Lcdguy's new desktop build advice

[lcdguy]

help me decide. I am looking at building a desktop. I have a budget of around$1200 not including taxes. I would like to be able to game on it as well as do some photoshop. Here the requirements.

What i am looking at so far. can't really decide between AMD or Intel.

80 or 120GB SSD
300 GB WD Raptor
Fractal Design r3 Case
Corsair HX 750W PSU
E-VGA GTX 560 TI
Windows 7 Pro X64
LG-Bluray Burner (already own this)

I can't decide on the ram/cpu/mobo since the last time i had one it was a i7-930 with an x58 mobo. Not sure what's good now in terms of reliablity

[Rison]

Personally, i'd go with a 60 gig SSD, then get two WD 1TB Blacks and Raid 0 them. Far more efficient, way better performance. If you're budget conscious, grab two 500 or 640 gig WD blacks instead for storage. Raptors are just loud and hot.

Case, good.
PSU, good.
Video, good.
OS : uh.. what does pro have that you need, that home doesn't? Most people go either Home Premium or Ultimate. Professional just has ability to join a domain / RDP server and file system encryption.. all things which are kind of moot. Windows 7 editions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If the revised sandy bridge motherboards were out.. i'd be recommending one of those with a 2600K and some ram. You'd have to squeeze around the budget.. and the SSD could be out of the picture though.
If you're buying new, a i7 950/960 is the best 'bang for your buck' processor. I like the ASUS Sabertooth or the Gigabyte UD3R motherboard. x58 a proven form factor - as the sandy bridge is a wicked overclocker, but unstable and frustrating motherboards to deal with currently.
With a budget of $1200, i'd be running around the BST forums here.. when people upgrade to sandy bridge, grab an x58 mobo + cpu.

[enaberif]

I agree Raptors are no longer that great of a drive.

And go with Win 7 HP not Pro

[lcdguy]

Originally Posted by Rison

Personally, i'd go with a 60 gig SSD, then get two WD 1TB Blacks and Raid 0 them. Far more efficient, way better performance. If you're budget conscious, grab two 500 or 640 gig WD blacks instead for storage. Raptors are just loud and hot.

Case, good.
PSU, good.
Video, good.
OS : uh.. what does pro have that you need, that home doesn't? Most people go either Home Premium or Ultimate. Professional just has ability to join a domain / RDP server and file system encryption.. all things which are kind of moot. Windows 7 editions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If the revised sandy bridge motherboards were out.. i'd be recommending one of those with a 2600K and some ram. You'd have to squeeze around the budget.. and the SSD could be out of the picture though.
If you're buying new, a i7 950/960 is the best 'bang for your buck' processor. I like the ASUS Sabertooth or the Gigabyte UD3R motherboard. x58 a proven form factor - as the sandy bridge is a wicked overclocker, but unstable and frustrating motherboards to deal with currently.
With a budget of $1200, i'd be running around the BST forums here.. when people upgrade to sandy bridge, grab an x58 mobo + cpu.

Except for the fact that the built in windows backup in home premium can not save to a network location while pro can.

[lcdguy]

ok so my next question as the 950 looks like a good fit.

Mobo which one.

ASUS Sabertooth X58

or

ASUS P6X58D-E

or

GA-X58A-UD3R

I might be able to squeeze in an ssd as i do have some 500GB drives kicking around.

[Rison]

Originally Posted by lcdguy

Except for the fact that the built in windows backup in home premium can not save to a network location while pro can.

You can save it locally and robocopy / batch file it over in the middle of the night to a server / network share. Everything Pro can do, Home can do with a little tweaking. :)

As for motherboards, I have the Sabertooth and UD3R. Both good motherboards, both overclock well. I don't have any personal experience with the ASUS P6X58D-E, however I would imagine it would be a great board also. Other than color, I don't much difference between the sabertooth and P6X58D-E.
Other than the Sabertooth runs the 3x PCie slots at 16x/16x/4x, and the P6X58D-E does 16x/8x/8x or 16x/16x/1x modes.

Edit: of the three, go with whatevers cheaper / on sale or used at a good price.
Edit2: I bought my Gigabyte UD3R from ncix's ebay.. for about $160. They sell their factory new, returns on their ebay site, and so far i've never had an issue with any of their ebay products.

[enaberif]

I like the UD3R board personally.. Sabretooth has goofy ass colors.

[Rison]

Originally Posted by enaberif

I like the UD3R board personally.. Sabretooth has goofy ass colors.

lol, I agree.. when a motherboard matches well with Noctua case fans.. ugh. I don't have cases with windows, so I don't give a shit what color a motherboard is.

[lcdguy]

was thinking about this ram -> NCIX.com - Buy Kingston Value RAM KVR1333D3N9K3/6G 6GB 3X2GB 1333MHZ CL9 PC3-10600 Triple Channel Memory Kit - Kingston - KVR1333D3N9K3/6G - in Canada

any other suggestions

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by lcdguy

was thinking about this ram -> NCIX.com - Buy Kingston Value RAM KVR1333D3N9K3/6G 6GB 3X2GB 1333MHZ CL9 PC3-10600 Triple Channel Memory Kit - Kingston - KVR1333D3N9K3/6G - in Canada

any other suggestions

NCIX.com - Buy Corsair XMS3 CMX6GX3M3A1333C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 Memory Kit - Corsair - CMX6GX3M3A1333C9 - in Canada