$1570 gaming (WoW) build and Photo Editing

eil2017

Distinguished
Sep 2, 2008
29
0
18,530
Just a general "how does this look, what would you change" post. =) It's my first home build, but I'm looking forward to it. Would like to try to over clock it at some point as well.

All comments welcome. Thanks. The link to the public wish list is below...couldn't find a quick/easy way to paste all the items here.

-Eric

2009 Wolfdale Build

Edit: I've updated this wishlist build based on some comments below. Thank you!

 

kubes

Distinguished
Nov 4, 2008
925
0
18,990
this in general looks to be a pretty good build.

Somethings that I would nitpick at. Ussualy that antec case comes on sale and is also on a combo deal with one of the antec power supplies. Might want to wait for that to happen. (BTW I have that case and Love it!!)

I'm not sure if the raptor drive you have selected is really worth it. Might be able to save yourself $100 bucks and just go with the 750gb drive.

Overall though nice build. Everything seems to look good from my point of view.
 
I agree with binning the raptor. The one you have is a really old version of it (came out a few years ago) and standard SATA II drives nowadays can outperform it, even at 7200RPM. I would just get a second 750GB disk.
 
For the stated purposes, WoW and video editing, I think you might want to shift some power from GPU to CPU. Get a 4830 instead of the 4870 and a q9450 instead of the e8500.
Consider also battlemarz' comments about the hard drives.
 
You could also pick up two WD6401AALS drives. They're very fast (just as fast as that old Raptor), and the price is pretty reasonable.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&Tpk=wd6401aals $79.99

I'd also ditch the Freezer 7 Pro and pick up a Xigmatek since you mentioned trying overclocking in the future.

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003 $36.99

&

XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019 $8.49

That cooler & bracket are well worth the extra money for overclocking.

The rest of the build looks good. :)
 

kubes

Distinguished
Nov 4, 2008
925
0
18,990
ahh i missed that battlemarz, when i first took a look at that. Thanks for catching that. Deffinatly pick up the newier verisons of the hard drives. It deals with platter size mostly but bottom line, they run faster.
 

Good point. A quad core would be great for video editing.
 

zenmaster

Splendid
Feb 21, 2006
3,867
0
22,790
#1 - As others Stated, The Raptor is small and not really fast anymore. The current 7200RPM drives have a MUCH higher data density so they don't need to spin as fast to BE as fast.

#2 - Nice Case, but WAY over Priced. You can get it for 1/2 that on Sale. I think there are much more moderately priced Cases that are still nice but $75-$100 less.

#3 - Nice PSU, but Overriced. This Corsair is just as good and much less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

#4 - Grab a Quad Instead with the savings.
 

kubes

Distinguished
Nov 4, 2008
925
0
18,990
Ya I agree that at the current price the case is overpriced. I would wait for it to go on sale (which is often) or for a combo deal with the antec 650 sig or 850 tpq to come up.
 

DXRick

Distinguished
Jun 9, 2006
1,320
0
19,360
Games and Photoshop are faster with an E8500 than a Q9550.

Photoshop only cares about the GHz of the CPU and does not use 4 cores. Unless you get the 64-bit version of PS4, it will only be able to access 2G of memory, and will need to cache data (so you can undo changes) to the HD as you manipulate an image. They recommend that the PS cache be on a different drive than the Windows swapfile. So, getting 2 HDs is a good idea, but I would rather get the 150G VRaptor than the older one.

Save money on the case to get the VRaptor instead!
 

computersss

Distinguished
Dec 9, 2008
267
0
18,790
if i were you i would get this i7 build for 1570 the problems that makes this build cheap is that it contains a mobo with 4 not 6 memory slots and it has 3x1gb ram ,it doesn't have a cooler or a raptor but hey you can overclock it with the stock cooler anyway this i7 rocks and it doesn't need overclocking

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283

ASUS VH226H Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236051

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175103

Logitech G5 2-Tone 7 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Laser Mouse - Retail


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104076



GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488


 

pbrigido

Distinguished
Mar 6, 2008
529
0
18,980



+1

Right on the money.
 

kamel5547

Distinguished
Jan 4, 2006
585
0
18,990


Partially correct, some functions are faster on a dual core than a quad core assuming the quad has a slower clock, however *most* functions are faster on a quad that a similarly clocked dual (results for CS4).

I personally think its time to let the dual's die unless you have a short term build/upgrade (assuming ti isn't for office tasks). For things like photoshop the tide is steadily moving toward quad, and gaming is probably not too far behind at the rate things are going.


 

eil2017

Distinguished
Sep 2, 2008
29
0
18,530
Wow...excellent and fast replies. I appreciate all the feedback. I've spent weeks playing around with various options, so all this helps. I'll definitely take the hard-drive feedback to heart and probably drop the 10k rpm drive for one of the newer 7200rpm drives you linked....maybe pick up 2. =)

I've gone back and forth over the E8500 vs. i7 choice (as well as dual vs. quad core), and I think that I'll probably stick with the E8500. TBH, I do more WoW than Photoshop (go figure), and I don't believe I'll need 4 cores or the newest i7 for gaming.

As for the case, cooling and PSU comments, I'm taking a look at those now. I really like the look of that case, but not the price. As for the CPU cooler, can you tell me more about why the XIGMATEK is a better choice? Same on the PSU if you have the time.

Thank you all. I'll be watching this thread closely since I'm hoping to buy this month (if not this week =).

=Eric
 
The Xigmatec cooler is currently the best 775 aircooler on the market. It directly links the CPU to heatpipes (other coolers run heatpipes through a block of copper or aluminum) and runs them straight up to a fairly large tower of aluminum fins. That, and it has a pretty darn good fan on it.



 

DXRick

Distinguished
Jun 9, 2006
1,320
0
19,360


OK. All I have seen so far are the CS3 tests. So, I used Google to search for CS4 tests and found this one: Photoshop CS4, Noiseware, and After Effects CS4

The Q9550 is a tad faster than the E8600 at all but the Noiseware test. So, it does look like CS4 is taking better advantage of quads than CS3 did. :sol:
 

pmacdonald

Distinguished
Dec 21, 2008
96
0
18,630
You're also paying a lot more for the Q9550 as well though.... The E8500 is the best choice for the price. Quads are being fully utilized right now and most people don't even need a Quad.. Some people may come in here and say, "Yes I do need a quad, I do a lot of video encoding, rendering, etc..." That's great and all but your only saving a few seconds for the extra $400 you spend. The i7 is not mainstream yet and some of the motherboards seem finicky. The older quads are not worth the money right now either. For that money you mine as well get the i7 (if your spending $350+ on the processor).

Good choice with the E8500.
 

kubes

Distinguished
Nov 4, 2008
925
0
18,990
I don't know If i totaly agree with the above post. Yes the I7 is priced cheaper than the Q9550. Its that the motherboard and ram kits are much more expensive that are required to run the i7. This is what gets you on the bottome line. I also not sure If i agree with the finicky mb. I think the x58 chipset is proving to be a very solid board so far. Overclocks very nicely and in general has pretty good support/software. Saying this I think both the Q9550 and the i7 both have their place in the market.

Yes software "in general," is not written to deal with quad cores. I think however we are starting to see this more and more; software is starting to support quad core technology and things are becoming blazing fast. I think the market is going to make the turn very quickly if it hasn't already. So having a quad core really isn't a bad option imo. Expecially if your doing vidoe editing and encoding.
 

eil2017

Distinguished
Sep 2, 2008
29
0
18,530
OK! I think I have my final components picked out. I made a few changes and would still appreciate your feedback. The changes I've made based on feedback and some reading:

2009 E8500 Build

1) went for a full tower case:
COOLER MASTER HAF 932
2) 2 hard drives:
WD Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
3) took the advice on the Xigmatek cooler
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
4) took the advice on the cheaper, but equivalent Corsair PSU
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W
5) added in a card reader

Comments still welcome!! ...but I hope to pull the trigger on this before prices change. =)



-Eric
 

kubes

Distinguished
Nov 4, 2008
925
0
18,990
its not the best PSU. Its better than some but non the less not one of the top teir psu's. Remember The grade of a PSU is not rated by the watts.

Antec, Crosair, PC Power and Cooling are probally the best ones to get for your price range. All three of these are great power supplies.
 

eil2017

Distinguished
Sep 2, 2008
29
0
18,530


Don't *need* any of this to play WoW. ;) I can keep playing on my 5 year old Dell XPS gen 2, but it's won't be as cool or fun to build! =D