Trying to rein in a friends build - spec:

Plec

Plec

Plec

Soldato
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19 Apr 2003
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Ok, this is a build i'm doing for a close friend whose pockets are very deep but who is sensible enough not to just throw money at anything that seems fastest on paper - but he does want cutting edge hardware. His other prerequisite is that the system should be quiet but with a minimalist look - so feel free to suggest an alternate case and fans. He mainly uses his system for demanding games and photoshop.

My aim is to get him the best value build possible - even though he has stressed he's not bothered - so it'll be me trying to keep the price within reasonable limits, as i still like to see value for money - even when money isn't an issue. With this and the above in mind i've put together the following build for some of you to maul over:

Note the gfx card will be replaced with an EVGA equivalent when they're stocked - as he may need the warranty for changing to a third party cooler

davescomputer3.jpg


I've persuaded him to get the i920 as i've convinced him that clocking his system isn't an issue with the cooler i've selected and this will save him £250 over the i940. He wants a raid sytem and he know's nothing about SSD's - i haven't mentioned them because, if i did, he would want one (having said that he may be following this thread - and if he is sod off) - but i've yet to be convinced that they're a worthwhile expense from reading other threads. If a compelling arguemant comes along i may add it to his spec - other than 'it boots into windows in under xx seconds'. I've gone for 3 drives - 2 to be used in raid and 1 for photo and music backup.

I've had to talk him out of getting 12 gig of memory - and, if he is following this thread, anyone wanting to back me on this please feel free, as i'm sure he thinks i'm just trying to save him money...

I know very little about cases as it's something i very rarely upgrade, - my main concerns are that it looks tasteful, keeps the sytem cool and that it fits the cpu cooler i selected. His taste is conservative and either black or silver is fine - but no see through panels and that it's the size of a midi. My only concern about the case i've chosen is the 14cm fan at the front (i would like to change it) and the fact that it doesn't have a top venting fan. Is there a minimilist looking case that has one large intake at the front and 2 large exhaust fans: one at the rear and one at the top?

I've chosen the evga as the gfx make as i've just found out that it can have a third pary cooler added without effecting the warranty - so this brand is a must because if it proves to be noisy. Hopefully OC's will get them in stock by the time he's ready to order.


That's it boys and girls - dissect away...
 
The case id recommend would be the Antec 900-2 for cooling and build quality though it is a little bit showy and has the viewing panel.... this can be solved by ordering a spare rear side panel from the Antec site which can be used on both sides....

It definatley allows for the Noctua cooler within a centimetre or so as thats what ive got in mine! It is without a doubt the best case ive ever worked with
 
Thanks for the tip Skinhead - i'll look into that.

I should have added that i would like the case to be easy to maintain - as it'll will probably be me that maintians it after i've built it.
 
A Silverstone Fortress kinda ticks the case boxes I think a 180mm in take fan and 180mm top exhaust with a 120mm fan at the rear.

Another concern is the PSU, I would be tempted to get an 850W minimum, but then I usually overspec mine and someone might tell you to stick with the one you have.

Any thoughts on 2xGTX260 EVGA 55nm SSC's? Seems that an EVGA 295 is about £450 and two GTX260's are less than £400 with a similar performance?



** Ahh ignore the case, noticed you said no window >< unless someone knows of a windowless version/new panel.. **
 
NW_SKINHEAD said:
though it is a little bit showy and has the viewing panel.... this can be solved by ordering a spare rear side panel from the Antec site which can be used on both sides....
Click to expand...

Just had a look at the case, even with the new side added that case wouldn't be minimalist enough for what he wants.

Thanks for the great tip though as i may be able to apply it to other cases i may have otherwise dismissed.
 
12 gig of RAM definately an utter waste of money, I'd even say 8gb is too excessive - 6gb is plenty for the foreseeable future!

How about 2 x 20" monitors in a dual screen setup rather than the 24" job? Probably be cheaper too, and makes for a more impressive desktop :)

Edit: Two of These perhaps?
 
Deaco said:
A Silverstone Fortress kinda ticks the case boxes I think a 180mm in take fan and 180mm top exhaust with a 120mm fan at the rear.

Another concern is the PSU, I would be tempted to get an 850W minimum, but then I usually overspec mine and someone might tell you to stick with the one you have.

Any thoughts on 2xGTX260 EVGA 55nm SSC's? Seems that an EVGA 295 is about £450 and two GTX260's are less than £400 with a similar performance?



** Ahh ignore the case, noticed you said no window >< unless someone knows of a windowless version/new panel.. **
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply

I like the look of that case - and knowing now that i may be able to get a substitute side - it would deff be a conseration.

I've ruled out Sli purely so it eliminates any future hassles for me: one if the build goes badly or he gets problems in the future. I've only done one build with Sli and it took a lot of tweaking and still trips over. As he's got the money i'm cutting myself some slack ;)

phill0i, i'll show him that one - that too looks a contender, thanks.
 
Roalith said:
12 gig of RAM definately an utter waste of money, I'd even say 8gb is too excessive - 6gb is plenty for the foreseeable future!

How about 2 x 20" monitors in a dual screen setup rather than the 24" job? Probably be cheaper too, and makes for a more impressive desktop :)

Edit: Two of These perhaps?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the agreement on memory.

And no, i hadn't thought about a dual monitor option - he may well go for that. But i imagine he would probably go for two 22" Dells. Thanks.

Thansk for the reply, icey_haj, yes i agree with you - but i can't shift him from the 295 as he's seen the reviews.

And i'll show him the NEC but he likes the look of the Dells.
 
EgonSpengler said:
What have you got against SSD drives? They're lightning in comparison. They are expensive still however so if it was me i'd be raiding 2 smaller SSD drives for my system drive and then something like a Samsung 1TB F1 for games, music, video etc.

2 of these in RAID http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-013-OC&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910
Click to expand...

Nothing at all i wish i had a couple.

With regards to his build it's justifying the expense for the return he'll get for the way he uses his computer. But, likei said, if a compelling arguement is made for his usage i wouldn't rule it out.

If he's read your reply he's probably going to be ringing me tonight anyway. :)
 
I think the 30gb vertex is the best investment I've made to my computer in terms of bang-per-buck. With it, it flies. With the samsung F1 I have as backup os, it runs so much slower. It isn't just windows booting, it's ever program opening faster, saving faster, running faster. Beautiful devices. It makes no sense to have a beautiful processor sitting idle while it waits for the hard drive to catch up. Software I use tends to boot slowly and save slowly, I'd be astonished if photoshop is different.

As for 12gb of ram, it has its uses. I've gone from 8 down to 4 to find a faster overclock, but it's hurt multitasking. This is solely because I like virtualbox however, and tend to have two operating systems running on top of the base one. In single applications, I get the dreaded 'out of memory' error on solid edge when I don't have a large paging file now, and never saw it with 8gb and 50mb of page file.
 
12g of RAM? What you have selected is fine, any more and your basically throwing it down the loo. Pretty beasty machine though.
 
JonJ678, do you use your vertex essentially for your OS and major apps - and how does photoshop fair?

If it wasn't for the fact that he uses photoshop i wouldn't have even put the SSD's into the mix as i see it as something he could add on later when the prices have dropped and the technology has advanced. (although i've read somewhere that one of the SSD brands has a free app that, if you run it, makes it as fast as the day it was bought?)

You make an interesting point about it being a premium build and it being limited by a lack of SSD - i may reconsider as, no matter what, it'll have a fun factor which is what he's also after. My main task would be trying to steer him clear of the 250gig version.

Thanks for the reply.
 
Yes, i agree.

I've mentioned the inherent dangers of having your backup as part of your main system but he hates clutter and cables. He's also used to the speed and immediacy of an internal backup drive as he has one in his present system.

I will mention it again before he puts his order through - the fact that someone else has mentioned it adds weight to my advice so he may well think again.
 
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