Check my spec - new build !

duc999

duc999

duc999

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10 Jun 2003
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Just been given the go-ahead to buy a new PC for home use to replace my aging but pretty reliable AMD dual core (I'll donate it to a museum). I haven't done a full upgrade for quite a while now but bought a few bits to keep me gaming, so its about time !

Seeing as I haven't kept up to speed with events I haven't much of a clue with regards to speccing components but I know enough to be dangerous :D Its once every 5 years or so I do this so the budget for this build (my company is paying for it) is on the large side as I'm starting again from the ground up.

The build is also the wireless server for my home (2 to 3 laptops running from it, currently using my Draytek router as the wireless hub). This PC will get used for video decoding , gaming, and office work and will require hooking up to my TV for watching video (which I haven't done before)

Now I don't want this to look like I've just gone down the list of kit and picked the most expensive kit (which it probably does) but the core of the build will have to last quite a while.

Here we go then, my thoughts so far, right or wrong ! This will be an air cooled build (too much faffing about with water) and maybe overclocked if I feel the need for speed. :D

Case : Silverstone Temjin T07 (Black)
(Quality and an excellent air cooled case ?)

CPU : Intel i7 920 D0 Stepping
(Best bang per buck ?)

Cooler : Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366)
(Best air cooler at the moment ?)

Board : EVGA Classified Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard (ASUS Rampage II or P6T ?)
(Future proof as possible and great O/C potential ?)

RAM : Corsair Dominator GT 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C8
(Fewer compatibility issues with different MB's ?)

PSU : Corsair HX 1000W ATX Modular
(Build quality ?)

GPU : Nvidia GTX 295 ???
(I had a real problem with the GPU as always but need a HDMI output never used SLi before always a single card setup. Currently I run twin 24" Dells at 1600 x 1200.)

Now the hard bit for me, HD or SSD ???. I intend to run x64 bit either Vista or Windows 7 when available. SSD's seem very expensive per MB compared to say a Velociraptor ? I know from my current install that the OS has doubled in size (prolly needs configuring properly) so would I have to buy a pretty large capacity SSD as a boot drive ? Will also need a couple of large capacity HD's, never trusted RAID before so would welcome any comments.

Well thats enough to be going on with guys so would appreciate your feedback !
 
Very nice spec.

duc999 said:
Now the hard bit for me, HD or SSD ???. I intend to run x64 bit either Vista or Windows 7 when available. SSD's seem very expensive per MB compared to say a Velociraptor ? I know from my current install that the OS has doubled in size (prolly needs configuring properly) so would I have to buy a pretty large capacity SSD as a boot drive ? Will also need a couple of large capacity HD's, never trusted RAID before so would welcome any comments.
Click to expand...


Have you considered about just getting a 30gig SSD for the OS and essential apps and running RAID 1 or 5 with your SATA drives? (Very fast and relatively safe)

The SSD's are still insanely expensive, considering the capacity to cost ratio and, obviously, not nessessary but if you have the money you may want to dip your toe in for the experience.

EDIT: That is a very big PSU - what else will be plugged into it?
 
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Classified is probably not worth the extra money. Were you going for water/n2 et.c then sure, on air it's wasted. Most X58 boards will take a 920 to 4ghz, the gigabyte one seems most popular. Slightly toned down evga boards will be out soon and look very nice.

The 295 is still sli, it just has the bridge internally. I'm personally not that convinced by multigpu systems, so would suggest the 285. If later you sli it, two 285s beat one 295 anyway. X58 boards can do either crossfire or sli, which is nice.

Corsair is solid. I think the 1000W is lower quality than some of their more recently released ones, but I'm not certain on that one. Look for an 800W ish one with 7 years warranty.

Lastly, price per gb is missing the point of ssds. You don't need a terabyte for an operating system. A 60gb vertex is a lot faster than any hard drive, take the price in absolute terms not as £/gb. I've got the 30gb version, which holds my dual boot system very happily. But then, I don't want to run 64 bit vista ultimate with loads of extra things installed.

^water is amazing, but rather excessive for a computer
 
The other thing you may want to consider is that the single PCB 295's come out, hopefully, within the next 2 weeks.

I'm doing a similar build around the Asus V2 Mobo but have decided to wait for the above version of the 295 before i order.
 
Plec said:
EDIT: That is a very big PSU - what else will be plugged into it?
Click to expand...

Not a lot really , I just went for a reliable make with plenty of capacity ' just in case.

As JonJ678 recommended, I'll check out the newer 800w PSU from Corsair or Be Quiet ;)
 
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Thanks so much for the help guys , I didn't even know that GTX 295 were twin PCB so SLi in reality anyway !

JonJ678 , cheers for the insight , I'll re-assess my thinking ;):D
 
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