Need help with rig config

Hello. Like the site. Matter of fact, just came here after three days of scavenging iBuyPower's site and "support". I'm in the market for a new rig, matter of fact a whole new setup, monitor, mouse, keyboard, except for speakers, as I'm letting go of a 7yr. old PC.. I have a cap of 2,000 total, including taxes. I'm not too savvy on building my own but do know a little about parts. And I stress "little", as I have no knowledge on building my own PC but am somewhat knowledgeable on the components. I like the HAF 922 & Elite 430 chassis's but definitely need some help on a good internal setup (Mobo, GPU, CPU, Memory, Cooling (Air or Liquid, which is less to maintain but effective?). I'll be mostly using it for gaming (COD:MW, Crysis.. etc.) and am looking for a setup that will run just about any game on the market at close to or MAX settings. I'm not to sure on the resolution, as I've been stuck in the "stone-ages" for the last 7 years, as far as computing goes. So I would assume max resolution, which I think on most HD monitors, would be 1920x1080. As far as CPU I'm more fond of AMD, however I seem to be behind on the times, so what gets the job done, will do, so I have no bias when it comes to what "talks the talk" either AMD or Intel. Same with GPU, either ATI or Nvidia. I much appreciate any help anyone knowledgeable can offer and do thank you for your time.

Edited by xXRONINXx - 23 Aug 2010 at 12:50am

Thanks, solid advice! If for the rig alone, then I would say 1,800 after taxes, that way I have a little leeway with the monitor.

No, unfortunately. I live in TX.

yes...living in TX is good for this purpose because you don't pay any taxes just shipping. of course i can't think of any other reasons why living in TX would be good. unless you worked for Bioware and lived in Austin...lol. just joking dude.

Originally posted by ender no, there is only tax if you live in Cali. not other states

Thanks Ender!

Originally posted by teaiewold yes...living in TX is good for this purpose because you don't pay any taxes just shipping. of course i can't think of any other reasons why living in TX would be good. unless you worked for Bioware and lived in Austin...lol. just joking dude.

You just said it.. Austin!

Gotcha! I'll take your word on that one, thanks again. BTW, how did you manage to pull 4.2Ghz from your i7?

Nice job! I'm starting to wonder if the HAF 922 I was looking at, has enough ventilation.. I'm a little concerned with the the GTX 480 GPU. From what I've read, it's been known to run at near twice the temp of a normal, single card. I've been hearing a lot of issues with this one, idling at 50c in 2d and running at 93c in full 3D. However, it only has a threshold of 105c. With this card I'm wondering if it's going to last, coupled with the drain from the Processor. It seems safe to assume, that SLI will be out of the question, with this card running that hot. And with a 370 watt active pull I'm wondering if a PSU of 750, is going to cut it with just one card..

You might want to check out what 963 people had to say in their reviews:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-130-552&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Not including the possibility of fanboys, it seems they are indeed running hot. But hopefully the AIR cooling setup Dragoonseal mentioned would remedy that. If anyone has a HAF 922 case, maybe you can shed a little light on it's ventilation..?

As for Austin.. Well I don't work for Bioware and I'm not even close to Austin, however I work for someone much bigger than that.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet, kids.

It does run warmer than a 5870, but not by much, and the sound difference is negligible, all high end GPUs sound like jets taking off under load regardless.

If you're worried about temps just use a custom fan profile and don't rely on the default one, which likes to prioritize keeping it quiet over keeping it cool. Lilim's 480 idles at 32°C at 50% fan speed and hits a max of 79°C at 79% fan speed under load (only in very demanding games). Default HAF 932 fans, default 480 fans, nothing special.

Originally posted by Dragoonseal Don't believe everything you read on the internet, kids.

No one else thinks it's funny to send this message on an internet forum?

A lot of the rumors obout the GTX 480, were from pre-release models, early batch steppings, and full 512 SP.  those did run very hot, were very loud, and consumed a ton of power. the final release version is much quieter, much cooler, and uses less power.  It still is a pretty hot running, fairly loud GPU, but no worse than some other GPU's in the past.  Overclocking them on the stock cooler, will get hot, and loud fast though. lol

Originally posted by Dragoonseal The kid quote is just a figure of speech, I don't mean to insult. And besides, one should always stay a kid at heart.

Nonsense! You haven't offended me at all. I was just jabbing you're rib with the comment about being referred to as a kid.

@Drunken Monkey and !ender

Both extremely good points. And nice comparison with the Cobra lol! I'm considering having 2 120mm fans put on the top of the case as well, which Dragoonseal had mentioned earlier. I'm also trying to figure how much pull all the components (Mobo + GPU + CPU, peripherals, including 2 120mm fans, blue cathode light, Noctua AIR cooling for the CPU) will put on that PSU and whether 750 will be enough to handle everything non OC'd. Also whether it would still be enough to handle everything if I did decide to OC the processor and GPU with the 750 PSU. I'd like to be able to gear it for the specs of these games,  (COD:MW, Crysis) without having to OC the GPU or CPU for that matter. I really do appreciate everyone's feedback, as I think Dragoonseal gave me an ideal setup. Just trying to make sure I have all my ducks in a row, so to speak.

as far as overclocking, you can certainly avoid overclocking the video card as it is not really needed, however, overclocking your processor is absolutely nessesary, check out the link in my signature if you want more information on that

Oh lol, wow.... During my pursuit of finding a reasonably priced PC I managed to come across quite a few humorous displays of plain ridiculousness. Just thought I'd brighten everyone's day, with this little diddy:

http://www.gamepc.com/shop/systemfamily.asp?family=gpa&mode=expand

And I thought Alienware believed there s*!t didn't stink...

Edited by xXRONINXx - 24 Aug 2010 at 4:50am

close, but stick with the evga le and the noctua u12p, unless you are buying either of these to favor preference