New Home build - Please review

[fritowrdo]

New Home build - Please review.

This will be used as a MS Virtual Server for testing and will not be used for gaming. The only addition will be more hard drives. Only questions are is the Power Supply too much and is the video card too 'much' but will respect any comments. Also, will most likely not OC right away but will in the future and would like to have components where I can do it any time.

Thanks in advance.

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 119.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail 289.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail 39.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail 39.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive) - OEM 129.99
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail 49.95
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Crossfire Edition) EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail 109.99
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-08 - Retail 25.99
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler - Retail 49.99
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM 5.99
MSI N9600GT 512M OC GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 109.99

 

[Proximon]

Add more case fans to the Antec 300 to keep those drives cool, or upgrade to an Antec 900 or NZXT Tempest.

Yes the PSU is overkill. However, you do need quality and for the price that's an awfully good pick. It will run cool as well because of the low load.

You could save $10 with this one, and have the same result though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650TX

There is nothing particularly good about that CPU cooler.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

This one is good:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887016&Tpk=FZ120

This one is better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233024&Tpk=Dark%20knight

Finally the GPU... that's a lot of overkill.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102726
Sapphire 3650

Not sure why you are picking a crossfire board for this build... number of SATA ports?

This board is second gen P45. A better overclocker, and very well built:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

 

[aevm]

+1 to all the above.

The Silencer 750W S75CF is $70, just like the Corsair 650TX.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011&Tpk=S75CF
Either would be overkill, but they're top quality PSUs and a steal at $70. I'm guessing the 650TX would be used closer to its optimum point, since your setup doesn't consume much, but on the other hand getting an extra 8A with the Silencer for free isn't bad either. You decide.

I don't like the newegg reviews for that Seagate drive. 52% like it a lot, 24% hate it. Compare with this WD 1TB "Green" (88% gave it 5 eggs, 8% one egg):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317
or their latest and greatest WD1001FALS (78% vs 4%)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

I think Seagate has some technical difficulties these days. Try going with WD for the near future.



Edit: BTW, the UD3P is actually a great idea if you expect to need 3 or 4 monitors. Then it makes sense - buy two HD 3650 cards, plug them in, connect each to 2 monitors, don't enable Crossfire.

 

[kubes]

+1 to above comments as well.

Great amount of ram which is good. You'll want ever bit of it for your needs.

I agree with aevm you might want to stay away from seagate till they get their act together. They haven't had the best year. You might want to consider a little bit higher preformance hard drive. I say go with WD, but look into their "black" series hd. Also i'm not sure if this will be on 24x7 but make sure to look into the hard drives being rated to handle 24x7 operation.

 

[fritowrdo]

Thanks for all the replies and I agree about the Seagate 1.5 TB drive being iffy.

Please do a last review before I pull the trigger.

And thanks again.

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Crossfire Edition) EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-08 - Retail
XIGMATEK dark knight - s1283 120mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
SAPPHIRE 100236L Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

 

[aevm]

Looks very good.

You obviously need a 64-bit OS here, what with the 8 GB of RAM. XP-64 or Server 2003 or Server 2008, I guess. Windows Server 2008 has a nasty learning curve, be warned. (I'm still struggling with it after several months )

Vista Home Premium 64-bit might be just fine too, but wouldn't be my first choice. Have you made a decision here yet?

OK, now I'm going to be really picky. The RAM you got there has 5-5-5-15@1.8V-1.9V timings and costs $40 for 4GB. There's a model with 4-4-4-12@1.8V-1.9V that costs $50.

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

Since you're getting a high-end cooler, I'm guessing better timings matter. No idea if they're worth as much as $20 more (total for your 8GB). I'm curious to see what others think of this.

 

[kubes]

Acutally I am in full agreement with aevm on this one. Since your running a virtual world you want a lot of ram and for that ram to be fast. I think it'd be worth the $20 bucks when compairing it to the rest of your setup. It targets your bigest need/want and isn't to big of a price increase for the preformance increase you'll get from it.

 

[Proximon]

I thought of the PI Black, but figured for the intended use the little bit of performance gain wouldn't mean much. I don't do virtual server stuff though, so I really have no idea.

 

[fritowrdo]

The 20 dollars for better timings would be worth it. One last post of what I will get.

And thanks again.

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Crossfire Edition) EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-08 - Retail
XIGMATEK dark knight - s1283 120mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
SAPPHIRE 100236L Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

 

[aevm]

I like it.

You do know that the Q9650 has just got a major price cut, right? I'm not saying you should get a Q9650, just think about it.

There's an Arctic Cooling MX-2 paste too, pretty much like the AS5 but doesn't conduct electricity. Excellent for mechanically challenged guys who spill

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You can get a 22x DVD burner with lightscribe for the same price.

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153 $25.99

 

[aevm]

+1 to that.

If you're not into ripping movies, go with LG. LG drives are the best I've ever used. Right now I have a $30 LG and a $90 Plextor and I like the LG more.

The part about ripping movies is that LG is doing the politically correct thing and making their drives rip 3 or 4 times slower than they could.