Newbie to PC building with lots of questions

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   Newbie here with some general questions about a new PC build. 

I have been doing some research on new technologies since I have not bought a PC in five years. I am a bit confused on which is the best way to go. 

I plan to use this PC for gaming and maybe some graphics work. My resolution will not go beyond 1600x1200. I like the PC to handle the latest FPS, RPG and flight simulations like FSX and Rise of Flight games. My budget is about $2000. 

Now to my questions: 

Is it better to get i5 750 or i7 920 CPU? I have read that there are some issues with i7 chips and that hyper threading is really not needed for gaming. 
Is it better to go with one raptor HD and the second regular or just go for a Raid 0 configuration?
I like the GTX 295 card. Is this overkill or should I go with something less? If less, what are the next best options? 
What motherboard and case will be the best choice if I want to do some re-building of the PC myself in the future?
What would be the ideal build so that I don't have to do any major upgrading except adding a new graphics card for the next 3 years?

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Bishop Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 13 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 30	Quote Reply Topic: Newbie to PC building with lots of questions Posted: 13 Nov 2009 at 3:56pm
	Newbie here with some general questions about a new PC build. I have been doing some research on new technologies since I have not bought a PC in five years. I am a bit confused on which is the best way to go. I plan to use this PC for gaming and maybe some graphics work. My resolution will not go beyond 1600x1200. I like the PC to handle the latest FPS, RPG and flight simulations like FSX and Rise of Flight games. My budget is about $2000. Now to my questions: Is it better to get i5 750 or i7 920 CPU? I have read that there are some issues with i7 chips and that hyper threading is really not needed for gaming. Is it better to go with one raptor HD and the second regular or just go for a Raid 0 configuration? I like the GTX 295 card. Is this overkill or should I go with something less? If less, what are the next best options? What motherboard and case will be the best choice if I want to do some re-building of the PC myself in the future? What would be the ideal build so that I don't have to do any major upgrading except adding a new graphics card for the next 3 years?

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2009 at 4:07pm
	1. 920 2. HDD1 smaller but fast drive, HDD2 bigger but slower drive 3. 295 is not good for your use, games like fsx don't use sli, 275 is all you need at your res. 4. see below 5. see below Here you go Ticket# 353112 --- Price: $1891 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $1891 Copy of Specifications: Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932 Exterior Finish: - Not Available Interior Finish: - Not Available Trim Accents: - Not Available Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core) Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified by mushkin enhanced (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible) Card Reader: - Not Available Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Set 1 Raid Options: - Not Available Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 896MB (Includes PhysX Technology) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-U12P High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors) Liquid Color:- Not Available Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue) Enhancements: - Not Available Chassis Mods: - Not Available Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade) Boost Video Card: - Not Available Boost Memory: - Not Available Tweak Windows: - Not Available Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition) Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) Virus Protection: - Not Available Office: - Not Available Benchmarking: - Not Available Install/Test Game: - Not Available LCD Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Bishop Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 13 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 30	Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2009 at 4:54pm
	Thanks for the quick reply. Will I notice any difference if I went up to 300GB HD Raptor vs. the config. above? Just Curious, why you are not recommending the i5-750 because of future expansion? Would this config. be an overkill besides costing another $500 for what I am going to use this PC for at the 1600x1200 resolution? Chassis Model: Cooler Master HAF 932 Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core) Motherboard: XFX X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair Dominator DHX (High-Performance) Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible) Card Reader: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor (10K RPM) (16MB Cache) (Extreme Speed) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 896MB (Includes PhysX Technology) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua Special Edition High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors) Liquid Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a H20: Stage 3 Cooling System Selected Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue) Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Boost Processor: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my processor Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)

DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 13 Nov 2009 at 4:58pm
	that config is no good, the xfx mobo is not a great mobo, I don't recommend it. 750 is not able to get upgraded to the new round of cpu, depending on the game HT does make a difference. just use my ticket number call Sarah at 1-866-817-8676 Extension: 115 and tell her you want the veloci added to that config, and she will set you up or just simply get your own veloci, and when you get the pc, use my clone guide here to clone the 500GB to the veloci, then format and puch the 500GB to HDD2 Edited by DST4ME - 13 Nov 2009 at 5:00pm
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Newbie to PC building with lots of questions

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