Would you be kind enough to review a build?

[treidling]

Hi all,

This is only my second build (first was four years ago) so I was hoping that one of you folks might be kind enough to stop me from making any huge mistakes.

This system will be used for intense 2d photo graphics processing (with Lightroom, which expects multiple cores these days), general home use, and occasional gaming. This last is why I went for the 4850 graphics card and the 750W power supply, though I'm open to being told I'm an idiot in this regard. I tried to set things up so that I can add a second 4850 to upgrade to crossfire if I decide I want it down the road. I plan to experiment with overclocking a moderate amount but don't feel the need to push the limits, which is why I went with the DDR2-800. The NAS enclosure and 5600 RPM drive are for offsite backup at a friend's house.

I already have 1 x 750gb WD Caviar (to be added to the additional 2 and linked RAID 5 for ~1.5TB) and an NEC 2690WUXi monitor as well as keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc...

Aside from a general look-over, I'm specifically interested in anywhere I might be able to save money or improve quality without losing too much performance or reliability and whether or not I'll need an aftermarket CPU sink for moderate OCing.

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 $309.99
• ASUS P5Q-E LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard $144.99
• SAPPHIRE 100258-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card $149.99 (after $20.00 Mail-in Rebate)
• 4x Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2N5/2G $87.96
• 2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $239.98
• CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $70.99 (after $30.00 Mail-in Rebate)
• COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $49.99
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD $79.99
• Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-116DBK $29.99
• CABLES UNLIMITED USB-1610B All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader $19.99
• Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound $5.99

• Synology DS108j Diskless System 1-bay SATA NAS Server for Home and Small Workgroup $142.99
• SAMSUNG HD103UI 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive: $94.99

Thanks!

-Tom

 

[jeteryankees22]

Well your raid 5 setup looks okay but I would only do a raid setup with 2/3 brand new hdd's. You could always use 2 and stripe them, having a 3rd, external drive. I would go this way because what if you get a power surge and then you would lose all three disks.

Also, I would recommend 4 gigs, especially since you have 64bit, you'll be able to see it. The 750W PS should be enough...you do say 650 though (I think it's just a typo).

Other than that it looks good...

 

[geofelt]

The only change of importance would be to get 4gb of ram. You can get a 4gb kit from corsair for $25 after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
DDR2-800 is fine, core 2 cpu's are not very sensitive to ram speeds.

If you will be using multi-core enabled software, or heavy multitasking, then you should consider the i7 920. The cpu will actually cost less than the Q9550. The other parts will be more, though. A X58 msi motherboard will be $220, and 4gb of 1.5v DDR3 will be about $125

 

[treidling]

3 typos, actually. I had intended to get 8GB RAM (4x the 2GB stick, though the kit geofelt mentioned is even better) since it's so cheap. I was also planning on 2 of the 750GB drives and the PSU is supposed to be 750W. I've corrected the original post. Sorry!

I did consider the i7 but figured I'd go with the more tested technology (both CPU and MoBo) for now since I'd need to upgrade both and the DDR3 prices are so high. Maybe I should take another look, though. Thanks.

I'm a lazy backup guy. The plan is for RAID5 onsite and a NAS backed up initially by connecting to the drive directly and then leaving it at a friend's house for incremental backups via ftps.

Thanks for your thoughts!

-Tom