New PC Build for video/graphics editing $3k budget

[lucky214]

I am replacing an old pc that has an AMD processor with 4Gb of ram and an ATI 1900xtx video card. It's served me well but just doesn't have the speed I need these days. The only thing I will be keeping from the old system is my backup harddrive which is an unknown 500Gb drive.(Its almost 6 yrs old so I dont remember) I will be using the pc for primarily Video and graphics editing. 99% of what I do uses the entire Adobe CS4 program suite with heavy photoshop, premiere and after effects. I will also be getting into 3DS Max soon as well. Occasionally I slip in my old everquest ll habit but that's rare and not even remotely a concern.

I prefer buying locally vs buying online. I'm also not going to attempt to build it myself so it will be built at the shop as well.

I would like to stay with AMD and I know intel offers more performance, I'm just loyal to the brand that has served me well for so long. I just wanna make sure the local shop is doin a good setup.

Here's their proposal:
Processor: AMD Phenom ll x4 965 125w Black
RAM: Super Talent DDR3-1333 4Gb/256x8 Hynix (4 of these for 16Gb total)
Mother Board: AS Rock M3A770DE
Power Supply: Prudentway ATX 12V v2.92 850 watts
Case: Apevia X-cruiser2-BL Blue Steel Mid Tower
Video Card: ATI HD 5870 (I'm going to start with 1 but I may want to add another after I see it in action)
Hard Drive: 300Gb WD Velociraptor
CD/DVD burner: Liteon 24X SATA Black LIT-IHAS324-98
Monitor: 2 Asus 24" 1920x1080 5ms VH242H Monitors ( I may add a 3rd if I can fit it on my desk)

Final cost: 2,942.96 (including extended warranty and 9% tax)
There is no price breakdown except Monitors $250 each and $350 for the warranty package price is $1,850.
I don't know as much as I should about alot of the stuff on this list so I appreciate the help. I would like to purchase this by 3/13/10 (next weekend)

 

[skora]

If you can wait another 2 months, the AMD Phenom II x6 is heavily rumored to be out by the end of April. That would also put you into a 890GX mobo with sata III (not a perk you can take advantage of unless you get an SSD) and USB 3.0 (instant bonus). The 770 Chipset mobo they have listed will only support 1 GPU, so you wouldn't be able to add a second card with that setup. But I don't think you'll have anything running that would benefit from a second GPU.

A 6 year old HDD is outside of warranty, so I wouldn't place anything on it that you can't lose.

Never heard of Prudentway and not at home to look up OEMs based on reseller, but that's a flag for me until I see otherwise.

PS is definitely CPU heavy, but 3D max can gain some extra speed from using a workstation card instead of a gaming card. Yes the hardware is virtually the same, but its all about driver support. Here's benches for workstation card. Nvidia has much better support for their workstation cards. And you'd be able to get a decent one instead for the price of the 5780.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/quadrofx-firepro_17.html#sect0

If you do go for a gaming card, why the 5870? For what you're doing, the 57xx should be enough to get you the eyefinity you want and not really effect performance.

Yep, this wasn't a well organized response, but gives you a few things to think about and maybe dig a little deeper into for research.

 

[mindless728]

SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM
COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3EG HD203WI 2TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5
ASUS VE246H Black 24
GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model F3-8500CL7Q-16GBRL
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGMBOX

Subtotal: $2,439.89

all from newegg, so i think you can do better for the price
also the psu you have looks like generic crap

is this the price from the shop that builds it, or a store?

 

[lucky214]

This is the price from the shop who is building it. I see that site newegg all over this forum. Is that the goto shop these days?

Also, what makes the spinpoint drive so great? I searched and it comes up alot on this forum. i really suck when it comes to hardware stuff so my biggest issue was not knowing what to search for. I'll look up some of the info you guys gave for sure.

 

[skora]

newegg is a top tier etailer. Sometimes you can find a part here and there cheaper at zipzoomfly or others, but not drasticly cheaper. If the shop is willing, we can get a parts list for you to buy, then just drop it off to them and let them assemble it for a fee. Just check to see what the warranty would look like. I do that with my mechanic and recently shaved $300 off suspension parts ordering online and having them do the work.

The spinpoint F3s use 500gb platters which is the highest currently available. That means the data is closer together than older drives with 320 or 250gbs per platter so the heads can read more data per pass than the lower density drives. A drive with 2x 500gb platters does better than a drive with 4x250gb platters. Less parts to fail also.

Does anyone know if there's a service that you can drop ship a newegg order to and they do the work, then ship it to back to the buyer? That of course gets away from the buy local, but more for my future knowledge than this build.

 

[fastx21]

Newegg is just a very good seller. I can say I've used them for over 10 years without any problems. Also they have a very good no questions asked RMA policy which is very helpful. And their CS is second to none. Zipzoomfly is good as well and I've only ordered a few things from that site but haven't had any problems.

Skora describes 500gb platters very well. Also someone will recommend but don't get the segate 7200.12 drives. They seem to have very bad longevity.

 

[mindless728]

Newegg is a very good etailer like above have said, keep in mind that the shop might be willing to put together a PC for you for a bit of money if you don't feel good about building yourself

also i put a 2TB drive in their to backup your work so you don't have to rely on an old HDD that could fail soon

 

[lucky214]

Based on some suggestions i got here, this seems like a better setup. I just don't know what mobo to choose? Also, there are $50 worth of mail in rebates. I left the 5870 on there because I have no idea what workstation card would be good in my price range. They seem to be priced much higher. I think if you can help me settle on a mobo and maybe a vid card (unless this one is fine) we'll have a winner. I'll just have the shop build it.

APEVIA X-CRUISER2-BL Blue SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #:X-CRUISER2-BL
Item #:N82E16811144241
$74.99

XFX HD-587A-ZND9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB XXX Edition 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported ... - Retail
Model #:HD-587A-ZND9
Item #:N82E16814150456
$429.99


CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Model #:CMPSU-850TX
Item #:N82E16817139009
$139.99

Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80601960 - Retail
Model #:BX80601960
Item #:N82E16819115224
$587.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL - Retail
Model #:F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL
Item #:N82E16820231313
$719.96

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:HD103SJ
Item #:N82E16822152185
$89.99

ASUS VW266H Black 25.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #:VW266H
Item #:N82E16824236047
$310 x 2

Grand Total: $2,925.54

 

[mindless728]

1) i chose the Phenom II because he wanted AMD, though i agree the intel would be better suited both for the price and for the speed, though i wouldn't buy the 960, get the 920/930 (which ever one is the cheapest), OC to even 975EE is easy

2) PSU, extreme overkill, a 750 HX/TX would have been more than plenty with dual 5870's, with a single (if he stays to single card), the 550VX would be plenty

3) i think i forgot to mention that i put 2 monitors into mine as well

5) for the LGA1366 i7, use a triple channel kit (ie 3x2GB) since those cpus have triple channel memory controllers in them, also note that eh OP wanted 16GB (or more i am assuming) of memory, not just 4GB