Pseudo Corei7 System Needs Critiquing

[malebolgia]

Hi all,

I'm finally at the point where I can buy all the components for my new gaming system. Before I do, I would love to have some feedback on the parts I've picked. Please critique away! :wink:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 (can't see any reason to get a 940)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P
Motherboard: ASUS P6T
Memory: Corsair XMS3 6GB
HD for OS: WD VelociRaptor
Video Card: GTX 275 (single not SLI...for now hehe)
Sound Card: ASUS Xonar DX7.1
PSU: PC Poewr & Cooling Silencer 750W
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos 1000

*Please note: All links go to Newegg.

Additional Information:

• I'm not an overclocker yet, I just want a fast computer for gaming that is quiet and looks sexy.
• Any objections on going with the P6T Deluxe? You know in terms of performance, lack of features, etc... Reason I ask is because I can get one from a local computer shop in town for the same price as the P6T on Newegg.

 

[engiNURD]

Please answer the questions in the sticky.

So far, your parts list looks ok. I'd ditch the VRaptor in favor of the WD6400AKS or WD1001FALS, which are only slightly slower, but give you much more space for your money.

 

[malebolgia]

Please answer the questions in the sticky.

So far, your parts list looks ok. I'd ditch the VRaptor in favor of the WD6400AKS or WD1001FALS, which are only slightly slower, but give you much more space for your money.

Thanks for pointing out my dumb mistake. Sorry...


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

PC Gaming, home video editing, DVD ripping, and some Photoshop when I have to work on family photos.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

My budget would be $2400 max (including shipping and tax), though going a little over wouldn't bug me.

3) Where do you live?

Las Cruces, NM (USA)

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

• Core i7 CPU
• CPU Cooler (that's silent)
• Motherboard
• Memory (looking at 6GB)
• Hard Drive just for OS
• Wester Digital WD20EADS 2TB for storage
• Blue-Ray Reader or writer
• Video card (single one for now)
• Sound card
• Power supply

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

LITE-ON 22 DVD Reader & Writer

6) Will you be overclocking?

Not at this time.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

I currently have a 20.1 Inch LCD (Dell). I plan on eventually getting two 24'Inch LCDs.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

I plan on building the PC at home, and buying the parts from Newegg.com.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

Must have features on the motherboard for me are:

• Firewire
• Support at least dual Crossfire or SLI (both is icing on the cake).
• Gigabit ethernet
• Support for at least 12GB RAM.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?

Yes, I'm covered on the OS license.

 

[engiNURD]

Which OS will you be using (64-bit or 32-bit)?

The Deluxe does not support Tri-SLI, only dual and quad (via 2x dual GPU cards). If you don't need SLI, then the Asus P6T SE would save you some money. Even with dual 24" monitors, you could still use a single vidcard (dual GPU card). If you switch to a board without SLI, then go for the HD4890 instead of the GTX275.

What kind of speakers do you have? The Xonar is a bit overkill, IMO, unless you're an audiophile. Onboard HD Audio is pretty good these days, IMO. If you don't consider yourself a huge audiophile, then try out onboard audio first, and add the soundcard later if you don't like it.

With a budget like yours, the VRaptor isn't where I'd be spending the extra cash. The VRaptor is only slightly faster than the current WD Blue/Black 640GB and 1TB drives. If you want blissful speed, go for 2 or 3 OCZ Vertex SSDs in RAID0.

I have the old raptor, and even then, when it had a much wider performance gap over other drives, I still didn't think it was worth it. I now have the new VRaptor, and I can barely tell the difference between it and my WD6400AAKS drives. Check out the HDTune numbers I ran. I also tried the 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD, but was underwhelmed. It beats out the VRaptor, but not in a huge way alone. Many people are throwing 2 or 3 together in RAID0 and getting super fast results. So, with a budget like yours, I'd strongly consider it.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1032282618
http://alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/main.html << my personal tests

 

[PC_User]

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 (can't see any reason to get a 940)

Good choice. There is no reason to get the 940.

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P

For $80, I'd go with the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme with a good 120mm fan.

Motherboard: ASUS P6T

Good choice.

Memory: Corsair XMS3 6GB

Newegg isn't working right now, but I recommend going with the $90 6GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 kit that has 9-9-9-24 timings and runs at 1.5v. Faster frequency for a lower price.

HD for OS: WD VelociRaptor

I don't see any reason for going with the Raptor. Save yourself the money and go with a Western Digital 640GB AALS Caviar Black drive.

Video Card: GTX 275 (single not SLI...for now hehe)

Good card. Also look into the new 4890 1GB cards. AFAIK, they outperform the GTX275s.

Sound Card: ASUS Xonar DX7.1

Not my area of expertise, but I've been hearing good things about the Creative X-Fi cards.

PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W

Good PSU. Another good unit is the Corsair TX750 which can sometimes be found for a bit less.

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos 1000

This is your personal choice.

 

[malebolgia]

Which OS will you be using (64-bit or 32-bit)?

The Deluxe does not support Tri-SLI, only dual and quad (via 2x dual GPU cards). If you don't need SLI, then the Asus P6T SE would save you some money. Even with dual 24" monitors, you could still use a single vidcard (dual GPU card). If you switch to a board without SLI, then go for the HD4890 instead of the GTX275.

What kind of speakers do you have? The Xonar is a bit overkill, IMO, unless you're an audiophile. Onboard HD Audio is pretty good these days, IMO. If you don't consider yourself a huge audiophile, then try out onboard audio first, and add the soundcard later if you don't like it.

With a budget like yours, the VRaptor isn't where I'd be spending the extra cash. The VRaptor is only slightly faster than the current WD Blue/Black 640GB and 1TB drives. If you want blissful speed, go for 2 or 3 OCZ Vertex SSDs in RAID0.

I have the old raptor, and even then, when it had a much wider performance gap over other drives, I still didn't think it was worth it. I now have the new VRaptor, and I can barely tell the difference between it and my WD6400AAKS drives. Check out the HDTune numbers I ran. I also tried the 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD, but was underwhelmed. It beats out the VRaptor, but not in a huge way alone. Many people are throwing 2 or 3 together in RAID0 and getting super fast results. So, with a budget like yours, I'd strongly consider it.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1032282618
http://alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/main.html << my personal tests

Question for you sir..

Do you have any benchmarks of what 2 x OCZ Vertex SSDs in RAID 0, would look like? You have me curious.

 

[engiNURD]

The first link is a post on the HDTune thread. There are several SSD screenshots towards the end of the thread. sgrinavi has some benches of 2, 3, and 4 in RAID0. 3 drives taps out the ICH10 controller. There's also a bench on two 640GB black drives in RAID0. Skim through it.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1284410

 

[malebolgia]

The first link is a post on the HDTune thread. There are several SSD screenshots towards the end of the thread. sgrinavi has some benches of 2, 3, and 4 in RAID0. 3 drives taps out the ICH10 controller. There's also a bench on two 640GB black drives in RAID0. Skim through it.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1284410

Thanks, another question. What would be the best way of adding additional storage, if I go with a RAID0 SSD setup? My RAID knowledge isn't high, so I'm uncertain if I can simply RAID the two SSDs and put in a WD Caviar Black. I wonder if I'll be taking a huge performance hit when accessing the lager HDD.

 

[engiNURD]

Its not really a performance hit, but yes, accessing the 1TB storage drive is, of course, going to be slower than the SSD RAID0 array, but thats not caused by the SSDs or anything like that. You can setup the RAID0 with the SSDs, and simply leave the 1TB as a standalone drive. In the RAID BIOS, you choose which drives to use in a RAID array, and then decide the RAID level (in this case, 0 -- very easy). Simply leave the 1TB out of the array, and it will function as a standard HDD, alone.

If you're seriously considering the SSDs, also check out the info on the OCZ forum. You'll likely have to flash to the most recent firmware, and you may want to format it a certain way, too. Check the OCZ forum for more details.

 

[HardwareGuru]

Combo Deal man Combo Deal hehe. Get the Core i7 920 cpu + EVGA Geforce GTX 275 combo both for $519 ($20 MIR on the video card). Also, I agree with PC_User on the PSU, get the Corsair TX750 and pay $120 upfront ($20 MIR). Combine the Corsair TX750 with the Asus P6T mobo and get both combo deal for $360 Also, might as well get the G. Skill 6GB RAM that PC_User listed, pay $90 upfront as oppose to the Corsair 6GB modules. Even though the Corsair modules have a mail in rebate, you don't save that much anyways.

Boom! Hehe... good saving with these adjustments.

 

[HardwareGuru]

I would not bother with the WD 300GB Raptor drive for $230. I think $230 is alot for only 300GB capacity even though it has a 10K rpm spindle speed. I'd rather get the WD Black WD6401AALS 640GB for $75 and the WD WD1001FALS 1TB for $105 to be used as storage. Both of these drives together is still cheaper than that 1 x 300GB Raptor drive.

 

[Cornflake]

*EDIT* In the third post he said he's going to get the Wester Digital WD20EADS 2TB. I started typing a long post about what to get instead of the 300GB WD VelociRaptor before seeing this

 

[malebolgia]

Thanks for the $$ saving links HardwareGuru.

Forgot to answer an earlier question, my speaker setup is a:
Logitech 5.1 Z-5500 Digital
That's the reason I'm looking at the Xonar card.

Some people say that putting two SSDs in RAID 0 won't give you any performance increase. That it's better to go with a single SSD, or just a raptor HDD for now. Any truth to this?

 

[InvisiBill]

I like my S1283V for half the price of the Noctua/TRUE. Some people have said that its fan is loud, but mine is as quiet as anything else in my system (the loudest part is my GTX285 with the fan at 50%).

If you have a MicroCenter nearby, you can get the i7 920 for $230 ($60 cheaper than Newegg).

I'm running my Z-5500s off my eVGA X58's onboard HD audio via optical. It sounds great to me. I'm not a super audiophile or anything, but I've done my share of car stereo stuff enough to hate distortion and vibrating panels...

 

[engiNURD]

I'd suggest holding off on the Xonar for now and using your Z5500's with the optical out. I'm using the optical from my DS3R and have no problems so far -- sounds great.

I'm not suggesting just any two SSDs in RAID0, I'm speaking specifically of the OCZ Vertex drives, who perform on par or even better than the Intel SSDs (considered one of the fastest on the market, and for a price premium). Did you check out the performance numbers in that thread I linked? The performance differences are OBVIOUS.

While I, too, enjoy my Xigmatek HDT coolers, the mounting mechanism and silent fans of the noctua are very enjoyable. If you don't mind the price premium and ugly color of the fans, stick with the noctua. If you want to save some cash, pickup the xigmatek.