New System Build. Last Revision (hopefully) Check it out!

[wirelessfender]

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=11351891

If anyone see's any major flaws with this setup let me know. Here is a short rundown of my plan: I'm going to install windows 7 on the 500GB hard drive, and then use the two 2TB drives in RAID 1 for 2TB of storage. I decided to go with the XFX 5970 because of the lifetime warranty. I want to try and hit 4.0GHz with the i7-920 and and overclock the 5970 as well.. Hopefully this case will give enough airflow..

At this point I'm just saving up money to build this beast, by the time I'm ready I'm hoping the monitor and graphics card will be back in stock. Maybe the price on the 5970 will drop a little by then too? Let me know what you think!

Thanks,
Anthony

 

[wirelessfender]

Oh and I'm hoping to be able to run Crysis Very High at 1920x1080 with this. Maybe some AA? I'm excited!

 

[MadAdmiral]

That wishlist doesn't work.

The price on the 5970 will only go up, at least until Fermi is released. Why decrease the price when it sells out almost immediately? It's all about the Laws of Supply and Demand. I don't even expect the price to fall permanently when Fermi comes out, but that's mainly because the few indications about Fermi show that it might not be that great. It might drop a little temporarily until people have tested and reviewed it.

 

[wirelessfender]

Dammit! I keep using the wrong links when posting my wishlists lol.. Its fixed.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=11351891

 

[wirelessfender]

That wishlist doesn't work.

The price on the 5970 will only go up, at least until Fermi is released. Why decrease the price when it sells out almost immediately? It's all about the Laws of Supply and Demand. I don't even expect the price to fall permanently when Fermi comes out, but that's mainly because the few indications about Fermi show that it might not be that great. It might drop a little temporarily until people have tested and reviewed it.

If thats true then maybe I should wait for the dust to settle because I that card really appeals to me. How long untill Fermi? How is this going to affect me?

 

[MadAdmiral]

3 months before it's released. Probably not going to be readily available until late summer (August, September). Think about the availability of the 5970s right now. They were released a number of months ago.

Now that I've seen the list:

HDD: It's be better to get 2 of the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. It's cheaper and I haven't seen any benchmarks on the 2 TB one. I know the 1 TB is the best available right now. Or if you need 2 TB, get 4 four and put them in RAID 10 (2 pairs of drives in RAID 0, one acting as backup for the other).

Don't bother with the WD. The Spinpoint F3 500 GB is still faster and cheaper.

Mobo: Why are you spending so much, but getting a cheap mobo. I would highly recommend getting an Asus or Gigabyte. The one I typically recommend is the Asus P6X58D Premium, but at $300, it's very pricey because of the USB 3/SATA III support. There is a version that doesn't have those that should be a lot cheaper.

 

[Cades]

That is going to be one beefy PC, I would do the changes MadAdmiral suggested.

 

[wirelessfender]

3 months before it's released. Probably not going to be readily available until late summer (August, September). Think about the availability of the 5970s right now. They were released a number of months ago.

Now that I've seen the list:

HDD: It's be better to get 2 of the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. It's cheaper and I haven't seen any benchmarks on the 2 TB one. I know the 1 TB is the best available right now. Or if you need 2 TB, get 4 four and put them in RAID 10 (2 pairs of drives in RAID 0, one acting as backup for the other).

Don't bother with the WD. The Spinpoint F3 500 GB is still faster and cheaper.

Mobo: Why are you spending so much, but getting a cheap mobo. I would highly recommend getting an Asus or Gigabyte. The one I typically recommend is the Asus P6X58D Premium, but at $300, it's very pricey because of the USB 3/SATA III support. There is a version that doesn't have those that should be a lot cheaper.

I'll apply the recommendations for the HDD's, but as for the motherboard I chose the ASRock X58 Extreme because it got 2009 Recommended Buy according to Toms Hardware and was featured in this article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cheap-x58-motherboard,2368-18.html

Compairing it to all the other motherboards specs out there I don't see any reason to dismiss it. According to multiple reviews it performed exceptionally well in various benchmarks and in overclocking ability. Granted it is less expensive than most motherboards but is it really worth labeling "Cheap"?

 

[MadAdmiral]

Yes. ASRock is not typically known for quality or high end parts. Generally, they've only been recommended for low-end systems. That's also about 6 months ago, and the new USB 3/SATA III boards weren't out yet. In addition, there were still problems with the Foxconn sockets that have since been resolved.

I'm not saying that there's a good chance it will be a bad board. That's still very improbable. I'm just saying that the company isn't known for high end, high quality boards.

 

[a4mula]

That and Tom's doesn't exactly test for longevity, or have to worry about RMA's. If you were building a rig that was only going to be used for a few benchmark runs then ASRock would be king every time. Unforturnately we live in a world were we expect our builds to last a few years (some of us like myself with 24/7 uptime). Listen to the MadAdmiral, he's wise and knows what he's talking about.

 

[wirelessfender]

How about the ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359

Anyone know anything about the difference between the various Realtek audio chipsets? I've noticed 3 different kinds across all sorts of x58 boards, I'm kind of an audiophile and am just curious. I half wonder if its still worth it to get a Sound Card.

 

[MadAdmiral]

That's a good board.

I have no idea on the different audio chipsets. I wouldn't recommend buying a sound card right away. Typically, I don't recommend it at all, but usually add "unless you an audiophile", so it depends in your case. I would wait to see if you don't like how it sounds first. Or if you have an older sound card, stick that in there. You can always buy one later.

 

[wirelessfender]

Well that about does it for me then, I know what I'm doing. Now all I gotta do is wait for the 5970, F3 500GB, and the monitor to come back in stock.. I don't think I'll be able to buy everything for another month anyway, so who knows what inventory will be like by then. However, I might just buy that 5970 as soon as it goes in stock reguardless If I'm ready to buy everything else.

Thank you, MadAdmiral, for all your help so far, I'd probably be still looking at dual channel memory if it wasn't for you = P.