New build w/5 year lifespan - Thoughts anyone?

[HagMan]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: As soon as possible but it is not yet a life or death situation.

BUDGET RANGE: under $1700-$2000 After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Database design/programing (MySQL/SQLServer), PHP/C# programing (Visual Studio), Website design/programing (Macromedia 8, Photoshop CS2 may upgrade to CS4 suite), screen recording (camtasia), multiple VM's (running various Windows/Linux OS's/Servers) remote administration/support, productivity apps (Office 2003/2007/2010, Open Office/Star Office), Blu-Ray/DVD/CD ripping/storage, surfing, email and other general use

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard/mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, tigerdirect, fry's... ?

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: none really

OVERCLOCKING: No / Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: slim to none

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 would be nice

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: In addition to the “usage” listed above I would like to use this machine as a media server. I will be pulling ripped Blu-Ray's/DVD's to my 1080p HDTV and I would like to be able to PUSH same to an older 1080i (may upgrade to 1080p that can pull in a year or so). I will also be pulling music via my AV receiver. Of course I will need ample of storage for the audio/video/photo collections as well as website graphics/backups and databases. I will soon max the 1tb I already have and have yet to add any movies and 90% of music library. (currently have tons of data and images)

May want to run dual monitors in future.

I know I cannot future proof a build but I would like to build with longevity/upgrade-ability in mind. I am beginning to pull my hair out with my current Dell XPS Gen 3 (pushing 7 yo) and need to move onward and upward. Would I be just as well off, and save some cash, by going with an i5 system? Will i5 suffer from longevity?

Any advice/suggestions/schooling would be much appreciated. I have been doing my research on the web for a couple weeks now but know that there is safety, and knowledge, in numbers and I would appreciate your input. I'm not completely new to building systems as I used to build tons of them back in the day. You know, Win95/98, NT 4 workstation/server... but I am a bit overwhelmed with all that is out there now. WHEW!!!

Here is what I'm looking at so far:


GPU: XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail

Mem: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7T-6GBPK - Retail

Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

MOB: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

CPU: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

HDD x4: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade – Retail

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail

BDPlayer: LG Black 8X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA Model WH08LS20K - OEM

Monitor: undecided

Subtotal: $1,818.38

(did I do this right?!?!)

 

[ares1214]

this build is better:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.298049

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.321536

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.319509

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148318

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106300

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136456

final price 1998.88. you also have a few options...windows 7 pro might not be needed, it offers SOME XP compatibility, and the ability to hold a network. 4 hard drives is a reccipe for disaster, and in my build, you get 1 2tb 64 mb cache hdd, and 1 ssd boot drive, which seems a bit better. my video card is much better, and way more future proof, but you might be able to get away with a 5770. the case is also much better.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Mem - CAS 7 1600 DDR (Allows OC to 4.0 Ghz)

MoBo - Better implementation of USB 3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614

Hard Drives - Check out the performance charts and pick whatever 500 GB per platter drive performs best under your usage patterns. The WD Black 2 TB is a good choice but at smaller capacities, you are limited to the Seagate 7200.12 or the Spinpoint F3. The 7200.12 excels in gaming, multimedia and pictures whereas the F3 wins at music and movie maker. See the comparisons here (copy past link in manually, link won't work in forum):

(http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/compare,1006.html?prod[2371]=on∏[2770]=on)

Case / PSU / SUrge Protector - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129064

 

[ares1214]

the 932 haf and ocz 700 watt is better, better case, equivalent or better psu, so i would go with that.

 

[MRFS]

> 5 year lifespan

We have HDDs that are still running AOK
after 7 years: they are in drive cages
with their own cooling fans, and
all of our computers are powered
by APC UPS units. We also keep the
ambient indoor temps very near 72 F.

It's working! Our systems continue
to run all day without any serious problems:
all ASUS motherboards, Intel CPUs and
Corsair RAM and PSUs.


With the X58 chipset, I would definitely urge
you to start with 12GB, and look into deploying
a ramdisk using RamDisk Plus from www.superspeed.com:

http://www.superspeed.com/desktop/ramdisk.php

We LUV it!!

http://www.supremelaw.org/systems/superspeed/RamDiskPlus.Review.htm


The CM HAF-932 is nice and roomy: we LUV it too


MRFS