My new build

**Harner** · 07-24-2009, 11:18 AM

I am a huge fan of NewEgg so I generally buy everything from them. The prices are good (for wholesale), shipping is excellent (things usually arrive <2 days), and I've been using them for years. I decided to go with a new computer since I got this monitor. It's kind of like having a brand new HDTV and using an antenna. The last PC I built (for myself) was a Pentium D 330 @ 3Ghz, Intel board, cheap case and power supply, sata 250gb wd, ATI x700, etc and I sold it for a Magnaflow catback for the T/A.

The primary function of this computer is some gaming, server-like speed and reliability, some web and graphic work, and just a tool to use when working on home or freelancing. It'll be nothing special, just something ignorant by this week's standards. Then I can use it for the next 5 or so years or hand it off to a family member in need when I get the itch to build something more bad ass and some other goodies.

I am by no means on top of the Tech world so my knowledge of the biggest and baddest hardware left when my interest in technology shifted from gaming and doing entry level computer stuff to networking, servers, and project management. With that being said, I'm open to criticism, flaming, opinions, and facts. Post up your rigs as well if you are a computer nerd and take pride in this kind of stuff. AMD fanboys can go here.

Components:
Monitor.
Samsung 24" flat panel, 2433BW Glossy screen

Case.
The case is the most important piece of the puzzle. I went with the Thermaltake M9. From what I have seen so far, it's fairly durable but certainly not the greatest thing I have ever seen. What sold me was the ports being right in the front at the top. The days of "feeling around" either in the bottom front or rear of the tower are over! Also, don't buy a case w/a PSU. The PSU's are generally junk.

CPU.
Intel i7 920, quad core @ 2.66Ghz is what I went with. Enough said.

CPU Cooling.
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 Dual 120mm. This was real easy to install without the PSU. I had to take the plastic air tube off the case side so it would fit.

Mainboard.
MSI X58 Pro-E. This is a great board with plenty of ports. I didn't mess with it much so far, but there's a ton of good features compared to my last build which included a plain Intel motherboard.

PSU.
OCZ 700w. Best PSU I ever bought. It's very clean, everything is wrapped nicely. It also has a 3 year warranty!

Hard Drives. SDD HDD.
PQI 32GB SSD drive for the OS and 2 WD 1TB 7200rpm drives configured as RAID1 for data.

RAM.
Triple channel OCZ 3x2GB, Gold series

Video Card.
I went with a Sapphire 1GB, 256-bit ATI 4870 card. It is a big unit, with large cooling pipes on the side of it. It has two power connectors on that back of it for serious business abilities, I figure. This will be fine for the games I play - WOW, Starcraft, Unreal Tourny, Delta Force series, etc.

Optical Drives.
Drive 1: SATA DVD Burner
Drive 2: SATA Lite-On DVD-ROM
I never stepped up to the HD/Blu Ray scene yet, so I'll upgrade to a real burner some other day. For now, this works.

Peripherals.
Mouse- Logitech MX1100. I love it!!! I bought this because I miss my MX1000. It's a laser wireless mouse, with plenty of DPI.
Keyboard- Razer Lycosa. Gotta have the backlit keys. I used to have a Logitech G15 and that was cool with the LED screen and all, but I threw in the keyboard and mouse when I sold my old PC, so time for something new.
Speakers- Logitech Z-4 2.1 system. Very clear, lots of bass. For the price you can't go wrong.
UPS- Cyberpower 1350 VA, 810w, 1500 joules. I have the tower, speakers, monitor, modem, router, and a cordless phone hooked up to it and has no problem.

Other- new mousepad w/wrist support since all of mine are old and suck, Artic Silver compound is a must, and some cable management stuff.

OS
Until I fine tune the RAID config, I loaded Win7 beta just to play with it. The install was very fast! I will either run a later ver of Win7 or Windows 2008 Server x64. My Linux needs will be fulfilled in VMWare.

**SneeBeezums** · 07-24-2009, 05:30 PM

I am jealous. I wanted to build an i7 system but unfortunately I have to watch my spending limit.

I'm going to be buying an 8800GTS off my buddy for 80 bucks when I get back to school and I think I'm going to buy the Intel Q9550. Just trying to figure out what motherboard to get. I doubt I'll go SLI so I'll probably get an Intel chipset.

**Snead** · 07-24-2009, 07:57 PM

How much did that warlock cost you

**thank mr skeltal** · 07-24-2009, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by Snead

How much did that warlock cost you

I'm curious to know as well, especially the total cost minus the monitor and peripherals

**SneeBeezums** · 07-24-2009, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by Rick Scarf

I'm curious to know as well, especially the total cost minus the monitor and peripherals

I went through and added all the items in my shopping cart and got it to sum up around $1000. That's without a monitor, case, speakers, etc.

**Harner** · 07-25-2009, 10:45 AM

Yeah it was about a grand. I made a spreadsheet with what parts to buy, and over the course of 2 or 3 months I was collecting parts. Unfortunately, certain items got discontinued so I had to find something else. The list here is updated to reflect the end result.

Probably upwards of $2k with all the bullshit.

The Q9550 build would be great! I work as a Network Analyst at a hospital system, and my desktop has more horsepower and storage than any of the servers there. Awesome.

**Atmosfear** · 07-25-2009, 08:22 PM

your mouse sucks.

G5 is the best mouse period.

**linkinkampf19** · 07-26-2009, 12:14 AM

I wouldn't go as far as saying it sucks, but the MX518 or G5 would beat it to the ground any day of the week.

Very nice system otherwise. Wish I had that type of dough. Oh wait, I did.... and then I bought a GTX260, 640GB HDD and 4GB G.Skill

**ShitFace** · 07-26-2009, 07:17 AM

I'd say get a higher watt psu.
You prob don't need it now, but it will allow you to upgrade in the future if you want to.

**linkinkampf19** · 07-26-2009, 09:06 AM

700W is quite a gap already. He could get away with this card on a nice 550W PSU. He'll be able to breathe just fine, pending he doesn't switch over to Crossfire anytime soon.

**Harner** · 07-26-2009, 09:04 PM

The PSU is overkill for my needs at the moment. No plans on going Crossfire at the moment.

And this mouse kicks ass. The G5 can goto hell. I'm sick of wires holding me back.

I'm about to start another build for the g/f, once she figures out the case she wants. The guts of it won't matter to her in the least. I'm going to go with a budget AMD build. I don't really know that side of the spectrum so I'll have to dig up some info on that this week.

What's hot in the AMD world right now? I heard they have a nicely priced triple core out there.

**Harner** · 07-26-2009, 09:05 PM

Oh, and the front fan on the case still resembles a swastika just like the picture.

**SneeBeezums** · 07-27-2009, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by Harner

I'm about to start another build for the g/f, once she figures out the case she wants. The guts of it won't matter to her in the least. I'm going to go with a budget AMD build. I don't really know that side of the spectrum so I'll have to dig up some info on that this week.

What's hot in the AMD world right now? I heard they have a nicely priced triple core out there.

I'm more of an Intel guy myself so I'm not all too sure. If you go AMD get the Phenom II, the first gen was awful. They have a triple core Phenom II got for 120 USD on Newegg. Get a AM3 motherboard/cpu if you do go down that route. They'll be sticking with the AM3 socket for awhile from what I've read.

**Harner** · 07-28-2009, 09:50 AM

The other day I got the RAID configured and loaded Windows Server 2008 Std. It's very smooth and I have everything loaded on my storage partition.

Everything is fast and working great. I had a problem with WOW crashing on me. It crashed twice so far and I had to rollback to a previous patch. Otherwise everything else is fine. I just need to customize the desktop and install a few more apps and it'll be good to go.