$1,350 Core i7 build

[Bard]

I didn’t pick a strict price point for this build. A friend asked me to put this system together for him. He said he would spend as much as $1,500, but he really only wanted to spend $1,200. I attempted to strike a balance between high end performance and affordability.

Mid/High End Build
Motherboard	ASUS P6T
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz
CPU Heatsink	XIGMATEK Dark Knight 120mm
CPU Thermal Paste	Arctic Silver 5
Ram	OCZ Gold (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
Hard Drive	Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA
DVD/CD Drive	SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD Burner
Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTX 275
Power Supply (PSU)	CORSAIR 650W
Case	LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B

Unfortunately my friend lives in California, and is going to get hammered by taxes. But, even with the shipping to California it came out to $1,357.80, along with $40 worth of mail in rebates.

This is a really solid system in many ways. It allows someone who is willing to overclock a bit to have top end performance. Also, this is the price range that I try to get in when I build a system. A machine like this can give you years of good performance, especially if you upgrade the video card after it starts to feel a little dated. Be warned: if you build this machine you may experience feelings of inadequacy where your monitor is concerned, the temptation to buy a 24″+ widescreen may be too great to resist.

Enjoy your silky smooth gaming.



More...

[Cham]

Looks good. Is the performance of the i7's worth the cost though?

[Bard]

haven't really played with one, but from what I understand they overclock like crazy.

[bedwyr]

Originally Posted by Cham

Looks good. Is the performance of the i7's worth the cost though?

i7's perform very well. The price per performance for the i7's are well worth it. The only downside is the high price that come with buying any motherboard that can take one.

[Roor]

The price premium on the motherboards and ram seems a bit high at first, but you have to remember that these socket 1366 boards all have crossfire/sli support and ddr3 comes with increased bandwidth. Given this they are not as overpriced as they may appear. Also, you can pick up a i7 920 for $199 at Microcenter.

[Envy]

Originally Posted by Roor

The price premium on the motherboards and ram seems a bit high at first, but you have to remember that these socket 1366 boards all have crossfire/sli support and ddr3 comes with increased bandwidth. Given this they are not as overpriced as they may appear. Also, you can pick up a i7 920 for $199 at Microcenter.

Availability:
In-store Pickup Only
119 in stock
at Orange County/Tustin for 18 Minute In-Store Pickup

Win!


That'll knock a good 80$ off of this price. Not too shabby.

[Envy]

Also, I'm going to need a 64 bit OS to recognize more than 3 gigs of ram.

Probably gonna go with this. "Includes free Windows 7 upgrade coupon"

[Bard]

Just so you know, that 'upgrade' is actually an upgrade version that can't be clean installed. Any time you want to install windows 7 you'll have to install vista, then install 7 over it.

[Envy]

Originally Posted by Bard

Just so you know, that 'upgrade' is actually an upgrade version that can't be clean installed. Any time you want to install windows 7 you'll have to install vista, then install 7 over it.

I realize that, but i'm not paying $300.00 for a clean copy of windows 7.

[ice]

The way it worked with Vista "Upgrade" editions is that it would just ask you to put in your old XP CD to verify that you do in fact own an official copy of XP to upgrade from - the install was for all practical purposes, "clean.". My only legit copy of XP was an old Compaq laptop restore CD from 2003 and it worked just fine.

Also, NV, I have a copy of the Win7 release client that I can mail you so you don't have to suffer through vista at all. It will do a fresh install, update, and all that jazz. Just have to activate a retail serial number by April 1st or something like that or it will start shutting down on you every two hours.

[Envy]

Originally Posted by ice

The way it worked with Vista "Upgrade" editions is that it would just ask you to put in your old XP CD to verify that you do in fact own an official copy of XP to upgrade from - the install was for all practical purposes, "clean.". My only legit copy of XP was an old Compaq laptop restore CD from 2003 and it worked just fine.

Also, NV, I have a copy of the Win7 release client that I can mail you so you don't have to suffer through vista at all. It will do a fresh install, update, and all that jazz. Just have to activate a retail serial number by April 1st or something like that or it will start shutting down on you every two hours.

Hm. I've heard bad things about this motherboard and windows 7 for whatever reason from reviews on Newegg. http://www.kombitz.com/2009/05/22/as...for-windows-7/

Looks like they have drivers for it now. And yeah, a copy of win7 would be pretty awesome. Do you need an email address or physical address?

Sent you a PM with both infoz. :)

[Roor]

If you know a student taking a comp/engineering class you can get it for $16 http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/945817/

[Envy]

Thanks, guys. I"ve ordered everything except the CPU, which I will be pick up for $199 here in Irvine @ Microcenter.

[Envy]

Originally Posted by Bard

Be warned: if you build this machine you may experience feelings of inadequacy where your monitor is concerned, the temptation to buy a 24″+ widescreen may be too great to resist.

Done.

Total Price:

System + 24" Monitor = $1,530 after tax, shipping, and other bullshit california fees:

For the monitor: 1 x ($16.00) Electronic Waste Recycling Act15-34

Without the Monitor, it was about $1,276$. That's about right in the sweet spot of compromise.

[Roor]

Make sure you get a D0 stepping chip as they o/c better.

[Cham]

Originally Posted by Envy

Done.

Total Price:

System + 24" Monitor = $1,530 after tax, shipping, and other bullshit california fees:

For the monitor: 1 x ($16.00) Electronic Waste Recycling Act15-34

Without the Monitor, it was about $1,276$. That's about right in the sweet spot of compromise.

Let me know how that monitor works out for you.

[Jordash]

I would've gone for a 26" if I were upgrading (but I'm not, my 22" monitor kicks ass as well enough)

[Cham]

Originally Posted by Jordash

I would've gone for a 26" if I were upgrading (but I'm not, my 22" monitor kicks ass as well enough)

I would have gone for a 50", so there. Cock.

[Cronuz]

Originally Posted by Cham

I would have gone for a 50", so there. Cock.

I would have gone with enough 5" lcds linked together to spell out CRONUZ AWESOME on the wall in front of my desk.

[Envy]

She's up and running, OC'd @ 4.02 ghz easily without breaking a sweat. I also got her a new sound card.