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New/building computer doublecheck
08-03-2011, 02:51 AM
I guess the topic might have been clearer, but I'm looking at buying/building a computer for myself from newegg.com for gaming, since my laptop has taken to overheating and shutting down while playing CoX.
This is what I've picked out, but I'm not exactly certain if it will all 'go together' once I'm able to build it. I *intend* for this setup to last 4-5 years before having to upgrade again.
Any advice/cautions/warning will be greatly appreciated!
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133181]Thermaltake Armor A60 Gaming Mid-Tower Chassis With Cable Management Water Cooling SSD Support And Tool-Less Installation ...
Item #: N82E16811133181
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822152245]SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152245
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125383]GIGABYTE GV-N56GOC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814125383
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139021]CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...
Item #: N82E16817139021
4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145346]CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9B
Item #: N82E16820145346
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813138319]BIOSTAR TZ68A+ LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813138319
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115070]Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
Item #: N82E16819115070
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How much is all that running you, Drogan? Because now that I'm gainfully employed again I'm thinking it's well past time to build myself a new system.
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Quote:4 CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9B
Item #: N82E16820145346
That sort of concerns me, because if I'm reading it right you're intending to put 16 GB of RAM into this machine. While undoubtedly awesome, that's (a) overkill, and (b) past the limits of the basic Windows 7 install; you'll need to make sure you get at the very least the Home Premium edition. 64-bit, obviously.
Did I mention (a) overkill?
Still, that'd be a fun rig to play with, and if you have the budget and the cooling (water-cooled case is a good call here, I'd say), you should be able to scream along beautifully.
--sofaspud
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Well, like I said, I wanted to leave upgrading this for a few years in the future. The motherboard I picked out handles a max of 16GB, so I guess I was just topping out what it could handle.
But yes, overkill.
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Overkill is good.
Overkill your power supply more.
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Looks like you're going for top of the range stuff, which I wouldn't - I don't think the price/performance ratio is good at those levels.
Your hard drive is only 5400 rpm, though, which will slow your system down. At the levels you're looking at, look for a SSD which would be much faster.
I think your power supply would be sufficient - you only have one graphics card - but there are calculators out there.
Are you planning on overclocking?
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Let's see if I can make WG's overkill induced grin bigger....
So how 'bout a PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 1200W Server-grade power supply
Although Drogan seems to be preferring Corsair for his power supply in which case
CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) 1200W ATX power supply.
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Jinx999 Wrote:Looks like you're going for top of the range stuff, which I wouldn't - I don't think the price/performance ratio is good at those levels.
Your hard drive is only 5400 rpm, though, which will slow your system down. At the levels you're looking at, look for a SSD which would be much faster.
I think your power supply would be sufficient - you only have one graphics card - but there are calculators out there.
Are you planning on overclocking? I've been seeing a lot of really squirrely SSDs lately, but he definitely will need a higher RPM on his drive. 7200 is the standard. I'm also a little leery when I see 'Green' in a drive's name. These drives are often marketed as 'low power' drives that are more environmentally friendly, but in reality they're hard drives with lower levels of on board cache memory. This leads to the drive collecting a lot of wear and tear on it in a short time and expiring.
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I'm of the same viewpoint when it comes to HDD's with green, I much more prefer black or better. Also probably not Samsung either, Backblaze have been using standard Hitachi desktop drives in their mass storage box and getting slightly better lifespan from 'em than the other makes.
Weren't Hitachi's HDD division once IBM? If so makes a change from the old days of the deathstar drives.
'Sides if he's not in the SSD boat yet, a VelociRaptor-type drive for a boot works for a decent substitute.
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See, this is why I'm asking for help.
1) Why should I go for a bigger PS? What's the benefit?
2) I'm not sticking to a certain type of manufacturer, that's just a coincidence, but, better HD, got it. Suggestions as to make/model?
3) Should I have more than one video card, and why? I'm only planning on having one screen...?
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Rod H Wrote:Weren't Hitachi's HDD division once IBM? If so makes a change from the old days of the deathstar drives. I'm not sure, but I think so... I do know that we use Hitachi drives at work, where 99.9% uptime isn't good enough.
Nowadays, 5400RPM drives are for archival storage, not main drives. I have 5400RPM drives in my NAS - they're slower than the USB2 connection between the thumbdrives and the PC.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145473]This drive looks pretty good for a 7200RPM 2TB Hitachi. (There's http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145475]a less-expensive one, but it only has half the cache. Alternately, there's http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145472]a 3TB drive that's only $80 more than the 2TB one I recommended, but I don't know how big the cache on it is.)
Edit: Power supply: the more you have, the more you can put in the box. Do you want to add a second HDD sometime, or a Blu-Ray drive? Do you plan to upgrade the graphics card sometime down the road? If you do, you'll need more power... (Speaking of Blu-Ray drives, where's the optical drive in your setup?)
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The optical drive, monitor, and keyboard/mouse are going to be purchased at the local BX. Cheaper, no shipping fees, ect. I wanted to get the easy stuff localy to save a bit on fees.
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With more than one graphics card, you can stick them in an array (Nvidia's term is SLI, ATI's is Crossfire) and push the envelope more, harder, faster.
It's sorta like putting your HDD's in a RAID.
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See, this is why I'm asking for help.
1) Why should I go for a bigger PS? What's the benefit?
A bigger power supply allows you to run more components and/or overclock harder. IMO, the one you've chosen is perfectly sufficient - but there are calculators on the net to work out how big you need if you're worried.
2) I'm not sticking to a certain type of manufacturer, that's just a coincidence, but, better HD, got it. Suggestions as to make/model?
I got a Samsung spintronic F3 which had some good reviews for speed (and a separate 2TB 5400 drive for data storage). Whether that's best for you, though, I don't know.
3) Should I have more than one video card, and why? I'm only planning on having one screen...?
It's a way of getting faster graphic processing. You can cross-connect two video cards if you have a suitable motherboard so you can parallel process your graphics. In my opinion, this just isn't cost effective, though. Acording to online reviews, you don't get that much added boost - and the two cards and special motherboard and larger power supply add up.
If you are sure it'll be cheaper go ahead. When I did this, I found the Amazon was a lot cheaper than PC World and had better products.
I generally use "Tom's hardware" for advice. In my opinion, you're going overboard on your processor and memory. That processor was reviewed as possibly the most powerful out there and you're not going to see much benefit over a couple of steps down. Also, I can't check newegg at work and I'm not sure if that memory is 1 stick or 2. They're often sold in pairs as most memory is dual channel and I'd be suprised if that board had 8 memory slots availible. Are you planning on overclocking your system? If not, you can save quite a bit by using less high end components.
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Okay, changes to the original:
The HD has been swapped for a higher speed: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145473] HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723020BLA642 (0f12115) 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
The CPU has been downgraded to a I5: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115074]Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52400
And I've dumped two of the memsticks, *but* as far as I can tell, these are actually individual sticks, not pairs.
This has cut the overall price down to $862. I'm guessing optical, monitor, keyboard/mouse, and Win7 will drag that up to about $950 or so, if I've got my pricing right.
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If you have money to burn, and you are only going to power one monitor, then SLI/Crossfire can get you pushing more pixels than anything else.
I just don't think that the price/performance ratio is worth it with two new cards.
For your price point (~$200) the 560 is a very good choice. It would be hard to beat that with two cards in the $100-$150 range.
The motherboard you've chosen has 2 slots at x16, so SLI/Crossfire is certainly an option.
The real price/performance ratio comes into play in another 18-24 months, when you can pick up a second 560 for cheap and add another 50%-66% performance (your power supply can certainly support this).
In regards to the memory, I'm going to side with Spud and say buy 2 sticks now. And later when you know you need more, then pick it up.
8 gigs is more than enough as long as you KNOW don't you need more. Memory is modular, your not going to be throwing anything out to buy more later, and the price is dropping all the time. (granted it's only $33 per stick, but in a year when you need it it'll probably be $20)
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Hokay, redoing the list from the first post to include changes so far. (Really just the HD, CPU, and dropping memsticks)
I know some of you have suggested it, but do I really *need* more of a power supply? I suppose, in keeping with Sweno's suggestion, that I'll be getting another video card a year or so down the line, but will the current PS take care of that?
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115074] Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52400
Model #:BX80623I52400
Item #:N82E16819115074
2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145346] CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9B
Model #:CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9B
Item #:N82E16820145346
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133181]Thermaltake Armor A60 Gaming Mid-Tower Chassis With Cable Management Water Cooling SSD Support And Tool-Less Installation ...
Model #:VM20001W2Z
Item #:N82E16811133181
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813138319]BIOSTAR TZ68A+ LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #:TZ68A+
Item #:N82E16813138319
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125383]GIGABYTE GV-N56GOC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Model #:GV-N56GOC-1GI
Item #:N82E16814125383
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139021]CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...
Model #:CMPSU-750TXV2
Item #:N82E16817139021
1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145473] HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723020BLA642 (0f12115) 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:0f12115
Item #:N82E16822145473
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I just rebuilt my system a bit ago, so here's my $.02.
1.) 8GB is PLENTY of RAM, especially as 2x4GB sticks. I have that exact setup in my rig, and I've never been able to really strain it, much less max it out.
2.) The i5 is a good move. Once you hit quad-core, you're already getting basically all the multitasking you'll need for those 3-4 years, barring some ridiculous needs like multiple simultaneous fractal generation or cracking 256-bit encryption. I have an AMD 6-core, and it's more than I even use.
3.) More PSU is NEVER a bad thing. If you take good care of it (a power conditioning device is a good investment), they can last twice as long as the rest of the system, and the more you buy now, the more you can upgrade later. Maybe 900W-ish might be a smart move, though it's hardly essential.
4.) From what I hear, Hitachi makes a good drive. 7200 RPM is good, though consider adding a SSD in a year or so, just for the games you play most... or possibly as a game/Windows drive. I heard somebody mention Samsung- the only drive I've ever had fail on me came from them.
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An overbuilt PSU will also tend to be more tolerant of power fluctuations and last longer, up to a certain load level.
But you with that machine you definitely want an SSD for the critical storage stuff, I use an ssd and a 7200 RPM RAID array and the speed difference is astounding.
Also you might want to consider this memory instead: http://www.newegg.com/Pro...spx?Item=N82E16820145327 it's only slightly more expensive but it's quite a bit faster (7-8-7-20) instead of (9-9-9-24). The fist number is the CAS and that is a very important speed indicator.
I have a mere 8 gb of ram and it gets occasionally a little cramped, but the 1 GB on the video card is a limitation I'm hitting all the time, then again I have 2 large screens. But if you are not trying to simulate several servers 8 GB should be plenty.
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The more power supply is a gut call on my part, mostly because I'd rather have an 850 or 950 running at like %50 load than a 750 running at %80.. especially if I planned on going SLI - video cards are hungry.
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A common misconception about power supplies is that they have more power over the cables. In reality, what the wattage is a measure of is the NUMBER of cables feeding off of the power supply. Only in extreme cases, when you are running at 800W and up, are you going to get into situations where you are really going to see the system need to draw more power over existing cables. Of course, if you're going SLI, this is an example of when things can get a little nuts.
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I got too much power supply as well, but for my computer 750 was technically overkill. Going more was just WAY overkill.
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A: An insufficient power supply can cause data corruption, and power fluctuations can damage other components.
B: An under-loaded power supply will last much longer and provide more consistent power, which will also extend the life of all other components.
C: When a power supply DOES fail, your computer is effectively bricked until you replace it. A PSU failure also has a significant chance of frying your mainboard too.
I have had both A and C happen. I have since made it a habit to overkill my psu and keep a spare on-site. I have never had cause to regret it, and have had the spare psu save my bacon more than once.
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