The Timeth Hath Cometh

[mojoman0]

Well its time do to some business around here related to the reason I first joined almost 6 years ago to the day...get advice for building a new PC!

I'm still rocking the same case, disc drives, and maybe a hard drive from my original college build...AMD 64 3500+, 6800gt, 1gb ram, 160gb....aka beast, but have made a few upgrades over the years. It is finally time to retire this baby and maybe pass it along to a friend for cheap. Now I just need a few recommendations for my new build. I have a few things picked out.

For sure:

CPU: Intel i7 3770K
GPU: EVGA GTX680
SSD: Intel 520 180gb

Need suggestions:

PSU: Corsair Professional series 750w looks pretty decent?
Ram: not really sure, 2x4gb DDR3 1600 of some sort likely
HD: 1TB WD Black + maybe another 1 or 2 for a raid 1 backup setup?
mobo: Haven't seen a lot of Ivy Bridge board reviews since they're not out yet
sound card: pcie x1 of some sort since the new boards dont have pci
keyboard: was thinking maybe logitech g510, but have read bad sticky key reviews
mouse: intellimouse explorer 3.0? I used to like my friends 7 years ago
DVD Burner/blu ray just cause?
Cpu cooler

Maybe a little later on:
New 24" monitor? not a huge fan of 16x9 tho..or a touch screen to play with win8? 3d?
New 2.1 setup of some sort? mine aren't a problem but maybe something newer

Thanks for any input!

[MUYA]

850W PSU minimum mate just to be on the safe side....

[frenchy2k1]

The safe side of what?
the i7 will be less than 90W TDP and the 680 is a 195W TDP.
That's less than 300W. Even if you give some allowance for MB/case/fans/Mem (100W would be a lot) and some more for OC (+200W), his 750W will be enough to provide.
The only thing this would limit him for is an eventual SLI later on, but few people go that road (I'm personally not a fan of multi cards).

Let's not supersize PSUs for no reason... few run very well at <20% load.

To come back to the question at hand: it's difficult to give you definite answers as IVB is scheduled for june, a whole 3 months away. Most recommendations depend on budget and prices, 2 things we don't know (because you did not say for the first one and the 2nd has not been announced).

Some questions though:
Sound card: do you need analog sound? Most digital sound, either through MB or graphic cards are now good enough (all processing done on CPU either way on win7+)
DVD/BD: how often do you use optical disks? will that be a media center (BDRom playback needed)? Blu ray is pretty weak on PC outside of playing movies and most prefer streaming as a convenient alternative. A cheap DVDRW can be included (it's only $20)

Cooler: do you plan on overclocking? by how much? IVB is supposed to be really cool (65-90W max), so unless you plan extreme OC, no real need for a killer cooler.

RAM: very cheap right now. Difficult to say where it will stand in 3 months. now, 2x4GB is $40. Consider that a minimum.

Conclusion, a little bit early to answer most questions. Heck, in 3 months, nv will probably be close to release their GK110...

[mojoman0]

Thanks for feedback. I was under the impression that mainly the mobile ivy bridge chips were delayed and that the desktop variants would be around possibly by the end of april

[mojoman0]

Yea the tdp of the new products is actually really close to my current setup. Way to go transistor shrinkage! I have actually bought a few items thanks to 5% off amazon currently.


Bought:

Corsair Professional Series 750w psu:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Profes...2988090&sr=8-2

splurged a little bit for the nice psu...I went throught about 3 with this rig.

Evga Gtx 680 - woot woot

Asus DVD burner: killer newegg ratings but bought on amazon



Close to buying a case:
imo Cooler Master makes the best looking cases

Cooler Master Storm Sniper: looks sweet but pretty large
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119194

Cooler Master Half 922
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119224

[mojoman0]

any estimate on what my current rig is worth without the 1tb hd? I want to give one of my friends a deal on it.

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by mojoman0

any estimate on what my current rig is worth without the 1tb hd? I want to give one of my friends a deal on it.

Well you figure a Q9550 still goes for about $300 on newegg, your CPU I'd ask between $100 and $150. Probably start at $150. I'd figure, depending on it's conditino, $50-$75 for that mobo, probably the same for your RAM, same for the video card, and maybe $100 or so more for the HDDs (without the 1TB HDD).

So total between $400 and $500 I'd guess. If you're wanting to cut him a deal maybe to $300 - $350.

[Roadhog]

LOL $150 for a Q9550? hahahahah

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

LOL $150 for a Q9550? hahahahah

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...ds=Core+2+Quad

And I apologize, it was Amazon not newegg. Newegg doesn't sell them anymore.

[mojoman0]

Yea I may jus tlet it go for $250. Worth the price of having another console player venture into pc gaming

My Cooler Master Storm Sniper just showed up. OMG ITS HUGE. I think i could fit my current case inside of it

[Rummy]

Nice job on parts, have fun and enjoy

[krokodil]

Originally Posted by mojoman0

[ ... ]
Asus DVD burner: killer newegg ratings but bought on amazon

I wouldn't buy after Newegg ratings - they only have (sometimes good) entertaining meaning to me.

Close to buying a case:
imo Cooler Master makes the best looking cases

Cooler Master Storm Sniper: looks sweet but pretty large
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119194

Cooler Master Half 922
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119224

Yes, Cooler Master is making some of the nicest cases. I own (and like) this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119206

Another one to look after might be Lian Li. I own several of them too, for example:

http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...ck::15195.html

or this one:

http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...ck::12274.html