New Computer Build

[dtumba]

Hi guys,

It's been a few years since I last built a computer and I'm looking to put one together for a friend of mine. I'd really appreciate a second pair of eyes looking at the components to see if what I put together works.

Purpose: Video rendering (mostly), CAD, Drafting programs, etc. Need solid performance and stability. And need the computer to last a while.
Budget: $1,500 - $2,000
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Brand Preference: None, but want to purchase from Newegg.
Old parts used: None
Previous research: Lots of research, but there are so many articles on why this is better than that. Not looking for the latest and greatest.
Overclocking: No
When: Will be ordering this week (probably Wednesday 1/21.

Proposed spec:

Case: Thermaltake $109.99
Power supply: Kingwin Mach 1 $169.00 (Is this overkill? I also looked at Corsair CMPSU-750TX) $124.99
Processor: Intel Q9550 Yorkfield $294.99
Motherboard: EVA 122-YW-E175-A1 $169.99 or XFX MB750I72P9 $149.99
Memory: G Skills 8 GB kit (DDR 800 - PC 6400 $99.99
Harddrive (Main OS): WD VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10k RPM 16MB Cache $229.99
Harddrive (Secondary Storage): WD Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB 32MB Cache $109.99 NOTE: Is the velociraptor worth it? Or should I look into having two of the Caviars @ 1T? 32MB vs 16MB?
Optical Drive (x2): Samsung Lightscribe $29.99 (x2) $59.98
Video Card (x2): EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GF 9800 GTX(G92) $159.99 (x2) $319.98
Audio Card: Integrated - no additional needed
Monitor: Acer X223WBD 22" 5ms Widescreen $159.99
Card reader: nMediaPC card reader $19.99

Total so far: approx ~$1750 (+/-)

Your feedback and tweaking is highly appreciated!

Thank you,

Daniel

 

[Blain]

If you're friend is working with CAD apps. why run SLI video instead of a single workstation card?

* Forget the Kingwin (Bling) PS and stick with the Corsair
* "solid performance and stability"... Drop the nForce MBs and get a Gigabyte P45 version
* Drop the SLI gamer cards and get a single workstation video card
* "Video rendering (mostly), CAD, Drafting programs, etc."... Dump the low res 22" LCD in favor of a (good) 24-30" model.

 

[dtumba]

He's really into video rendering and graphics. He does lots and lots of HD rendering as well. It's a hobby of his. A good workstation card would be better than SLI?

 

[dtumba]

Also, the workstation cards we've been looking at are priced really out of his reach.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: dtumba
the workstation cards we've been looking at are priced really out of his reach.

But you're going to drop over $320 (with shipping) on two gamer cards?

To save some $$ and get your friend a better workstation card...
1. Drop an LCD monitor all together. A nice (Aperture Grill) CRT will offer him higher resolution with great detail.
He won't be limited by the funky native resolution that LCDs offer.
2. Drop the VelociRaptor in favor of a 640GB WD "Black".

 

[dtumba]

What workstation card would you recommend? I've never looked at them before.. Aren't the decent ones $1k+?

Thanks

 

[Denithor]

You can often find a FireGL V7700 on eBay for ~$350. That will destroy any SLI rig you can build for CAD work.

Or just pick up a 3870 (GDDR4) and softmod it into the V7700. (Just google "softmod v7700" for instructions.)

 

[heyheybooboo]

Combo Deal: $339 - Phenom II 940 & Gigabyte 790gx. The Asus 790gx / Phenom II 940 combo is $344 (free shipping) and I believe your RAMs are on their QVL list.

CORSAIR 550W 80 PLUS Certified Power Supply: $100 ($80 AR)

On my OS/apps drive I'm loaded with video editing, modeling, vector & raster graphics, media builders & players, and system tools for a grand total of 45Gb of used space. I point this out because the 150Gb Western Digital VelociRaptor is $160 AR.

And then purchase 3 Western Digital Caviar 320GB hard drives @ $55/each for your capture, data, scratch, etc - then use your 1Tb for back-up.

If the Modeling/CAD stuff is OpenGL the Radeon-->FireGL softmod that Denithor suggested (check Guru3d) of an HD3870 is the way to go. I've had a HD2900pro-->FireGL mod for over a year with no problems.

All of this is around $1,200 without your OS & monitor(s) - :thumbsup: :thumbsup: to Blain for recommending CRTs but you won't find any - LOL

I've got 3 NIB - folks have offered me four times what I paid for them

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
CORSAIR 550W 80 PLUS Certified Power Supply: $100 ($80 AR)

Better deal: Corsair 650TX $70AR

On my OS/apps drive I'm loaded with video editing, modeling, vector & raster graphics, media builders & players, and system tools for a grand total of 45Gb of used space. I point this out because the 150Gb Western Digital VelociRaptor is $160 AR.

If you're going to get a Velociraptor, at least spend the extra $40 to double the capacity (300GB for $200AR).

And then purchase 3 Western Digital Caviar 320GB hard drives @ $55/each for your capture, data, scratch, etc - then use your 1Tb for back-up.

Again...add a little more for a lot more capacity (in this case $20 more apiece for 640GB drives).

If the Modeling/CAD stuff is OpenGL the Radeon-->FireGL softmod that Denithor suggested (check Guru3d) of an HD3870 is the way to go. I've had a HD2900pro-->FireGL mod for over a year with no problems.

Just one comment - 3870 will equal or beat 2900pro in performance and do it a lot cooler/quieter.

All of this is around $1,200 without your OS & monitor(s) - :thumbsup: :thumbsup: to Blain for recommending CRTs but you won't find any - LOL

I've got 3 NIB - folks have offered me four times what I paid for them

Yeah - good luck these days finding a good-quality CRT monitor.

 

[heyheybooboo]

More capacity is always great (and Promo Code EMCABCAAE will get $5 off on those 640Gb drives) but this is pretty much my convoluted reasoning ...

With the bigger 'scratch' drives in video editing I tend to get even more lazy. I back up my raw footage, project file and final output, and delete all 'preview' renderings and extraneous project files. All this extra stuff can become fairly massive (at least in the case of Premiere) and the bigger the hard drive the more I let it pile up before going in to clean up the drive and defrag.

In this case (especially if this is a business) the extra $$$ could go to an external 1Tb redundant backup to store critical data off-site.