New build- Input requested

B

Boyo

Gawd
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
626
It's been 5 years since my last build and it's seriously time for an upgrade. Could you look over my parts list and tell me if this is a good build that will last me at least 3 years. I will be using the pc for Photoshop, video encoding/decoding using Nero, gaming and web browsing. I do a lot of multitasking on the computer too. Thoughts.....

Asus P6T Deluxe V2
I7-920 (looking to OC)
evga GTX 275
Corsair 1000w psu
Corsair Dominator 3x2GB
WD Caviar Black 1TB
WD VelociRaptor 600GB
Creative 7.1 Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Corsair Obsidian
 
You buying new or any parts used? Please answer the questions " answer these questions first" :)
 
I apologize. All parts will be purchased new. Budget is $2500 for everything including shipping. Live in Chicago and the only part will be reusing is my CD/DVD drive. Have a 19" ViewSonic monitor but looking to buy a NEC 22" Monitor. That will probably happen later. I plan on buying the parts in the next month and building it as soon as the parts arrive.
 
 
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Boyo said:
... evga GTX 275
Corsair 1000w psu
Corsair Dominator 3x2GB
WD VelociRaptor 600GB
Creative 7.1 Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Corsair Obsidian...
Click to expand...
I would change all of those.

The GTX275 is rather lacking for its price, and it's quite old by now. The ATI HD5000 cards are better bang for buck, unless your main goal is folding.

1KW PSU is extreme overkill for a single vidcard system. All you need for a single vidcard system is a good 550W, but for some headroom, you'll want a good 650W. For SLI/CFX, it depends which cards you'll be using.

Dominators are overpriced and don't give you any noticeable performance benefits over regular XMS3 sticks (DHX or not). Lower CAS latencies do not offer enough real world performance improvements over the standard latencies, so they're not worth any noticeable price premium. RAM rated higher than DDR3-1600 isn't very cost effective unless you plan on OC'ing past 4.2Ghz.

Velociraptors are still mechanical drives, and are therefore SLOW compared to similarly and cheaper SSDs. If you want speed, go for an Intel, Indilinx, or Sandforce controlled SSD. If you want more speed, get two SSDs and throw them in RAID0, cuz performance scaling with SSDs is nearly linear. If you want speed and space, get some Samsung F3 drives and throw them in RAID0 (or short-stroked R0 for even more mechanical speed).

Most people no longer need soundcards since onboard HD Audio has been improved greatly since the AC'97 days. Try onboard first, and if you don't like it, add the soundcard later.

Cases are subjective, but the 800D is still quite pricey. You can find good looking cases under $200, and use the money saved towards an SSD, and use the money saved on the VRaptor for another SSD. :p

shiro's suggestions are nice, especially the monitor, along with the other changes from g.
 
enginurd said:
I would change all of those.

The GTX275 is rather lacking for its price, and it's quite old by now. The ATI HD5000 cards are better bang for buck, unless your main goal is folding.

1KW PSU is extreme overkill for a single vidcard system. All you need for a single vidcard system is a good 550W, but for some headroom, you'll want a good 650W. For SLI/CFX, it depends which cards you'll be using.

Dominators are overpriced and don't give you any noticeable performance benefits over regular XMS3 sticks (DHX or not). Lower CAS latencies do not offer enough real world performance improvements over the standard latencies, so they're not worth any noticeable price premium. RAM rated higher than DDR3-1600 isn't very cost effective unless you plan on OC'ing past 4.2Ghz.

Velociraptors are still mechanical drives, and are therefore SLOW compared to similarly and cheaper SSDs. If you want speed, go for an Intel, Indilinx, or Sandforce controlled SSD. If you want more speed, get two SSDs and throw them in RAID0, cuz performance scaling with SSDs is nearly linear. If you want speed and space, get some Samsung F3 drives and throw them in RAID0 (or short-stroked R0 for even more mechanical speed).

Most people no longer need soundcards since onboard HD Audio has been improved greatly since the AC'97 days. Try onboard first, and if you don't like it, add the soundcard later.

Cases are subjective, but the 800D is still quite pricey. You can find good looking cases under $200, and use the money saved towards an SSD, and use the money saved on the VRaptor for another SSD. :p

shiro's suggestions are nice, especially the monitor, along with the other changes from g.
Click to expand...

I like your suggestions......Do you have a PSU in mind? I'll drop the sound card, but the reason I didn't go with an SSD is because of the low GB they have. I don't want to set up a RAID in my new build, so I went with the VelociRaptor as the next best drive. Do you have a good manufacturer for the HD5870 card? I am not familiar enough with ATI cards to know the best manufacturer.

Any more input would be appreciated by anyone. Thanks.
 
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No idea what all the hate is on raptors. I love my 300gig raptor, especially for the price. I would still get a 600 gig raptor as a system drive if I were you.

I also think you will want a soundcard, but if your speakers blow then who cares?

Grab the tx650 corsair PSU if you want headroom and rock solid reliability.

The GTX275 is one of the worst decisions you could make on a card. I mean really, what the hell is the point of that? Get a 5850 and call it a day. If you must go nvidia for whatever reason grab a 280 used for 200 bucks or so.

Case...again what the hell for? This is a pretty benign system, what the hell do you need it for? Unless you just want to spend money for the sake of spending money, and in that case why are you even asking our opinions on the matter.
 
I think I am going to keep the 600GB VelociRaptor rather than a SSD since I am not going to do a RAID.

I'm dropping the GTX 275, but do not know who to go with on an ATI 5870. I need some help in picking out a card.

I think I am going to drop the sound card since my speakers aren't the best and as engirnurd pointed out, I can always do an upgrade at a later time.

I am going with a Corsair 850hx as recommended by gwarren007 in case I decide to do crossfire.

As for the case, I am going to stay with the 800D since it will last me over many builds, unlike my current Lian Li.

So I really need some help with the vid card right now, and any other suggestions that you guys can provide.
 
For a single vidcard system, the Corsair 650W TX is good. HX if you want modular, or the TP-New 650W from Antec for semi-modular. Prices change quite frequently, so figure out which one is best bang for buck when you buy. Again, for a single vidcard system, a 650W would be more than enough.

I had a VRaptor, and it can't compare with any SSD. http://ssd.alphaq.org for more info. VRaptors are just a waste of money to me, now, especially since the regular 7200RPM drives perform nearly as good as far as transfer speeds go. While they may be slower with seeks, the performance improvement with a VRaptor compared to the newer 7200RPM drives is negligible. With SSDs, you're paying for speed, not space. If you want speed and space, I'd still suggest a Samsung F3 500GB or 1TB drive over the VRaptor.
http://pcper.com/article.php?aid=892&type=expert&pid=1

XFX is the best choice for ATI cards due to their double lifetime warranty and customer support. VisionTek also has lifetime (single), but not as good support.
 
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Your build looks very similar to the Rig I just assembled...so...I love it...except the VC. I see though, that you are already considering the Radeon 5870. Also consider the 5850.

My new system...
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 - Intel Core i7-960 3.2GHz - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - LG - 10x Internal Blu-ray DVD±RW/CD-RW Drive
ASUS EAH5850 Radeon HD 5850 - SAMSUNG PX2370 23" 2ms LCD Monitor
CORSAIR 850TX 850W Power Supply - Cooler Master CM Stacker 832 Full Tower Case
 
DarkZen said:
Your build looks very similar to the Rig I just assembled...so...I love it...except the VC. I see though, that you are already considering the Radeon 5870. Also consider the 5850.

My new system...
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 - Intel Core i7-960 3.2GHz - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - LG - 10x Internal Blu-ray DVD±RW/CD-RW Drive
ASUS EAH5850 Radeon HD 5850 - SAMSUNG PX2370 23" 2ms LCD Monitor
CORSAIR 850TX 850W Power Supply - Cooler Master CM Stacker 832 Full Tower Case
Click to expand...

How do you like the 5850?
 
call me crazy, but why wouldn't you go with a 128GB SSD istead of the raptor? The main drive only needs to be as big as you need to install programs on, you can snag aa $120 2TB drive for storage... SSD > HDDs

edit:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1197/4/

'nuff said... go with the v+ series
 
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seriously you cant compare a VRaptop to a decent SSD.. Most people an 80gb will be more then enough & setting up a raid 0 is easy should you decide that you need more space later (thats what I Did as I started with a 80gb & when I had filled 60 after installing a bunch of games I bought a 2nd & now run them in raid 0)..

I 2nd the xfx for ati cards, but also look at the MSI hawk cards due to there coolers, should prove to be quieter & cooler.
 
Thanks for all the help so far. I've had some great input and it's really helped a lot. Here is my new list. Please tell me your thoughts.

Asus P6T Deluxe V2
I7-920
Thermalright Ultra120 eXtreme Rev C
XFX HD 5870
Corsair 850HX
Corsair Dominator 3x 2GB
Kingston V+ Series 128GB SSD
WD Caviar Black 1TB
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Corsair Obsidian 800D
 
Boyo said:
How do you like the 5850?
Click to expand...

I really like the 5850. It's a great performer at a nominal price. I encourage you to read a few reviews on this card.

I am not much of an overclocker. I have always opted to spend more money on better components. I started playing around with overclocking my 5850. After some testing at various speeds, I settled into an 850/1125 (725/100 default) overcolck with slight temp increases. It was the lack of temp increases that made me decide to leave the card clocked at these rates. I have not experienced any artifacts during game play.

Even at default clock rates, the 5850 is a great video card in comparison to ATI and NVIDIA's flagship money sinks.
 
Ditch the Asus P6T Deluxe V2. It's a good mobo but overpriced considering that there are cheaper or equally priced motherboards out there that offers more forward looking features (SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0). As such, I recommend this CPU+mobo combo:
$470 - Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo

As Enginurd pointed out earlier, Dominator RAM are simply not worth the extra cash. So I recommend getting this RAM instead:
$170 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
 
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