This build's ultimate purpose is to be used for mainly for gaming and multimedia downloading/burning/ripping/playback. I have stated that this build has no budget restrictions. This is true, however that is not to say that I am willing to spend excess amounts of money for hugely diminished returns on bleeding-edge merchandise. I am satisfied with the product that is currently at a great value but is not underpowered. For instance, my GPU of choice is the Radeon 5850. It is less powerful than the 5870, but also much less expensive. It is also slightly more expensive than a 4890, or 2x4870 CF'd, but also a much more solid and versatile performer. The perfect balance of power-pricing for me is the Radeon 5850.
---Potential purchases---
RAM - [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682023127...-_-Product]G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)[/url] $97 taxed/shipped
Low latency and low voltage make up for its low speed, which can be easily overclocked. I will consider purchasing a second set if 4gb seems insufficient.
ODD - [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140042]HP Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA 24X Multiformat DVD Writer[/url] $35 taxed/shipped
This one does everything but Blu-ray. If you can find me a better one or a cheaper one, chime in.
VDU - [url=http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfo/peripherals/monitor-dell-u2410/p...&s=dfo]Dell UltraSharp U2410 24 inch 1920x1200 6ms 1000:1 HDMI/DVI/VGA/DisplayPort Widescreen LCD Monitor[/url] $524 taxed/shipped
Really phat screen with badass features and picture. Demands high-power GPU so I can take advantage of its awesomeness.
***New***Mouse - My current mouse, the Razer Salmosa, is somewhat unsatisfactory to me. I bought it on the prerequisite that it would be ideal for fingertip gripping, when in fact the dynamics of the mouse seem more befitting a claw grip or even a palm, and this is just not what I wanted at all. If held with fingertips, the Salmosa buttons are too difficult to depress (due to being nearer to the butt end), the chassis shows marks very easily, and the mouse itself is just much too long to be effectively maneuvered like a fingertip mouse should be.
If you have any suggestions for mice that you think I would like, please let me know.
***New***Keys - [url=http://cgi.ebay.com/Logitech-G11-Illuminate-USB-2.0-Gaming-Key...294wt_1162]Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard[/url] $50 taxed/shipped
Keyboard needs to have backlighting, or whatever it is called where a light comes on beneath the keys so they can be seen easier in a dark room. The keys must have space between them and must have noticeable depression (so no laptop keys). It absolutely must NOT have all the noobish bling like a dumb little LCD screen or 50 programmable buttons I'll never use. If you have any suggestions for boards you think I would like, or if you think the G11 is perfect for me, let me know.
***New***HDD - I already have a 1tb drive listed in my completed purchases, but I am considering several options that would involve different/additional HDDs.
One would be purchasing a 10k RPM drive, particularly the [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.273741]Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive[/url]. Newegg is running a combo deal right now where they are throwing in a power supply along with the VR, and giving you 2 bucks just to take it off their hands. I have no use for that PSU on my machine, so I figure I could sell it on eBay for about $70, thus bringing the practical price of a 300 GB WD VR down to $150. Another option would be to take identical drives and run them in RAID, but this would practically necessitate that I sell my current drive and buy faster ones (I am going for speed here, after all). Yet another option would be the one included in the following quote:
Another option is to buy a 32MB cache 1.0 or 1.5 TB drive ( $90 to $140 typically , Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 series in particular here ) and "short-stroke it" to only 300 ( or 700 ) GB, using the fastest part of the platters only ( restrict cylinders to only allow access to outer cylinders/tracks of the platters, so that the drive is forced to only r/w to the fastest parts of the platters ( the middle to outside of the platters, larger circumference of platter = higher data throughput there ), making inner portion of the platters inaccessible. Once you do this, the performance is on par with VelociRaptor ( even slightly better in certain benchmarks ) for about half the price of the VelociRaptor.
All of the options look tempting and viable to me. I thank you for any insight you can offer me in this matter.
********
That's it for the potential purchases for now. Please give me any opinions you have-no change is too small. I've spent a lot of time on this build because I want it to be as perfect as it can be, so please spare no detail. I am all-ears.
Thanks a bunch
~Viceroy Trepanation
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You make me feel like you're severely disappointed I haven't bought the system yet
Anyway, I'm running 15-20 threads about this right now. I'm just asking for a few more details from anyone who has anything to offer then I should be set in my final decision and subsequent purchases.
Michael, I'm not sure if you would more value staying updated on this, or if you just want me to hurry up and leave you and the rest of this board alone
Haha, so true. But I think he's looking for the parts that have the best price/performance ratio, which is the best way to build rig. If I had no budget I would be getting some different parts for sure though.
Q6600 G0 @ 3.5ghz
XFX ATI Radeon HD4870 1GB
4GB OCZ Reaper 1066mhz
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 1TB
ASUS P5Q Pro
ASUS VH242H 24' LCD
I have been considering replacing my current motherboard selection with the [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681318805...LF-E655-KR]EVGA P55 SLI 132-LF-E655-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard[/url]. It is $184 taxed/shipped, which is only 20 dollars more than my current mobo. This one looks to be of higher quality and more feature-rich, though my perspective on motherboards is somewhat limited and I ask for your insight.
Also, I found an [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682016701...2MH080G2C1]Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2C1 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk[/url] for $220 taxed/shipped, and at that price I am highly considering implementing it into my overall build. What are your thoughts?
I'd go with the i5-860 as it seems to be worth the extra price. This is no budget build afterall.
If it's me, I'm going with the Antec Three Hundred case. Quality case, looks nice, good price and should have good cooling.
The last thing is the videocard. I would go with the HD5850 over the 5870 as it's not worth the extra money. Get the 5850 and overclock it and it will match a stock 5870 I'm sure.
If you want to wait - the GT300 will also be coming out before the end of the year as seen here:
I just purchased my CPU and motherboard, changed my ODD of choice, and updated the OP accordingly. I decided to commit to the i7 860 and subsequent compatible motherboard/RAM, so the rest of this build should fall into place pretty easily.
Final purchases are planned to be made in the next few days if possible.
Awesome.
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