Final Words
The Intel Core i7 processor currently owns the high end of the market, which is the reason the CPU prices remain high relative to Intel Core 2 Quad and the AMD Phenom II. The cheapest Core i7 920 CPU is around $300, with two more models going for $600 and $1000. In addition, the Core i7 uses a new socket 1366 and supports the first triple-channel DDR3 memory configuration. That means new Core i7 buyers will be shopping for a number of new and unique components as they move to Core i7.
Despite the high cost of the CPU and the uniqueness of some components, we have shown that it is possible to build a complete high performance Core i7 system for as little as $1450. That price is for a system with 1TB hard drive, Blu-ray player/DVD burner, a Radeon HD 4870 1GB video card, 1920x1080 monitor, keyboard/mouse, and even Windows Vista Home Premium. If you have some components that are compatible with a Core i7 build, you can reduce the cost even further. Just be sure you will not be leaving performance behind with the components you are considering moving over to a new Core i7 build.
We also showed an extremely flexible Core i7 overclocking system build with components selected to support overclocks to 4.0GHz with the Core i7 920 processor. While the cost was just a bit over $2000 for the complete system, the overclocking i7 system should carry you considerably higher than the current top-line Core i7 965 which runs at 3.2GHz. The OC system was pushed toward value overclocking but the $1010 965 CPU is unlocked and it could be the basis of a "highest performance at any cost" Core i7 overclocking system.
Finally, our Core i7 Dream system used all the best performing parts we could assemble in a $5000 "performance king" system built around a 30" S-IPS panel LCD driven by an NVIDIA GTX 295 dual GPU video card. The Dream Core i7 includes the superb Silverstone "positive pressure" aluminum case and the similarly excellent Corsair 1000HX modular power supply driving a $1010 Core i7 965 and 6GB of fast Mushkin DDR3-1600 triple channel memory. We could have carried the "dream" even further with items like RAID 5 storage, a boot SSD RAID, quad SLI with two GTX 295, or a GTX 285 triple SLI setup - supported by the ASUS motherboard used in the dream system. We went as far as $5000 would take us and paused, but there could definitely be more.
The point of all this is that while the Core i7 CPU is the most expensive processor family in today's CPU market, there are still many options. You can build a complete i7 system for less than $1500, use the Core i7 as the heart of an overclocking computer for around $2000 that has incredible performance potential, or use the top $1000 Core i7 965 as the basis for a luxury system with extreme performance for gaming, photo editing, or graphics. The Core i7 is that flexible and is at home in a wide variety of computer configurations. Of course, if all you do is surf the Internet, write email, and work in Microsoft Office, you should save your money and get a more reasonable system - there are plenty of people that simply have no need for eight logical processing cores.
We hope these three systems with widely different goals and prices have given some ideas of where you might like to take a Core i7 build. Wherever you take it, you will be extremely pleased with the Core i7 performance. Core i7 owns the top of the current CPU market because it delivers the best performance in the market today. There is definitely a price premium but you get the best performance you can buy in today's desktop market with an Intel Core i7 system.
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Tacoeater - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
I am thinking about building a system very similar to this. However, I want to break away from MS licensing and tax. If I install a Linux distribution, am I neutering the video card? In particular, I play 2 games: WOW and Civ4. I see that WINE will run these games in linux, but I suspect not at the quality I could play the games at in a Windows environment.Does it make sense to install a premium video card in this kind of systemd if I am going to be using Linux as my main OS?
I am also considering virtualization or dual booting with a min install of WinXP just for these 3 applications. However, I am a noob to virtualization.
And no, I do not want MS as the main OS while using something like Cygwin or virtualizing a unix environment in Windows. The point is to minimize my use of MS to hopefully get off it completely at some point and choose to use it based on its merits versus needing it for DirectX. For instance, Windows seems to make a media
BTW, what is the advantage of Vista versus Linux anyways aside from DirectX? Is it driver support?
nycter - Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - link
I built a very similar system last week and ended up returning that power supply unopened for the smaller one. (850W) The box on my GTX295 recommended a higher amps rating on the 12v rail than this 1000W ps provides according to its box. FYI correct me if I was wrong.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - link
The GTX 295 has a recommended minimum 12V rating of 46 Amps, the 1000HX is a dual rail design with each rail providing 40 Amps or a total of 80 Amps. The Corsair 850W is a single rail design with a specified 12V rail of 70 Amps.The GTX 295 is a dual GPU card and I really doubt there would be any issue with the dual rail 1000HX which has a total 12V Rail capacity of 80 amps. You may want to check out our review of the Corsair 1000HX at http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.a...">http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.a....
MadBoris - Sunday, February 8, 2009 - link
Thanks for the guide AT & Wesley!Glad to know what good components are around today and their prices.
Core I7 is too prohibitive in price even on Entry for the performance gains I would get. The motherboard and CPU are generally just plain too expensive still.
$200 - $300 for a mobo, got to still be kidding me.
I really chose a great time to pull the trigger for my last upgrade, a couple years ago, got a great Gigabyte 965p DS3 mobo and C2D 1.8 w/ 4GB DDR2 for very little $. Updated to a Q6600 quad about a year ago at $200 and am at 3GHZ OC.
Core I7 performance is not that attractive compared to when I was going from a P4 to C2D. Maybe when the next USB spec and next SATA spec comes out and next gen SSD's are attractive enough then upgrading to a new mobo will be worth considering. I will be tempted around Windows 7 release time, I hope the landscape changes significantly with an upgrade making more sense then.
There's no reason for me to consider an upgrade until the next "sweet spot" to upgrade comes up. But these articles all help someone hone in on knowing when the next sweet spot with performance/price and longevity comes up.
Bolas - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link
Maybe it would look something like this. I'm thinking I would probably want a larger case and larger power supply, though.From Newegg:
Qty. Image Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
Update SILVERSTONE FT01-BW Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Uni-body Computer Case - Retail
Model #:FT01-BW
Item #:N82E16811163121
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $239.99 -$10.00 Instant $229.99
Update ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #:P6T6 WS Revolution
Item #:N82E16813131358
Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
Out Of Stock
ETA: 2/9/2009 12:00:00 AM
Auto-Notify
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $369.99 $369.99
Update EVGA 017-P3-1291-AR GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Model #:017-P3-1291-AR
Item #:N82E16814130449
Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $504.99 -$15.00 Save $979.98
Update CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Model #:CMPSU-1000HX
Item #:N82E16817139007
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $279.99 -$20.00 Instant $259.99
Update Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 Nehalem 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601965 - Retail
Model #:BX80601965
Item #:N82E16819115200
Return Policy:Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $1,009.99 $1,009.99
Update Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH160G1C5 160GB SATA Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail
Model #:SSDSA2MH160G1C5
Item #:N82E16820167015
Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $779.00 -$50.00 Instant $1,458.00
Update mushkin 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 998679 - Retail
Model #:998679
Item #:N82E16820226030
Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $204.99 $409.98
Update Western Digital WD20EADS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:WD20EADS
Item #:N82E16822136344
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
Out Of Stock
Auto-Notify
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $299.99 $599.98
Update Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard - Retail
Model #:920-000379
Item #:N82E16823126034
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $89.99 $89.99
Update LG W3000H-Bn Black 30" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #:W3000H-Bn
Item #:N82E16824005115
Return Policy:LCD Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $1,249.99 -$150.00 Instant $1,099.99
Update Logitech G5 2-Tone 7 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Laser Mouse - Retail
Model #:910-000093
Item #:N82E16826104076
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $49.99 $49.99
Update LG Black LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20LK - OEM
Model #:GGC-H20LK
Item #:N82E16827136154
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $124.99 -$15.00 Instant $109.99
Update LG Black 6X Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20LK - OEM
Model #:GGW-H20LK
Item #:N82E16827136155
Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $199.99 $199.99
Update ASUS Xonar D2 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Ultra Fidelity Sound Card with Complete Dolby/DTS Sound Technologies - Retail
Model #:90-YAA021-1UAN00+
Item #:N82E16829132001
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $179.99 $179.99
Update Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
Model #:66R-02034
Item #:N82E16832116493
Return Policy:Software Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $179.99 $179.99
Update Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler Socket 1366 Ready - Retail
Model #:CLT-M3LT
Item #:N82E16835702007
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $63.99 $63.99
Update Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail
Model #:9701150403
Item #:N82E16836121120
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Note (Add)
Save Cancel $302.99 $302.99
Subtotal: $7,594.81
Bolas - Saturday, February 7, 2009 - link
Alternately, you could just about configure what you wanted from cyberpower, if you don't feel like building it yourself, I would think. Their high end system seems price competitive with what anandtech recommended for a dream system, if you aren't good at system builds yourself I would think this would be another way to go. No I don't work for newegg or cyberpowerpc, just web sites I like, that's all. :)http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Xtreme_XI...">http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Xtreme_XI...
JonnyDough - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link
but you never listed the price of the LG Blu-Ray HD-DVD reader.Wesley Fink - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link
The LG Blu-Ray Reader/16X DVD Writer varies between $99 to $115 depending on when it is on sale. It was $105 when the Guide went to press. The 6X LG Blu-Ray writer has been around $250, but recently settled in at $200. It was on sale for $190 as the guide was posted.JonnyDough - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link
Alright, well it's in the chart...but not in the article. You mentioned raising the price to $200 by adding BR burning capability but failed to mention the drive price prior to that.aigomorla - Friday, February 6, 2009 - link
My current machine would stomp that dream machine. :X