ive been wanting to build a new computer for a while, and after doing some research ive noticed there are no clearcut answers to what is good and what is not. i have compiled a list, and recompiled several times.
here is the list of what im planning to get
Storage :
2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750 GB in raid 0 for documents / music / video etc / games (2172 dkk - 431 usd) 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 40 GB in raid 0 for vista ultima x64 (500 dkk - 100 usd)
Mainboard :
asus striker 2 formula (for NV 780i with tri-sli mostly) (2250 dkk - 447 usd)
CPU :
Intel Q6600 2.4 GHz socket 775 1066 mHz 8mb l2 (1604 dkk - 318 usd) (might buy the e8400 if i can find one when i order the rest)
Sunbeam acrylic AC-HUVB - atx - 5x3.5" Intern / 2x3.5" Ekstern / 4x5.25" Ekstern (allready ordered) will add a 140mm front intake fan and 2 120mm back exhaust fans.
Optical Drive(s) :
Samsung WriteMaster SH-S203B (180 dkk - 35 usd)
Screen :
Samsung LE37M87BD 37" 1080i lcd tv 1920*1080 native real HD (7500 dkk - $1500 usd)
Other stuff :
3x revoltec casefan (yellow) 120mm (1x front intake / 2x back exhaust) (300 dkk - 60 usd total)
ZALMAN ZM MFC2 fan controller (300 dkk - 60 usd)
Sunbeam CHAMELEON light controller w/ 4 led laser beam lights (140 dkk - 28 usd) will buy later
OS :
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate OEM (1216 dkk - $240 usd)
TOTAL COST : 20000 dkk - $4000 usd without shipping costs.
i will use this rig for gaming / webdesign and some video editing (hence the adobe creative suite)
the questions i have are as followed
1 - will my ram be fast enough?answered 2 - will 8 GB ram be overkill? answered 3 - is there an alternative to the video card i selected (either different manufacturer or a whole new card altogether)answered 4 - without overclocking will this system run hot with the stock cooling? answered 5 - what type of case fans do you recommend? (good noise to cooling ratio)answered 6 - will the sas card i selected be good enough for the sas drive and will it fit in with tri-sli?
all help is appreciated.
edit : changed amount of ram to mike99 his suggestion.
changed videocard choice to leo2kp and mweidler.
changed hdd setup to yoosty his suggestions.
added the q6600 cpu as an option, suggested by bowriver and zenmaster.
added fans + controllers + lights added prices in danish crowns and us dollar
changed screen from 24" to a bigass 37" changed 2x 8800gts to 1x 8800 gts to hold me over until the 9x00 series comes out. changed videocard from asus to evga because evga ships with Crysis changes sas drive to 2x 40gb raid 0 because i cant find a raid/sas controller for my motherboard added vista ultima x64
Message edited by smokegfx on 02-01-2008 at 01:48:28 PM
You need a 64bit OS to use more than 4Gb(actually 3.25Gb) either XP/Vista or Linux. For gaming you are better with 32bit OS, install just 4Gb as you are video editing, games are fine with 2Gb.
you might want to look at the gts512<g92> you can probably get two of them for what the ultra will cost you. and the gts512 is pretty close in performance.
If you buy it from evga you can take advantage of there step up program. within 90 days turn it in for a credit towards the latest model.
look on newegg, I think its 300 after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130312
Storage :2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750 GB in raid 0 for documents / music / video etc / games
1x WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150 GB for vista 64 ult / adobe creative suite 3
Only problem with your storage set-up is that you will have to run at the lowest HD throughput (1.5ghz of the Raptor) for all drives. There is a couple of ways you could offset this.
1) SAS drive: they come in to flavors, 10,000 rpm and 15,000 rpm. Cost almost double that of the Raptor if you go for higest rpm and you would need a add0n SAS controller/raid card. Example link below.
2) SSD : which would really rock speed wise, but at this time very expensive and not to many brands that come in large capicty sizes above 32gb. Good review on them from link below.
the reason i chose the 8800 ultra ($800 USD converted from danish crowns) is to (after a while) put an extra one or maybe even two more in my system. also i found out (rumor?) that the new NV series will just be two 8800 (ultra?) cores on one card, making the difference neglectable. and i live in denmark (europe) so i cant order at newegg and i havent found a step-up program for european residence yet.
please correct me if i am wrong.
ill be sure to pick my cooling needs from the links you posted, it is much appreciated thank you.
Storage :2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750 GB in raid 0 for documents / music / video etc / games 1x WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150 GB for vista 64 ult / adobe creative suite 3
Only problem with your ...
the raptor i listed is 10k rpm but if im understanding this right the raptor is limiting the speed of the other drives?
Message edited by smokegfx on 01-30-2008 at 05:39:58 PM
Yes the Raptor will limit the Sata II drives (which has 3.0ghz) to 1.5ghz. Since that is what the Raptor is rated at for throughput.
Since you live in Europe, I wonder if you can order your computer parts from the UK. Like Dabs, EBuyer or Scan sites.
Quote :
i found out (rumor?) that the new NV series will just be two 8800 (ultra?) cores on one card, making the difference neglectable
That rumor is incorrect. The 8800 Ultra from nvidia uses the G80 chipset, where as the new 9800 series cards are using the G92 chipset. Plus nvidia did come out with the 2 new cards in the 8800 series for GT and GTS using the G92 chipset and EVGA has another OC version of the new 8800GT just been released, that has better fan cooling and is a dual slot card, plus is faster then the new 8800GTS. Plus it is getting harder to find (buy) the 8800 Ultra cards now, since most card manufacturers have started to switch over to the G92 chipset.
thanks for the info i will look into the drive setup further.
and i can get plenty of 8800 ultra's in denmark. (15 diff models)
anyway the 8800 gts 512mb is based on the g92 chip, i can get 3x ASUS EN8800GTS for the price of 1.5x 8800 ultra.
would this one be good or would you select a different manufacturer / model?
also what kind of controller would i have to buy with the Seagate Cheetah 15K.5 146.8 GB - 15k rpm drive?
would the Promise FastTrak TX2650 be good enough?
I agree, I would SLI two 8800GTS 512 SSC cards or wait for the 9800GX2. They use a completely different manufacturing process, run cooler, are more efficient, use less power, and are nearly the same speed. And two of those will cost the same as one Ultra (as you know), and two GTS 512s should kill an Ultra. If you're worried about SLI, wait for the 9800GX2 which will allow for quad-SLI and are rumored to be priced at around $450.
I agree, I would SLI two 8800GTS 512 SSC cards or wait for the 9800GX2. They use a completely different manufacturing process, run cooler, are more efficient, use less power, and are nearly the same speed. And two of those will cost the same as one Ultra (as you know), and two GTS 512s should kill an Ultra. If you're worried about SLI, wait for the 9800GX2 which will allow for quad-SLI and are rumored to be priced at around $450.
thanks for the info.
not worried about it at all, in fact i say the more the better.
so i will most likely go with 3 gts 512 for my build.
funny thing to see my build get cheaper but also better.
Swap that for E8400 or Q6600.
The E8400 is a light years ahead as a dual core processor.
The Q6600 is a quad core and may serve you better.
THere are a million E8400 vs Q6600 threads so please read them.
To Summarize: The E8400 will clock higher and outperform the Q6600 for things not optimized for 4 cores. This applies to most games.
The Q6600 will rock on things that are optimized such as Video CReation.
In 1-2 years more and more things will be quad core optimized.
Swap that for E8400 or Q6600.
The E8400 is a light years ahead as a dual core processor.
The Q6600 is a quad core and may serve you better.
THere are a million E8400 vs Q6600 threads so please read them.
To Summarize: The E8400 will clock higher and outperform the Q6600 for things not optimized for 4 cores. This applies to most games.
The Q6600 will rock on things that are optimized such as Video CReation.
In 1-2 years more and more things will be quad core optimized.
i get what you are saying but wouldnt that bottleneck my sli 8800 gts's?
