Workstation/Gaming Machine (solution?)

[ladiesngentlemen]

Machine is meant for intense 3d rendering and high-end gaming on the side. Any opinions would be very welcome.

CPU - 2x Intel Xeon E5520 Nehalem 2.26GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 80W Quad-Core Server Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117185&cm_re=Nehalem-_-19-117-185-_-Product
$769.98

MOBO - SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DAi-O Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 Extended ATX Dual Intel Xeon Processor 5500 sequence (Nehalem-EP processor) Server Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182186&Tpk=SUPERMICRO%2c%20X8DAi
$379.99

MEMORY - (24gb) SUPER TALENT 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Server Memory Model W13RX12GH - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609459
$ 699.98

GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Video Card - 896MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0 x16, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, VGA Support
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4369731&Sku=E145-0264
$224.99

SOUND CARD - Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI Sound Card
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2687632&Sku=C44-3350
$89.99

HARDDRIVES - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&cm_re=samsung_f3-_-22-152-181-_-Product
$54.99

and

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product
$89.99

DVD BURNER - LG GH22NS50R DVDRW Drive - DVD+R 22X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD-RAM12X, CD-R 48X, CD-RW 32X, SATA
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4978986&CatId=89
$34.99

CASE - Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower Black Case
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&Sku=C283-1187
$139.99

POWER SUPPLY - SILVERSTONE ST75F-P 750W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256059
$129.99

COOLING - Intel BXSTS100A Active heat sink with fixed fan - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835203002
$29.45

TOTAL: $2644.33 so far

 

[daggs]

well nice build, what bothers me is that for a high-end gaming to take a crappy gpu in comparison... for the same price, you can get a ati5770 or 4850 in xfire or the same card in sli with another identical card (all according to jan 10 charts).
here are some examples:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102873
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102858
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150464
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102868
all different types of 5770 from xfx and sapphire (including vapor-x and xxx editions)

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The model PSU you picked only gets a 8.5 performance rating....I'd want a 9.5 - 10.0 for that machine
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=27

Options:
Antec SG-850 ($219)
Antec CP-850 ($109) - requires Antec 1200 case tho
Seasonic M12D 850W (NLA @ newegg)
Corsair HX850 ($179)

The memory and GFX are mismatched for a rendering box. Suggest reading this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/quadro-fx-4800,2258-10.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/quadro-fx-4800,2258-11.html

If your primary usage is rendering, you don't want to be saddled w/ a gaming card.

As one might expect, the gaming card is carefully impeded and is largely unable to exercise its performance potential when running workstation applications. Our benchmarks show this phenomenon at work clearly and unmistakably.

A Quadro FX 4800 moves up to 10 times faster when running workstation applications than the GeForce GTX 280. This leads swiftly to a clear and inescapable conclusion: there's no good reason to use a GeForce graphics card for workstation applications. It just doesn't pay.

Sound Card - Consider the Asus Zonar cards as an alternate.

Hard Drives - Why different sizes ?

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&prod[2770]=on)

 

[ladiesngentlemen]

Thanks for the reply.

daggs - You're right about the XFX. I have a 5770 on my current system and it's an awesome card. I'm very happy with it. It's dx11ready and the price is great.

The reason I wanted to go with a geforce, is that I can softmod it to have some of the Quadro's capabilities. The Quadros are fantastic cards but they are too rich for my blood. I was planning on buying a cheap geforce in the meantime and upgrade to a dx11 in 6 months. But now I'm thinking of getting the 5770 instead, and then when I upgrade to a geforce I can crossfire it in my other machine.

JackNaylorPE - Thanks for the detailed reply.

The Corsair HX850 looks like a very good PSU. I can't believe I didn't see it before.

As for the GFX, see what I said above. I'm not yet working for a living in the 3d rendering field. Most of the work I am doing is for school and my own art. So while I render a lot, I can't yet justify the cost of getting a quadro until I start making a living on it. I'll have to rely on the 8 cores for most of the rendering for now.


I'm curious about the ASUS Xonars. I did some research and found the same amount of people liking and disliking the card (mostly due to the floppy power supply -- what is that?). I've been using Creative cards all my life. Though I admit I liked the Audigy series better than the current Xi-Fi.

Why do you personally prefer the ASUS card? I wouldn't mind switching for the right reasons.


As far as different hard drive sizes, the smaller one is for windows and a few select software. I've never filled the C: drive over 300gbs, so I didn't think it was worth the money getting a TB and wasting all that space.

I'm not that knowledgeable about the subject. Would getting 2 hardrives of the same capacity give me increased performance?