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perkele

perkele

perkele

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Joined
4 Oct 2008
Posts
78
The last system I built used an XP2500 mobile processor, OC'd to 2.52, Kingston HyperX PC3500, NF7-s Rev Mobo, well...it all sounded so sexy back then :)

I'm currently running a laptop, M770 chip OC'd to 2.32, 7800GTX GFX card.

I'm now planning on a new build, around £1k. Need everything apart from mouse and Kb.

I've hunted around this forum for days, as soon as I "think" I know what I want, I see something else! :(

So I ask you guys, can you help?

- machine will be used for "some" gaming - probably the new Wolfenstein, when they finally release it, later this year. Perhaps also a small amount of video encoding (twin core chip best for this?)

- I hope the machine will greatly outperform the current laptop.

- I want to run a couple of drives in RAID 0 (assume this is still a good idea?)

- Fast booting (separate drive better for this?)

- A quiet machine would be nice, doesn't have to be totally silent, just none of those vantec tornado fans i needed to cool the Barton chip.

- Something that I can overclock a bit, and feel good that I'm getting something for free :)

OK, thanks for reading, and appreciate your help! :)
 
Hmm finish swear word as name....ohh well.

It's very hard to spec up a machine with parts that hasn't been released yet as it's hard to say how much it will be.

How ever I don't think going RAID 0 is any real benefits for you buy one bigger drive and put the rest of the money towards other components. Most of the current Intel CPU's are good overclockers and most likely it seems the new I7 will be as well if any of the information flying round the net can be trusted.

As for a quiet system that really depends on what cooler and PSU you get :)

So if you really want an I7 you will have to wait till the hardware has been released for a proper spec thread.
 
Jumping said:
Hmm finish swear word as name....ohh well.
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Hehe, well spotted. Thing is, my usual nick had already been taken, and "perkele" was the first thing I said :)

Jumping said:
It's very hard to spec up a machine with parts that hasn't been released yet as it's hard to say how much it will be.
Click to expand...

Not sure I get what you mean? Current parts would be fine! :)

Jumping said:
So if you really want an I7 you will have to wait till the hardware has been released for a proper spec thread.
Click to expand...

I'm confused now, what's an "I7"? Have you perhaps mixed up your reply to this thread with something else? :confused:
 
I7 is the next generation of Intel processor that is being released shortly.

However it's going to be horribly expensive and they won't release their "middle of the line" chips for awhile yet.
 
Thanks Corran.

Well I guess I don't need one of those. I'm just looking for some hints on a resonable rig for around £1k, something with some OC ing potential, and something that will be faster than the laptop I have now.
 
In current games Nehalem doesn't seem to have any advantage over Yorkfield:
http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-6...s-three-channel-memory-SMT-on-Vs-SMT-OFF.html
(cache system of Core2 is better suited for them with big, fast L2 instead of triple latency L3)

For basic parts Q9550 would be fast at default and would overclock nicely.
P45 based motherboards have very good price vs. performance ratio and 4GB of DDR2 is cheap.
(DDR3 doesn't give really any advantage compared to lot higher price)


perkele said:
Hehe, well spotted. Thing is, my usual nick had already been taken, and "perkele" was the first thing I said :)
Click to expand...
Only one word?
 
Thanks Esa, that gives me a steer :)


By the way, do you know if OCUK ship to Finland?




(Ja viimeinen kysymys, oletko suomalainen, missä asut?)
 
Asus P5Q serie seems to be very popular and nice overclocking boards.
Here's table of major differences:
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=548&pgno=0
P45 chipset has enough lanes for one full speed PCIe 2.0 x16 slot so these dual physical x16 slot boards limit primary slot to eight lanes if there's anything in second slot. (which gets those cut away 8 lanes)
PCIe 2.0 doubles bandwidth so at least yet PCIe 2.0 x8 operation isn't limiting graphic cards but that might change with next major GPU launches.
So P5Q-E and P5Q Deluxe are probably the most interesting choises because third physical "universal" x16 slot can operate at x4 (non-2.0) speed without limiting primary graphic card slot in any way... but card in any PCIe x1 slots limits it to single lane. (bandwidth of one lane is 250MBps in PCIe "1.0")
I have 3ware 9650SE-8LPML PCIe x4 RAID controller so I've had to check that thoroughly and I'll be getting P5Q Deluxe because of Express Gate SSD. (ability to browse web in few seconds could be handy in case of need to check FMI's weather radar data quickly when thunderstorm is getting uncomfortable close for using PC)

If you want "drop parts in" case without need for silencing then Antec P180-serie would be very good. If you want about full metal contstruction (only plastic in wires) case Lian Lis has some door equipped silencing friendly cases but those need adding of damping mat.

For PSU Enermax Modu/Pro 82+ is very good serie of quiet PSUs, like nearly anything made by Seasonic. 500W is more than enough for any single graphic card PC.

Noctua NH-U12P and Thermalright HR-01 Plus are about best CPU coolers for use with quiet low speed fans.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article850-page5.html
(Noctua can take second fan so that would rise it above HR-01)

In HDDs it's down to Samsungs and Western Digitals for quiet HDD.


Don't know about shipping (I've limited my foreign purchases mainly to Germany) but inside EU it shouldn't be big problem.
(ja totta hitossa, Parikkalassa päin asutaan)
 
Some things better than in Antec: good space for long graphic cards in motherboard chamber and more 5.25" bays.
But falls short in others:
Noise leaking "door", 80mm fans, also PSU position seems to be designed for 8cm fanned PSU. (they even have pic of old junk PSU in product page ;))
Also that kind light foam is mostly aesthetics unless it's really thick.
 
OK, here is the spec, any comments? Any money wasted? Anything missing? I only need 2.1 sound, but do I need a separate card?



(I will probably get a screen elsewhere)


Plan to run the 320gb drives in RAID 0, using the 1TB for a regular back/storage.

Comments welcome and appreciated :)
 
No PSU? I would also probably change the mobo to a slightly cheaper model as I feel most often than not deluxe version's much higher price doesn't reflect in how much more you get compared to the normal p5q

Also I wouldn't bother getting 2 320GB drives and raiding them, in real life performance you will not notice any difference and if you ever have to move your boot partition or work on it having them raided usually means a lot more work.

So I would take the money saved from those changes and get a nice quality PSU.

Forgot to say, do you really have need for a quad core? If not you could save some money here and get a faster dual which will make bigger difference for gaming.
 
Jumping said:
Also I wouldn't bother getting 2 320GB drives and raiding them, in real life performance you will not notice any difference
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I've noticed you say this on more than one thread, is it just an opinion, or can you back it up with something? I always found RAID 0 to be great, especially when handling larger files, as well as shaving a bit off boot up times.

But I have to admit that this was a few years ago, so things could have changed. Anyone else care to comment?


Jumping said:
Forgot to say, do you really have need for a quad core? If not you could save some money here and get a faster dual which will make bigger difference for gaming.
Click to expand...

I will use the machine for some gaming and some video encoding, would a dual core be better for this? Does anyone know at which market the quads are aimed at then?
 
If you google raid 0 real world test etc you will get loads of hits for example
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_RAID_levels

However, real-world tests with games have shown that RAID-0 performance gains are minimal, although some desktop applications will benefit.[1][2] Another article examined these claims and concludes that "Striping does not always increase performance (in certain situations it will actually be slower than a non-RAID setup), but in most situations it will yield a significant improvement in performance." [3]
Click to expand...

There is loads other sites that show the same. To me it's just waste of money and space, I would rather use the extra space or save the money.

Video encoding is one area where you can find use for your quad core and it's still a highly clocked quad that you will get good game performance. So stick with the quad, and as we all know quad core are much cooler than duo ;)

Did you forget to add the PSU or you already have one? I highly doubt that you can salvage the one you have in your old system.
 
Yup I read that article, but does this highlighted part from the same piece perhaps show that the jury is still out:

RAID 0 is also used in some gaming systems where performance is desired and data integrity is not very important. However, real-world tests with games have shown that RAID-0 performance gains are minimal, although some desktop applications will benefit.[1][2] Another article examined these claims and concludes that "Striping does not always increase performance (in certain situations it will actually be slower than a non-RAID setup), but in most situations it will yield a significant improvement in performance."
Click to expand...





Am still thinking about PSU, a crucial part, definitely need a "newy", just not sure which one. Suggestions welcome.
 
corsair psu...

in the 600-700w range

nice and cheap but very reliable and efficiant

i would perhaps look at the p5q pro or p5q-e
i have the p5q-e and it is a joy to work with

i would personally ditch the 2X320GB HDD setup
if it were me i would get a raptor or perhaps a samsung spinpoint F1 [640gb]
 
Striping doubles sequential transfer rate (with two disks) which helps with big files but application/game loading is also equally much affected by caching/preread algorithms of HDDs.
Seagates have long had some of the highest STRs but stayed among last in real world performance.
For example that 1TB WD Caviar Green/GP is 5400rpm drive so STR is well lower but in many tests it beats 1TB Seagate because of superior caching/preread.

Video editing could benefit from striping but in copying data two separate drives (source and target) would probably be clearly faster than copying data inside single RAID0 array consisting from same drives.


And P5Q-E would be nicely cheaper choise if you won't be using Express Gate.
 
OK, am moving towards a raptor to replace the RAID 0, a couple of questions:

- Is there a particular size velociraptor that perfroms better (someone said the 320 and 640gb 7200rpm drives are the "sweet spots", is there a similar "sweet spot" for velociraptor?)

- Regarding the express gate feature....this interests me a lot :) I read somewhere that express gate runs on linux, but would it be possible to have the "quick access" feature still available if I'm using vista as my OS? Would I need to have a partition with linux, or is the software included in the express gate part of the mobo?

Thanks.
 
raptor wouldnt show any real world gains over a 640GB samsung Spinpoint F1

as for express gate - you can install it onto all of the p5q boards [if i remember correctly]
i put it on mine - it was pointless
i took it straight off
 
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