Does this new build plan look sane?

[mattburns]

Hi,

I've been researching as best I can for the last few days, going somewhat in circles in the process. Can you take a look and see if you think my plan is sensible? ie. no obvious bottlenecks or incompatibilities... I'd also like to run linux as my main OS and just run windows in a VM. Do you think it'll be fast enough to run photoshop in a windows VM or will I still have to dual boot?

My current plan is here as an amazon wish list.

In summary:

CPU - Intel i5 2500k
MOBO - Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3
Memory - Corsair 16GB (4x4GB) 1600MHz
Graphics - Asus 1GB Radeon HD 6850 PCI-E 2
CPU Heatsink - Zalman CNPS 5X
SRT - Nocti mSATA 60GB SSD (just for the caching, I have another drive for main HDD)


If you love detail, my requirements are:

Approximate Purchase Date: this week
Budget Range: ~£600 GBP (~$900 USD)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Programming, photo editing, video editing
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, case, HDD, PSU. I tried to look up my PSU in my email then realised that I bought my current machine before GMail was even launched. Geez, it must be 10 years old. Anyway, I think it's only a 20pin connector because my current MOBO is the Asus A7N8X.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon
Country: UK
Parts Preferences: compatible with Win7 & Ubuntu
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: currently 1680x1050 but expect to upgrade one day...
Additional Comments: Quiet is quite important. I don't play games (too addictive, had to go cold-turkey years ago!).

Big thanks for looking,
Cheers,
Matt

 

[g-unit1111]

Looks pretty good for the most part - I'm not the biggest fan of Zalman - go with a Hyper 212 Evo instead.

Also try Sapphire for the video card - I've used plenty of their cards and have yet to have a single one fail on me.

 

[odwillia]

Looks pretty good. You should be able to run photoshop in a VM. Also depends on what resources you give to the VM.

 

[mattburns]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I've changed the fan for the Hyper 212 evo (and measured my case, it should just squeeze in).

I've also decided the go for a cheaper graphics card because I want to be sure it's fully supported in linux. I chose the XFX Radeon HD 5570.

Wish list is updated if you want to see exact models etc...

I'll probably get the guts together to click the buy button on the weekend!

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I've changed the fan for the Hyper 212 evo (and measured my case, it should just squeeze in).

I've also decided the go for a cheaper graphics card because I want to be sure it's fully supported in linux. I chose the XFX Radeon HD 5570.

Wish list is updated if you want to see exact models etc...

I'll probably get the guts together to click the buy button on the weekend!

Stick with the 6850 - the 5570 is a HTPC card and it's meant for like if you're not going to do anything but basic surfing and web streaming - the 6850 is a lot more powerful in that price range.

 

[tagxl007]

Just a note, I recommend getting a 120gb ssd for os and programs as a ssd alone has better performance than caching, but if you want to keep it cheap then go with caching.

 

[kcsmacker]

I agree with the 6850. If you can get it to work on linux(never touched it). The card is amazing and has a great price/performance ratio

 

[g-unit1111]

Just a note, I recommend getting a 120gb ssd for os and programs as a ssd alone has better performance than caching, but if you want to keep it cheap then go with caching.

Certainly not on an ~£600 GBP (~$900 USD) budget - that will drastically distort the build and what other hardware the OP is able to buy. You can always add one on later as an upgrade - most modern cases make adding and removing drives really easy to do so.

 

[mattburns]

@tagxl007 - "ssd alone has better performance than caching"

Is the difference significant?


A little reading around seems to suggest the 6850 doesn't play very nicely in ubuntu. not sure what to do

 

[tagxl007]

@tagxl007 - "ssd alone has better performance than caching"

Is the difference significant?


A little reading around seems to suggest the 6850 doesn't play very nicely in ubuntu. not sure what to do

Every sata controller has its own performance as far as caching, the link is an example of Asus caching benchmarks and you can see the difference between hdd only, ssd caching and only ssd, but yeah if your on a small budget then caching is the way to go, you can always add a ssd later as your primary drive or if you are willing to pay an extra $100 for the performance its up to you



http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/50312-asus-sabertooth-x79-motherboard-review-15.html