A while back I posted a request for comments on a new computer that would be used both for play and for work (software development). The purpose was to build a reasonable but fast machine and have fun while doing it. It worked out well and I am happy with the computer so-far. I am posting this to help others who are asking themselves similar questions:
DDR3 or DDR2? -- I was set on DDR3 until I read the comments to my post. I ended up with 8GB of DDR2 RAM.
Quad or Dual core? -- Quad all the way, baby! For me it is worth it mostly because of my work (compiling code) but also for RAW conversion and video conversion. While today's games do not really make good use of four cores, that will likely change over a year or two. The Q9450 overclocks so easily and is relatively cheap (for what it does -- 12MB L2 just like the Extreme, and at 3.6GHz).
RAID-0 or not? -- This may be the most controversial question here. Since most motherboards come with onboard RAID, it is not a matter of cost, and onboard RAID-0 is as good -- with two disks -- as an add-on card. As you may know, if one of the drives breaks, you loose the data on both drives. That is the drawback. But you will need to backup your data anyway, and restoring two drives or one, in the unlikely event that a well ventilated drive breaks, does not make a big difference to me.
Here's the list of components along with how much I paid for them:
Case: Cosmos S $238.48 shipped
Motherboard: ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 $295 shipped
CPU: Q9450 $347 shipped
RAM: 2 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ $170 shipped
RAID-0: 2 x Western Digital WD1500AHFDRTL Raptor X 150GB SATA/150 Hard Drive $338.28 shipped
RAID-0: 2 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB SATA 7200 RPM 32MB Buffer Hard Drive $401 shipped
Display: Dell 2408WFP UltraSharp $700 shipped
OS: Vista Business 64 OEM $125 shipped
GPU: PNY XLR8 GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB PCIe SLI-Ready Graphics Card VCG88GTS5XPB ($155 AR from Amazon) (may get upgraded to a next gen card once they come out)
Power supply: PC Power and Cooling S75QB Silencer 750W Quad
SILVERSTONE NT06-LITE CPU Cooler -- limited availability, so I got this one instead:
CPU heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme $68.97 shipped
with SILVERSTONE FM121 120mm Case Fan -- $16.99 -- doesn't fit the clips that come with the TRUE; used cable ties instead
That's about $2850.
DVD burner + player (reuse)
Sound card (Audigy, Audigy 2, or X-Fi, reuse) or onboard sound
It took about 3 hours from boxes to running Vista. Everything worked on the first boot-up. Phew!
The ASUS bios is easy to use. There are Auto options for just about everything -- even for overclocking.
I am running OCCT stable at 3.6GHz (with only 4GB RAM because I just received the second set).
I hope this is useful to someone. Let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers
- ichi
DDR3 or DDR2? -- I was set on DDR3 until I read the comments to my post. I ended up with 8GB of DDR2 RAM.
Quad or Dual core? -- Quad all the way, baby! For me it is worth it mostly because of my work (compiling code) but also for RAW conversion and video conversion. While today's games do not really make good use of four cores, that will likely change over a year or two. The Q9450 overclocks so easily and is relatively cheap (for what it does -- 12MB L2 just like the Extreme, and at 3.6GHz).
RAID-0 or not? -- This may be the most controversial question here. Since most motherboards come with onboard RAID, it is not a matter of cost, and onboard RAID-0 is as good -- with two disks -- as an add-on card. As you may know, if one of the drives breaks, you loose the data on both drives. That is the drawback. But you will need to backup your data anyway, and restoring two drives or one, in the unlikely event that a well ventilated drive breaks, does not make a big difference to me.
Here's the list of components along with how much I paid for them:
Case: Cosmos S $238.48 shipped
Motherboard: ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 $295 shipped
CPU: Q9450 $347 shipped
RAM: 2 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ $170 shipped
RAID-0: 2 x Western Digital WD1500AHFDRTL Raptor X 150GB SATA/150 Hard Drive $338.28 shipped
RAID-0: 2 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB SATA 7200 RPM 32MB Buffer Hard Drive $401 shipped
Display: Dell 2408WFP UltraSharp $700 shipped
OS: Vista Business 64 OEM $125 shipped
GPU: PNY XLR8 GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB PCIe SLI-Ready Graphics Card VCG88GTS5XPB ($155 AR from Amazon) (may get upgraded to a next gen card once they come out)
Power supply: PC Power and Cooling S75QB Silencer 750W Quad
SILVERSTONE NT06-LITE CPU Cooler -- limited availability, so I got this one instead:
CPU heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme $68.97 shipped
with SILVERSTONE FM121 120mm Case Fan -- $16.99 -- doesn't fit the clips that come with the TRUE; used cable ties instead
That's about $2850.
DVD burner + player (reuse)
Sound card (Audigy, Audigy 2, or X-Fi, reuse) or onboard sound
It took about 3 hours from boxes to running Vista. Everything worked on the first boot-up. Phew!
The ASUS bios is easy to use. There are Auto options for just about everything -- even for overclocking.
I am running OCCT stable at 3.6GHz (with only 4GB RAM because I just received the second set).
I hope this is useful to someone. Let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers
- ichi
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