[Solved] Quiet i7, SSD, $1500-$2000

My boyfriend has said he would help me build my PC, but I had to research and buy the parts myself, so sorry if some of these questions are a bit basic. Im trying to build a computer for primarily Photoshop/Lightroom and video editing and rendering. It has to be very quiet, and ideally pretty energy efficient as I leave my computer on idle a lot. Price isn’t particularly important, maybe $1500-2000.

Thanks so much for any advice or suggestions you can give me.


*Casing
Looking for a case that is very quiet, with adjustable fan speeds, and ideally can fit larger video cards. I have read good things about the Antec 900, just wanted to make sure it was as quiet as people say and that it can hold large cards and large heatsinks like the Scythe Zipang (which apparently is very quiet).

*Processor
Im torn between the i7 920 and the 950. I hear that you can overclock the 920 such that it is close to as fast at the 950, but is that an easy or relatively difficult overclock. Also, can the 950 be overclocked to be even faster still? This would be my first attempts at overclocking, so it would all be pretty basic.

*System Drive
Im really interested in getting a top SSD for my system drive. At first I was looking at getting 2 Ocz Vertex 30gb and put them in a RAID 0 for $280. I was reading on Anandtech though that he thinks RAID 0 will make less of a difference for SSD drives, and will run into problems when switched to TRIM.

So I have also been looking at the Intel X-25M 80 GB Generation 2. Quick question, is there any way to identify the Gen 2s from the Gen 1s? Do the 2's use 'Mainstream' in the title? Also the only place I can find it is Amazon for $339 in the retail package. I had heard it was going for as little as $240 on Newegg before supplies started running low and since then everyone has been ramping up the price. Is there a lot of value in the ‘retail’ version? I definitely appreciate things like having supplied cables and installation software. And I was ready to pay $280 for 2x30gb Ocz, so $340 for 80 GB Intel isn’t a budget buster. But I do feel ripped off a bit.

*Data Drive
I need about 1.5 TB of space for videos, and performance is important. I also leave my computer on 24/7 so wouldn’t mind something energy efficient and cool (to save on fan use).

Which would be faster (and ideally more efficient), 2 smaller (640-750) ‘green’ drives (like the WD Caviar Green) in a RAID 0, or just a single 1TB or 2 TB performance drive (like the WD Caviar Black).

Also, when buying OEM drives, should I get some cables or anything like that?

*Backup Drives
I was planning on getting a eSata docking station (like the Thermaltake) and a couple of drives that I would backup my system and store remotely. I was just going to grab a couple of WD Caviar Green as speed is not hugely important, but if Im missing something let me know.

*Graphics Card
I read in an article that GTS 250 had very low power consumption and reasonably good performance. One thing that concerns me is I hear this is a very long card. What should I look for in a case to make sure this card will fit, or are there smaller cards that have decent performance and energy efficiency. I am limited to Nvidia cards as they have Physx and play well with Adobe.

*RAM
Corsair 12 GB Triple Channel 1333

*Power supply
I am happy to pay up for a good power supply, but don’t want to overbuy. It is unlikely that I would upgrade this system in the future, except maybe to add more SSDs. There is a small chance I guess that I would upgrade the graphics card to something more gaming capable. But the most important thing is that its quiet and efficient. It will also need to be autoranging, if that is a problem anymore.


Thanks so much again for any help that you can give me.

You may also want to consider a workstation card instead of a gaming card. I see that you plan on gaming on the machine so that may not be an option, but a workstation card usually beats a gaming card hands down in rendering and functions utilizing image software. Check out the following forum on Tom's: [url=http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/267349-33-quadro][/url]

It also provides a link to a review of an Nvidia workstation card and I think it does a comparison to a gaming card as well.

The i7 920 and 950 both have the same overclocking ceiling. The only thing the 950 does is make your wallet lighter. I would definitely stick with the 920.

Newegg was charging me tax for a while, then they stopped (NY'er). Seems 3 states are still getting charged. I know they have a warehouse in NJ so that's prolly why:

"Does Newegg charge sales tax?

http://www.newegg.com/HelpInfo/FAQDetail.aspx?Module=2

"Newegg charges the appropriate state and/or local sales tax for any order shipping to California, New Jersey, and Tennessee. Sales tax for cell phone orders shipping to California and Tennessee are calculated before any instant savings are applied.

Tennessee and New Jersey residents are charged according to their state and/or local tax rate. Please note that the sales tax for New Jersey and Tennessee orders is calculated based upon the total price of the order, including shipping and handling. The tax imposed by these states on shipping and handling is part of the state sales tax, not a separate tax."

2 Of these kits...It has XMP profiles so you wont have to overclock it to the required settings...And dont worry about the 1333MHz speed...It has lower timings to compensate for that...and this is one of the cheapest good quality kits available...
OCZ DDR3 PC3-10666 1333MHz Intel Extreme Edition XMP Ready Series 6GB
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B [...] d_i=507846

^ It is a very good set of RAM for that price...The RAM prices are inflated very much...Only this seems to be in the correct price range...
Check its reviews on newegg...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227375