Any body have anything wrong with this spec?

[onebigoaf]

i'm thinking of this system for a home workstation (CAD, Photoshop, some 3D modeling) as well as gaming to last a few more years as an expandable platform. i know some components are a little more expensive than they need to be, but i plan on having them around awhile and upgrading things as time goes on.

Please point out where i can improve.

Thanks!

ASUS M4A79T Deluxe Motherboard - AMD 790FX, Socket AM3, ATX, Audio, CrossFireX, PCI Express 2.0, Gigabit LAN, USB 2.0, SATA, RAID

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor - 3.20GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with Fan

OCZ Dual Channel Platinum 2048MB PC12800 DDR3 1600MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) (0.1 lbs)

HIS Radeon HD 4890 Turbo Video Card - 1024MB DDR5, PCI Express 2.0 x16, CrossFireX Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV

XION Supernova Lan Party Ed. Power Supply - 1000watt, SLI Certified, 80+, 140mm fan, Modular

WD VelociRaptor 150GB SATA HD 10K/16MB/SATA-3

Ultra eXo ATX Clear Side Case - Limited Edition

 

[fullmetall]

Would change the board to the Combo deal of x4 955 + Gigabyte UD4P AM3 DDR3 790x

XFX ati 4890

you will not need that much psu, thats way over the hill.

all you need is a 650tx, 750/850tx for crossfire

dont know why you would need the velociraptor, get a wd black 640gb, and for faster read and writing, look into SSD drives.

casing,, Coolermaster rc-690/antec 900/antec 902

 

[mindless728]

PSU, you really should go for Corsair, PC Power and Cooling, OCZ,, and really, you could use just a solid 850 watt from one of those brands and have that last you a few years

 

[onebigoaf]

Would change the board to the Combo deal of x4 955 + Gigabyte UD4P AM3 DDR3 790x

XFX ati 4890

you will not need that much psu, thats way over the hill.

all you need is a 650tx, 750/850tx for crossfire

dont know why you would need the velociraptor, get a wd black 640gb, and for faster read and writing, look into SSD drives.

casing,, Coolermaster rc-690/antec 900/antec 902

i was thinking of the M4A79T mainly for the FX factor and the support for lower memory latency. it seems that the mobo you specified has CAS at 9-9-9-24 (apparently the lowest) versus the M4A79T at 7-7-7-20... unless my sources are inaccurate. also, the M4A79T supports up to 16Mb ram (63x) versus the 4Mb the UD4P has.

as far as the PSU, i was thinking of more overhead for O.C. cooling as well as Crossfire, Blue-ray, etc... and i found a good deal on that PSU.

The HD is pretty much only for running software. SSDs are still more expensive and somewhat untried. i have larger SATA drives in other bays for storage. that's why the velociraptor was speced at 150mb.

i've read some bad reviews on the XFX GPU and some good reviews on the HIS (cooler while under higher clock speeds and such).

am i still way off here.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Where are you purchasing your hardware? With the low price of RAM, you really should be looking for at least 4GB of RAM. The programs you intend to use will not work very well with just 2GB of RAM.

 

[onebigoaf]

after i set the system up... and another paycheck later, i was thinking of upgrading to 4Gb @ (2) 2Gb kits for the 4 dimms. i couldn't really find RAM for less with latency so low and stability known to be so high. any other suggestions?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You didn't answer where you're buying your hardware from. If you're in the US, this RAM kit is a great deal:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231200&Tpk=G.SKILL%20DDR3%201333%204GB $59.99

Edit: Running 4 sticks of RAM is harder on the motherboard than 2. You are much better off getting a 2 x 2GB setup than 4 x 1GB.

 

[onebigoaf]

tigerdirect.com... in the US. the OCZ RAM i'm talking about is OCZ Dual Channel Platinum 2048MB PC12800 DDR3 1600MHz Memory. the 4Gb is a little more, but not horrible for the speed and latency. the G.Skill has marginally better CAS, but the speed is less. understandably it is 4Gb for $60 versus $99 for 2Gb. i guess i could go for OCZ Flex EX PC12800 1600MHz 4GB DDR3 Dual Channel (CAS 7-6-6-24) Kit - 2 x 2048MB, 240 Pin for $82.99. i've just heard great things about OCZ for the price.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I wouldn't limit yourself to one manufacturer just because you "heard great things" about them. The G.Skill RAM is every bit as good as OCZ.

I would much rather have 4GB than 2GB of RAM any day, even if I had to go with SLIGHTLY slower RAM. I wouldn't worry so much about the manufacturer of the RAM. Pretty much all the RAM manufacturers use the same chips anyway. I would just get the 4GB kit with the fastest speed/tightest timings/best price, regardless of the manufacturer.

This kit seems like a pretty good deal:

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297 $69.99 (It's even OCZ ) DDR3 1600 with 7-7-7-24 timings.

 

[onebigoaf]

thanks shortstuff. the $83 kit i mentioned last was 4Gb with tighter timings. i've been taking a look at others as well. for now, i have that $83 kit on my list and booted the $100 2Gb kit off...

other than RAM, is there anything else you notice? i've been trying to read compatibility with components and that is mostly why i chose what have so far. i'm looking for a slightly smaller (800W or so) PSU and mobo.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Well, if it was me I would get these instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.186486 (Phenom II 955 + GA-MA790XT-UD4P combo - $364.99 - $15 MIR)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.184993 (Antec 900 Two case & Antec EA-750 PSU combo - $249.98)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.186064 (WD6401AALS & 64-bit Vista Home Premium combo - $154.98)

 

[4745454b]

You still have that Xion PSU. I don't know who told you they were good, but I avoid them at all costs. Good deal or not right now, it can lead to headaches/blown hardware latter. Stick with the good name brands now and don't worry about it.

I also wouldn't get the 955. The 940 is nearly as fast, or get the 920 and overclock it. Why spend the extra $$$?

Other then these two things, you're pretty much down to personal preference, which I don't argue about. If you like it, you like, and thats all that matters.