MOBO: ASUS P7P55 LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail GPU: EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI ... - Retail HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail CPU Cooling: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler - Retail Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail Disc Drive: Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM Keyboard: Rosewill RK-101 Black PS/2 Standard Enhanced Keyboard - Retail I like this build but I am open to changes. I am trying to keep it below $1000. I need help finding a nice video card because this is a card that I just pulled off of newegg but did not look to into. I have previously bought ati video cards exclusively but now I want to try Nvidia. Also, I forgot about the case. I do not know what to get because I am building this for a friend and I want to leave the case up to him, but if there are any recommendations that would be great.
Dont bother with Nvidia. Get a 4890. Out performs that card and for less money if memory serves me right. The AC Freezer 7 Pro isnt that great, I know from experience. Its not bad but it doesnt cool much better then the stock cooler on a quad core chip. Shin-Etsu X23-7783D is better paste, but the AS5 is still great paste. You can pick up the paste and good cooler here. Not sure ho good the Samsung F3 hard drives are but Id stick with Segate or WD. Drop the ASUS mobo, there cheap...again I know this from experience.
I am fine with getting a different CPU fan, but I would like it to be from newegg since I am getting everything else from there. If I get the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 with the XIGMATEK i5 brackets would that work? I have used this cooler before and I like it. Also, in my past builds I have gotten gigabyte MOBO's. How do feel about those? What about the GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3R? Lastly, I have gotten Samsung HDD's in the past and have had no problems. So I think I will keep that HDD unless you have another reason for not getting Samsung. As for the video card, I thought that Nvidia gives more performance when it comes to games. Even though it might be a little more expensive.
Good board. If you think your friend might ever want to install a second long/wide CrossFire or SLI graphics card, you might want to look at a GA-P55-UD5 simply to get horizontal SATA connectors that won't get blocked by the second card. Dick
I do not understand why I would spend that much extra for just horizontal SATA ports and a third pci express x16 slot. Even though, does the new fan work?
In my opinion you aren't paying more for the third PCI-E slot, but for the folded over SATA ports under the base of your second card. If you can't ever see a need for a large second graphics card, the UD3R should be a great board for you. Dick
Gigabyte is good. Samsung: Well as I recall Sam saying the other day, the F1s were the most unreliable drives on the market. Video: With a comparable ATI/Nvidia card, the Nvidia might benchmark slightly higher, but in terms of what you actually perceive, your not going to see much difference, if any. Not to mention the newer ATI cards have alot lower power consumption then nvidia. Last but not least Nvidia doesnt have any DX11 cards. ATI does, but there in very high demand and very hard to find in stock. This comes down to the cpu on the cards being in short stock.
Ok, I just switched out the samsung HDD for a western gate. Also I switched the video card for a SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770. I did not realize that there is a directx 11 out so that is why I picked this card. Lastly, I switched the mother board for a GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 because it was $20 less than the ATX counter part, which I was looking at.
