new dream pc advice

Ch3m1c4L

Ch3m1c4L

Ch3m1c4L

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This is my new build spec, it will be changing as im waiting on the 9900GX2 so graphics cards are only there as place holders on price, as is the RAM since OCuk dont sell the RAM i want but its price is the same as 8GB DDR3 1600 that i will be buying. I will also need to add on a matrox Triplehead2GO but OCuk dont appear to be selling these at the moment :(

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Obviously i want to get the price down, its not a major concern (100K inheritence just came through so the interest in a year is more than this), performance is more important, but obvious places to cut, like dropping to 4 spin points in order to save money (also meaning i could go with SATA DVD drives) would probably make sense if the difference between 4 and 6 in RAID 5 isn't that much. I also need help on choosing speakers since i dont know enough to pick any really good ones, 5.1 or 7.1 :D

Please dont tell me to go with a DDR2 system as i dont want to. I also do know that with a matrox box i can only support up to 1360*768 (per monitor) resolution but with enough AA this should still look fine. It is unlikely the system will be upgraded in the next year or so, unless i decide to only get 4GB RAM now and then get another 4GB when prices drop to decent ranges.

Should i strip it down and save a grand by only getting 2 HDD's and one 26" monitor? opinions and reasons please, not just "OMFG Waste of money posts"
 
wait for new card in july i think u will save some money u dont need quad sli as most of games will not run it i think and u might have some problems. just stick with best next gen thats coming out. u dont need ddr3 ram yet as u will not see mutch improvement and it costs a lot same with mob go that supports ddr2.
 
No offence but what will it be used for? 8tb of hdd and generally the most expensive stuff for, no reason? If its general gaming then its OTT, way OTT, if its anythign less than professional work standards its ott.

My 2pence.
 
Lol. Buying a matrox triple2go and 3 24" screens.... Just utterly stupid.

That isn't at all useable in the real world, and would look poor with the resolution.
Buy a project if you want that area.
 
its extreme high end gaming, file server in a multi user environment as well as audio and video editing. its all round use (for me) but isnce i do everything from web development to 3d animation/rendering i need a lot of power. I will be waiting for the next gen cards, i was just using the current top as a place holder for price. Its not 8 TB of HDD space either, its 6 1tb drives, which would be used in RAID 5 = 5TB of space. or 4 drives = 3TB of space. My current system with 1.7TB of space only have 60gb free so meh.

I am looking to cut cost though. is ddr 3 really not that much better/useful still?
I would be looking at 8GB for £400 which i know is still expensive but i still remember buying 2GB of Corsair DDR400 for 199£ lol
 
@ pink floyd,

really? i use 7 17" screens at work atm... i am VERY open to changing the spec as its quick initial spec up and i wont be buying for a while and i want it to be perfect when i actually buy it.

Would 2x24 in an actual dual monitor config be better you recon? or i could just get a 30" but i think they are stupidly overpriced still.

Edit: feel free to spec up a system that you think would offer similar performance etc for less.
 
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1 30" monitor would be a smarter move than the 3 screens, add a projector if you want a massive screen, you'll never make any use of 5760x1200 res and it just flat won't work if you go sli.

avoid quad sli if you can, it scales really badly and is quite a waste of money, I know you've got the £ but why waste it?

Go with DDR2 over DDR3 as DDR3 offers no measurable benefit. 8GB is also a bit debateable as to whether there's any benefit, could just be a waste that ultimately limits your OC.

I'd spend MORE on the case, something really classy like a high end Lian Li/Silverstone.

Similarly spend MORE money on cooling, maybe water? Last thing you want is £3k of pc sending you deaf :)

And definitely sata DVD drives, IDE went out with the ark.
 
i wonder if this will be another goose chase thread?

but i would wait for the GTX280 IMO

and if one got 4 screens couldnt you put 2 side by side and two ontop fora very big res?
 
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shaffaaf27 said:
i wonder if this will be another goose chase thread?

but i would wait for the GTX280 IMO

and if one got 4 screens couldnt you put 2 side by side and two ontop fora very big res?
Click to expand...

in theory yes, but the reason for a matrox box is that it means you get periphal vision, as in the left and right screens give you whats normall out of your view onthe left and right of you. it is ACE. we have it at work, but with rather poor graphics cards so can only run it on old games. A good chase thread?

@ matt100 i do want to go water, but im scared :D I'd need a large amount of advice on speccing the water kit up but i am willing to go there. i dont tend to like the lian li cases, no idea why, just dont. I do like the Thermaltake sword but its well expensive, but then it does come with water cooling -- any ideas how good it is?

Ill re spec tomorrow with ddr2 and 4 HDD's with sata dvd drives.
 
matt100 said:
you need to grasp that you cant run multiple screens with sli! Please tell me you've understood this!! :D
Click to expand...

even with a matrox box? it only uses one of the DVI outputs and uses software to get the graphics card to output one signal at super widescreen, the box then splits that into a left, center and right making it similar to having 2 screens.
 
its not. I will be buying this system soon. if you search, youll see i was asking similar around november, but then the money iw as meant to be getting didn't happen as it was all pushed back to the new financial year to avoid some tax or something. But now it is coming so now i can afford to waste some money on a higher spec PC than i absolutly need in order to make me feel warm and fuzzy inside for the 3 months that it stays top end :D
 
Ch3m1c4L said:
@ matt100 i do want to go water, but im scared :D I'd need a large amount of advice on speccing the water kit up but i am willing to go there. i dont tend to like the lian li cases, no idea why, just dont. I do like the Thermaltake sword but its well expensive, but then it does come with water cooling -- any ideas how good it is?
Click to expand...

yes, its rubbish as is all thermaltake watercooling.

Frankly the sword is pretty hideous anyway but each to their own!

Ch3m1c4L said:
even with a matrox box? it only uses one of the DVI outputs and uses software to get the graphics card to output one signal at super widescreen, the box then splits that into a left, center and right making it similar to having 2 screens.
Click to expand...

perhaps not then but you'll either have a res that games don't support if you're using the native res of 3 widescreens or you'll have it all stretched and a bit manky. Personally I think this is a very very bad move.

There are plenty of people knocking about here with no expense spared PCs and none of them have this setup, if it was any good it would be popular. Seriously... avoid this way forward is my best advice.

Get a mahoosive 1080p tv or a projector or what have you, multi screens is not what you want. Unless I guess if you only play flight sim, that can probably make some use of it, otherwise forget it.
 
Check your email just sent you something....

But in the meantime I would think about getting something like a 52 or 55" 1080P HDTV as that would be better than several monitors. 1920x1080 you can probably drive with just 1 high end gfx card no need for anymore remember SLI/Xfire do not scale so 2 x cards does not mean 100% more performance for twice the cost so you may as well get 1 decent card on a 1080P HDTV or monitor instead.

Also think about adding the LG HD-DVD/Bluray combo SATA drive then you can also use it to watch hi-def movies.

For the CPU then a QX9770 is top of the line right now.
 
Three 24" screens is way over kill in my opinion, even though I use triple screens. I run two 19" screens and one 22" wide screen, even with those I find them an overkill. But I only use the two 19" ones as there is no point letting them sit there doing nothing.

If anything a 30" is the best route for sure.

Don't bother with DDR3, waste of money. DDR2 is cheap as dirt atm so take advantage of it.

I would also ditch one graphics card and go for one dual card, I would say any current dual GPU card will run any game fine on a 30". As said above 4 GPU's is not only overkill it will cause incompatibility problems. You don't need a very expensive mother board either unless overclocking. If your not overclocking stick with a P35 board, it should do you fine. If you are overclocking take a look at the X48 boards.

Heres a quick spec

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775) £32.99
(£38.76) £32.99
(£38.76)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail £199.99
(£234.99) £199.99
(£234.99)
Asus GeForce 9800 GX2 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail Asus GeForce 9800 GX2 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £309.99
(£364.24) £309.99
(£364.24)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £78.99
(£92.81) £473.94
(£556.86)
Noctua NF-S12 800RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin Noctua NF-S12 800RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin £11.99
(£14.09) £11.99
(£14.09)
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ) G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ) £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Pioneer DVR-215DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM Pioneer DVR-215DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£17.61) £14.99
(£17.61)
Lian Li PC-A71B Aluminium Tower Case - Black Lian Li PC-A71B Aluminium Tower Case - Black £129.99
(£152.74) £129.99
(£152.74)
DFI LanParty LT X48-T2R Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard DFI LanParty LT X48-T2R Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £144.99
(£170.36) £144.99
(£170.36)
Enermax Galaxy 850W EGX850EWL ATX2.2 Modular PSU Enermax Galaxy 850W EGX850EWL ATX2.2 Modular PSU £122.99
(£144.51) £122.99
(£144.51)
Hazro HZ30W 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black Aluminium Hazro HZ30W 30" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black Aluminium £749.00
(£880.08) £749.00
(£880.08)
Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Sound Card - Retail Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Sound Card - Retail £97.99
(£115.14) £97.99
(£115.14)
Sub Total : £2,358.84
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £30.31
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £418.10
Total : £2,807.25
 
just because you are getting the money and the interest will be a fair amount doesnt mean its clever to go and buy a complete beast.. which happens to be overkill for what you say.

Buy 1 30" or 2x24" at most.
If you take your 3d animation seriously you're barking up the wrong tree with that card, you want a CAD one.. But thats silly money now. 8GB is overkill.
Fileserver? Why not just buy some NAS, or get a secondary rig for file storage? Better than having it all inside that toasty pc, making a right noise and upping the temperate.
Perhaps invest in a cheap server rig and have it hidden away somewhere where the acoustics cannot disturb you.
 
Why stop there, be a true legend and why not just blow the whole £100k on a supercomputer?

PS - OCUK i want my commission on that sale ;)
 
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Ch3m1c4L said:
I do like the Thermaltake sword but its well expensive
Click to expand...

Don't you have £3,000 to spend, im sure at that budget the case isnt out of reach. If you really do want to go OTT i suggest the skulltrail motherboard with 2 Quad core CPU's on it...it really won't be any help at this day an age but if you wait a few years it might come in handy..:D

And do me a favour..when u get this pc built, take it to "The Tech Guys" and see if they can diagnose a problem,even if there isnt one, just so you can see the look on their faces when they spec it up :D

Regards
Ben
 
bennyboy2606 said:
Don't you have £3,000 to spend, im sure at that budget the case isnt out of reach. If you really do want to go OTT i suggest the skulltrail motherboard with 2 Quad core CPU's on it...it really won't be any help at this day an age but if you wait a few years it might come in handy..:D

And do me a favour..when u get this pc built, take it to "The Tech Guys" and see if they can diagnose a problem,even if there isnt one, just so you can see the look on their faces when they spec it up :D

Regards
Ben
Click to expand...

lol, yea ive seen the scaling of erformance onto 8cores......0% on 4 cores....

@ matt100 search google for matrox surround gaming, a lot of game now support triple monitors out of the box :D. Thanks for the advice guys, ill look and respond properly later when im on lunch.
 
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