He'd probably be looking at 875-950$ if I can really find some deals, and it will probably lean toward the higher end of the spectrum here. I don't know if Echo wants to pay that much, and frankly, I don't advise buying right now anyway unless absolutely necessary. Although I don't know when Sandy Bridge is coming exactly, you either buy LGA775 and keep it cheap or wait and splurge on a new SB system.

This is in no way to say a 755 system (Q9550, 8GB DDR2 1066, HD4870 1GB Crossfire, probably comes out to 1200-1400$) couldn't handle any game from now till SB's release. I'm saying I'm not sure if you'd want to spend THAT much money on tech that's already outdated. I usually recommend sub-1000$ systems for 775 right now. This is not the time to build a monster machine IMO, because i5/i7 just aren't worth it. The mobo prices are completely unreasonable and OCing the chips is not something that's easy to guide novices through right now. And as shown above, when you can get 4GHz out of a sub100$ dualcore, why not make a nice, very competent system based on one?

You see I doubt that Echo's monitor is 1900x1200+, I doubt he has a 7.1 sound system, and I doubt he has the type of demands that are going to greatly tax the system I've designed here. It will suit him well, it will run his games, it will do his models, and it will be good at both. Is it going to be lightning fast and exceptional at the modeling? No, that's what a quad core is for. The fact is it can handle it. Its like running a game at medium settings, it works, its nice, but it isn't over the top.

Edit: Checked your thread Cecil. I had you with a cheaper case, the HDD looks like it was on sale for 10$ less, the GPU was another on-sale XFX which is now deactivated, and the RAM was a cheaper OCZ kit, which is now deactivated as well. Prices went up.

Edit: Switching the E6300 for a Q9550 brings it to $913.68. Its a bit big of a price difference but the Q9550 is also the best 775 chip on the market. So its still 4GB and a single 4870 1GB, but still looks pretty good for the price.

More Edit:
It seems NZXT put out a modified version of the CM x90 design. It looks more like the 590 than the 690, but from all reviews it seems people like it. Its cheaper and has free shipping. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058 It looks a little weird, but should have good cooling performance.

Currently, you get a free 550w PSU with it, but its a bad brand and I wouldn't trust it. You can keep it for backup / ebay it, whatever. I don't know about you but I'm not one to pass up a free anything.

This brings the Q9550 build option down to $881.59

This leaves us 2 build options:
E6300 w/Xigma cooling, and NZXT Case:
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150436
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
Keyboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109149
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220426
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136053
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116091
CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
$727.08

Q9550 w/stock cooling, and NZXT Case:
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150436
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
Keyboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109149
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220426
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136053
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041
$881.59

Post has been edited 8 time(s), last time on Oct 27 2009, 1:27 pm by Excalibur.

Out of those two options, I myself would be happier with the extra 100$. But, I'm not going to be buying a pc until at least after my first year of college.

I've actually heard of the SB CPU's before, but when I heard about it it wasn't being called SB. Although, if SB systems come out like it says here from Wikipedia: "The MP server (EX) version of Sandy Bridge is to be released at the start of 2011. The DP server (EP) version of Sandy Bridge is to have 6 cores and 12 threads. It is to be released at the start of 2011. Lower-end versions of Sandy Bridge are expected to have 2 to 4 cores. A version of Sandy Bridge with 8 cores (16 threads) and 16 MB L3 cache is expected." Then that looks like perfect timing for me to build a new desktop.

What does this mean, Ex (from wikipedia)? "If the transition to 22 nm is difficult, then Sandy Bridge may go over three generations (Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, and another Bridge) as opposed to two with Nehalem and Core 2."

[Edit]Ex, where are you getting your tech info from? I'd like to read on whatever forums you regularly visit, as you seem to really know what you are talking about ;o

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Oct 27 2009, 4:48 pm by CecilSunkure.

I normally browse the Anandtech forums, but like most hobbies, a lot of it is opinion, instinct, and personal preference. Anandtech's main site always has good reviews/news/info as well.

@Your question:
The smaller you can make a chip, the less heat it produces, the less voltage it needs, and the more efficient it becomes. An example being right now NV is having problems getting 55nm GPUs onto the market, while ATI started before the 5000 series was in production with the HD4770. CPUs get smaller too, and SB is going to be on the 22nm process, we are currently on 45nm, the iSeries to recieve a 32nm shrink before SB comes out IIRC, although Intel might skip 32nm entirely.

So if Intel, as NV did, has trouble getting good yields on the smaller manufac process (Very difficult thing to do btw.), SB will be delayed further. If not, it should come as expected.

A few alternatives:
i5 isn't out of the question anymore, but prices will drop as soon as sandy bridge comes out. i5 750 is nearly equal to the Q9550, and all in all costs about the same ($200 + $140 vs $270 + $100). DDR2 is barely cheaper than DDR3 right now. On top of that, LGA 1156 isn't a dead socket. 750 can also go up to near 4 GHz range, but you should just leave it at stock until you start playing games which test your system. Once you get to that point, you can easily get a new heat sink. Contrary to what most people say, the stock cooling for Intel IS pretty good considering the noise it makes.

HD 5770 1GB = HD 4870 1GB. The 4870 is slightly cheaper and has slightly better performance on most games, but the 5770 uses ~25% less power than the 4870. By the time you may feel you need an upgrade, you're more likely to find a 5770 to use in crossfire, which beats the 5850 by a good bit. However, I wouldn't bother.

Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B is $70. Cases are kind of a moot point, but Lian Li makes the absolute best cases, and are just all around amazing. The CM 690 and Antec 300 are also pretty good cases, no matter what you hear about them. The best part about the Lancool is its lack of plastic. That's right--no plastic front.

There's nothing wrong with Ex's builds, ever, as I'm sure you know. I just like to give options. The more work YOU do on the subject, the better you will understand the process of choosing what's worthwhile. It's always a good idea to search review sites for comparisons between processors and graphics cards. Motherboards are a bit more difficult to review, but they exist too. Buying by brand isn't usually a good idea, but in the case of motherboards and power supplies, it's probably a good idea. Foxconn typically makes terrible motherboards, and you should shy away from cheap PSUs due to the boom factor.

Yes it is. Its a dead end for anyone looking for above average performance. Buying into a socket that can only handle 2 channels of DDR3 is like making a DDR system right now. Its just dumb.

Only the former part of this statement is true.

The HD 5770 has a GPU that is equal in performance to the 4890 (same clock speed, same specs) but uses less power (especially at idle, where it clocks down to around 150 mHz); however, because of only having a 128-bit memory interface instead of 256-bit, it effectively has its memory bandwidth cut down to 2/3 of what the 4870 has and about 63% of the memory bandwidth of the 4890. If they had one with a 256-bit memory interface, it would beat the 4890 in all cases, especially so if they kept the same memory clock the 5770 has, which is higher than the 4890. This is the only thing that keeps it from being faster than the 4890 and makes it barely able to keep up with the 4870.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Oct 27 2009, 9:31 pm by ShadowFlare.

Yeah, I think I would pay an extra $100.

Celerons and Semprons are average performance. Mid-range IS above average performance. I don't understand the logic behind suggesting one dead socket over another socket which might not be dead, especially when they cost the same.They both contain equal amounts of rice. Those who own an Antec 300 say its awesome. It has better reviews than the 690. All of them can't be idiots.

Is this with air cooling, like it is in the current build, or with a better cooling system?

Also, do you happen to know if you can change the multiplier on the E6300 Wolfdale or if it's fixed?

Typically you can't increase the multiplier, but you can decrease it. There are ways around the locks, however, only crazy people who know what they are doing attempt such a stunt.

Heavy duty air cooling (Xigmatek, Prolimatec, Noctua, ect. An A7FP wouldn't be able to do it.), the current system could do it, and the multi is locked.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225275
Has one at 3999MHz at 1.45vcore which is acceptable for 24/7 use, and a 4GHz which is using 1.36 which means he got a very good chip. General rule is to stay below 1.5v on 45nm for 24/7 operation. I'm not going to say a 4GHz E6300 would last more than 4-5 years at that frequency, but quite frankly, I don't use my chips for more than 2 years.

Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Oct 28 2009, 7:58 am by Excalibur.

Just wondering. Would this gaming computer start eating up my wallet by draining massive electricity?

I don't believe so. PSU is only 550w and I think its 80+ certified.

The 550 W isn't a constant value, it's a max. Capacitors will degrade over time, so this max value will decrease, but very few computers actually use over 500W of power. You can use one of those power calculators to find an approximate value of the power you'll be using. Under load, you can probably expect ~400 W. Idle, it will use much less (maybe 150?).

On a 10 cent per kWh, that's $175 per year if you leave it on all the time, and use it 3/4 the time. Scary, eh?

What do you guys think of this build?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.308218
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.310962
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167

I cannot see the combo deals because they have expired and no longer available?
Post separate items please?

First of all no on the Seagates. You want Western Digital Caviar Black. They come in a wide range of sizes starting at 500GB.

RC690 currently comes with a 700w PSU 50$ off. That's such a deal I can't believe it.

Updated build assuming old price range:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102864
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220435
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808 (New C3 stepping is win.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.311573

$860.34 after tax and shipping based on my zipcode.

Please note until further notice I am supporting AM3 systems over 1156 for a number of reasons. We can discuss that further if you like.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Jan 1 2010, 9:22 am by Excalibur.

Seagate is bad why?

The WD Caviar Black is better, which is my point.

seagate and ultra started sucking after I bought the last good product they made. But seriously, seagate's hard drives have been terrible in the past years. They used to be quite good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
outperforms any caviar black and is generally cheaper.