New Build Advice - £1200

[kilvano]

I know many n00bs come on here asking for help but after reading many forums and website i still cant make up my mind.

Im a 3D animator and spend a LOT of time sitting with Lightwave creating images. I also use photoshop, flash and dreamweaver a lot. I do game now and again when a new game catches my eye.

I cant afford any of the PNY Quadro cards because while they may be better i dont see the point in shelling out £2k on a single card. I need a card which will be good in OpenGL on 2x19" screens. If its good in DX9 (or DX10 if i decide on a 8800 then thats a bonus)

I currently have

AMD64 3400+ (Socket 754 or what ever the old one was)
1.5 Gb Ram...(3x512)
2x 120gb HD (which are getting old and making funny noises now and again)
350W PSU
ATi 9600 Pro 256Mb

Im gonna leave this one as it is for Folding and another render node for my animations.

Now...i have Roughly £1000 - £1200 to buy

Case
PSU
Graphics card (GeForce as Lightwave has been known to have errors with Ati cards)
Mobo
CPU
RAM
HD
Drives.

Here is the spec im thinking of.

Antec P180b
Seasonic S12-600
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Core 2 Duo 6600 OEM
512MB XFX 7950GT XXX, Mem 1600MHz, GPU 610MHz, 24 Pipes
1 x 74Gb Raptor 10000rpm
1 x300GB Storage
Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi-AP Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency
2 x Sony 18x DVD+-R

I like this setup but im want some professional advice if im spending too much in some places and not enough in other.

I was thinking about spending the extra £200 or so on a 8800GTS but from the few reviews online ive seen that the openGL performance is nothing to get excited about.

Any comments welcome

Cheers

 

[Bananadude]

Looks good. I am looking at similar budget for upcoming build.

I've been recommended the Tuniq Tower CPU cooler. It's a big beast but from what I've seen seems to be the best cooler out there.

I'm leaning towards the Corsair 620w PSU myself. Not much between them, but the Corsair is modular.

Not sure about the case. Akasa Eclipse/Mirage seems to be the most highly regarded in these forums. The P180 is good, but it seems to split people down the middle. The Akasa/Eclipse seem popular all round, although maybe not so pretty. The Mirage has a door though.

I'd lean towards an 8800 myself. More future proofing, although you can always sell the 7950GT at a later date and get an 8800 when DX10/Vista and some next gen games are out.

 

[1337z0r]

Ditch the raptor. Spend the extra and get a 8800 if your not going to upgrade for a while. Or maybe get two 320Gbs and raid 0 .

 

[kilvano]

Ill thin about the Raptor thing. Dont know if im too confident about RAID setups.

I dont plan to upgrade to vista within the next year or so. Ill wait until it becomes more mainstream and there is lots of software available (i know a lot of XP stuff works on it already)

I did look at the Tuniq Tower CPU cooler but having read some mags and stuff, the Artic seemed to be the cooler of choice. Ill wait and see what the masses say about this one.

I know what you mean about the 8800....really tempted but i just can justify the asking price. Im not a hardcore gamer and really just need something that can move polygons round in 3d software.

As for the case...i dont really like the look of the Akasa ones. Maybe an Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case? I like that one

Cheers for the help guys

PS on another note...someone suggested i take a look at g.skills Hz RAM instead of GeIL. What does everyone reckon?

 

[Bananadude]

What did you read about the Arctic and Tuniq that made you plump for the Arctic? Everything I've read indicates the Tuniq is the better choice. I'm in the same position as you so I don't really know, just wondering what informed your decision?

RAID is easy to set up, and it can make a HUGE difference.

With the P180 vs the 900, I think it depends what you really want from the case. Each has plus and minus points. Best thing is to look at reviews and search these forums. Tons of user opinions on both. Personlly, the negatives of both of these put me off, and the Eclipse/Mirage just seems such a winner. I prefer the look of the P180, but at the end of the day functionality, cooling and ease of use is always going to be my priority, and the Eclipse/Mirage wins out in all departments.

I don't know about RAM. It confuses the hell out of me. I don't think you can go too wrong with as decent brand though.

 

[kilvano]

in CPU Magazine, they reviewed the Artic and said they say a 19C difference under load and thats a LOT. Plus its supposed to be one of the quietest.

Decided to go with the raptor. I know you can get more for the money but i always wanted one and it makes life simpler. In future and may get another raptor and raid those!

Ok after much searching and reviewing prices ive pretty much decided on this setup.

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case
Seasonic S12-600
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Core 2 Duo 6600 OEM
512MB XFX 7950GT XXX, Mem 1600MHz, GPU 610MHz, 24 Pipes
1 x 74Gb Raptor 10000rpm
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi-AP Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency
2 x Sony 18x DVD+-R

I dont even have a clue how much it will cost in total. Prob around the £1200 mark (i hope)

 

[kilvano]

orrrrrr....

cheaper mobo, no raptor and an 8800GTS?

My mind is working overtime trying to decided!

 

[hp7909]

{snip}Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case
Seasonic S12-600
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Core 2 Duo 6600 OEM
512MB XFX 7950GT XXX, Mem 1600MHz, GPU 610MHz, 24 Pipes
1 x 74Gb Raptor 10000rpm
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi-AP Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency
2 x Sony 18x DVD+-R{snip}

Ditch the Raptor & 500GB 7200.10 (see here why) & go for the 8800GTS & two (2) 250/320GB 7200.10s

Think also the DS3 is better than the P5B

 

[kilvano]

but then the reason in liked the 7950Gt XXX is that its pretty fast and passivly cooled with heatsinks...no fan = no noise.

Im running 2 x Viewsonic VG910b's with it so no high res stuff. Also remember that OpenGL is more important that gaming speed!

I think 8800 would be overkill.

Ok i think ill just get the 9750GT for now and upgrade in a years time or so when i upgrade to vista.

i take on board your point about the 500gb Seagate. I think ill get a 320gb instead.

 

[kilvano]

Here is the final Rig i think.

What do you think?


512MB XFX 7950GT XXX, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1600MHz, GPU 610MHz, 24 Pipes, Dual DVI/HDTV
£235.91

Seasonic M12 Modular 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply £99.99
(£117.49) £99.99

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) £13.99
(£16.44) £13.99

Sony AW-G170AB2 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer - (Black) OEM £17.99
(£21.14) £35.98

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £164.99
(£193.86) £164.99

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - OEM £177.99
(£209.14) £177.99

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £99.99
(£117.49) £99.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) £5.99
(£7.04) £5.99

2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £62.99
(£74.01) £125.98

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case

All in = £1178.11 including delivery from 2 places (cant get it all at the same place)

 

[hp7909]

{snip}512MB XFX 7950GT XXX, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1600MHz, GPU 610MHz, 24 Pipes, Dual DVI/HDTV{snip}

Like the idea that its passively cooled without any performance drop!

Rest looks good