£2K Workstation First Build

[WickedWood]

Looking for advice (reassurance?) on my first build. I know my computer components but my knowledge is limited when it comes to brands.

Hardrive
Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/
Graphics Card
GB GeForce GTX 570 OC WindForce 3X 1280 MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
Processor
Intel i7-2600K 3.30GHz (SB) Socket LGA1555
Monitor (x2)
Dell UltraSharp U2312MM 23" Widescreen LED
Motherboard
MSI Z68A-GD65-G3 Intel Z86 (Socket 1155) DDR3
Case
Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower
Power Supply
OCZ Z-series 850W '80 plus gold' Modular
Memory
Corsair Vengence 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit
Additional Storage
Samsung SpinPoint F4 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM
Cooling
OcUK H2Flo CPU Cooler with Gelid Silent 120mm Quiet Fan
Shiny Circle thingy reader
LG 22x DVDRW SATA
(increasingly) Shiny Clicky thingy
Win 7

I'm a student studying animation with the aim of going freelance so this machine is to carry me through my final year at Uni and then into full time freelance work. Running all the latest high end 3D packages and video editing. Looking for speed in particle simulation and rendering. Just a good all round build. £2K ($3,084) to spend but thats at the high end. The build (without trying to get everything at it's cheapest) stands at £1973 so if you think I've got anything unnecessary then I'd be happy to lose it.

Looking forward to some input as I'll be buying fairly soon. Will post the build if people are interested.

 

[Novuake]

850W psu is abit of an overkill.
Also Bronze 80plus are cheaper and are just a tiny bit less efficient.

If you save on PSU you can rather get a better GPU.
GTX580 for example or ATI HD6970(which I prefer, better buck for my money).
Especialy since you need more GPU RAM for what you would like to do.

Samsung HDD's are not great IMO, rather look at Western Digital or Seagate, they are much more reliable.

 

[rvilkman]

Actually Samsung HDD's are quite reliable. But generally you might want to check out if some of them get a 5 year warranty, as samsung generally privides 3 years.
You should have a backup drive anyway where to put important work.


For the SSD you might want to go with two 128GB drives and stripe them. Unless that 256 is cheaper.
The performance would be better and the last time i checked most 240-256 drives were overpriced.
But just a thought, the 256 will work.

The graphics card debate is all about what the programs you use work best with. If for example your animation program has CUDA plugins then NVidia is the way to go for sure.
Otherwise a 6970 is a solid choice as well.

Indeed the PSU is overkill, you would be fine with a quality 650W system unless you intend to crossfire / SLI the GTX570 or 6970, if you do then you are spot on with it.

Overall your build looks really good.

 

[WickedWood]

Just a few moments of internet time right now - so i'm gonna be brief.
Don't intend to crossFire/SLI - which 580 would you recommend?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=1914&sortby=nameAsc&subid=1812&mfrid=
I have almost no idea what the differences are .

As to power supply: could go cheaper but I'm looking at a saving of £50 which doesn't go far with upgrading the GPU
Don't suppose anyone has experience with the Quadro cards?
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/product-quadro-2000-uk.html
Autodesk certified! don't ya know.

Really appreciate the help. Will look into striping the 128GBs for the SSD, haven't checked prices there.

 

[metal orient]

Make sure you check:
http://www.aria.co.uk/
http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware and
http://www.ebuyer.com/

for the best prices i always found overclockers to be expensive
could also try:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/ and
http://www.dabs.com/ as well

 

[Novuake]

I would say an EVGA or Asus graphics card.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-249-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

Just a stock standard one like the above will do. Otherwise you may have to spend extra cash on cooling and such.

I don't know much about quadro cards, doubt they will work for you.