New System Build $1000-$1300

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if you can look over my system and give me your thoughts or suggestions. I will be using this computer primarily for business applications (outlook, excel, etc...), trading stock, photography, and other basic functions.

I am looking to purchase this ASAP.

Budget Range: $1000-$1300

Here is what I have come up with:

Case: Looking for suggestions

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0 ghz socket AM3 95w Quad-core or AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

Motherboard: ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

Video Card: ATI HD 4850 1GB PCI-Express Video Card x 1 or two not sure

PSU: Looking for suggestions

Memory: G.Skill 4 Gb (2 x 2GB) 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Hard Drive: seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 GB or Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s in RAID 1 setup. Not sure if I need 1 or 2 controllers for this and which ones would be good to use.

CD/DVD Drive: SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model SH-S222A

I will be connecting (3) 20" monitors.

Thanks for your help and time!!

Message edited by bobbo1 on 09-08-2009 at 09:14:30 AM

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Looks like AMD just got a beating from Intel... again.

Newegg should have this processor tomorrow, and it buries even the fastest AMD processor:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] u=I69-1750

This would be a good motherboard for it:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] =G452-0103

Again, tomorrow will be better for pricing.

There is a sticky at the top of the forum, that asks for some more detail.

As far as the rest of your build:

Just use two Caviar Blacks in RAID 1, with the onboard controller. That's all that is needed for your usage.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

Case
I have no idea what your tastes are, so I'll provide some options

Antec 900
CM 690
Cooler Master Cosmos
NZXT Tempest

For three monitors you will need two video cards, but with your stated usage 4850s would be overkill and make your case hot, requiring extra cooling. A couple 4650s will be fine:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161262

For a PSU just something quiet and dependable, with enough connectors for your drives and such:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151027

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I5-750BOX Combo Price: $314.99 $15 off with P55 combo purchase w/code OMGi5COMBO $299.99 Free Shipping
Part#:MB-P55M-D2 | GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 Socket 1156/ Intel P55/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ MATX Motherboard
Part#:I5-750BOX | Intel Core i5 Processor i5-750 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1156 CPU, Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231277 $79.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
Dual Channel Intel Core i5 & Core i7 CPU for P55 motherboard

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Why_Me on 09-08-2009 at 09:31:14 AM

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Well the good news is our very own forums ran a quad monitor set up for non gaming use here ^^
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 785-6.html

So for under $500 one could hit a quad set up

Maybe hit a SSD down the road perhaps? HD 4850 1GB is a bad call for $$/performance for a gaming rig and for your uses there is no need for increased power consumption, heat, decibels, etc IMO hehe

Edit: Oh ya go with a SATA DVDRW ^^

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by batuchka on 09-08-2009 at 09:58:25 AM

Reply to batuchka

Proximon wrote :

Looks like AMD just got a beating from Intel... again.

Newegg should have this processor tomorrow, and it buries even the fastest AMD processor:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] u=I69-1750

This would be a good motherboard for it:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] =G452-0103

Again, tomorrow will be better for pricing.

There is a sticky at the top of the forum, that asks for some more detail.

As far as the rest of your build:

Just use two Caviar Blacks in RAID 1, with the onboard controller. That's all that is needed for your usage.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

Case
I have no idea what your tastes are, so I'll provide some options

Antec 900
CM 690
Cooler Master Cosmos
NZXT Tempest

For three monitors you will need two video cards, but with your stated usage 4850s would be overkill and make your case hot, requiring extra cooling. A couple 4650s will be fine:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161262

For a PSU just something quiet and dependable, with enough connectors for your drives and such:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151027

Thank you very much for your input. I do have another question though, what makes the intel chipset that much better than the AMD I am looking at for the money and how do you think the intel would benefit me? thanks again!

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to bobbo1

Why_Me wrote :

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I5-750BOX Combo Price: $314.99 $15 off with P55 combo purchase w/code OMGi5COMBO $299.99 Free Shipping
Part#:MB-P55M-D2 | GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 Socket 1156/ Intel P55/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ MATX Motherboard
Part#:I5-750BOX | Intel Core i5 Processor i5-750 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1156 CPU, Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231277 $79.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
Dual Channel Intel Core i5 & Core i7 CPU for P55 motherboard

Thank you for your suggestions

Reply to bobbo1

Would anything change above if I am going to be doing a descent amount of video blogging and wanted to store these files?

Reply to bobbo1

bobbo1 wrote :

Thank you very much for your input. I do have another question though, what makes the intel chipset that much better than the AMD I am looking at for the money and how do you think the intel would benefit me? thanks again!

Whenever we look at non-gaming builds, we have to look at productivity.... how quickly your various tasks will be completed.
We then have to look at the total cost of the platforms available, and deduce what will work best for you. Converting video files, compressing files, and so on will be time consuming tasks.

Given your budget, you have a lot of room to work with. 1K should get you all you really need.

The front page of TH is full of articles on the new platform today, and you may want to look those over. However, I can point you to a slightly easier to digest comparison here:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipse [...] =3634&p=12

That should be a good selling point for you.

I'll post a full build shortly.

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

Intel i5 and Gigabyte UD4P combo -365
Since you are going to run two video cards you'll want a full sized board, not an mATX.
G.skill 1333 DDR3 CL8 -80
-----
CM Storm Scout -90
Antec TP-550 Modular, well reviewed PSU -90
---
HIS 4650 (2) -110
Caviar Black 1TB (2) 190
DVD burner -30
---
64-bit Vista with free upgrade to Windows 7 -110

That puts you at $1065 before shipping.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
Reply to Proximon

batuchka wrote :

Well the good news is our very own forums ran a quad monitor set up for non gaming use here ^^
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 785-6.html

So for under $500 one could hit a quad set up
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums [...] a/1388.jpg

Maybe hit a SSD down the road perhaps? HD 4850 1GB is a bad call for $$/performance for a gaming rig and for your uses there is no need for increased power consumption, heat, decibels, etc IMO hehe

Edit: Oh ya go with a SATA DVDRW ^^

Thank you very much for your help!

Reply to bobbo1

Proximon wrote :

Intel i5 and Gigabyte UD4P combo -365
Since you are going to run two video cards you'll want a full sized board, not an mATX.
G.skill 1333 DDR3 CL8 -80
-----
CM Storm Scout -90
Antec TP-550 Modular, well reviewed PSU -90
---
HIS 4650 (2) -110
Caviar Black 1TB (2) 190
DVD burner -30
---
64-bit Vista with free upgrade to Windows 7 -110

That puts you at $1065 before shipping.

Would these video cards work for what I need to do?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] u=P56-9502

Also, out of the cases you recommened are they all about the same as far as fan noise? I would prefer quieter. Will the PSU be enough for this system with the three monitors, v-cards, etc...

What is the big difference between the Gskill memory that you recommended versus the Gskill ripjaw? I looks like the ripjaw is a little bit faster for the same price. Not sure though.

Thanks again for all of your help. I have been reading your build suggestions that you wrote and it is extremely well written and very helpful

Reply to bobbo1

The CM Cosmos I linked earlier would be the most quiet.
Another quiet case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129061

A pair of 9500GTs will drive the monitors. If you are using three monitors you'll want to keep any videos etc. on the monitor that has the dedicated card. Keep in mind though that if you feel you need to upgrade later you have to replace both cards, or find a stronger card that will run on the same driver as the 9500GT.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Proximon

While we don't have test numbers yet, it's likely the latency will play a bigger role in speed than the frequency. Thus 1333 CL8 will be faster than 1600 CL9. The 1600 CL9 might be downclocked to 1333 CL8, but I chose the safe bet. In either case, we are actually talking about very small differences. If you liked the looks of the 1600 Ripjaw that would certainly be legitimate.

Reply to Proximon

Proximon wrote :

The CM Cosmos I linked earlier would be the most quiet.
Another quiet case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129061

A pair of 9500GTs will drive the monitors. If you are using three monitors you'll want to keep any videos etc. on the monitor that has the dedicated card. Keep in mind though that if you feel you need to upgrade later you have to replace both cards, or find a stronger card that will run on the same driver as the 9500GT.

I think I will get the CM because it appears that it will have better cooling. Will the PSU be enought to power everything? I know you mention how important this part is in your build suggestions.

Will both of these cards handle HD video ok? I am going to be using an HD camera for blogging and a few other things.

I am also buing the Intel chip and board that you recommended.

Thanks again for all of your help.

Reply to bobbo1

I think two monitors with full screen HD (1080p) videos running off the same 9500GT might stress it a bit... but I'm only guessing here. I don't recall any tests done.

You aren't running any large gaming video card, so your power needs are minimal. You do want a lot of connections and good noise level and cooling, as well as efficiency and stability of course. I think the modular TP-550 can easily cover things like future drive upgrades and anything else you are likely to throw at it.

If you would like a bit more margin the Corsair 650TX is famous for it's low noise and stability:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] &Tpk=650TX
Not modular though.

Reply to Proximon

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