Expert advice prior to purchase

[funkypixel]

Thanks in advance for ANY & ALL help, truly.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

? Maya 3D modeling & rendering (incl. crowd simulation, CPU Intensive?)
? Extensive Photoshop work (multi open files from 10-60MB)
? FLStudio Music/Sound Design composing/rendering
? Video Compositing/Editing/Green Screen

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
$1300-1500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from
USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.

? Intel Core 2 ___ [Duo, Quad]
? NVIDIA

• o Geforce is way better for Real-time game/sim - [I?m looking at the new PCI Express 2.0]
  o Quadro is better for Eng-Computing
  o I?ll probably go with the Geforce, as it?s about 1/8 cost?

? Antec - I?ve had a Antec case on my current system for about 4 ?long? years, and it?s been great

• o Seriously considering the COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case

? Western Digital & Seagate drives have always been good, open to suggestions though ? except Maxtor

• o Question: I?m not a Raid expert, however, does anyone think I need to get more into that - and how expensive for a decent setup (I don?t lose data now, but I would like to know your opinion)

5. NEW Spec?d System - AND - MY Current parts are mentioned together / per device (where applicable)
LOOKING TO PURCHASE RIGHT AWAY ? tonight if possible:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Processor
Item #: N82E16819115036
Was considering your opinions on if I should try and go for the Quad setup, due to my needs in question #1 ? Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

HEATSINK&FAN: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
Item #:N82E16835186134

MOBO: ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813131284

RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Item #:N82E16820145197 NOTE: I'll start with 4GB, and get another 4GB within 60-days

POWER SUPPLY: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817139006

CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window
Item #:N82E16811129021 FYI on a case: I could care less about blinking LCD lights ? I need cooling capability! ?

HARDDRIVE: Western Digital Raptor X 150GB 3.5" SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive
Item #:N82E16822136011

• NOTE: I CURRENTLY HAVE THE FOLLOWING HARDDRIVES TO USE ?FOR NOW?:
  Internal: 2 x Barracuda 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA
  External: Western Digital 500GB Ext USB, and a SimpleTech 200GB Ext USB

BURNER/ROM: I?LL USE MY current HP DVD burner w/ Lightscribe for now
DVDRW/CDRW: HP dvd840

VIDEO: MSI GeForce 8800 GT NX8800GT 512M OC PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
Core clock 660MHz, Stream Processors 112, Memory Clock 1900MHz, 256-bit GDDR3
Item #: N82E16814127329

SOUND: I?LL USE MY current Creative Sound Blaster card for now PCI (7.1) Channels

MONTIOR: I?ll get new monitors shortly after the main purchase. I was REALLY blown away that out of 1300 feedback results, 77% had 5-stars, and 14% gave it 4-stars (Newegg). I never considered this vendor?thoughts?
Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support 300 cd/m2 700:1 - Retail
Customer Choice Award - 4x Winner of Customer Choice Award - LCD Monitors

OS: Windows XP Pro 64bit


6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Did a bit of research on different HW review sites, and spent quite a while on NEWEGG feedbacks

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I?m not an Overclocking HW builder, I?ll tackle that AND how to setup a cooling system at some point

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Looking to purchase parts tonight, if it works out. I just like to have others do a thorough review.
Thanks for ANY & ALL help, truly.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Check silentpcreview.com for HSF reviews, the Zerotherm Zen has a better rating and more secure mounting system.

I'm getting an E8400 since the E8500 is overpriced for the slight speed increase.

The Asus Rampage is for Crossfire ATI cards, not nvidia single cards. Consider the Asus P5Q Pro for $140 less (another $20 off if you get the bundle with E8400).

If you want more gaming power, there are 9800GTX cards for $199 now at newegg. Use the money from the rampage to upgrade?

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Power Supply - this is a PSU for Crossfire or SLI, it's massive overkill for a single video card.

Western Digital Raptor X - get the WD 640 GB drive(s) instead, dense 2-platter HDs with great performance and much cheaper per drive.

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB - if you're not overclocking, just get Crucial PC800 instead and save ~$40 per 4GB.

 

[funkypixel]

Dave,
THAT'S exactly what I was looking for in feedback. I'll start checking these out now. Anything else you can think of, let'r fly this way ]
You rock!

-Cheers

 

[modoheo]

I would definitely go with a quad CPU given that your primary use is for video/3D/music editing/rendering - that's when the quad cores really shine over the dual cores. For gaming, it's a different story, but for what you're doing, you'll notice much faster performance with a quad core.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: modoheo
I would definitely go with a quad CPU given that your primary use is for video/3D/music editing/rendering - that's when the quad cores really shine over the dual cores. For gaming, it's a different story, but for what you're doing, you'll notice much faster performance with a quad core.

Good point, if the PC is going to be used more for that than gaming then a core quad Q6700 for $270 makes more sense than the E8400 at $190, or maybe even the 9450 at $325.

Cutting the prices in the other components would cover the difference, and for gaming a 2.66 GHz quad is only slightly slower than a 3.0 GHz duo (and is still more than fast enough).

 

[GuitarDaddy]

That memory is overkill especially if not overclocking. Get these instead and save some bucks or just go ahead and get 2 setsCorsair ddr2-800 2x2gb $66.50AR

The PSU is overkill also, but thats the one area I'm OK with overkill.

I would also ditch the Raptor for the WD640AAS, much larger, cheaper, and damn near as fast.

And definately get a quad, the Q6600 is hard to beat price/performance, if you want faster,cooler,less energy get a Q9450