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[Dragon]

Comments welcome.  Customer is a friend and wants to build 2 new comps (his and hers) for general purpose.  Budget is 1000.00 each.

APEVIA X-JUPITER-JR G-Type X-JPJGT-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - 40
Gigabyte EP45T-UD3LR Motherboard - Intel P45, Socket 775, ATX, DDR3, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0, RAID - 125
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Processor BX80570E8400 - 3.0GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, Wolfdale, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor with Fan - 180
OCZ Dual Channel Platinum 4096MB PC12800 DDR3 1600MHz DDR3 Memory (2x2048MB) - 60
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB Hard Drive - 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM - 50 x 2 = 100
XFX GeForce 9800 GT - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, (2) Dual Link DVI, HDTV, VGA Support - 100
PC Power & Cooling / Silencer / 610-Watt / PCI-Express / SATA-Ready / Copper Power Supply, 80Plus - 85

Vista, monitor, keyboard, mouse, misc @ 300.00  Total 990.00

[Getback]

Didn't see a sound card.

[Masherbrum]

610 watts is in the "grey area" of not enough power.   I'd go with the 750w Silencer from PC & C, to get away from that, but give more leeway in the future.

[TheZohan]

i would recommend on a new build going with a X58 chipset with i7 920 (almost twice as fast as the E8400) .. simply cause the upgrade path  on the E8400 the chips will start being more expensive then the 920 and still be slower

[Fulmar]

610 watts is in the "grey area" of not enough power.   I'd go with the 750w Silencer from PC & C, to get away from that, but give more leeway in the future.

That PSU is good on the rails, so our concern isn't there.  A rough calculation of that system at 100% peak load yielded me 310 watts.  Even if he overclocked it a bit he wouldn't pass 400W.

My E6400 OC'd at 2.8ghz and a 8800GTS 640, 3 HD's, lots of fans etc etc peaks at 360W (measured at the wall socket, so you have to factor in the efficiency rating of the PSU to get a more accurate representation of actual power drawn).

If he was doing a 4870x2 or GTX 295 or SLI/Crossfire system, then a bigger PSU would do fine.

[Dragon]

i would recommend on a new build going with a X58 chipset with i7 920 (almost twice as fast as the E8400) .. simply cause the upgrade path  on the E8400 the chips will start being more expensive then the 920 and still be slower

That would put the builds over-budget and would have to skimp on other parts.  The processor could be updated at a later time and the rest of the parts would handle it quite well due to not downgrading them at this time.

Agreed Fulmar, they have no plan nor desire to twin the VC's or overclock, though I might tweak it a bit  and the onboard ALC888 provides good sound.

I was hoping the power supply would be ok, 11 amps more on the 12v on the 750 but the extra $ puts it overbudget again 

[Fulmar]

Seriously, that 610 PC&C is a beast and is more than adequate for the computer you're building.  I run a 600W in my setup.

[TheZohan]

its his money but in the long run his upgrade path is gonna cost him and still not be as fast as the 920.


APEVIA X-JUPITER-JR G-Type X-JPJGT-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - 40
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard, PCIe 16x 2.0 X 2 (crossfire/SLI), LAN, USB, RAID - 200 (185.00 with rebate)
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - 280.00
OCZ 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) - 97.00 (77.00 with rebate)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB Hard Drive - 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM - 50 x 2 = 100
XFX GeForce 9800 GT - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, (2) Dual Link DVI, HDTV, VGA Support - 100
PC Power & Cooling / Silencer / 610-Watt / PCI-Express / SATA-Ready / Copper Power Supply, 80Plus - 85

902.00 without the rebates.
867.00 with rebates.

it would take a X9770 to even come close to the performance of the 920

X9770 costs 1399.00
i7 920 cost   280.00

and the 920 still outperforms it

[Dragon]

That would make for a really nice system.

"902.00 without the rebates.
867.00 with rebates. "

+ 300 for Vista, etc = 1167.00

That puts the build 334.00 over budget and takes away any $ for me.  I'd rather not work this many hours for free.

[1701E]

I would guess by  "general purpose" you mean Internet browsing, E-mail, flash, possible light gaming, music/videos?
If so, Zohan, an i7 CPU is a little overkill for that.  Now for Heavy gaming/video editing sounds good.

Dang Dragon, you typed it before I could.

[Dragon]

I would guess by  "general purpose" you mean Internet browsing, E-mail, flash, possible light gaming, music/videos?  Exactly
If so, Zohan, an i7 CPU is a little overkill for that.  Now for Heavy gaming/video editing sounds good.

Dang Dragon, you typed it before I could.

Sorry 


The $2k was solid and customer is going with 19" monitors to leave room for better box parts. The rebates are what is paying me for my time, so, not getting much. 

I was hoping for some feedback on the MB as I haven't used a Gigabyte before. This one rated good and offers what customer requested, anybody have reliability info?  I'm usually an ASUS MB'er

[TilDeath]

i would recommend on a new build going with a X58 chipset with i7 920 (almost twice as fast as the E8400) .. simply cause the upgrade path  on the E8400 the chips will start being more expensive then the 920 and still be slower

HUH  the intro X58 boards that are decent (remember you get what you pay for) $240+ the i7 920 $230.  To take advantage of the i7 you need triple channel memory 6GB $130+ for decent memory.  The QPI has a funny way of working and skimping on memory is not a way to have an i7 rig.  Now add the CASE PSU HD GPU and there goes the 1k budget for each build.  Not happening

[TheZohan]

like i said his money .

but if he ever decides he wants something faster the extra 300 over budget  in the beginning would have payed off

and i dont know why intel put themselves in that position.  the higher end 775 chips are not even close to the i7 low end..


as i stated the before the X9770 with is the 920 closest competitor and the chip alone is 1399.00 the price of the complete  920 build i just quoted.

[BaldEagl]

The 610 PCP&C will work absolutely fine in that rig.  The only reason to upgrade to the 750 is if he's going to SLI it and run multiple Raptors or something like that.  Even then it might run it but it would be close.

[TilDeath]

like i said his money .

but if he ever decides he wants something faster the extra 300 over budget  in the beginning would have payed off

and i dont know why intel put themselves in that position.  the higher end 775 chips are not even close to the i7 low end..


as i stated the before the X9770 with is the 920 closest competitor and the chip alone is 1399.00 the price of the complete  920 build i just quoted.

You did not read what I stated.  The memory you had listed is NOT good on an x58 board, even though that is what its intended purpose is.  You choose I am assuming the OCZ Tri Channel Gold, its not good memory at all.  Very rarely will I bash OCZ but when I do take heed.  I get engineering samples from them for testing and evaluation, the Tri Channel Gold is no way to go.