A few questions for my i7 build

[skywalk]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: End sept 2009


BUDGET RANGE: SGD$ 2000-2500

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Lightroom2, Photoshop CS4, encoding DVDs, games, normal emailing and surfing


PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, wireless network card.



PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: NA - I buy everything from a local shop opposite my office


PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel i7 is my pre-req

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Samsung P2350 1920x1080, dual screen with a 19"

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Windows 7 64 bit

on to the parts:

confirmed:
not sure


CPU/mobo: intel i7, Giga EX58 ed4P $865

RAM: OCZ platinum 1333 3x2gig (6gigs) $248
OR
OCZ Platinum 1666 3x2gig?

DVD-R: Samsung, LG, Asus, or something similar. Dont use this often so no biggy $34

GPU: Sapphire Vapor-x
OR
Sapphire HD4890 Toxic $405


PSU: OCZ pc power quad cool 750W
OR
Corsaire 750TX
OR
OCZ elitexstream 850w

CASE: HAF 932 ($239)
OR
Antec 1200 ($339)

*edit* I'm leaning more towards the Antec 1200

HD: velociraptor 150 gig $202)
OR
WD black 640gig ($118)

I'm thinking OS on V-raptor 150gig, and storage/games on black 640gig


total price: $2098-2176

 

[skywalk]

bump. hope for some advice from those who either own, or have used any of the above parts. Thanks!

 

[hunter315]

Get the sapphire vaporx if it is cheaper, just get which ever one is clocked higher for a reasonable price increase.

Same with the RAM, both of the platinum kits should be CL 7, so if there is a small price difference(20ish) then get the 1600MHz kit, if its a large price difference get the 1333MHz kit.

The corsair 750tx is a good power supply and will give you enough power to crossfire in the future.

Either case will provide a ton of air flow so its which ever you like more.

Dont get the raptor at all, the 640GB caviar black will perform as well in everything except for repeated IO operations.

 

[skywalk]

Get the sapphire vaporx if it is cheaper, just get which ever one is clocked higher for a reasonable price increase.

Same with the RAM, both of the platinum kits should be CL 7, so if there is a small price difference(20ish) then get the 1600MHz kit, if its a large price difference get the 1333MHz kit.

The corsair 750tx is a good power supply and will give you enough power to crossfire in the future.

Either case will provide a ton of air flow so its which ever you like more.

Dont get the raptor at all, the 640GB caviar black will perform as well in everything except for repeated IO operations.

thanks hunter315. the toxic is overclocked for about 6 bucks more. It's just that the vapor-x has 2 gigs of RAM while the toxic only has 1gig. Is the extra RAM worth it?

the 1600 is S$90 more than the 1333. Too much of a jump?

can you explain what you mean by repeated IO operations please?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[hunter315]

Yeah then the toxic is definitely a good deal. The extra gig of ram wont do you any good, here is a review comparing the 1GB GTX285 and the 2GB GTX285 which are both a lot stronger than a 4870, there was no performance difference between the two. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gv-n285oc-2gi-gtx-285,2380.html

wayy too much of a jump for the ram prices, i know that prices are higher and conversion rates tend to suck but here you can get a triple channel kit for 150 for a high priced one, you wont notice a difference between the two, it will be less than .5% difference in performance.

By repeated IO operations i meant something like a web server where it deals with multiple requests for short randomly placed files, in general a desktop does sequential reads rather than random reads or IO reads so the significantly denser platters on the 640 caviar black will provide much higher sustained transfer rates.

and just to double check, the i7 you are planning on getting is the 920 right? It can easily be OC'd to the level of the 950 so the 950 isnt worth the major price premium.

 

[skywalk]

Yeah then the toxic is definitely a good deal. The extra gig of ram wont do you any good, here is a review comparing the 1GB GTX285 and the 2GB GTX285 which are both a lot stronger than a 4870, there was no performance difference between the two. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gv-n285oc-2gi-gtx-285,2380.html

wayy too much of a jump for the ram prices, i know that prices are higher and conversion rates tend to suck but here you can get a triple channel kit for 150 for a high priced one, you wont notice a difference between the two, it will be less than .5% difference in performance.

By repeated IO operations i meant something like a web server where it deals with multiple requests for short randomly placed files, in general a desktop does sequential reads rather than random reads or IO reads so the significantly denser platters on the 640 caviar black will provide much higher sustained transfer rates.

and just to double check, the i7 you are planning on getting is the 920 right? It can easily be OC'd to the level of the 950 so the 950 isnt worth the major price premium.

that link is great, thanks! i'm def going with toxic as I only play on 1900X1080. may not even need CF for that reso.

regarding the Vraptor, I really don't mind paying a little extra for it as i'm WELL within my budget as it is. i do a lot of Adobe lightroom2 and photoshop CS4 work and I tend to get impatient when things slow down by even a second or too, cus it adds up over the thousands of pics that I edit.

yes i'm getting the i7 920, hopefully D0, on giga x58 UD4P. NO IDEA how to overclock..zero experience, zero knowledge.
i've spent DAYS reading overclocking forums and toms but nothing seems to help.

would you have a link that explains things step by step, to someone like me with no background knowledge of the terminology? ie overclocking for dummies

thx again

 

[hunter315]

For photoshop work you will actually get better performance out of a 640GB or 1TB caviar black or even better a samsung F3 500GB as large files are sequential reads and they will give you better sequential read and write speeds.

Im sure someone in the overclocking section here can give you a brief walk through of how to OC an i7.

 

[skywalk]

so the black has better sequential reads than the vraptor?

is there a noticeable difference in performance between the 1TB and the 640 gig black?
thanks

 

[hunter315]

No the 640GB and the 1TB black both use 320GB platters so you will get about the same performance out of them. Actually looking at the charts here, it seems the 500GB seagate 12 series will give you the best performance, 500GB platters so denser data for faster transfers. Its also a single platter so it will be quieter. If you need more space or more speed than a single one of them can provide you can get a couple and put them in RAID 0. Just be aware that if one drive crashes the entire array is toast.