Upgrade time!

[[JiF]Mike]

It's hard to beleive it's been over 5 years since I last upgraded my PC, but the time has finally come! Woohoo! Below is a list of what I needed for my upgrade. It should all arrive next week. You could say I'm a little excited! (more info below list)

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
Item #: N82E16819115070
$328.99

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119160
$119.98

COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 compatible
Item #: N82E16835103055
$59.99

(2)G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231311
$169.98
($84.99 ea)

MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813130574
$179.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136795
$59.99

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204
$17.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Item #: N82E16835100007
$11.99

RAZER Naga Black USB Wired Laser Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming Mouse
Item #: N82E16826153054
$69.99

XFX HD-695A-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Item #: N82E16814150518
$289.99

ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824236052
$179.99

Total: $1489.87 not including some mail in rebates and shipping.

Couple of notes why I chose these components if anyone else is looking.

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz $328.99
From what I have read this is the latest and greatest 2nd gen Core i7 CPU offered by Intel. Benchmarks I have seen show this thing leaving behind even the first gen Core i7. Intel has really made huge leaps in the CPU performance category leaving AMD to wonder what the hell happened. It runs cooler, more efficiently and is faster, plus the price isn't totally insane!

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB $84.99 ea
I ordered two of these for a total of 16GB of memory. These sticks are highly rated by other users and I thought they were a fair price. I got 16GB cause that's just cool to say I guess. I'm sure I won't regret it!

Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 $289.99
I went straight to benchmarks on a couple of websites. I wanted something mid range at least. The high end cards are going for like $700 so I ruled them out RIGHT AWAY! I wanted to get a card with decent-high benchmarks at a relatively low cost (like most people I'm sure). This one had really good scores, coming in just below the ATI 6970, which is like $100 more. Reading some reviews many people have been able to flash these cards so they perform like 6970's at a considerably lower cost! It's kind of a shot in the dark, some people can do it while others can't. I'm not sure if I will try or not.

Motherboard: MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 $179.99
This was probably the hardest choice I had to make. Deciding on a motherboard out of the hundreds out there is very difficult. This one has some reviews that have me a bit worried, but hopefully I'll get a good one. Newegg is very good about returns/exchanges anyway so I'm willing to take the chance. I always look for boards with solid capacitors now, capacitors are usually the first thing to go and ruin your electronics. Normal capacitors are made with a paste or liquid that can leak after a few years. I've lost many motherboards to this problem. Solid capacitors do not have this issue. This boards description says it's built using military class components that provide 8x the lifespan of even solid capacitors. So, fingers and toes crossed.

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 $119.98
Cases are somewhat of a personal choice. I really like the look and I've always been happy with Cooler Master cases I've used in other PC's I've built. They just do some smart things with there cases.

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s $59.99
I really, really, really, wanted to pair an SSD as my OS drive with this drive for storage. The prices are just so high right now, I decided to wait. This drive is pretty fast for a mechanical drive though and should work well. I don't need tons of storage on this pc as I have a Windows Home Server with 6TB of storage.

[[JiF]Gib]

only 1500? for all that?!

Gibbie want....Gibbie need.....Gibbie jealous!


Rock on Mike, that is going to be a sexy system. You will love that I am sure.

Damn!

[[JiF]Mike]

I'm putting together a few lists of components for others to use as starting points, or simply buy if they are so inclined. Hope to post them tonight or tomorrow after a little more research. I'm try to put together 4 lists, starting from a relatively low end system up to..well my higher end one. I may even throw together a "if you're rich you can afford this" list. lol

[[JiF]Doc]

Looks like an excellent build!

I have the same memory and its been fantastic, just upgraded from 4-8gig. Just got the CM v8 today and its running 20-25c cooler under load than the stock cooler. Ran some stress tests and the highest temp was 41c. I also have one of the "military class" MSI boards and its been very stable, no issues.

What you using for a power supply? Going to need an 850w minimum it looks like

[[JiF]Mike]

I have an Antec 620W I am gonna use, but I've been questioning if it will be good enough. Why do you think I'll need an 850W? That's a lot of juice and I'm not running a lot of HDD's or dual video cards. I may however tax this one a bit much, I'd like to keep a 25% overhead just for possible spikes.... hmmm lol

[[JiF]BloodGod]

Hi Mike, I run 2-5770s in crossfire and had to have at least an 850w, but found a great deal online and opted for the 1000w. I do believe you would stress your 620w to the limit if not toasting it and maybe your Mobo.

But thats a very nice set up !!!!! BTW what made you go with the I7 and not an AMD processer like the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition and ASUS Crosshair IV Formula AM3 AMD 890FX ? This thing KICKS !!!!!!

[[JiF]Mike]

I chose the intel over the AMD because intel seems to have made huge strides performance wise over AMD. I've read quite a few reviews from respected sites that essentially say AMD needs to step up it's game a lot to remain relevant. The last few pc's I've built for others I opted for intel chips and they seem to be more stable than the AMD's I've used in the past. So when it came to my pc I went with what IMO would work the best.

Now it appears I need to find a new power supply.

[[JiF]Cesar]

Well, on CeBIT 2011, alot of Platinum certified PSU's were revealed. (Efficiency @ 89% or more). So if you have the money, Enermax, Cougar, FSP Group, Geil and Cooler Master are releasing Platinum PSU's this year

If not, then I'd recommend a Corsair HX 850W

[Gnome-father]

That's it! I need an upgrade quick!
I'm going to earn the money by aiding the gnomes collecting underpants!

[[JiF]Doc]

Ya the intel chips seem to be better but amd is still a great buy. I went with the Phenom x6 and its a bargin for a $200 6 core vs the intel I7's. Still cant beat the high end intel quad cores and the I7's are deffinetly the best cpus.

As for a ps, I had to upgrade my 600 - 750w for my setup, ran ok with 600 until i added another 5770. 850w was a bit of an exaggeration, should run with the 620w unless you plan to crossfire . Although it might be worth it to go to a 700-750w to be safe.

[[JiF]rix]

NASA must be jelous:)
/rix

[[JiF]Mike]

I'm kinda nervous now about this whole PS thing... I think I will put it together and hook up my kill-a-watt to keep an eye on what it's drawing. If it starts pushing 500w then I probably need more powa!

[[JiF]Mike]

Thought about it over the weekend, and decided I wanted to get a new PS. The 620W I have now is a few years old, why put all these fancy new parts at risk.

I read a few reviews and watched some videos on power supplies and decided on the ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ ERV1020EWT 1020W. Now if I wanna go crazy and order a second video card I probably can!

(Check out this video on power supplies, thought it was quite good.)

[[JiF]Sgt Shellshocked]

[[JiF]Doc]

Talk about overkill . Nice powersupply though, when the 6950 drops in price you could grab another, or if theres a sale . That should save you from a new $300 card upgrade in a year or so.