One machine to rule them all...

bloodiedathame · 15 May 2007 at 13:33

Hello all.

Was just wondering if I could have some kind help regarding a PC I want to build which will be the hub of most of my life (working and free time (I know that's a little sad - or is it not here?)). Anyhow, this machine, needs to be a bit of a legend.

I need something that will be uber-good: at tasks like video editing/ animation/ music production (recording/mixing/listening)/ gaming/ graphics work/ 3D modelling/ watching TV and movies etc/ and even for normal use browsing the net...

I have got a basic set up that I have bundled from here there and everywhere on OC. Not done any cooling specs yet as I havnt got the foggiest (but I think watercooling will be the way to go as I hate the continual whurring of my current PC).

Money is not really an option as it will be bought with my student loan

So far my spec is:

- Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT DVB-T TV Tuner (PCI-Express) - Retail
- Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 Soundcard - Retail
- OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK)
- Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme Edition QX6700 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.66GHz (1066FSB)
- BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
- Antec P190 Gaming Case - 1200 Watt Neo Link PSU (Gun Metal Black)
- Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

Obviously cooling I need to sort out, and let me know if there are things that are not worth buying or incompatible etc.

I already have my monitor (Dell 24" one and my speakers Logitech surround sound wireless babies).

waso_dude · 15 May 2007 at 13:38

Why not a Lian - Li v2000 case?

with 2 loops 1 for cpu and 1 for gfx and mobo.

would be sweet then

SiriusB · 15 May 2007 at 13:43

Correct me if I am wrong, but generally speaking isn't your student loan meant for your studies!

Bad start if you are already blowing it on a PC.

MofoKilla · 15 May 2007 at 13:46

The life of a student

bloodiedathame · 15 May 2007 at 13:46

SiriusB said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but generally speaking isn't your student loan meant for your studies!

Bad start if you are already blowing it on a PC.

It will help with my studies because I am taking a moving image design degree. Which mixes basically all of the above aspects from editing/animation/modelling and sound work.

jamieslucky7 · 15 May 2007 at 13:52

As long as you realise your loan doesnt come all at once.

semi-pro waster · 15 May 2007 at 13:53

Welcome to the forums, you can build a PC that will be roughly equivalent for a lot less by picking the parts carefully. This would give you more budget for actually going out and doing stuff, university isn't meant to be all about staying in your room with your PC. Something like this saves you a lot of money and can be overclocked nicely.

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £74.99
(£88.11) £74.99
(£88.11)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £62.99
(£74.01) £62.99
(£74.01)
Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink £30.99
(£36.41) £30.99
(£36.41)
Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT DVB-T TV Tuner (PCI-Express) - Retail £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £84.99
(£99.86) £84.99
(£99.86)
Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU £79.99
(£93.99) £79.99
(£93.99)
Optiarc NEC AD7170S Serial ATA 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £63.99
(£75.19) £63.99
(£75.19)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £314.99
(£370.11) £314.99
(£370.11)
OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-5400C5 Dual Channel Vista Upgrade Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2VU6674GK) £119.99
(£140.99) £119.99
(£140.99)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £291.99
(£343.09) £291.99
(£343.09)
Sub Total : £1,212.89
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.95
Vat : £214.52
Total : £1,440.36

Darg · 15 May 2007 at 14:02

semi pros spec is pretty much the best you're gonna get. I assume you already have a screen?

The case should come down to personal choice between the Antec P190, Lian Li PC-9 or the Akasa Eclipse. You'll get people voting for any of those. Personally I like the look of the Antec 190 but I would probably go for a Lian Li case if I were getting one.

I'm not sure which is better, the Optiarc or the Pioneer DVD RWs.. I guess there's not much in the difference but I've just never heard of Optiarc before.

The Noctua CPU cooler is fantastic and inaudible so thumbs up from me

bloodiedathame · 15 May 2007 at 14:04

Thanks for that semi-pro.

I was hoping to have a mobo that would be sli compliant so if I decided to buy a second vid card in the future... Or would it be worth buying an equivalent AGP card and using the crossfire of this mobo? I'm thinking that I will probably need 4x PCI-E (2x16 and 2x(either 8or1). I fill one 16x with the gfx, 8/1 with the tv tuner and the other 8/1 with a sound card, leaving one 16x for sli in the future. Or is this a stupid idea/dead money?

Darg · 15 May 2007 at 14:09

Are there PCI-E sound cards now?

I don't know any motherboard with 2x16 and 2x8 PCI-E slots. The 680i chipset has 2x16, 1x8 and 1x1 IIRC.

semi-pro waster · 15 May 2007 at 14:10

What monitor do you have or intend to buy? Unless it is high resolution (1600x1200 approx or above) then SLi or Crossfire is pretty much a waste of time for most as it costs more and is more hassle. Normally my advice would be simply to buy a new graphics card as and when needed to replace the old one.

You can try it if you want by changing the motherboard, the Corsair PSU is entirely capable but I don't think it entirely worthwhile.

bloodiedathame · 15 May 2007 at 14:11

Darg said:
Are there PCI-E sound cards now?

I don't know any motherboard with 2x16 and 2x8 PCI-E slots. The 680i chipset has 2x16, 1x8 and 1x1 IIRC.

Must be me just being a misguided fool then.

In that case a sli mobo with expansion option for the dvi tuner?

bloodiedathame · 15 May 2007 at 14:12

semi-pro waster said:
What monitor do you have or intend to buy? Unless it is high resolution (1600x1200 approx or above) then SLi or Crossfire is pretty much a waste of time for most as it costs more and is more hassle. Normally my advice would be simply to buy a new graphics card as and when needed to replace the old one.

You can try it if you want by changing the motherboard, the Corsair PSU is entirely capable but I don't think it entirely worthwhile.

I have the Dell 24" running at 1920x1200.

My current machine is struggling to run anything on it.

semi-pro waster · 15 May 2007 at 14:15

In that case then an SLi capable motherboard is probably worthwhile. Any Nforce 680 SLi motherboard should perform around the same, the Abit is pretty expensive though.

bloodiedathame · 15 May 2007 at 14:16

a.hay said:
Must be me just being a misguided fool then.

In that case a sli mobo with expansion option for the dvi tuner?

And just to add, I'm seriously considering the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 Soundcard as I am a musician too. Is that a PCI card? Hence my worry about mobo with enough slots.

semi-pro waster · 15 May 2007 at 14:27

Requirements for the Soundblaster are a PCI 2.1 slot so you only need one ordinary PCI slot which the Abit does have, actually it has two.

bloodiedathame · 15 May 2007 at 14:33

semi-pro waster said:
Requirements for the Soundblaster are a PCI 2.1 slot so you only need one ordinary PCI slot which the Abit does have, actually it has two.

Sounds perfect then? So to recap Sli possibility (so 2x PCI-E) / PCI E DVI tuner/ Xfi soundcard (PCI) and probably bung in my PCI wireless network card as well. And the 32X is the only board which will allow me to do this?

semi-pro waster · 15 May 2007 at 14:41

I'm pretty sure that all Nforce 680 SLi based motherboards have at least two PCI slots, the Asus P5N32-E SLI certainly does and it is about £50 cheaper than the Abit.

Your signature is too large though, you have 4 lines of ordinary text to play with or a graphic not larger than 400x75 pixels that is less than 20kb in size.

Nicos Rex · 15 May 2007 at 14:43

SiriusB said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but generally speaking isn't your student loan meant for your studies!

Bad start if you are already blowing it on a PC.

You are clearly under a serious misapprehension, student loans are intended to be used wisely on alcohol, drugs and loose women, not frittered away on textbooks and the like.

semi-pro waster · 15 May 2007 at 14:45

Nicos Rex said:
You are clearly under a serious misapprehension, student loans are intended to be used wisely on alcohol, drugs and loose women, not frittered away on textbooks and the like.

But still not on a PC, correct? Just so we are absolutely clear on that point.