rate my upcoming rig

[trevelynzx]

hey guys -- i'm a total newb to these forums as well as to building computers in general, so i want to run my upcoming project by everybody to make sure i'm on track. it's going to be used primarily as a 3d modeling/animating & compositing workstation. here goes!

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (toledo)
ATI Radeon x1900xtx 512 mb
Corsair XMS 2gb DDR400 PC3200 (2x1gb)
Sapphire PCA9RD480 Adv ATX AMD Crossfire
Thermaltake XASER
WD Raptor 150gb 10k RPM 16MB cache, serial
Seagate Barracuda 300gb 7200 RPM 8mb cache, serial
LITE-ON DVD+R, RW, -R, RAM (etc.)
Cooler Master RealPower 550W
Dual Dell 2005FPW (20.1") Ultrasharp LCDs

I already got the 2 LCDs and boy are they sick... if anybody uses max/maya you know what i'm talking about!

anyway, everybody's opinions will really help me out. i'm glad to have found this board, and i'll be checking back often! thanks in advance!

 

[John]

Looks like a nice entry-level system.

 

[trevelynzx]

thanks, but i'm not sure what that means... "entry level?"

i'm not running an SLI setup or RAID drives (not even sure what that is yet) but other than that, i thought all the parts were pretty high-end...

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: John
Looks like a nice entry-level system.

No sh!t


Nice rig trevelynzx, welcome to the teh forums

Edit: LOL, it's called sarcasm d00d
Your system pwns.

 

[trevelynzx]

hahahah... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh... ok, thanks!!!! i'm pretty excited to start building even though i've never done it and am only going by what i can find in "building the perfect PC" (or whatever) and whatever else i can find online. these forums already are a big help.

thanks again guys!

 

[n7]

There are a few suggestions you can consider.

I'd skip the Sapphire mobo, since from what i've seen, their support [at least on mobos] is atrocious, & that mobo is lesser known, which means less support on forums like this too

I have the Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire mobo, which is cheaper, & from pretty much everything i've seen, better, & a better value.

Corsair makes good RAM, but their XMS tends to be very pricey.
I'd just go with some OCZ, G.Skill, or Mushkin 2x1 GB kits with 2-3-2 timings (i'm pretty sure it's less than the Corsair).
BenQ DW1650 would be the DVDRW i'd pick, but that's really up to you.

 

[Broly]

waiting on your sysmark scores boy... Prepare to get pwnt

nice rig, but too much epeen flexing for the first post

*grits teeth and fires up 3dmark06" be afraid... very afraid.

 

[dev0lution]

Originally posted by: n7
There are a few suggestions you can consider.

I'd skip the Sapphire mobo, since from what i've seen, their support [at least on mobos] is atrocious, & that mobo is lesser known, which means less support on forums like this too

I have the Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire mobo, which is cheaper, & from pretty much everything i've seen, better, & a better value.

Corsair makes good RAM, but their XMS tends to be very pricey.
I'd just go with some OCZ, G.Skill, or Mushkin 2x1 GB kits with 2-3-2 timings (i'm pretty sure it's less than the Corsair).
BenQ DW1650 would be the DVDRW i'd pick, but that's really up to you.

Agreed on the board.

Which XMS - need more info? Depending on the actual corsair part it may not be all that much more than the others. I'd be partial to the OCZ if you went with any of the other suggestions.

As for the case, well...not exactly my cup of tea - but to each his own. I would seriously look at something that had at least 120mm front and rear fans though. I'll never buy another case with 80mm's again. Huh? What did you say? Oh nevermind...couldn't hear you over my case fans

 

[Bobthelost]

trevelynzx: A good build, if you were to buy it now you wouldn't be disapointed, however there are a few tweaks you might want to think about.

Case: I've got the older Xaser II case, it's shiny, and there's a lot of room, but that's about it. You should look at the Coolermaster stacker and the antec P180, as well as any lian li cases (they make some utterly gorgeous ones). But the Xaser is fine.

Motherboard: Alright but i'd go for the A8R MVP, mostly because i like and trust Asus and it's gotten great reviews. Since you're probably not overclocking this the motherboard should be chosen on features and reliability, Asus are near the top for those if not the top.

PSU: Antec are again, alright, but not the best. Do you want to make the computer quieter? If so go for a 500W Seasonic, if you want cooler/prettier then the enermax liberty (modular cables etc.) there's no need for PCP&C (is there ever ) if you want to save some money then get a fortron 450W PSU, it's got enough power and it's a great budget PSU.

HD: The seagate is old and slow, you're using it as a file storage location? No reason why not but it would be better/faster if you were to buy the WD3200(KS?) instead. If you own it already then ignore this comment.

Originally posted by: Broly
waiting on your sysmark scores boy... Prepare to get pwnt
nice rig, but too much epeen flexing for the first post
*grits teeth and fires up 3dmark06" be afraid... very afraid.

Hearing that from you nearly resulted in spraying tea all over my monitor.

Bastard.

Ignore broly, he's posting from his dad's P3 anway.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: trevelynzx
hahahah... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh... ok, thanks!!!! i'm pretty excited to start building even though i've never done it and am only going by what i can find in "building the perfect PC" (or whatever) and whatever else i can find online. these forums already are a big help.

thanks again guys!

good for you build your own system.
i did that last week and it was amaazing (except i did not have such and uber-pwing computer...look in sig)

i made a thread here on anand tech (something called advie on build) try to find cuz lots of ppl gave some good advice on it and there was one link that pointed to a very very nice guide. its the one i used every step of the way.
for a cheap/good mobo get the one in my sig. for a expensive/good mobo get a dfi LANPARTY

 

[Bobthelost]

Lan party are great overclocking boards, but if you're not overclocking then they are just a pain in the arse, picky about RAM, picky about PSUs, excessive BIOS features, chipset fans...

Of course if you are overclocking they rock.

 

[trevelynzx]

broly - i'm new here, so if you could speak english i would really appreciate it!