Need advice for a PC build

Hey, I'm planning to build a PC, it will be my first build so I am looking for advice or consultation or comments or whatever on the two builds I have come up with. Both builds share most of the parts but there are differences. Since it's my first build I am willing to spend more to make it nice, which I think I have, the prices I have on there now are approximations. Anyways here are the builds:

Red: Different Parts
Blue: Same Parts

	Build 1		Build 2
Part	Part Name	Cost	Part Name	Cost
Motherboard	Asus P6T WS Professional Motherboard	$285	ASUS Sabertooth P67 B3 TUF Edition	$200
CPU	Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition	$1000	Intel Core i7-2600K	$320
CPU Cooler	Corsair Hydro H100 CPU Liquid Cooler	$100	Corsair Hydro H100 CPU Liquid Cooler	$100
RAM	Corsair Vengeance DDR3 2000MHz 12GB (3x 4GB)	$165	Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 16GB (4 x 4GB)	$100
Video Card	EVGA 03G-P3-1591-AR GeForce GTX 580 FTW Hydro Copper 2	$660	EVGA 03G-P3-1591-AR GeForce GTX 580 FTW Hydro Copper 2	$660
Sound Card	Asus Xonar Essence STX PCIe 7.1	$180	Asus Xonar Essence STX PCIe 7.1	$180
Hard Drive	Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB (64MB cache)	$230	Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB (64MB cache)	$230
Optical Drive	Asus 12x Blu-Ray Burner	$80	Asus 12x Blu-Ray Burner	$80
Case	Corsair Obsidian 800D	$240	Corsair Obsidian 800D	$240
Power Supply	Thermaltake TPG-1200M ToughPower Grand 1200W	$300	Corsair TX850W	$135
Monitor	ASUS VH242H 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor	$180	ASUS VH242H 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor	$180
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64BIT	$200	Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64BIT	$150
Total Cost		~$3620		~2575

Like I said I am looking for feedback on the lists. I will not be starting the actual build until the end of the summer at the earliest and I don't plan on acquiring all the parts at once. Thanks for the feedback.

The Death Jester

Looks good to me......

Personally, though, I like build 2 better.....

And, IMVHO (very), unless you do video editing or something like that that really needs a lot of RAM, I think 8 or max 12 is enough....

Again just suggestions.......

From what u have given me i would do build two except switch out build 1's motherboard and ram.

What is the machine being used for?

Gaming? if so, i'd ditch the i7 and buy the i5 sandybridge, games at the moment will only use 4 cores and threads, so the extra money for the extra 4 threads on the i7 will be a waste

Build one is immense, but false economy tbh

You can get a new SB i7 3930K hexcore socket 2011 for less than 900 dollars and it'll blow the 990X extreme out of the water

Ditch the H100, they are crap crap crap, save some money and get better performance with either a Thermalright Silver Arrow or the new Phanteks beast

As for the graphics card, you are aware that it only comes with a water block? if your cooling your graphics under water, you may as well do the entire loop (Cpu + Gpu)

For that you will need a reservoir (anything by EK is good) A Pump, get a Laing D5, Radiator, ideally a 360 rad will cool that lot with some Gentle typhoon fans in push 'n' pull
the case is good for WC tbh, i done mine in it
the 360 rad will easily fit in the roof and with some modding, you might even get a 240 in the bit under the drive bays at the front, but moving on lol

Yeah What Seraph said.... +1

For me Both are way overboard with what you really need, but if I were to choose as it is it would be build 2. I rather enjoy my i7 2630QM with that extra multithreading. Allows me to be editing/compiling videos while still whipping away at games. For that reason as well I have 12gb of RAM in mine so the 16gb of RAM is a great idea.

DogManDan wrote:Yeah What Seraph said.... +1

For me Both are way overboard with what you really need, but if I were to choose as it is it would be build 2. I rather enjoy my i7 2630QM with that extra multithreading. Allows me to be editing/compiling videos while still whipping away at games. For that reason as well I have 12gb of RAM in mine so the 16gb of RAM is a great idea.

Yea i mean i have a i5 and i it works great!

Thanks for the feedback guys. I didn't know that the card was water cooled, thanks for letting me know. Anyways, I have made some changes to build 2 which is the build I am going to do. Again feed back is appreciated.

Here's the updated build:

Motherboard - Asus P6T WS Professional
Motherboard ($285)
CPU - Intel Core i7-2600K ($320)

CPU
Cooler - Phanteks PH-TC14PE 140mm UFB CPU Cooler ($90)

RAM - Corsair Vengeance DDR3 2000MHz
12GB (3x 4GB) ($165)

Video
Card - EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi)
($500)

Sound
Card - Asus Xonar Essence STX PCIe 7.1
($180)

Hard
Drive - Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB (64MB
cache) ($230)

Optical
Drive - Asus 12x Blu-Ray Burner ($80)

Case - Corsair Obsidian 800D ($240)

Power
Supply - Corsair TX850W ($135)

Monitor - ASUS VH242H 24" Widescreen LCD
Monitor ($180)

Operating
System - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64BIT
($150)

Total Cost: ~$2555

I like the setup on that now. I would like to have a GTX 580 but I will stick with my GTX 570

Much better on the revision, but you've specced Tri channel ram, Sandybridge is Dual channel, old i7 is tri, so go with either 8Gb DDR3 1600 or 16Gb DDR3 1600
It makes no sense spending extra on the 2000Mhz stuff because it won't be used by sandybridge.

Ok, I switch my RAM back to the Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 16GB (4 x 4GB) which I originally had on the build. I had a question about the power supply, should 850W support my build or should I find one with a little more power.


The Death Jester

850W will be more than enough, in fact you could get away with a 750W tbh

Yea you could get away with750w, i have ether 650w or a 750w,to lazy to look but mine works great!

Thanks again guys for the feed back. I think I am going to stick with the 850W supply. It's nice to have my build set, now I just have to make enough this summer to start getting the parts.


The Death Jester

It is a good build. I think it will keep you happy for a long while.

Agreed, in fact i was going to say, the 800D is lousy for air cooling (mine was lol)

The 600T is an awesome case very lovely build quality.

Thanks again for all the feedback guys. I can't wait to start building it, however that won't happen until the end of the summer. Hopefully some of the part will come down in cost by then and save me so money, which would be nice. Thanks again.



The Death Jester