General System Requirements: Non-gaming, primarily for 2D business apps and HiDef video. Should play and edit AVCHD HiDef video without issues. Should run Windows 7 and MS Office apps effortlessly.
Must be quiet, the fan noise of my current Dell drives me nuts!
Total parts budget is about $2,000 with some parts reused from my current PC.
I will probably overclock the CPU only slightly, as I don't want a hot/noisy PC. I'm more concerned with solid performance and reliability, rather than having the ultimate benchmarking PC.
Below is my current parts list, with the reasoning behind their selection. (Prices below are from Amazon, but I'll check NewEgg before purchase.) My big areas of question/concern are the motherboard and GPU/video card.
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 ($150)
Why: It's roomy for expansion, and can easily hold larger EATX motherboards. Also has large 120mm fans running at low RPMs for less noise. Nice hard drive swap bays, access to both sides of motherboard. Appears a high quality product all around.
Power Supply: Corsair HX-1000 ($235)
Why: Quiet fans, modular connectors, enough power to handle future upgrades.
Motherboard: EVGA X58 Classified ($390)
Why: Larger EATX size, more room for cards and components. Substantial North Bridge/South Bridge heat sinks to keep things cool (and quiet). Overclocking can be done right within Windows, rather than via the BIOS. Runs DDR3 at 1600Mhz right out of the box?
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 at 2.66GHz ($289)
Why: Should be straightforward to overclock slightly with the EVGA X58 Classified motherboard. Keep costs lower now, and upgrade in 2 years to a 6-core or 8-core i7 CPU.
CPU cooler: Cooler Master V8 ($60)
Why: It's big, effective, and hopefully quiet. Install isn't a big deal with the HAF 932 case, which provides access to both sides of the motherboard.
Memory: 12GB Corsair Dominator PC3-12800 1600Mhz Triple Channel DDR3 Kit ($425)
Why: Runs at 1600Mhz out of the box? (Correct?) EVGA X58 Classified runs RAM at 1600Mhz out of the box? (Correct?) Want lots of RAM for video editing. The Corsair fans shipped with this memory are apparenty not very good.
GPU/video card: EVGA GeForce GTX285 2048MB ($470)
Thoughts: Hope it performs well for non-3D tasks such as HiDef video editing. Hopefully it's quiet, but it looks noisy with that fan. The price of this card makes me ill.
- or -
GPU/video card: Zotac GeForce 9500 GT 512MB ($53)
Thoughts: Silent, has no fan, and a large heat sink. Seems dated, and 512MB seems low. Figured 1GB should be a minimum these days.
Parts reused from existing PC:
Monitor: 19" NEC MultiSync 1980FXi LCD at 1280x1024 resolution
Why: Love this monitor.
TV Tuner: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150
Why: No point in getting a new one, right?
Hard Drives: 2 x 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black, 32MB Cache, 7200RPM
Why: These are very good performers, and large.
Likely Future Upgrades: Intel 6-core or 8-core i7 CPU in 12 to 24 months.
Parting thoughts: This will be my first build, do parts generally "just work" together? I recall messing with PC cards a few years ago and having to deal with jumpers and IRQ settings, are these headaches a thing of the past? I think I can pull the build off, hopefully a key part won't fail, where I'll be dead in the water for weeks returning something to Amazon/NewEgg.
All tips and suggestions much appreciated!
Must be quiet, the fan noise of my current Dell drives me nuts!
Total parts budget is about $2,000 with some parts reused from my current PC.
I will probably overclock the CPU only slightly, as I don't want a hot/noisy PC. I'm more concerned with solid performance and reliability, rather than having the ultimate benchmarking PC.
Below is my current parts list, with the reasoning behind their selection. (Prices below are from Amazon, but I'll check NewEgg before purchase.) My big areas of question/concern are the motherboard and GPU/video card.
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 ($150)
Why: It's roomy for expansion, and can easily hold larger EATX motherboards. Also has large 120mm fans running at low RPMs for less noise. Nice hard drive swap bays, access to both sides of motherboard. Appears a high quality product all around.
Power Supply: Corsair HX-1000 ($235)
Why: Quiet fans, modular connectors, enough power to handle future upgrades.
Motherboard: EVGA X58 Classified ($390)
Why: Larger EATX size, more room for cards and components. Substantial North Bridge/South Bridge heat sinks to keep things cool (and quiet). Overclocking can be done right within Windows, rather than via the BIOS. Runs DDR3 at 1600Mhz right out of the box?
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 at 2.66GHz ($289)
Why: Should be straightforward to overclock slightly with the EVGA X58 Classified motherboard. Keep costs lower now, and upgrade in 2 years to a 6-core or 8-core i7 CPU.
CPU cooler: Cooler Master V8 ($60)
Why: It's big, effective, and hopefully quiet. Install isn't a big deal with the HAF 932 case, which provides access to both sides of the motherboard.
Memory: 12GB Corsair Dominator PC3-12800 1600Mhz Triple Channel DDR3 Kit ($425)
Why: Runs at 1600Mhz out of the box? (Correct?) EVGA X58 Classified runs RAM at 1600Mhz out of the box? (Correct?) Want lots of RAM for video editing. The Corsair fans shipped with this memory are apparenty not very good.
GPU/video card: EVGA GeForce GTX285 2048MB ($470)
Thoughts: Hope it performs well for non-3D tasks such as HiDef video editing. Hopefully it's quiet, but it looks noisy with that fan. The price of this card makes me ill.
- or -
GPU/video card: Zotac GeForce 9500 GT 512MB ($53)
Thoughts: Silent, has no fan, and a large heat sink. Seems dated, and 512MB seems low. Figured 1GB should be a minimum these days.
Parts reused from existing PC:
Monitor: 19" NEC MultiSync 1980FXi LCD at 1280x1024 resolution
Why: Love this monitor.
TV Tuner: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150
Why: No point in getting a new one, right?
Hard Drives: 2 x 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black, 32MB Cache, 7200RPM
Why: These are very good performers, and large.
Likely Future Upgrades: Intel 6-core or 8-core i7 CPU in 12 to 24 months.
Parting thoughts: This will be my first build, do parts generally "just work" together? I recall messing with PC cards a few years ago and having to deal with jumpers and IRQ settings, are these headaches a thing of the past? I think I can pull the build off, hopefully a key part won't fail, where I'll be dead in the water for weeks returning something to Amazon/NewEgg.
All tips and suggestions much appreciated!