$2000 dev / gaming system - need feedback / advice

[archzeratul]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to buy a new computer. My old computer was built some time in the year 2000, and is becoming almost unusable with even casual workflows, so there's practically no point to draw comparisons or re-use parts...

I'm studying computer science, and I take an interest in development, so I'd rather not have my machine prevent me from working on projects... The machine will mostly be used for development, browsing, watching movies, listening to music, etc. These are not necessarily in need of a powerful computer. However, as a secondary function, I will probably do some gaming when I start running out of high priority things to do (example of games I may play... Diablo 3, Skyrim, StarCraft 2, ...?). I'd like to keep that option open, so I may not invest very much in a GPU for now, but I'd like to keep that as an option down the road. By this logic, I should probably buy a good enough GPU, and later, possibly buy a second to put into SLI or a brand new GPU... Shopping is an ordeal for me, so I'd rather buy something that will last me a while, with the possibility of adding a second or third GPU...

I intend to run primarily under a / several Linux distros... and have Windows, possibly even Mac OS installed on the side for rare usage.... i.e. gaming or specific dev needs...

I have no stake in any sort of brand name wars, I just want something that is most importantly reliable and hopefully performs well. I'm not rich enough to be willing to spend $1000 on a CPU that does nothing more than give me bragging rights, but I am willing to pay enough to avoid cutting corners...

I was thinking of buying the computer on Boxing Day or during Christmas sales... but this probably means a lot of the parts won't be in stock, so I may just stick to doing price matches...

Please make no assumptions that I have any idea of what I'm doing, I know the bare minimum, if even that. Any feedback or even questions are appreciated.

Thanks

Approximate Purchase Date: By mid January

Budget Range: 2000 grand total

System Usage from Most to Least Important: development, web browsing, movies, gaming, music

Parts Not Required: OS (MSDNAA for Windows, Linux is free), keyboard, mouse

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: ncix.com / Canadian based stores to price match to ncix

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences:

------

CPU - Intel Core i5 2500K ~ $200 (unless the Intel Core i7 2600k is worth the extra $100...)
GPU - GTX 560 ~ $230
MOBO - ASUS P8Z68-V Pro ~ $200
PSU - Antec High Current Pro 850W - $205
SSD - Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240 GB ~ $400
Heat Sink (1 of)-
Spire Thermax Eclipse II ~ $45
Noctua NH-C14 ~ $90
Water cooling??? Opinions?
RAM - 16GB (4x4GB) No particular brand in mind, and as far as I can tell, clock speeds and timings are irrelevant ~ $80
Case - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP ~ $180
Blu-ray - LG BH12LS38 - $90
Monitors - 2x 24", maybe 1x 27" + 1x 24" or even 2x 27" ...I have no idea what brand, therefore no estimate on price
Peripherals - Will keep what I have, unless there's a need to upgrade. Will happily take recommendations on headphones that sound decent, and most importantly, don't break easily....

Later (hopefully soon!?):
HDD - 1x 2TB WD Caviar Black in tower, 2x 2-3TB WD Caviar Green in NAS

------

Overclocking: Potentially on demand

SLI or Crossfire: Potentially on demand

Monitor Resolution: Nothing specific, as long as things look clear and crisp

Additional Comments: Must be reliable with performance to satisfy my needs for at least a couple of years (My current computer lasted me nearly a decade...) I hate shopping.

______________________

Edit1: Discussion elsewhere has brought up the use of an AMD CPU in place of Intel as it is more affordable and perhaps more suitable for a system that is not primarily used for gaming. However, I am of the mind that I'd rather spend a little bit more (and actually, as far as I know, i5 2500k is cheaper than the FX-8150 anyway...). The reason is that if I do choose to focus more on gaming, I don't want to have to replace both my motherboard and CPU... and it looks like Intel is focusing more on improving CPU architecture / speed than spewing out more cores... As far as I know.. once you go past the third or fourth core, most applications benefit more from architecture / speed than they do from more cores...

Suggestions were also made to use an AMD GPU instead of my proposed GPU above... I have no foundation for my decision, so long as I have a reason for / against the decision..

 

[lehtv]

If you're not intending to play games right now, don't buy a video card yet. Buy it when you decide to play games.

You most likely won't need dual-GPU support. Even most hardcore gamers never run SLI/Crossfire.

CPU 2500K is good.
GPU If you're not intending to play games right now, don't buy a video card yet. Buy it when you decide to play games. Good stuff coming out in a few weeks/months.
Mobo Way too expensive, a good Z68 motherboard can be had for a lot less. E.g. Asus P8Z68-V LE $145. Or even Asrock Z68M/USB3 $110. If you really want to have dual-GPU support just in case, then Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 $160.
PSU Way too expensive. Firstly, a good 850W unit could be had for a lot less, and secondly you don't need that much power. XFX 650W ($45 AR) will run any single GPU system and most dual-GPU ones.
SSD Why 240GB? 128GB should be enough for dual OS and a few games. Also, Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 are better choices.
Cooler Buy it when you decide to overclock. I'd recommend Scythe Mugen 3 ($45).
RAM You most likely won't need 16GB. 8GB is enough for 99% of users. E.g. Kingston or Mushkin.
Case A normal mid-tower for half that price would be sufficient. Fractal Design Arc Midi $100. Review.
Blu-ray Can't comment on that.
Monitors You could go with a single 27" or two 24", TN panel or higher end IPS panel from Dell... up to you, really.
HDD How much space do you really need? Here's a good 1TB drive: Hitachi 7K1000.D $134.

 

[archzeratul]

Thanks for the reply.

A general question I have is, do any of the options you provide sacrifice reliability in the name of price?

GPU - So I will be okay to run off of the integrated GPU? Does this support dual monitors, basic gaming, etc.? Will this contribute to heat?

Mobo - As the backbone to everything, I was worried to cheap out here, I will do research on the Gigabyte mobo you named... it sounds like a viable option, if I want to keep the option of SLI/Crossfire open... I wouldn't want to get rid of a mobo simply because it lacked that feature...

PSU - Again, I was simply worried it would blow out if it was cheap... is the one you named reliable enough to not damage other components?

SSD - Since I will be running purely from the SSD, I wanted to have enough elbow room for comfort... I also think I read that capacity and data access have some correlation... in that the larger SSDs offer faster data throughput / latency?

Cooler - Stock cooler will be enough then? I might just go with that... I've had a few fans die on me in the past, and this would be my concern here...

RAM - I felt that it was cheap enough to just sink the extra $40 in and get all of 16GB... but I will keep 8GB as an option in mind...

Case - My only concern here is having enough room in the case to maneuver about if I were to take it apart, and have decent airflow, or room for a water cooling system...

Monitors, I definitely want two monitors... I was considering doing 2x 24" and using my existing 17" as a third... perhaps one 27" for movies or gaming or something to that extent... I guess the only concern here is if I were to do hardcore gaming, I might want something with quick response times... otherwise I'll probably go with what's cheapest...

HDD - True, what I named is probably overkill... but right now I'm playing with precious megabytes.. something I don't want to do in the future... For now I will just avoid buying HDDs at these ridiculous prices... I remember the Caviar Green 2TB drive being just under $100... the Caviar Black 1TB for less than $80... sigh

Again, thanks for the feedback, especially keeping $$$ in mind, and not just trying to cap out at $2000, it actually feels like I'm getting somewhere with this now...

 

[mfenn]

Everything that lehtv suggested is high quality and isn't going to blow up. The i5 2500K IGP does support dual monitors, though I think that you will need to do 1 HDMI and 1 DVI/DP. If you need dual DVI, there are lots of cheap non-gaming cards out there that will drive two displays just fine. Using the IGP will definitely lessen the heat output of the machine, you're taking out maybe 20-30W at idle.

As for the mobo, I can't understand why somebody who might play some games if he has time to get around to them would care about dual-GPU capability. Most people who play games all the time will never use that feature.

SSD performance does scale with capacity up to the point at which all the controller's NAND channels are populated. Beyond that, they are just stacking more flash chips behind the same channels. The M4 and 830 both offer peak performance at 128GB.

Oh yeah, does the $2K budget include or exclude monitors? You could easily spend 1/2 of it on good monitors if you wanted.

 

[archzeratul]

Right, I don't know when / if 2+ GPUs are necessary. To put things into perspective, I have a NVidia geforce 5200 right now... I can barely play youtube videos without them stuttering, in HD it's impossible... and my guess is that it's the GPU responsible there... My intention was to spare myself the pain down the road if I wanted to get a 2+ GPU configuration, and my motherboard didn't support it.

So then, I might downgrade the SSD to a 128GB one, I suppose I could always get a second one if I began to run out of space...

The $2k budget is for the entire system and all peripherals. $1000 on monitors seems a bit steep for me, but I guess that's a consideration I might make... and probably an investment that won't go out of date very quickly...

I guess I made a lot of bad decisions with the components, because I fear having to buy a new computer in a short period of time, for reasons of wasting money and effort... I guess that's not completely likely to happen, and even if it does, I might still save money in the long run by buying 2 cheaper computers instead of a really expensive one now... hm.

Thanks again for the feedback, it's much appreciated.

 

[lehtv]

Case - My only concern here is having enough room in the case to maneuver about if I were to take it apart, and have decent airflow, or room for a water cooling system...

Why would you want a water cooling system? You're not an enthusiast overclocker or a watercooling hobbyist from what I can tell. A good water cooling system would also cost quite a bit of money. You could include a new case in that budget in the unlikely scenario that decide to watercool, if that saves you $80 when building the PC now.

My intention was to spare myself the pain down the road if I wanted to get a 2+ GPU configuration, and my motherboard didn't support it.

Well, $10 more is a small price to pay... But I agree with mfenn on this. Extremely unlikely you'll need this feature. I'd consider myself a pretty hardcore gamer, I play on 1080p / High settings. A single GPU is all I need for smooth framerates, and it's not even the fastest GPU and the CPU is not even the fastest gaming CPU. But if you need to pay $10 for ease of mind, I'm not going to complain...

So then, I might downgrade the SSD to a 128GB one, I suppose I could always get a second one if I began to run out of space...

I would just buy a 128GB SSD and the hitachi hard drive I listed. Or the 750GB version. I would not expect HDD prices to come down very quickly... can easily take several months.

 

[archzeratul]

Water cooling - I figured maybe it would be quieter, more effective, and less likely to fail. However, I'm not very sure about the latter... I also read that maintenance is required every year or so, which I don't think is quite the case with a fan... not to mention that cleaning out the system and putting it back together seems like a bit of time consuming effort... I can imagine myself being neglectful to this, or careless and springing a leak and destroying the system entirely... I was mostly just playing with the idea to see what people would think - and I'm all for trying new things.

Maybe I'm wrong to assume this scenario is possible, but what do you think? Say I buy a $250 GPU now... it's able to run every game I would want to play at fairly high settings. Five years down the road, it starts to become insufficient, the same GPU is now $50... I can spend $50 to buy that card and possibly gain better / equivalent performance to buying a $250 GPU at that point in time. Is this not possible at all?

I think I'll be okay using the 128GB... I'd rather put the money into something that will retain its retail value for a while, and offers greater benefits... I currently have a 160GB drive that is cluttered with a lot of unnecessary things, and I've been okay for disk space until recently... I'm willing to wait a few months if it means that I will get to pay the "actual" value, instead of paying 3x and then watching prices drop down the road.

One question I have, that I may need to look up on my own is... Is there any care I should have when formatting and setting up file systems on SSD, that is different from HDD? With an HDD, you want to use cylinders to minimize movement of the head reader... to get quicker read / write times... Is something similar the case with SSD? Some sort of blocking architecture or something along those lines?

I'll create a revised list tonight, to let others have a glance over and get some more feedback, and probably get around to buying the system some time soon..

 

[lehtv]

Maybe I'm wrong to assume this scenario is possible, but what do you think? Say I buy a $250 GPU now... it's able to run every game I would want to play at fairly high settings. Five years down the road, it starts to become insufficient, the same GPU is now $50... I can spend $50 to buy that card and possibly gain better / equivalent performance to buying a $250 GPU at that point in time. Is this not possible at all?

First off, a $250 GPU will be slow in about 2 years time in new games, maybe less maybe more, depending on how low settings you're comfortable with. And secondly, by that time we'll have jumped a couple of GPU generations forward - a brand new GPU would have new features, much lower power consumption, and possibly better performance as well, than a 2-3 year old Crossfire/SLI setup. In addition, it's possible the GPU you're looking to Crossfire is out of production at that time, and your only choice would be to buy a used unit in which case you'd lose out on warranty.

So in general it's not a good idea. But there are exceptions... e.g. the new GPUs that are out don't really offer any substantial new features, just better performance, and the last generation GPUs are still available to buy as new and offer better bang-for-buck than the new high-end GPUs. In that case it could make sense to buy a second card if you were looking to get better performance.

One question I have, that I may need to look up on my own is... Is there any care I should have when formatting and setting up file systems on SSD, that is different from HDD? With an HDD, you want to use cylinders to minimize movement of the head reader... to get quicker read / write times... Is something similar the case with SSD? Some sort of blocking architecture or something along those lines?

Just format it as normal NTFS, and remember to enable AHCI as the SATA controller mode in the BIOS before you install Windows on the SSD. And it's not a mechanical drive so there are no differences in access times to "early" sectors vs "late" sectors (that I know of, someone correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[mfenn]

Water cooling - I figured maybe it would be quieter, more effective, and less likely to fail. However, I'm not very sure about the latter... I also read that maintenance is required every year or so, which I don't think is quite the case with a fan... not to mention that cleaning out the system and putting it back together seems like a bit of time consuming effort... I can imagine myself being neglectful to this, or careless and springing a leak and destroying the system entirely... I was mostly just playing with the idea to see what people would think - and I'm all for trying new things.

A self-contained water cooler is louder than a comparable air cooler (pump and fan noise), not any more effective, and more likely to fail. So let's toss that out.

Maybe I'm wrong to assume this scenario is possible, but what do you think? Say I buy a $250 GPU now... it's able to run every game I would want to play at fairly high settings. Five years down the road, it starts to become insufficient, the same GPU is now $50... I can spend $50 to buy that card and possibly gain better / equivalent performance to buying a $250 GPU at that point in time. Is this not possible at all?

The flaw in that plan is that a $250 will never go down to $50 unless you get lucky and find one used. Generally speaking, there is not much stock in the channel on higher-end parts and Nvidia/AMD only produce the newest generation. So supply and demand says that prices will stay fairly static until the supply is exhausted altogether.

One question I have, that I may need to look up on my own is... Is there any care I should have when formatting and setting up file systems on SSD, that is different from HDD? With an HDD, you want to use cylinders to minimize movement of the head reader... to get quicker read / write times... Is something similar the case with SSD? Some sort of blocking architecture or something along those lines?

When partitioning in Linux, fdisk doesn't know how to align the partition to the start of a write/erase block for best performance, so you generally have to do a little math to get it correct. Here's a guide on how to do it properly (it's an Arch wiki article, but it is generally applicable to any distro that uses standard tools).

 

[T_Yamamoto]

looks like you guys are feeding him some good info.

ill stay out of this one.

 

[archzeratul]

As always, thanks a lot for your feedback, and thanks for the great link, only skimmed over it right now but it looks like it has even more useful information to me than expected...

I figured if I would do an impulse buy.. I'd actually get something done.. so I bought a couple of parts and I'm currently looking at more... Really tempted to just buy a GPU (eg. looking at a 6870 vs 6950 vs. 6970...) right now but I would hope to get your feedback on the purchase before hand... which probably means it will go out of stock...

Anyway, here is what I got so far, and there is a couple of random things thrown in which aren't really relevant, but you can ridicule the decisions too... I could still return them, I guess.

(MIRs not included in prices... so a bit more is saved than seen):

CPU Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB $189.99

RAM Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 XMP Dual Channel Memory + HyperX Cooling Fan $34.99

1 x Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 XMP Dual Channel Memory Kit

1 x Kingston HyperX Cooling Fan Accessory - Black

Headset Corsair Gaming Audio Series CA-HS1A Headset 50MM Drivers Circumaural Earcups $29.99

PSU XFX 750W PRO750W Core Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 62A 24PIN ATX Power Supply 80PLUS Bronze PSU $84.99

Genius Slimstar C110 Wired Keyboard and Mouse Combo $8.99

USB Flash ADATA C003 32GB Blue Classic Series USB Flash Drive With Retractable Connector $24.99

 

[lehtv]

Sorry the RAM is 1.65V, it should be 1.5V for Sandy Bridge. I don't know how that happened, when I linked you that kit earlier I checked Kingston's website to confirm it was the 1.5V version... yet now the site says 1.65V. Hm. You should return the RAM, change it to a 1.5V kit (this one). Sorry bout that.

The rest of what you've bought so far looks good.

 

[archzeratul]

Didn't even think of looking at voltages.. what happens with a mismatch? Seems like this can be an issue if you perform some overclocking and need to push up voltage?

Do you have a moment to glance over this and let me know if you see something worth buying?

http://ncix.com/promo/promosale.php?webid=BoxingWeekOnline2011

http://www.memoryexpress.com/

and any opinions on a 2x of this:
Dell
UltraSharp U2312HM 23-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor ($200 each)

Honestly at this point, I'm starting to think I'd rather just click on the links you guys send me (this way I can't make a mistake like with the RAM..), add to my cart, pay for it, then figure things out when my CC gets charged and I get mailed to pick up my parts.. Then hope for the best when putting the machine together and assume I can't make too many mistakes

Not the right attitude, I know..

There are deals for the 6870 $100~ on Memory Express, and the 6950 $200~ and 6970 $280~ on NCIX.. Based on the previous posts, I'm going to guess you guys would suggest none of the above or the 6870 for $100..

I also was told that a USB headset is preferable to a 2.5mm audio jack one? Hm...

 

[lehtv]

Didn't even think of looking at voltages.. what happens with a mismatch?

Nothing will necessarily happen, it's just that SB is designed to be paired with 1.5V, and the lower the voltage the better and safer. It is less likely the RAM will fail or make the system unstable.

Do you have a moment to glance over this and let me know if you see something worth buying?

Oh, nice. Definitely should try to save money here. Here are some nice deals:

Corsair Carbide 400R $64 AR
Corsair Carbide 500R $80 AR
Antec 1100 $80
Corsair H60 $30 AR
WD Caviar Black 2TB $180 better $/GB than pretty much any other 7200rpm drive at the moment
2500K + Z68X-UD3H + 8GB Vengeance $300 AR!!!!, normally would cost like $450. Try to get the H60 as well so you won't have to worry about RAM compatibility. The stock cooler wouldnt have any issues either but when you decide to OC you'll need a better cooler, and the H60 is perfect combined with Vengeance. To get this combo you can still return the CPU you got as well; there don't seem to be any mobos on sale, just bundles... so you'd end up paying more for the mobo if you kept the CPU you already bought.

^ having trouble making that link work. You'll find the bundle, it's in the >$100 section

Didn't look at any monitors.

and any opinions on a 2x of this:
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...1&sku=320-2807

Doesn't link to any product.

 

[archzeratul]

Any experience with returns at NCIX? I hope I don't end up with 2x i5 2500ks.. The combo looks good though so I'll try it...

Cases.. basically pick what I think looks good from that list?

I guess I will cave and buy the 2TB black drive... Spotted any nice SSDs? If not, do you see one that I should buy anyhow? I couldn't find the Samsung SSD suggested earlier on NCIX...

Fixed the link for dell.. just named the part... it's a monitor

Isn't the H60 a water cooler? I thought it was recommended against using one? Or is there something I'm not getting..

Again thanks for basically holding my hand through this process... I owe you a beer

Edit: FUUUUUUUUUU @ MemoryExpress' website dying just as I wanted to add parts...

 

[lehtv]

Any experience with returns at NCIX?

I don't have experience with returns at NCIX... See what their return policy is. Should be on the site

Cases.. basically pick what I think looks good?

Out of those three, yeah.

Spotted any nice SSDs? If not, do you see one that I should buy anyhow?

All of the SSD's on sale seem to be Sandforce-based so not as reliable as Crucial m4 or Samsung 830. But I haven't had any issues with my OCZ Vertex 2 as of yet. OCZ Vertex 3 at $150AR could be worth considering. Crucial M4 128GB isn't $50 better, but may be worth it just for the sake of long term reliability... Hard choices

Fixed the link for dell.. just named the part... it's a monitor

Well it's a pretty nice IPS monitor, not the highest end but definitely good. For fast paced gaming, not so much.. 8ms grey to grey response time. I'd expect some ghosting/blur but nothing too severe. Probably depends on the user whether it is distracting or not. According to http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2312hm.htm the input lag is really low though. At just $200 per unit I'd say you won't regret it

 

[archzeratul]

As a P&R (performance and reliability) guy, I'd probably be happy to dish out the extra $50 for the SSD and know my data is a little bit safer...

If you don't have personal experience with NCIX, I'm going to go ahead and guess that getting you that beer might not be so simple

Anyway, it looks like I'm actually coming to a full system now.. though I will have to build it myself

Case - Antec 1100 $80
Mobo - Z68X-UD3H +
CPU - i5 2500k +
RAM - 8GB Vengeance $310
Heatsink - Corsair H60 $30
SSD - [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Crucial M4 SSD Micron C400 128GB[/FONT] $200
HDD - 2TB Caviar Black $180
Monitors - 2x Dell Ultrasharp U2312HM $400
PSU - XFX 750W PRO750W $60

Unrelated
USB Flash drive 32GB $25
Keyboard / mouse $9
Corsair Gaming Audio Series CA-HS1A Headset - $30

Total
$1324 + tax + misc. fees = $1550~

Hopefully they will take my i5 2500k and the unsupported RAM back and I don't get charged $220~ for that..

$2000 seemed excessive to me, but I'm slowly getting there it seems

GPU - Still would like opinions on this. I really feel like I want to avoid using the IGP... Especially now that I bought some half decent monitors... I might actually use them to play some games.

As mentioned in the random edits in my previous post, I saw 3 options.. though I could very well make a mistake in choosing the best one of those... there is the 6870 for $100, 6950 for $200 and 6970 for $280... kind of inclined to go with the second as it seems to cover any game I may play now or any time in the near future... No particular reason for looking only at ATI vs. nvidia...

Then again, I can always wait until some new GPUs start coming out, which is projected to be in January? Hm... Is it worth waiting?

Now, a question about some random things...

Do I need DVI/VGA cables? Screws? Thermal paste (seems to be included on the water cooler)? Additional fans?

Looked up a video on the water cooler's installation.. seems simple enough, although I wonder if it comes with water already in the sealed system?

Also this is kind of how I foresee assembling the computer.. (haven't done this in a very long time, so let me know if this is something that will end up killing my machine). Any videos out there for inept people such as I?

1) Lay case down.
2) Discharge static somehow? and do this on non-carpeted flooring.
3) Attach CPU to mobo
4) Mount motherboard to case, don't use brute force when tightening screws to avoid shorts / bending the board
5) Remove stock heatsink and attach water cooler.
6) Remove 120mm fan on back of case and put the radiator's fan there instead.
7) Reattach 120mm somewhere else, oriented to push air out to compensate for radiator pulling air in along with the giant fan
8) Trivial snap ins like the drives, RAM,e tc.
9) Connect PSU to case, attach power to the fans, radiator, motherboard, disk drives, etc

 

[lehtv]

I think NCIX has Powercolor 6950 2GB for $210 AR. A different brand would be preferable but for $210 that's a no-brainer really. Other brands arent $40-50 better.

Corsair H60 comes with installation instructions and from what I've heard it's easy to set up. The cooler is sealed, you can't do maintenance on it apart from blowing dust off the radiator or reseating it with fresh thermal paste. It's designed to work as is for a long time. It comes with 5 year warranty but Corsair's website says the expected lifetime of the product is much longer than that.

 

[archzeratul]

I barely have any clue beyond the GPU model and the VRAM ... What differs in the brands that makes Powercolor inferior? I guess I'll just go with it... and at this point, other than cables or screws that I may need I think I'm done...

Hopefully I can get the parts from MemoryExtreme come the 26th.. and get a return on my NCIX parts!

Edit: Just bought it.. soon I shall be free of the shopping nightmare, and anandtech will be free of my uneducated posts

 

[lehtv]

Powercolor is generally considered a "lower tier" brand simply due to their consistently lower pricing relative to other brands. Their products are probably made from slightly cheaper materials than those of Asus, Sapphire, MSI etc. But that doesn't necessitate lesser reliability. Don't expect miracles from their customer support either... but you most likely will never have to deal with their customer support - which is exactly why they and other "lower tier" brands can afford to cut corners there. Of course, they are not inferior in all ways - in terms of value for money, they're superior, and that's what tends to matter to customers the most.

 

[archzeratul]

Looking at the Antec 1100 case, I have a question about where I will mount the radiator fan... The back panel for the fan slot? Seems the case automatically dismisses any radiator that uses 2x 120mm fans? Unless you were to orient it sideways on the glass panel? Would that make sense at all?

Any thoughts about additional fans? Do the monitors/GPUs come with their own DVI cables or do I need to get those..

Looks like there is a HIS (whatever that is...) version of the 6950 for $20 more at MemoryExpress... Probably not worth the money and hassle of returning the other one I bought based on what you said..

 

[lehtv]

H60 has a 120 rad. If you get the Eleven Hundred, mount the radiator on the rear 120mm fan slot pushing cool air from outside through the radiator, and the hot air will escape via the top 200mm fan.

You can relocate the existing rear fan to the front as an intake. If you want you can buy another intake fan to the front. It'll probably create a slightly positive pressure inside the case which means dust won't come into the case through all the small openings like those in the rear panel.

I'd consider HIS about as good as Powercolor in general, though in this case would prefer Powercolor because of the dual-fan cooler. The Diamond 6950 is worse than Powercolor (noisier and hotter cooler), and its regular price is lower too.

 

[archzeratul]

Any opinions on this NAS?

D-Link
ShareCenter 2-Bay Network Storage w/ USB Port

I might put the 2TB disk into that, and see if I can get mpd and other such software working on the NAS, and outsource things like playing music / storing movies to that...

Regarding dust, should I be using dust filters on the case? Regarding cables.. I guess I will assemble the machine and see what's missing, then just go to the store another day and pick up what is left to fill out...

Is it a bad idea to mix and match RAM? In the event that I do want 16 GB of RAM.. what should the other 8 gigs be, considering I will have 8GB of that Vengeance RAM.

 

[cytg111]

I think you've got it down pretty well.
I would, however, consider a bigger SSD, perhaps the 512G M4 if you need more space. For a dev machine a SSD is a godsend.

 

[lehtv]

Antec 1100 has dust filters on the front intake slots and below the PSU.