- Oct 4, 2011
- 3
- 0
- 18,510
Approximate Purchase Date: Shortly after 10/12, assuming BD releases then, and before BF3 releases.
Budget Range: $1400-1500
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, recording and writing music, general use.
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS (Windows 7 64-bit), case (Antec 1200).
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com or amazon.com when significantly cheaper.
Country of Origin: U.S.
Parts Preferences: Intel and Nvidia
Overclocking: Eventually but not right away.
SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future, not building for it now though.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: I'm looking to build a machine I will be happy with for as long as possible. I don't mind upgrading the PSU in the future should I decide to SLI, but I really don't think I will want to, as I prefer single card solutions. I have a MOTU Ultralite and Mackie HR824s, so no additional sound equipment is needed.
Here comes the build! Feel free to pick it apart, I'm happy for all my research to be worthless so long as I get the best build I can afford.
CPU:
Intel Core i7-2600k. I'm looking at this cpu because of hyperthreading, as I've read a couple reviews by audio professionals that have experienced good results with hting. If an audio professional can convince me that ht makes no difference with 50+ channels of both recorded and VSTi tracks with multiple effects on each, then I would love to get the 2500k. Otherwise, the $100 is worth it to me in the long run. I'm also hoping/planning that 10/12 will see reduced prices on these bad boys, plus some actual hands on info of BD. I'm not holding my breath, though...
MOBO:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3. Everything I need at a good price and upgradable for a couple of years.
PSU:
Corsair Professional Series HX750. Read many good things about this PSU and it's modular to boot.
GPU:
PNY XLR8 GTX 580 Liquid Cooled w/ CPU block. I thought this was an awesome concept when I saw it in the recent Tom's build, but didn't think it would work well, so I poked around some and found some stellar reviews for its performance, such as this review from pureoverclock.com. Under their testing both the GPU and CPU, when tested at the same time, were kept cooler than either the reference card (by a lot) or the Noctua NH-D14 could do, and the GPU is highly overclockable in this model. Plus, it's $50 cheaper on amazon.com and my buddy is a prime member.
RAM:
G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4) DDR3 1600. Good RAM at a good price. I'll add another set in the future if I feel the need.
HDD:
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB x2. I'll be running a dual-boot setup for separate gaming and music sides. I plan on getting an SSD come Christmas, can't sneak it into the budget just yet.
CD/DVD:
ASUS 24x DVD Burner. For shiny discs of joy.
Budget Range: $1400-1500
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, recording and writing music, general use.
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS (Windows 7 64-bit), case (Antec 1200).
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com or amazon.com when significantly cheaper.
Country of Origin: U.S.
Parts Preferences: Intel and Nvidia
Overclocking: Eventually but not right away.
SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future, not building for it now though.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: I'm looking to build a machine I will be happy with for as long as possible. I don't mind upgrading the PSU in the future should I decide to SLI, but I really don't think I will want to, as I prefer single card solutions. I have a MOTU Ultralite and Mackie HR824s, so no additional sound equipment is needed.
Here comes the build! Feel free to pick it apart, I'm happy for all my research to be worthless so long as I get the best build I can afford.
CPU:
Intel Core i7-2600k. I'm looking at this cpu because of hyperthreading, as I've read a couple reviews by audio professionals that have experienced good results with hting. If an audio professional can convince me that ht makes no difference with 50+ channels of both recorded and VSTi tracks with multiple effects on each, then I would love to get the 2500k. Otherwise, the $100 is worth it to me in the long run. I'm also hoping/planning that 10/12 will see reduced prices on these bad boys, plus some actual hands on info of BD. I'm not holding my breath, though...
MOBO:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3. Everything I need at a good price and upgradable for a couple of years.
PSU:
Corsair Professional Series HX750. Read many good things about this PSU and it's modular to boot.
GPU:
PNY XLR8 GTX 580 Liquid Cooled w/ CPU block. I thought this was an awesome concept when I saw it in the recent Tom's build, but didn't think it would work well, so I poked around some and found some stellar reviews for its performance, such as this review from pureoverclock.com. Under their testing both the GPU and CPU, when tested at the same time, were kept cooler than either the reference card (by a lot) or the Noctua NH-D14 could do, and the GPU is highly overclockable in this model. Plus, it's $50 cheaper on amazon.com and my buddy is a prime member.
RAM:
G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4) DDR3 1600. Good RAM at a good price. I'll add another set in the future if I feel the need.
HDD:
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB x2. I'll be running a dual-boot setup for separate gaming and music sides. I plan on getting an SSD come Christmas, can't sneak it into the budget just yet.
CD/DVD:
ASUS 24x DVD Burner. For shiny discs of joy.
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