

 

[Prales]

Yeah, I saw that one actually when I was looking, I'll put that one up there.

 

[Evil-Jester]

to read more on the killer NIC card ... http://www.killernic.com/reviews/testimonials.aspx or http://www.killernic.com/reviews/default.aspx in a nut shell it makes your ping lower by doing all the internet based stuff right on the card so it removes the load on your cpu also you will find that when you shot first you will always win as your timeing will go from lets say 100ms to like 50ms (not rlly but works like that) basicly every review said this. its a MUST for online gaming, cause it makes your internet lag gone and gaming smoother. all i know is im gunna get one

 

[Prales]

Yeah, I've just been getting mixed feedback on it is all, but when I read the reviews around the net it seems like a good investment, so I'll probably go for it. Thanks for the links too, I think I somehow missed those looking on their site...

 

[Evil-Jester]

i am full of win sometimes ya its a good investment and when i get one it will improve my ping as im far away

 

[Stinky Wizzleteats]

Liquid cooling is only worth it if you plan to overclock. For most cases you can use a nice heatsink & be fine. I use the Thermalright 120 and pump air through the case, it keeps the cpu nice & cool. I would recommend LC if you plan on overclocking the graphics card at all bc high gpu heat will kill your fps. If you do go LC built it outside the case and let it run for 24hrs before install not all guides recommend this, but even with nonconductive fluid any leaks can ruin your nice new hardware. As for cleaning, you'll still need dust covers for the fans, if you don't the fans will blow dust all over the rads & they are alot harder to clean than a fan.

 

[-Jv-]

I would suggest, going for the Asus P6T, or even the rampage II Extreme. Save yourself alot of money purchasing a i7 920 and a decent cpu cooler and overclock it to 3GHz or even 3.2. Like I did And maybe change the 4870x2 for the newer and better gtx295

Theres an ASUS card of the same model but it has 3 fans and stays much cooler. Dont have link but its on Newegg though

It's the Asus Tri-fan

 

[HardHat]

Definitely go for the i7 920 instead. The only difference is a slightly lower clockspeed, and a 20 core multiplier compared to 22 on the 940. And that's hardly worth forking out twice as much money.

Swap the Intel motherboard for the Asus P6T Deluxe v2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

You can also save $180 by switching the Tagan 1100W for this Corsair 750TX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=corsair 750

Your system at load will only need 500w anyway. If you think 750w isn't enough, there's always the Corsair 850TX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

Or the Corsair 1000HX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007&Tpk=corsair 1000

 

[PropagandaPanda]

As far as the hard drive, I don't notice a difference between 10,000RPM and 7,200RPM, and I've used both.

I have noticed a big difference when using a solid-state drive. Unfortunately, solid state drives are still a little too expensive; a 30GB drive runs a little less than $100.

So, I'd say that you're right to stick with the normal 7200RPM drive.

 

[Blue Stealth]

i would look for a cpu cooler and get the corsair 1000w psu instead of abs/tagan

-Blue

 

[Prales]

@Stinky Wizzleteats

Yeah, I do plan to OC the processor, even more so now since I decided to drop to the 920 (much to the recommendation of many here) and just OC to compete with the "higher end" processors. As for dust removal, the case I have has dust filters over all the intake fans, so that should help quite a bit. I also have OCD cleaning tendencies when it comes to my computers, they normally get disassembled and cleaned once a month lol. Thanks for the info on liquid cooling!


@?Jv?

Thanks for the link to that motherboard, it's a pain trying to sift through them all and find a deal lol. As for the video card, you would recommend a gtx 295 over the 4870 x2? That's something I've been going back and forth with myself.


@HardHat

Thanks for the power supply links, going to go with the Corsair 750TX, since it ends up being the cheapest with mail in rebates and such. And as with the above stuff, I'm definitely going with the 920 and that motherboard!


@PropagandaPanda

I'll probably stick with the hard drive I have picked out, the solid state ones are on the high side, I'll wait and see if they start to come down any lol. I don't think it will make or break the computer at this point, though I could be wrong!


@Blue Stealth

I'm going with the PSU that HardHat linked, it should work out pretty well. As for CPU cooling I was looking at a pre-build liquid cooling setup like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150097

I would like to build a set-up myself, but it seems rather pricey, and since I don't plan on liquid cooling anything but the CPU at this point it seems like the way to go. Then when I get the budget for it again, I can try out make an entire liquid cooling system. Though if someone has a good resource for the stuff, that would help too. I've just been looking around on Google, and I've found quite a few of them, but it seems their prices vary quite a bit on all the components.

---

Time to update the list in the first post....

 

[Evil-Jester]

ewwwwwww on the LQ system if you gunna ge with a pre-made lq system you want something with more BANG ever more so if you plan on ocing you want to make your own talk to gooda but if you rlly wanna go pre-made get somthing like this one http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6...Water_Cooling_Kit_754939AM2775478.html?tl=g30 i would still say make it your self but if you must get your cash worth. hears a list of all thier stuff http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g30..._Cooling_Kits_-_Brands-CoolIt_Kits-Page1.html and hears thier site http://www.coolitsystems.com/

 

[-Jv-]

@?Jv?

Thanks for the link to that motherboard, it's a pain trying to sift through them all and find a deal lol. As for the video card, you would recommend a gtx 295 over the 4870 x2? That's something I've been going back and forth with myself.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma_Df9lm8DQ[/ame]

 

[Prales]

@Evil-Jester

Yeah, I didn't except the one I linked to to be that great lol. That site looks like what I was looking for, and I'll keep looking around at making my own from scratch!


@?Jv?

That video answered my question well! Thanks

 

[Evil-Jester]

like i said if you need any LQ help talk to Havegooda he knows lots about it