Homebuilt system - Are my choices ok??

HDD: Switch to a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. It's faster, quieter, runs cooler, and is generally cheaper.

RAM: You might want to look into finding some CAS Latency 7 sticks (timings 7-7-7-x).

Case/PSU: That PSU will not handle the 5850. You need to find a quality 550W unit, such as one from the following manufacturers: Corsair, Antec Earthwatts, SeaSonic, Silverstone, or PC Power & Cooling. Check out the Antec 300 or 300 Illusion while your at it.

Ok thanks for your help, so this is what I'll be ordering next week.

CPU : Intel core I5 750 OR I7 860 (Which one?!?)

MB: Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4

RAM: Geil 4G (2x2G) DDR3 1600 CL7

Video: Hightech 1G GDDR5 HD5850 / HDMI

HDD: Samsung 1TB spinpoint F3

Case: ANTEC NSK4480B11 (remove PSU)

Optical: BDR205BK 12X Bluray burner (PURCHASED)

OS: Windows 7 64 Ultimate

Monitor : Samsung 2494HS 1080P/HDMI (PURCHASED)

PSU: Antec ATX TruePower 650W


AU$2062 inc monitor (i5)
AU$2178 inc monitor (i7)

You would be fine with the i5. I'm not seeing a need for more given the usage. Looks like a good list.

The CPU depends on what you're doing. If you're just gaming, the i5-750 is the better choice. If you're doing more CPU intensive tasks, the i7 is better.

OK I may as well spend a small amount extra and get the I7. I am hearing people say the ATI video cards are bad for 2D and also aren't as good when linked together; Is this true and is there a better Nvidia alternative for the same price??

The card you chose will work great for you.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-graphic...

This one one of the tests I am concerned about. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/2d-windows-gdi,2539...

So my PC may have problems in photoshop etc or could 2D windows use look a bit choppy?

"For the time being, we recommend that users deactivate Aero when working with 2D graphics programs if they’re using one of the latest Radeon HD 5000-series cards in their PC. The resulting performance improvement of up to 300% that follows should make up for the lack of eye candy in those windows. That’s why we implore our readers to deactivate Aero for affected programs, so as to avoid turning off Aero altogether on their machines."

That's just a driver issue, mostly. Not anywhere near as noticeable outside of synthetic benchmarks.

Ok will proceed with what has been suggested so far.

Have decided to change the HDD setup.

2x500GB Samsung in RAID 0
1x Samsung 1TB which backs up the RAID array

For a greater system response as I assume the HDD (or only 4GB ram?) will be the bottleneck of this system.

So coming in AU$1000 over budget at $2500 - not bad my first new PC in five years I guess.

I don't have any info right off on F3 500GB drives in RAID 0, so I can't comment on that.

An SSD will blow away any RAID set up, so most people that are concerned with that go in that direction these days.

You don't even need a fast SSD to beat a RAID setup.

Still, prices might be too steep right now. Why not stick with the 1TB F3 and upgrade to SSD when the prices drop around the end of the year?

OK will do for now.
Thank you for your help

Avoid Gigabyte MoBos w/ 1156 if you ever plan on a 2nd GFX card.....adding the 2nd card cripples USB 3 and SATA II speeds.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-3.0-performance...

Hard Drives - Check out the performance charts and pick whatever 500 GB per platter drive performs best under your usage patterns. The 2 TB WD Black and LX from Seagate are 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-har...[2371]=on&prod[2770]=on)

Look at the tests that reflect your usage and choose accordingly.

RAID 0 is a waste of time, money and effort unless you have a specific program that benefits from it. While there are programs that do, desktop applications (web, office apps, gaming, etc.) do NOT.

As for the 2D issue, have heard this complaint from CAD buddies but haven't seen it myself as no ATI 5xx cards in office. As of last conversation with someone who has one, not resolved as yet, but that was 2-3 weeks ago.

Good point on the CAD, that would probably be a problem area for Radeons right now.

I see I need to get caught up. I was unaware of the bandwidth issue with P55 and 6GB SATA. I have to wonder about 890GX in that respect.

Ok the 1156 is a dead end! I Need a 1366 board and I7 920 - Could someone please advise of a nice 1366 board in the middle of the range that supports all my hardware.

Thanks  

OK I am going with the Asustek P6TD Deluxe and the i7 920 - Will I need to change my ram if the board can handle ddr3 2000??

It looks like you have CL9 RAM. Try to get lower latency if you can reasonably... 1333 is fine if it's CL7, or 1600 CL8 then knock it down to 1333 CL7... the point being that latency is more important than frequency, but neither is worth dumping too much money on.

And of course, your RAM has to be rated for 1.65V or below.

Asus P6X58D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And yes, DDR3-1600 RAm at CAS 7 is $189
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

My personal favorite is the Asus P6X58D Premium (Jack's first link).

However, 3x2 GB DDR3 1600 CAS 7 is $180, as long as you don't use the overpriced Corsair sticks: G.Skill Pi Series.