# Building i7 860 and NEED some advice/help



## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

Hello and thank you for dropping in. Now I am very excited about building my i7 and can't wait for it to finish. But I am planning to build it over time so I can afford it. What I want to achieve from this new computer is the ability to burn movies with program such as Ulead Movie Factory at reasonable time... like in minutes or 1 hour (not HOURS like 4 hours with my P4 HT). I also want very fast download speed from internet and the ability to have a collection of movies. I don't play much game... actually not all. But I'm planning to give Avatar and COD-MWF2 a shot (my experience in gaming with Halo was dizzying and WOW as uninteresting). So what I got and planning to do. 

*Here's what I got:*

Processor:
Intel i7 860
- Got it at a really good deal

Case:
Cooler Master Elite 335
- Got it for free (Brand New)

CPU Cooler
ZEROtherm CORE92
- Got it for a good deal

*Here's What I'm Planning to Buy*

MotherBoard:
ASUS P7P55D
- DDR3 OC possible @ 2200
- 16GB Max Ram
- 7 Sata

Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX
- Crossfire Cert
- 80Plus
- Do I really need 750 watt for what I'm going to do? What's optimal?

Hard Drive - Maine (OS)
OCZ Vertex Series SSD 30 or 60GB
- Great Price

Hard Drive - Other's (Storage)
Western Digital Black 1TB

RAM
CORSAIR XMS3 DHX
- Great Price and speed

Graphics Card
Evga GTX 9800
- Not really sure what should I get. Thought this was the best. 

I was reading an blog and seems like I probably won't need a 750 watt PSU but wasn't really sure. The motherboard might be change to the PRO edition which have the SLI ability. About temperature, I will modify my case to accommodate with the fan to cool the CPU. However, if recommended, I will get a new case. The other thing I was curious was if i7 is a dual channel or triple channel?

Thanks very much for your time. ray:
ps. as you can see I buy from newegg


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

SSD Hdd's are WAY overpriced.
The fest of the build looks good.
Burning time is not going to be greatly reduced and you don't have an optical drive listed. LG are the fast burners.
Internet downloading is more dependent on your internet service and the site you are downloading from.
I would stay with the Mobo you have listed. Two GPU's yield a small increase in performance for the large increase in price.


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

Thank you very much for the advice. I really like the SSD due to the fact that SSD boot at instantaneous speed. However, the boot itself is not significant enough for me to go ahead with it. I assume with the fastest hard drive, you have fastest multi-task capability. Something like doing CS4 Photoshop and converting movies to listening to music and downloading files is multitask I like to do and do often. If SSD will do no significant difference in performance to these multitask ability, then I will gladly take it off my list. 

And about burning movies, thanks for the advice on LG. I will take a look at them. To clarify what I mean, the longest process of burning a movie is the converting part. Which takes hours. Other then that, burning movies usually takes at most 20 minutes. But I will definitely go with the LG. Any recomended models?

One thing about my PSU is that, in the future, I would like to add up to 5 HDD and have 2 Optical drive. If needed (do I really since I won't be playing much or even any game) I might add a second graphics card. Other things include, wireless N range max from netgear (if any other recommendation please let me know). So using Newegg PSU calculator, it says recommend anywhere from 750 watts (1 graphics card) to 950 watts (2 graphics card). 
With the unlikely event of 2 graphics card, maybe I can just use the 750 or even the 850 watt. 

I also plan to tinkle with over clocking (never done that before too). Maybe just Over clock it to a reliable spec... so a good psu would be good for that. 

Thank you for the advice, please keep it coming.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I fully understand the movie burning process but you will not see a major improvement in rendering times. 
The WD Black series have a 32MB Cache and are very fast.
2 GPU's yields a small increase in performance for the large increase in price. Purchasing one better GPU now would be a better option. A 750W Seasonic or Corsair will power your build with any of the listed GPU's with the exception of the 5970.
Here's a list of GPU's in order of performance kindly submitted by Team Mate Phædrus2401.
Tier 1 - 5970
Tier 2 - 5870, GTX295, 4870x2
Tier 3 - 5850, GTX285, 4850x2, GTX280, 9800GX2
Tier 4 - GTX275, 4890, GTX270
Tier 5 - GTX260 216, 5770, 4870, 8800 Ultra, GTX260 192*
Tier 6 - 4850, GTS250, 9800GTX+, 4770, 9800GTX, 8800GTX**
Tier 7 - 8800GTS, 9800GT, 8800GT, 4830
Tier 8 - GT240 (GDDR5), 9600GT, 4670, GT240 (GDDR3), 9600GSO (rev1), 8800GS, 9600GSO (rev2)***
Tier 9 - 9500GT (GDDR3), 4650, GT220, 8600GTS, 9500GT (GDDR2), 8600GT


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

So from tier 5, I chose this one. XFX HD-487A-ZWFC. I notice that from the top 5 tier, they where all GDDR5. So does not mean then that GDDR5 is much better the 3. And how does this one compare to the one I chose. XFX seems to beat everything of mine except the clock speed. XFX clocked at 900mhz (3.6gps) while the evga clock at 2200 mhz "effective". 

With my other component, its good to hear that I have a solid build one.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

GDDR5 is the newer technology. Sapphire and PowerColor are good choices for ATI chipped GPU's. I don't care for anything XFX and their support leaves much to be desired.


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

I need to fix some things on that list... But yeah, a 4870 should do you good. If you can find a 5770, same performance as the 4870 (give or take) but less power consumption and it has DX11 support.

GDDR5 is quad pumped instead of dual pumped like GDDR3, and thus you get more speed on a smaller bus. Most GPUs from Tier 5 and up either have GDDR5 or very wide buses.


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

Okay so with my price range of $150-160... These are five that I had narrow. 

1. SAPPHIRE 100286L Radeon HD 4860
2. SAPPHIRE 100284L Radeon HD 5750
3. ASUS EAH5750 FORMULA/2DI/1GD5/A Radeon HD 5750
4. SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100284VXL Radeon HD 5750 
5. SAPPHIRE 100269HDMI Radeon HD 4890

I chose between these 5 because they were within my budget (besides the 5th one) and they all where GDDR5 as well as 1 gb and 128-256 bit. However, given what I'll do with my comp, I don't know which is optimal. Any help here? I did side by side comparison and it looks like the second one, SAPPHIRE 100284L Radeon HD 5750, was the one that pulled ahead with its clock speed, memory clock, and price. However, 5750 wasn't on your list of tier so I don't know if this is a good one.


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

> Radeon HD 4860


WUH-

I've never seen one of those; I thought they were a myth. Huh. Well, apparently driver and third-party support for them is crap, so I wouldn't bother.

I'd pick the 4890, most powerful card on the list.


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

Wow... hmmm... could you tell me how you know that one is the most powerfulest... i mean what do i look for?


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

ATI has a very intuitive naming system.

Take a given model number: 
4890

4 - Tells what series it is, in this case Radeon HD 4000. The larger the first number, the newer the card (excluding the really early Radeon 7, 8, 9 cards)
8 - Tells what "market" the card is targeted to. 1-5 are for low-end, mainstream PCs, 6 is for mid-range budget GPUs, 7 is "enthusiast", and 8-9 are high end "power" GPUs.
90 - what "rank" the card holds in its given series and tier. Bigger the number, more powerful the card.

So a Radeon 4890 is a graphics card from the Radeon 4000 series (the generation currently being replaced by Radeon 5000), and is the top end of the "8" tier.

Also I'm a nerd and I just know these things. 

Radeon 4000 series:
LEAST POWERFUL
4350
4550
4650
4670
4830
4770
4850
4870
4890
4850x2*
4870x2*
MOST POWERFUL

* The "x2" cards are essentially two cards crammed onto one. If it helps, think of them as the "4950" and "4970", akin to the Radeon 5000 series' 5950 and 5970 cards.


As for the new series, use this as a guideline:

5750 = 4850
5770 = 4870
5850 = 4850x2
5870 = 4870x2
5970 = ????

The Radeon 5000 series has lower power consumption for the performance, and also has DX11 support.


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

WWOWOW... thats really interested. Thank you very much. Okay so I see if I can justify the 4890. If I can not then I guess my next best card is the 4870. It got really good reviews. Couple question. Where is the best place to go buy graphics card? And I know you say you didn't like XFX, but I'm kind of attracted to this guy from bestbuy. The XFX HD-489X-ZSFR. Its the about the same price as the Sapphire 4890 but its xfx. Any thoughts?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Better brand that offer good support at better prices fir a 4890:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16814102848,N82E16814131167,N82E16814102852


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

hey everyone... i thank you guys all for answering to my question and helping me out. I had really took the graphics card suggestion into consideration. Also thanks to the advice I was much clearer on my purchase. So here's what I have purchase. 

- Sapphire 5770: I decide to go with this card versus the 4890 because of the electric saving advantage the 5xxx series versus the 4xxx series. Since this computer will be on almost all the time, I would like something that save a little on the electric bill. 

- OCZ Vertex 30gb: you guys did say that SSD are not worth the price right now, but I'm thinking that I would want my OS and other program in this drive. Then saved file will go into my WD Black 1tb. I plan to have maybe up to 8 HDD at raid 0... or maybe no raid at all. Oh... And I got this guy for $100 bucks after rebate so I think its a good deal. 

- Corsair XMS3 2x2gb: Now this one, I wasn't sure but I think its the one that can fit my need. I will upgrade to two more to make it 8gb later on when it is needed. 

- AZZA CSAZ-910R: Awesome nice case. FAN! 1x230mm 2x140mm 1x120mm plus behind motherboard wire management makes this guy a really good buy. All for about $40. 

So here's what I will need to purchase to complete it. 

- ASUS P7P55D-E: USB 3.0 plus sata 6.0 gbps connection

- LG Burner

- For PSU: I'm not really sure between 650 watt and 850 watt. Plus which one to get. I don't really want to spend no more then $80. Plus I don't really get these 80 plus cert gold/bronz/silver certifcation thing. I know the 40 C constant is important. The corsair 750 is just too expensive for me though. 

The other question I have is that if I decide to play game... and lets say I want to make this a good gaming system... will another 5770 card be okay. And what is all this physx card all about. I don't really get em. 

Again thanks you guys for helping me ahead of time. I really appreciate the help. ray:


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

You're going to have a hard time fitting any more than the OS itself onto that 30GB drive. But your boot will be very fast, and having your OS on a separate drive from your programs will free up HDD seek time and thus increase performance somewhat anyway.

Good choice on the GPU and RAM. The case wouldn't be my #1 choice, but it is pretty nice.

Good motherboard, if expensive. Good DVD burner.

For your PSU, look at a SeaSonic S12E 650W. Very good cost:benefit ratio.

The 5770 will do just fine for games for now. My 4870 (comparable to a 5770) can play every game I own on max settings at 1440x900 resolution. 5770s do scale very well in CrossFire, but it's still better to have one single high-powered card than two weaker cards.


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

Hard time with putting anything other then the OS on the 30 GB size??? Serious???? I thought window 7 would be at least 10 gb... 2-3 game will be about 8 gb. other program is less then 3 gb. Adobe CS4 = 6 gb... did i miss calculate the stuff here...


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

Windows 7 is about 20GB, I think, give or take. You might fit a couple more games on there, but not much more. Just put the most demanding games that you play often on there.


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

damn!!!! You're right... i put the ssd in my laptop and boot it up and it seems like there is just a faster speed advantage... well i'll just put the os into the ssd and one or two intense game then some other program then that should be it...


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

Hey what about this power supply. SILVERSTONE ST85EF? 850 watt. With newegg wattage calculator... 8 HDD, 4x2gb DDR3, 5770 graphics card, 1xoptical


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The Azza case is very poorly constructed case from light material.
"Some" Silverstone PSU's are good quality (ZF, ZM models)
A guaranteed quality PSU at a better price: SeaSonic S12D 850 $120-free ship-5 yr. warranty
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151083


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

That's at a good price... seasonic is good?


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## chlova05 (Dec 14, 2009)

hey guys, I was wondering... for a raid in a tower, which would be better (excluding storage size)... 

WD Green w/ 64mb cache 54k
--OR--
WD Black w/32mb cache 72k


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