Building a new system - need some suggestions!

[kyleb]

Hello all,

Thanks for your suggestions that I replace my Dual Xeon system that still utilizes RDRAM. I will probably sell all the parts and look to build a new system. Price is not *that* much of an issue, but I am not willing to overspend for a marginal increase in performance.

That said, here's what a lot of forum people dream of - building a system in theory for someone that has very few price objections!

What I have and plan to use:
-Two dell 2001FP's, one Dell 2405FPW
-A PCI GeForce 5200 for my secondary graphics card
-A WD 10k Raptor SATA 73GB hard drive
-Two 7200 RPM SATA hard drives (I need no more storage solutions)
-A speaker system (Z-530's, but will probably be Z-5500's when I move)
-A gigabit Ethernet card
-LiteOn DVD-RW and DVD-ROM drives

I need suggestions for the following products:
-Motherboard (A8N-SLI most likely, where is the best place to purchase and what model?)
-Processor (I do not have brand loyalty, nor do I plan on overclocking)
-Primary Video Card (most likely a PCI-E GeForce 6600GT, I don't do a lot of gaming)
-Power Supply (I have a 500W power supply now, but I think it's a cheapo one and wouldn't mind replacing it)
-RAM (Corsair?)
-Case (one with good functionality, plenty of bays, ventilation, size is not an issue)
-Sound Card (I was eyeing the Audigy 2 Platinum for good value; my card will interface with Z-5500's most likely)

I value stability over everything - I work from home 40+ hours a week and use my PC recreationally as well (obviously). I will be purchasing a 1000VA backup system. I multitask many many programs, including VMWare to simulate many virtual PCs, play online poker, and have datamining programs running in the background. My computer will also frequently access a database program, which is the reason I purchased the WD Raptor 10k. I feel that 1 GB of high-quality RAM is the minimum, with 2 GB being much more likely.

Thank you for your suggestions! I look forward to poring over them in the next week. Merry Christmas to all!

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: kyleb
Hello all,

Thanks for your suggestions that I replace my Dual Xeon system that still utilizes RDRAM. I will probably sell all the parts and look to build a new system. Price is not *that* much of an issue, but I am not willing to overspend for a marginal increase in performance.

That said, here's what a lot of forum people dream of - building a system in theory for someone that has very few price objections!

What I have and plan to use:
-Two dell 2001FP's, one Dell 2405FPW
-A PCI GeForce 5200 for my secondary graphics card
-A WD 10k Raptor SATA 73GB hard drive
-Two 7200 RPM SATA hard drives (I need no more storage solutions)
-A speaker system (Z-530's, but will probably be Z-5500's when I move)
-A gigabit Ethernet card
-LiteOn DVD-RW and DVD-ROM drives

I need suggestions for the following products:
-Motherboard (A8N-SLI most likely, where is the best place to purchase and what model?)

SLI? I thought you said you aren't much of a gamer. I'd go with the Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra. It's very stable, and has great overclocking features. If you're an ASUS fan you can get the non-SLI version of that board (the A8N-E) for less money. If you need SLI, try the Epox EP-9NPA SLI.

-Processor (I do not have brand loyalty, nor do I plan on overclocking)

Hmm. No overclocking? That's strange. Even so, I'd still go with AMD. They seem to be a lot more stable than Intel's current lineup (cf. THG's stress test). Anything dual-core should be fine, though. I recommend the Athlon 64 X2 3800+.

-Primary Video Card (most likely a PCI-E GeForce 6600GT, I don't do a lot of gaming)

That's a very nice video card--overkill if you don't game. Just get something with nice DVI and HDTV support.

-Power Supply (I have a 500W power supply now, but I think it's a cheapo one and wouldn't mind replacing it)

The ultimate in stability is PC Power & Cooling, but they're also ridiculously expensive. Something more reasonable, but still very reliable, would be a Seasonic.

-RAM (Corsair?)

Or OCZ or Mushkin. Whichever is cheapest; they're all reliable.

-Case (one with good functionality, plenty of bays, ventilation, size is not an issue)

People really like the Antec P-180, and you can get it bundled with a very nice PSU.

-Sound Card (I was eyeing the Audigy 2 Platinum for good value; my card will interface with Z-5500's most likely)

I've never been a fan of SoundBlasters. They seem to have short lifespans, and they don't perform *that* much better than decent integrated audio. If you really want something nice, get an Echo Gina. If you don't want to spend that much, try for an M-Audio Audiophile.

I value stability over everything - I work from home 40+ hours a week and use my PC recreationally as well (obviously). I will be purchasing a 1000VA backup system. I multitask many many programs, including VMWare to simulate many virtual PCs, play online poker, and have datamining programs running in the background. My computer will also frequently access a database program, which is the reason I purchased the WD Raptor 10k. I feel that 1 GB of high-quality RAM is the minimum, with 2 GB being much more likely.

Yup, go for 2GB. But above all else, make sure you get a dual-core CPU. If you're multitasking that much, you're going to need it. If you have to choose between 2GB RAM or dual core, go with the latter.

 

[mike3uz]

AMD X2 4800 has 2 cores and its the fastest one they sell that's non overclocked
K8N Neo4 Platinum or Asus
XFX or BFG 6600GT I know the BFG is overclocked but they both have dual dvi. for those dell monitors Not many 6600GT's have dual DVI.
P180 case by Antec or a Lian Li
RAM by Corsair
Audigy 2 ZS Platinum FTW
Antec 550 or OCZ Powerstream
OS windows XP Pro

I hope this helps.

 

[kyleb]

Thank you for your comments so far. What specific model/type of RAM should I get? I am not up to speed on the latencies and different brands that Corsair/Mushkin offer.

As for gaming, I do a decent amount of it - CS:S, Battlefield 2, Warcraft III, Call of Duty 2, but not a ton of online gaming. Just something to pass the time!

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: kyleb
What specific model/type of RAM should I get?

Well, like I said, anything by OCZ/Corsair/Mushkin should be perfectly stable. Kingston, too.

They're all pretty similar performance-wise. If you want to get something with 2.5-3-3-6 timings, that'd be okay, but I wouldn't worry about pumping too much money into the RAM. The CPU is going to be your major concern.

 

[alimoalem]

what's ur budget?

 

[mike3uz]

It would be nice to post your budget like the last poster.

 

[ND40oz]

If you plan on running triple monitors, your going to need a board with built in video, like an ATI RS48x and an ATI video card. I'm not sure if the integrated c51 nVidia with an nVidia card will let you do surround view like an integrated ATI board will, but I imagine it would.

Your other option is to purchase an SLI board and two pcie video cards or just a regular board and pick up a pci video card. Either way, I'm assuming you won't need that great of a video card since it just sounds like your going to be playing 10 hands of online poker and running a database for the games. If my assumption is correct, I'd say you should look into a dual core amd cpu, either an Opteron 165 on up or a X2 3800+ and up.

If your budget is high, pick up a dual opteron workstation configuration, but we'll need to know your budget before we can suggest what you should buy.

Edit: just noticed you said PCI secondary video card, forget the first part of my post, although there were some issues with some of the Asus boards running pci cards when they first came out, but I imagine they've been fixed by now.

 

[JJU357]

I agree with hurts to talk to you. The P180 is a great case. I love mine. The A8N boards are also very nice, but if you aren't gaming don't get an SLI board, go with the A8N-E. I basically agree with each of his suggestions. Hope a seconded opinion helps.