i7 920 system for 3D rendering - noob needs some help

[Gurgle]

Hi Folks, fresh fish here:

It's long overdue that I get myself a new workstation oriented pc - somehow my P4 just doesn't quite hack it anymore - so I've decided upon one of them thar new i7 920 contemplating machines.

The sole usage will be primarily for 3D work (modelling and unbiased rendering - Maxwell, Fry etc.) and also 2D design - I might play BF2 or something like that once in awhile but that's of negligible priority for me.

After much lurking on these forums and with cost considerations, I've decided on this motley list:

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Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail
£219.99 (£252.99)

Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
£214.99 (£247.24)

Corsair 6GB DDR3 XMS3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz (3x2GB) Triple Channel DDR3 (TR3X6G1600C9)
£199.99 (£229.99)
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Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)
£43.99 (£50.59)

Akasa Ultra Quiet 500W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.2 PSU - Black Nickel
£44.99 (£51.74)

4 x Akasa AK-191-SM Smoke Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin
£19.96 (£22.96)

Thermalright TRUE Black 120 CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)
£30.99 (£35.64)

Thermalright LGA1366 Bolt-Thru-Kit
£6.99 (£8.04)
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OcUK GeForce 9500 GT 512MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
£41.99 (£48.29)

Western Digital Caviar Blue 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (WD800AAJS)
£25.99 (£29.89)

Samsung SH-S202N/BEBN 20x DVD±RW IDE Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£14.99 (£17.24)
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Sub Total : £864.86
Total : £994.59
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1) I will look to overclocking it to around 3.6 or 3.7 ghz since that seems a nice noob-safe number, and I wanted to confirm that the 500w power supply is ample for everything (including an extra 1 or 2 sata HD's)?

2) Obviously I'd like a FireGL card or something similar, but its not worth the insane price for me. The GeForce 9500 GT seems fairly modern enough and I haven't heard of any negative reports in regard to modelling in opengl (unlike the 8000 series) - I also haven't seen any reviews in regard to this particular OCuk model - does anyone else use it and if so, any problems?

3) I originally chose the OCZ memory, but after reading that it doesn't work with the P6t board, I chose the Corsair instead. I'm just wondering if it's worth going for the Dominator model instead? Would it be of any benefit ?

4) Any other recommendations for things like fans and CPU cooler etc?

Fanks,

Gurgle.

 

[EsaT]

around 3.6 or 3.7 ghz since that seems a nice noob-safe number

... or guaranteed problems.
You shouldn't automatically expect high overclockings from every CPU and especially without OC experience.

Akasa is bling brand so I would touch their PSUs only by club. Corsair VX450 is known quality PSU.


Because of same GPUs there are possible ways for running professional card drivers on ordinary cards:
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539&pgno=0
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1079435

 

[Gurgle]

So the 450w Corsair would have enough power then (plus reserve just in case)? I dont want to be stingy with it.

And from from what I've been reading, ATI and Nvidia have stopped allowing softmodding on the more recent card models. Pity
If that's the case then I'll stick with the 9500gt and leave it as is so it's a bit more future proof.