Looking for advise on high end system.

[kc999]

Switched it up a bit after suggestions, any more?

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 3-4 weeks BUDGET RANGE: $2000-$2500

OVERCLOCKING: No.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: eventually, when GPU price drops

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I have it almost complete just looking for advise on my parts I have picked out.

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable
COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (maybe dominator, looking for a difference)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB x2
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Power Supply
ASUS P6TD 1366 Intel X58 ATX
Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366
COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
Corsair P128 2.5" 128GB (SSD)
Radeon 5870 (eventually 2 but now 1)

just for S&G i'm also using a G11 keyboard and the Cooler master Sentinel Gaming mouse, and will be using a HDTV as a monitor. I know a lot but i'm not an expert so I would like to see if anyone has any suggestions.

 

[sonic-boom]

No need a 850w PSU, and def not a CM. Get a 650-750w Corsair and you'll be fine for crossfire. Dont get the Barracuda, they have problems. Get spinpoint f3 1tb or 500gb.
950 is overpriced for the clock. Get a 920, you wont even notice the difference.

 

[rockyjohn]

No need a 850w PSU, and def not a CM. Get a 650-750w Corsair and you'll be fine for crossfire. Dont get the Barracuda, they have problems. Get spinpoint f3 1tb or 500gb.
950 is overpriced for the clock. Get a 920, you wont even notice the difference.

I agree with you on most things, but what is the problem with the Seagate drive? Is it just the 1.5TB version? I have the 1 GB 7200.12 - it is extremely fast and I am very pleased. I know that the Spinpoint F3 has bested it in some tests, but Seagate wins some too - like the Gaming Benchmark by 5% and the Windows Media Center by a whopping 30%+. Frankly I put more faith in these application based tests over theoretical read and write times. Here is the extract from the THG charts:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/compare,1010.html?prod%5B2770%5D=on&prod%5B2371%5D=on

I choose to stay with Seagate who has been on or near the top of the charts for a lot longer. Can you provide any sources or references for the Seagate issues as I would like to learn more.

 

[jbakerlent]

the .12's are great, but the .11 are not. They had all kinds of problems as well as bad drivers.

Edit: just google 7200.12 issues.

 

[sonic-boom]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1050374/seagate-barracudas-7200-11-failing
http://techreport.com/articles.x/16472/12

Depends on the .11 or .21, in the second article one drive completely failed, hinting that the firmware did not completely fix the problem.

 

[rockyjohn]

Thanks for the links and suggestions on Seagate. I read the articles and some googled items. It appears that most of the issues were with the 7200.11 and not the 7200.12, but there might have been some isolated issues with the .12, but some people may have been reporting .11 issues as .12, althought certainly not the magazine review with a .12 issue - although that might have been an isolated case.

I think I shall stay a happy Seagate user, although I can see where the confusion itself, even if there might be no issues, might be good reason for some to avoid the risk by going with Spinpoint.