Other than being much overpriced... anything I have missed?

[amonster]

Planning to build my own "dream rig". I have wanted to for a LONG time and finally I am ready to do it. Basically I just want it to be incredibly fast no matter what I will be doing with it. So far I have the following parts in mind. I know some of it is overkill, but other than pricing, have I missed anything important? Compatibility problems? connection difficulties? etc. Thanks very much to anyone for their advice and opinions.

***Case: ?? (see post in cases and cooling)
Motherboard: TYAN "Thunder K8S Pro(S2882UG3NR)" AMD-8000
Hard Drives (primary): (2) WD SATA 74 GB Raptors (RAID 0)
Hard Drives (storage): (1) Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model HDS722525VLSA80 Part# 13G0255, OEM
RAM: (2) Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Platinum Series, Low Latency (Twin Pack) 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) ECC Registered DDR PC-3200 (2 gigs total RAM)
PSU: Antec 550W Power Supply, Model "TRUE550"
Processors: (2) AMD Opteron Model 250, 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Processors
***3Ware Escalade hardware RAID controller ?? (not sure which model would be right for 2 drives)
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS PCI Sound Card, Model "SB0350"
Graphics: SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800XT Video Card, 256MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "ULTIMATE RADEON 9800XT"
Lite-On White 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive, Model SOHC-5232K, OEM Bulk Pack
Sony Internal DVD-/+RW Recorder Drive, Model DRU-530A
Win XP Pro (sp1a)

Thanks again!

 

[SickBeast]

Looks fine, aside from the 9800XT. WHY??? The X800PRO is cheaper and twice as fast!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Seriously, in a computer like that you have to have the X800XT in there or a 6800U if you can get your hands on one. X800PRO will suffice if you're building right now. :beer:

 

[amonster]

Thanks beast. I will try to find the X800XT then. I'll start searching at once

 

[amonster]

How about this one?
Abit Radeon RX800 XT-VIO AGP 8X 256MB DDR Video Card Retail

I only know Abit from motherboards... this look like a good option?

Thanks

 

[Slink3r]

I would also try to stay away from Sapphire products in general. I've gotten two graphics cards from them, and I have had bad experiences with both of them.

 

[amonster]

Thanks for the tip Slink3r

 

[SickBeast]

Actually Sapphire are supposed to be very good. They even produce many cards sold under the ATi brand.

ABIT is fine. I personally would buy only a retail ATi-branded card. You get a 3-year warranty, and they usually don't cost much more if anything at all. Have you tried the ati.com website? You can order directly through there if you're willing to pay the MSRP (which isn't a bad option since supply is so limited right now).

 

[justin1466]

I would ditch the Hitachi drive and get another W.D. (7200 RPM for storage), and DO NOT GET A 9800XT WHEN THE X800's are here!!!! GET THE X800XT, DOUBLE THE PERFORMANCE FOR PRACTICALLY THE SAME PRICE, Saphire is OK, but built by ATI is the way to go, at least with my experiences. I'd look into the 6800 Ultra too, since it supports Shader 3.0 (unFrickinBeleivable).

As for the dual Opterons, I have currently never known the joy (or usefullness) of having a dual processor rig. I'm sure its great for high-end servers, but for gaming i'd recomend a simple socket 939 motherboard witha FX processor in there and you'll be set, if you can hold out just a bit! You won't need Registered ram either, so your saving there.

also, they are starting to introduce quadruple cpu mobos, maybe look into that if more than one cpu is your thing. I must admit though, they look so badass!

Overall, i think you'd be happier if you waited till Autumn (I know, i've been there before, and trust me you will not regret it) since:

PCI-Express
Socket 939
Windows 64-bit (hopefully)
DDR2
BTX
some Intel stuff

will all be making joyess appearances.
Happy Hunting

 

[sunase]

>Motherboard: TYAN "Thunder K8S Pro(S2882UG3NR)" AMD-8000
>...
>Graphics: SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800XT Video Card, 256MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "ULTIMATE RADEON 9800XT"

Does that mobo have an AGP slot?

 

[SickBeast]

No, dual kicks ass. This is the guy's "dream rig". I've wanted a dual rig ever since I sold my Abit BP6. You can run endless apps without ever slowing down your computer. The multithreaded apps usually run about 60% faster, maybe even more than that on a dual Opteron setup. :beer:

 

[Markfw]

Drool....

Get an ATI X800pro. If you wait a few weeks you could get the XT.

The only thing better would be to send it to me, so I can set my 64bit SCSI card with 5 drives loose on a 64bit slot !! My 128 meg cache controller and raid0 array will rip those raptors a new a$$hole

 

[amonster]

Thanks everyone for the input! I will definatley find an XT for the graphics before I buy anything. I have been waiting for almost a year already, so I am ready to buy and stop waiting. I THINK that the setup will be more than satisfying for any use I will have for it. Money is not MUCH of an issue, Im really lucky that I get to spend this much money on a computer. More than anything I want to check and see if I have missed any important problems with components, since Im new to most of them being that this is my first "dream rig". I need to make sure the PSU will connect to the motherboard... that the RAM will function properly and fast/stable in that board (2 sticks 512/CPU)... that there IS an AGP slot? (I hope so on that Tyan).... um... and Im still trying to get the exact model from 3ware for the Escalade hardware RAID... technical details that all you vets would know and I wouldn't!

Thanks for all the help so far, keep the comments coming please

 

[SilentZero]

Those Escalade raid cards are $$$$$!!! There are equivalent cards out there for less than half the cost of one of those.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I think the 3ware cards are pretty slow for raid 0. Not positive though. Look at some of the cheap bios assisted software raid cards, or use something better than raid 0.

 

[sunase]

Well if you end up switching to a consumer mobo w/ an AGP slot (it's rare for a real server board like you're buying to have one) it may be better to use no RAID card at all. Many of the current crop of boards have their SATA connections provided via the ICH5R chip which supports RAID 0 and doesn't force all your data through the PCI bus.

I just got a pair of 15k.3 Cheetahs and it's so sad seeing the array's transfer max out just above 120MB/Sec due to the SCSI being on the PCI bus (whereas last WD740GD review w/ a RAID 0 benchmark I checked out their initial transfer rate was ~144). Additional cards all competing for PCI bandwidth will lower that even more.

So vs. the normal cheapo RAID cards ICH5R wins handily. Against the hardware ones with big buffers and more processing capability, I don't know. Real world performance might benefit enough from those features that the bus limitation (at least for arrays with only two drives) isn't so bad. However, modern OSes will use all the spare memory you have to cache files anyway so additional cache on a RAID card may not provide such a huge benefit. Of course like Markfw900 said a nice hardware card on a PCI-X slot where it wouldn't be bus limited would own. ^^

Edit: spelling ^^

 

[Illissius]

For the motherboard, first of all I don't feel like checking but iirc Tyan's "S" line stands for Server, and doesn't have an AGP slot. The W line is workstation, and does. If you want to buy this *now*, get the Thunder K8W.
Myself, though, I'd wait for the IWill DK8N to show up at retail, which has an nForce3 250Gb Pro chipset. Tyan is supposedly working on nForce3 duallie boards as well, but hasn't actually announced anything yet.

 

[amonster]

http://www.tyan.com/products/html/thunderk8w.html

That is the board that I should use then I think Illissius, since it DOES have an AGP slot. Unfortunately I can't tell if it uses the ICH5R or not... I'm thinking not. As far as the Escalade card goes. n0cmonkey: I was told by a few knowledgeable folks that it has some of the fastest hardware RAID I can get... although I have no experience hands on with it. So that is a question sunase... to use the built-in SATA RAID of the Tyan board? (see above) or a seperate RAID hardware solution. Anyway I love the advice and help so far... Im still doing homework of course. Any more problems I have missed or issues I may have are greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[imported_dualblade]

i wouldn't expect to see the ich5r on any of the amd boards - it's intel's serial ata controller that premiered on their 865/875 series

 

[amonster]

Oh oh I see. See... thats why Im here, to get information like that. Well then I think I will continue to explore the hardware solutions for RAID 0.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[magomago]

IF its a dream rig.....go SCSCI instead of WD!
and i'd agree with the others- a 9800XT is only going to slow you down, defnitely go x800pro or 6800ultra

Muahahaha....let us know when its built and take pics !!

 

[amonster]

Hm... I have thought about SCSI before mago, but the debates over speed between SATA RAID 0 and SCSI have always pretty much been over my head. I would be willing to use the FASTEST hard drive setup. But everyone seems to want to disagree about exactly what drive setup is THE fastest.... I chose the Raptors because I have used SATA before, I have used RAID 0 before, and I simply haven't ever used SCSI in my life. If there is a good source of information that you think would benefit my choices concerning SCSI, please let me know the link!

Thanks for the tip I will take pics when I get it running!!

 

[SickBeast]

I think that for a single-user system such as the one you're building, 2 74GB Raptors in RAID-0 are pretty much unmatched by anything else out there, SCSI or otherwise. I mean, sure, a 4/8/16/32/etc drive cluster will obviously be faster, but for a 2 drive RAID-0 array, I don't think anything can touch the Raptors for single-user.

Correct me if I'm wrong someone please.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: amonster
http://www.tyan.com/products/html/thunderk8w.html

That is the board that I should use then I think Illissius, since it DOES have an AGP slot. Unfortunately I can't tell if it uses the ICH5R or not... I'm thinking not. As far as the Escalade card goes. n0cmonkey: I was told by a few knowledgeable folks that it has some of the fastest hardware RAID I can get... although I have no experience hands on with it. So that is a question sunase... to use the built-in SATA RAID of the Tyan board? (see above) or a seperate RAID hardware solution. Anyway I love the advice and help so far... Im still doing homework of course. Any more problems I have missed or issues I may have are greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Ok, your info is probably better than mine. I just kind of remember _old_ benchmarks showing the 3ware to be a bit slower. I've stopped paying attention to them though.

 

[amonster]

Actually, since a few hours ago I have been talking with some folks at StorageReview.com. They are REALLY knowledgeable about this particular detail, so I am in the process of finding a different hardware solution. Although there is nothing bad about the 3Ware, there are some newer cards that have features I really want. Ill post back when I get further confirmation.

Thanks

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I think that for a single-user system such as the one you're building, 2 74GB Raptors in RAID-0 are pretty much unmatched by anything else out there, SCSI or otherwise. I mean, sure, a 4/8/16/32/etc drive cluster will obviously be faster, but for a 2 drive RAID-0 array, I don't think anything can touch the Raptors for single-user.

Correct me if I'm wrong someone please.

Yup, 2 15k Fujitsu U320 SCSI on a Megaraid U320 controller will leave the Raptors pleading for mercy. I may have the drives wrong, but MichealD or shuttleteam can correct me. The price will be more though.