Computer I'm building...

[BigBiker05]

What I have so far:
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySa ... D=23373327 (let me know if link doesn't work)

I'm not sure about case and power supply. I also don't know if that hard drive is crap or not. I'm still looking at a heat sink for the cpu also. Let me know if you see anything wrong. Will be taking a spare DVD drive from my current PC.

[Boss Llama]

That link is a secure one - have to be signed in as you to view it.

Without seeing the list, my PSU recommendation is a Corsair. For HDD, Western Digital caviar drives. If you aren't overclocking, your stock HSF should be fine.

Will comment further with list access

[BigBiker05]

I'm trying to find a link to it that isn't account based. The list is public but I have no idea how to link it, nor can I find it doing a search of wishlists.

[Boss Llama]

I'm trying to find a link to it that isn't account based. The list is public but I have no idea how to link it, nor can I find it doing a search of wishlists.

Copy and paste the text, then insert URLs. That's the easiest way to get it to the forums. You may be able to email it to yourself or something, and copy that over as well if you wanted.

[BigBiker05]

The link it e-mails is the same, https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySa ... D=23373327 So it's not working after you log in? I'll update when I get off work with something we can work with.

[BigBiker05]

Looks like it just took some time to turn public. I get home from work and now I can easily get a link that says public instead of my.
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Publi ... r=23373327

[Boss Llama]

Ok, I can see the list now.

Awesome case, awesome PSU, and really nice system all around - definitely a barn burner is most respects. The only thing that looks like a problem is the HDD, which is a slow bulk-storage type. I see you have an SSD as well, but it's small enough that you won't be able to both boot and game from it, so you'll definitely want to upgrade that platter HDD. Look for a 7200 RPM drive (I like to use Western Digital Caviar Blue or Caviar Black) to make access times on it acceptable - the difference is huge.

Only other suggestion I can make, as it really is quite a nice looking system, is that you could save around $300 with no appreciable performance difference in gaming applications by switching to an 1155 system with a nice SandyBridge quadcore (like a 2600k) instead of the 2011 with a hexcore. If you aren't doing processor bound rendering or something, the extra cores just don't make a huge difference. If you want it however, the one you chose is the one to get. Tom's Hardware does a gaming CPU chart as well, found HERE.

Whether built as is, or with modifications, looks like you're going to have a heck of a gaming box.

[Clay Pigeon]

Your wishlist doesn't have a cpu cooler.


I don't think you need a SB-E system. 2500k for gaming. 2600k/2700k for encoding.

Use the $$$ you save for a better video card and more storage.

[BigBiker05]

Yeah, I mentioned cooler as what I still need. I also might just use my current hard drive and put one of my small one lying around in my current PC. And Alizee, that processor I have selected is the only i7 on that chart you linked me.

Clay, can you go into details on an SB-E system? I don't know what that is.

Here is my current HD, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822152185
The SSD I plan to use for operation system.

[Clay Pigeon]

SB-E is socket 2011.

[BigBiker05]

So can anyone recommend a different cpu then? And also, from that point, does anyone have any suggestions for cpu heatsinks?

I'm getting rid of that hard drive and keeping my current one, everything else on there seems good (assuming it works with the different cpu). I'm an evga fanboy so MoBos are easy to pick out.

[Deslock]

As far as an air cooler goes, this is probably the best bang for the buck out there:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835103099

[Mortis462]

I would go for the i7 2600 quad core: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115071

I will highly recommend the Cooler Master V8 if you can fit it in your case. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835103055 My case is 8.33" deep and it just fits. Also as a point of reference I'm running an OC i7 920 (I'm at 3.2 vs 2.66 stock) and I idle at ~25c with this cooler. At full load doing video encoding for hours I'll get up to ~55-ish

[BigBiker05]

I would go for the i7 2600 quad core: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115071

I will highly recommend the Cooler Master V8 if you can fit it in your case. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835103055 My case is 8.33" deep and it just fits. Also as a point of reference I'm running an OC i7 920 (I'm at 3.2 vs 2.66 stock) and I idle at ~25c with this cooler. At full load doing video encoding for hours I'll get up to ~55-ish

Antec is 8.4" deep but it also has the side fan. Does yours have a side fan or no? Also, that processor is half the cost of the current one I'm looking at. Is there something better for my budget or is that really worth it?

[Boss Llama]

If you're an overclocker, you'll want the 2600K rather than standard 2600 (I think it's $30 more), but yeah - I'd say save the money, because you won't likely notice a difference. Price has nothing to do with performance in the high-end CPU market right now. Checking the overall hierarchy chart, which ranks performance only, chips ranging from $300 to $1050 all are on the top line of the top tier - functionally equal performers way above the rest.

The reason most i7's aren't listed in Tom's' recommendations is because the price for performance isn't there - they're unnecessary expenditures for gamers. The difference in gaming performance between a high-end i5 and nearly any Sandybridge i7 is minimal, and for the moment they're pretty much just bragging rights. The 3930K makes the list because it's the best price/performance ratio in what Tom's considers the "the sky's the limit" price point, and if you want to spend a lot of money, that's their prefered bleeding-edge pick. Intel has itself in an interesting situation here where their $220 mid-range processor is better than some of their $1000 extreme processors, and the performance difference to be had between the middle and high price points of their current series is almost non-existent. Intel is basically competing with itself right now, and is kicking its own butt.

Now, if you have non-gaming applications that will use a hexcore, or you play CPU bound games, then the difference might be there a little more. In most games, however, the difference between a 3930K and a 2600K is about 1-2%. HERE is a review with some good benchmarks comparing it and other higher-end CPUs, including all the ones we've talked about in this thread. The charts show the 3930 does outperform the others in synthetics, to be sure, but if you go to the game charts, not so much. It's definitely a good chip and they do really like it, but it's worth seeing if you have an actual use for it, or if the extra power would be doing nothing.