i7 Dream Build

[ryanbatc 10,344]

I was having some fun on newegg yesterday, put together a few components for my i7 dream build. What do you think?The case is pricey but I've read reviews and think Corsair did a great job with cable management possibilities. Plus it's very roomy.The SSD is for fun, at the cost per GB I wouldn't probably buy one until they come down more.The HSF is massive but would fit the case.Everything is is pretty self explanatory - the psu, I've been a fan of modular so I went with one of those.$2500 USD not including OS which I'll get from work (Win 7 x64)p.s. Can't believe how much LCD's have come down in price - my 4 yr old 19in Viewsonic cost $330 bucks at the time lol

[audiohavoc 24]

I already had a 22" Acer monitor, speakers, keyboard, and mouse, but at Microcenter in Tustin, CA I was able to purchase all of the following for $1200 after tax and rebates:CASE - Cooler Master HAF 922 PSU - OCZ Fatality 700w MOBO - ASUS P6T 1366CPU - I7 920 D0 steppingCPU COOLER - Thermalright Venomous XCPU FAN - Scythe ULTRA KAZE 3000 rpmMEMORY - OCZ Gold 3 x 2GB 1600 DDR3GPU - BFG GTX 260 Maxcore 55 Overclocked 896MB DDR3HD - Western Digital 7200 RPM 320GB Caviar BlueOS - Windows 7 Premium 64 - bitFor the price, this rig is awesome. My i7 920 is stable at 4.0ghz, and the graphics card is running at 745 mhz, 1000 memory clock, and 1500 shader clock. With REX 2.0, GEX, UTX, Scenery Tech and the PMDG MD-11 I get about 20 fps flying low over Los Angeles at night. This is with 25fps locked, and very high graphics setting (Max scenery complexity, autogen maxed, nearly maxed out scenery sliders, etc)

[ryanbatc 10,344]

Yeah the SSD adds about 500 bucks. The Motherboard is very new so it's roughly 100 bucks more than your P6TThe GTX 285 is again, more pricey than the 260. And the Corsair case is quite expensive. I think the Coolermaster HAF goes for what 150?I didn't say the build was price/performance LOL. I guess it was just components I've liked and would like to get someday.If I were going the cheaper route I'd probably get that very case you list, or the Antec 900, the Asus P6T v2, the i7 930, with a cheaper cooler than that huge nochtua one I listed. I'd dump the SSD, and get a 300GB velociraptor. I'd keep the GTX285 but might try and shop for a cheaper brand. Power supply would drop to a Corsair TX750 but the rest would be about the same.So, It would be still around 1700 ish with monitor

[audiohavoc 24]

Yeah the SSD adds about 500 bucks. The Motherboard is very new so it's roughly 100 bucks more than your P6TThe GTX 285 is again, more pricey than the 260. And the Corsair case is quite expensive. I think the Coolermaster HAF goes for what 150?I didn't say the build was price/performance LOL. I guess it was just components I've liked and would like to get someday.If I were going the cheaper route I'd probably get that very case you list, or the Antec 900, the Asus P6T v2, the i7 930, with a cheaper cooler than that huge nochtua one I listed. I'd dump the SSD, and get a 300GB velociraptor. I'd keep the GTX285 but might try and shop for a cheaper brand. Power supply would drop to a Corsair TX750 but the rest would be about the same.So, It would be still around 1700 ish with monitor

The best deals I got were the following:i7 920 - $200ASUS P6T - openbox for $178, tested and warranty from ASUSPower supply - $105 with $30 rebateCase - $90OCZ Gold 1600 - $170 with $30 rebateBFG GTX 260 maxcore 55nm - $160

[ryanbatc 10,344]

Yeah that 100 dollar savings off the CPU helps. I just priced out a more realistic system on newegg and still ended up with 1700ish, with monitor and two hdd'sI realized if you're going the 1366 route you're pretty much stuck with a 200+ dollar mobo... argh

[Bob Scott 6,387]

I would recommend going with the OEM vs retail box version of the X-25M...I just put two more of them in my FS machine (three total now, one for the OS, one for FS9, and the other for FSX) and they were $70 cheaper then the retail boxed versions at $429 each, plus $20 for the IcyDock 2.5" -> 3.5" drive mount box. I highly recommend the IcyDock--you slide the top down about an inch and it flips up...you drop in the SSD, close the box, and now you have a 3.5" form factor aluminum box with SATA connectors and standard mounting screw holes that fits into any case that takes 3.5" HDDs.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

[ryanbatc 10,344]

Interesting... what is the difference between OEM and retail boxes when it comes to drives? As I remember mainly with OEM you just get the hdd in a sheeth of antistatic or a bag... Is this the product you speak of?http://www.cremax.com/home.htmAlso, Bob, how fast does FSX load for you? What sizes of the X25 did you get for your needs?

[Guest FlyingBits]

Just make sure you go for a retail version of the 930 like you have shown, the OEM versions are locked.Paul

[ryanbatc 10,344]

Just make sure you go for a retail version of the 930 like you have shown, the OEM versions are locked.Paul

ick! Why on earth would they do that?

[Bob Scott 6,387]

Interesting... what is the difference between OEM and retail boxes when it comes to drives? As I remember mainly with OEM you just get the hdd in a sheeth of antistatic or a bag... Is this the product you speak of?http://www.cremax.com/home.htmAlso, Bob, how fast does FSX load for you? What sizes of the X25 did you get for your needs?

The retail comes with a SATA cable and a sheet metal 2.5" to 3.5" mounting bracket. Same 3-year warranty, same drive.Actually, that's a dual-drive version of the IcyDock you have there. The ones I use each hold a single 2.5" SATA device. It's this one: Newegg: IcyDockI have three 160GB X-25Ms...one is a Gen 1 that doesn't do trim, and that one has my FS9 install on it. The OS (Vista 64 HP) and some other utility software and a few games are on one of the Gen 2 X-25Ms, and FSX and a few other games are on the other. The OS drive has 4MB block size (a requirement for a boot drive), and I use 32K block size for the two FS drives.FSX loads to the "Create a Flight" screen in 10-20 seconds, including Ultimate Traffic II, and it will go from the create a flight menu to sim running in 20-25 seconds. In contrast, it takes nearly 3 min from the menu to sim running with a 10,000 RPM Velociraptor with the exact same FSX configuration installed on it.Make sure that you set your HDD controller to AHCI in the BIOS before installing your OS...the X-25M will automatically use NCQ when in AHCI mode, and it makes a very noticeable difference in small file access speeds. Also, check the firmware version before you do anything with the drive...if it's not version 02HD you really need to flash the new version before writing anything on the drive. The previous version was pretty messed up and can "brick" a drive under some conditions.CheersBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO