DS Desktop Config Advice Requested

Hey guys, so after looking around at a couple of online retailers, I decided to go with DS for my next computer. The rep + price + support just can't be beat.

Anyways, I had a few questions about some configurations that I've been playing around with.

At the time of this post, there these prices are with the Black Friday deal going on, so there will be some variation.

I am currently running a P4 2.4 Ghz with a ATI Radeon x600 which is about 5 years old so I am definitely in need of a new computer.

I mainly play World of Warcraft on 1680 x 1050 resolution. I know WoW does not require much for hardware requirements but I am looking to invest in a system for the future as well.

My budget is around $1000-1500, I am trying to stay as close to the 1k mark as much as possible. I am also only looking at the pre-built desktops, particularly the i5 Enthusiast 1 and the i7 Enthusiast 1.

Ticket # for the i5: Either I'm blind or really tired or the DS site isn't showing me the Save option for my configuration. Will add when I get the chance.
Ticket # for the i7:

My biggest questions are:

1) i5 vs i7: If I were to get an i7 it would be the 860 as I can't see spending almost $300 upgrading from the 860 to 870 for a minimal performance gain. I've seen benchmarking for the i5 750 vs the i7 870 and I don't feel like it's going to be beneficial to me for the price.

Obviously the biggest difference would be the HyperThreading with the i7's but I have seen Core 2 Duo's in action and those already seem very fast for me. Would an i7 be overkill for my needs?

2) Overclocking the i5 750: Currently, my config has the DS defaults but is it worth it to get upgraded hardware for the overlock? i.e. upgrading to the P55M SLI mobo, getting the 1600 Mhz instead of the 1300 Mhz RAM or should the defaults be okay? Case is CoolerMaster Elite 310.

3) Vid card: I chose the Radeon 5750  1 GB due to the DX11 support (for the future) and I also liked some of the other things it provided. I feel like this card is more than adequate given my gaming needs.

4) Cooling: I got the AIR Stage 1, is this enough? I just have fans on my current desktop so I'm not overly concerned with overheating even with an OC.

5) I don't need Windows 7 since I can get it from my university and if I do a clean install, I'm assuming it won't mess up any of the hardware OC settings?

6) I configured the i7 similarly, with the i7 860, the Radeon 5750, AIR Stage 1 cooling, and the rest as the DS config defaults with the case being the Cooler Master CM Storm Scout.

No mouse, keyboard, monitor needed.

The i5 configured to be -> $1215
The i7 configured to be -> $1469

The difference is $254 assuming I don't change options for the i5, then the difference would be even smaller.

I would appreciate any comments, suggestions, & tips.

Again sorry for not having the ticket numbers, I swear the DS config page does not have that option for me right now.

1) I won't be upgrading to a 6 core anytime in the near future so this is not a concern.

3) I said 5750 for 1650 x 1080.

5) I will have to look up how to do this but good to know.

6) http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/hd-5750/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5750-overview.aspx

"Get unrivalled visual quality and intense gaming performance and for today and tomorrow with support for Microsoft® DirectX® 11"

All of the 5xxx series have DX11 support iirc.


Edited by abs636 - 27 Nov 2009 at 2:53am

So should I wait and see the Cyber Monday deal or pull the trigger on the BF deal?

Confusion!!

Wooo! Just ordered!!