Another Help me Build a System Please :)

[Sorryplox]

Hello Everyone, thank you in advance for taking the time to read my post;

I'm looking to Build a system myself, however I'm not closed to the idea of purchasing a premade system.
My Budget is around $12-1400 CAD (on par with USD), as I Live in Ontario, Canada.
none of my parts in my current PC can be reused as I've already promised my computer to my younger brother, the only part to my new system I have right now is my Monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

My Goal for this new PC is that it will be powerful enough to be able to significantly improve my FPS while playing WoW, as well as turn up my settings during graphically intensive situations (25 mans). However, I'd also like a system that has room for expansion If I should choose to maybe SLI/ Crossfire another video card in the future,

I know this may sound like a lot with the budget I've given, but I do not have very much knowledge of buying a PC or pc parts, as my current system was purchased prebuilt from Bestbuy. Any feedback whether it be Systems / Parts / Tips or Tricks that you may have will be much appreciated, thank you.

[Cilraaz]

CPU: Core i7 930, or if you plan to manually overclock, then get a Core i7 920 ($307 for the 930, $290 for the 920)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R ($230)
GPU: XFX Radeon 5770 ($174)
PSU: Corsair 650TX ($110)
RAM: g.Skill 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600 CL7 ($189)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 6.0Gb/s ($125)
Heatsink: Xigmatek Dark Knight ($36)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 ($10)
Case: Take your pick, NZXT Apollo ($96), Cooler Master HAF 922 ($110), Cooler Master CM690 ($90), lots of room for personal preference here

I feel like I'm missing something, but that totals a bit under $1300 (shipping not included).

If you wanted to save a few bucks (especially if you planned on overclocking), you could replace the i7 with an i5 750 ($209), motherboard with Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P ($200, needed since the i5 is a different socket), RAM with g.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 CL8 ($118, needed since the i5 setup is dual channel, not triple channel), and you'd need to add the i5 bracket kit for the Xigmatek Dark Knight ($9).

The i5 setup would be a bit under $1100 (again, shipping not included).

[edit: I was missing the OS. If you don't have a valid copy of an OS or haven't *cough*obtained*cough* a copy somehow, then you'd probably be looking at Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit for System Builders, which runs $109.]

[Sorryplox]

Thank you for looking into this for me, as I mentioned earlier I appreciate it

If you don't mind me asking, which components, would you consider to be the bottleneck of the i7 system you layed out? --and if I were to come across some more funds, would be worth purchasing instead?

[chaud]

The GPU for sure, up to a 5850. In fact, I would drop down to the i5-750 and a cheaper 1156 USB3 mobo to get it.

[Cilraaz]

Thank you for looking into this for me, as I mentioned earlier I appreciate it

If you don't mind me asking, which components, would you consider to be the bottleneck of the i7 system you layed out? --and if I were to come across some more funds, would be worth purchasing instead?

I agree with chaud that the 5770 is the weak point in the i7 layout. I don't know that I'd agree with dropping to the i5 and a cheaper 1156 motherboard to get a 5850, though, especially if WoW is the primary use of your computer. A 5770 pushes WoW perfectly fine at max settings, but a slower CPU can have some hang-ups.

Dropping to the i5 750 would definitely be a viable solution if you plan to overclock, though. It can near 4GHz with only slight voltage changes (along with the base clock and multiplier changes).

[Sorryplox]

Dropping to the i5 750 would definitely be a viable solution if you plan to overclock, though. It can near 4GHz with only slight voltage changes (along with the base clock and multiplier changes).

I like the sound of the I7 layout, however after upping my shopping cart to the 5850; and after shipping; it runs quite a bit over budget, If I am going to make some cuts to the I5-750 layout due to monetary reasons -- how much of a hit performance-wise is it from the I7 layout? (assuming I overclock the i5-750)

[kythless]

Listen to Cilraaz. The 5770 will eat WoW. WoW gets no where near pushing my 5770 to its limits the 5850 is overkill for WoW.

[None]

In gaming you shouldn't notice a difference, in other applications it's somewhat significant.

CPU: i5 750
Motherboard: Asrock P55 Extreme 1156
RAM: g.skill 2x2gb CAS7
GPU: XFX 5850 Black Edition
PSU: Corsair 650TX
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 1tb
Heatsink: Xigmatek Dark Knight + Mounting bracket
Thermal Compound: AS5 or MX-2
Case: Lian li Lancool PC-K62

Total: $1215.39

The 5850 might be better if it were bought locally, Newegg has had a scarce variety of coolers for them on the Canadian site. I bought my stock clocked 5850 locally just to get the blower style fan like the Black Edition I linked from Newegg.

I have to agree with Chaud though. The i7 build from Cilraaz, in my opinion, is completely unbalanced. If the primary usage is WoW an i5 will perform well enough to look very good at ultra settings. The 5850 will eat other games in the future and definitely perform well during Cataclysm.

Of course staying right below your budget you could just replace the i5 750, motherboard, and RAM for:
CPU: Intel core i7 920
Motherboard: Asrock X58 Extreme
RAM: G.Skill Pi Series CAS7 1600MHz 3x2gb

Total price: $1,388.90 (Edit: Was $1397 but I forgot that the dark knight comes with the 1366 bracket now)

You'd need to come up with about $120 for shipping, handling, and taxes, but I think that's a really great deal for a very good system. It came to $1500 with my postal code ($44 Shipping UPS Standard+ $77 GST/HST)

Windows... Uh.

[nwo]

I like the sound of the I7 layout, however after upping my shopping cart to the 5850; and after shipping; it runs quite a bit over budget, If I am going to make some cuts to the I5-750 layout due to monetary reasons -- how much of a hit performance-wise is it from the I7 layout? (assuming I overclock the i5-750)

The difference will not be noticeable at all. The difference in performance between the two CPUs is very small and insignificant.
An overclocked i5 750 and a radeon 5770 will run WoW flawlessly.

[Cilraaz]

The discussion in this thread regarding i5/5850 vs i7/5770 really depends on the user's intentions for the computer. For WoW alone (or as the primary computer use), you'd see better performance with a faster CPU. For a more well-rounded system and something that will be better in other games, the i5/5850 is the better option.

Manually overclocking the i5 pretty much takes the CPU Frequency out of the mix (both the i5 750 and i7 920 can hit roughly the same speeds, though the i7 can likely hit a bit higher, since it can handle a touch more voltage). At that point, the main differences between the CPUs are triple channel memory vs dual channel and hyperthreading, neither of which are huge improvements for WoW performance.

I suppose, in essence, if you're manually overclocking, then I agree with the crew saying the i5/5850 is the better option. Frankly, my i5 750 @ 3.8GHz and 5770 run without a hitch.

[Sorryplox]

Thank you very much for all of the responses + input.

I think I'm leaning towards the i5/5850 setup

[Sorryplox]

So, Lets say in the future I decide to run with the dual video cards, on the <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...8409">GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA</a> mobo, I was reading the specs and came across this message in the PCI section:

"Note: When dual graphics cards are used in 1st and 2nd PCIex16 slots, SATA3 / USB 3.0 (Marvell 9128 /NEC USB 3.0 Controllers) will work at normal mode."

What exactly does normal mode mean in this situation?

[Cilraaz]

As far as I'm aware, that means that when running CrossFire/SLI the SATA 6Gb/s ports will work as SATA 3Gb/s and the USB 3.0 will work as USB 2.0.

[chaud]

Why would you add another video card, it will do nothing for WoW?

[Sorryplox]

Why would you add another video card, it will do nothing for WoW?

That is a wonderful question, that I do not know the answer to! There would be no performance increase to run dual <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...814150464">XFX 5770's</a> over a single <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...464">5770?</a>

And on that note, since the cost is very similar, and assuming I don't care about the normalizations to the motherboard with the SATA speed / usb 3.0 -- would one see more performance from two <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...464">5770s</a>, or a single <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...54-_-Product"> 5850 </a>

*Thank you for having the patience to deal with my noobiness ^_^

[chaud]

WoW has no support (in terms of significant performance increases) for SLI or Crossfire, best case it will do very little to nothing to add another card, worst case it will degrade your performance.

It will improve your performance in other games, barring the many driver problems that take a while to be resolved. Usually it is better to just stick with a single card to avoid these sorts of problems.

[Sorryplox]

Awesome, I'm probably going to go with the single 5770 then

So far, my build looks like this (feel free to criticize/suggest substitutions):

CPU: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...6819115215">I5 750</a>
Mobo: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...8409">Gigabyte UDP4 1156</a>
HDD: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...6822136544">WD 640GB 6.0gb/s Sata</a>
RAM: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...31277">G.Skill 4GB 240 1600</a>
PSU: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...39005">Corsair 650W</a>
GPU: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...814150464">XFX Radeon HD5770</a>
Heatsink: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...3029">Xigmatek Dark Knight</a> with <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...6835233038">I5 Mounting bracket</a>
Case: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...119197">Cooler Master HAF</a>
O/S: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...E16832116754"> Win 7 System 64-bit </a>
Thermal Paste: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...00007">AS5</a>

[Suicidal009]

Looks identical to the computer I'm going to build soon here, you should post pics and benchmarks!

[Jiran]

If WoW is the most advanced game you play the 5770 is by far an excellent choice for a GPU.

I recently built my wife an i5 750 pc, and was torn between the two. But since she plays FPS games such as BFBC2, I went with the 5850.

Unless you're doing any major encoding work, the i7 930 and Tri channel memory will be of zero benefit to you. The i5 750 and i7 930 bench roughly the same as far as gaming goes. If you are in fact also an FPS gamer and see multi GPU setups in your future then by all means go with the i7 930 route, and grab a 5850 for now, then add another later if you feel you will need to.

Not saying the 1156 platform chokes multi gpu setups since it can only run them in 8x/8x since that still won't cap out most new PCIE 2.0 cards by bandwith, unless it is a 5970.

[Sorryplox]

Last time I bug you guys I swear, I just want to have people who know what they're doing have a quick overlook before i click the continue to checkout button on newegg

Thank you for taking the time to check these out

CPU: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...6819115215">I5 750</a>
Mobo: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...13131620">ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156</a>
HDD: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...6822136319">WD Caviar Black 640GB 3.0gb/s</a>
RAM: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...31303">G.Skill 4GB 240 1600</a>
PSU: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...39005">Corsair 650W</a>
GPU: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...814150447">XFX Radeon HD5770</a>
Heatsink: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...3029">Xigmatek Dark Knight</a> with <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...6835233038">I5 Mounting bracket</a>
Case: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...11146025">NZXT Apollo</a>
O/S: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...E16832116754"> Win 7 System 64-bit </a>
Thermal Paste: <a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...00007">AS5</a>


As far as me being a new system builder, does this setup look fine? It's already a tad bit on the pricey side for me, so if you have any suggestions to replace a part, I don't know how much more money I can put aside =\