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That time again! Can I get some help with a build?

G

Gynthazi

Member
Hey guys,

I did this two years ago with help from anandtech's community, and have loved my system! I'm now looking to do another high-end build, and would love input again!

First off, is it even the right time? I don't mind waiting up to 6 months if there is something big right around the corner, but I do know that DDR3 and the 45nm chips are out. Anything big with gfx cards soon? Love some advice on that!

Here's what i'm looking at so far, and i'll use your sticky as a guideline!

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

Gaming gaming gaming for the most part(FPS'ers and MMO's). I also like to use photoshop and do video editing on premire as well.

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

6k-6.5k


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

USA!

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

Always been a big EVGa fan. They've always taken care of me... Intel/AMD whichever is faster (seems intel is for now) and Always used Nvidia GFx cards...


5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

No, completely new build. i'll sell my old one.


6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

I always lurk here and read.. most recently been looking at watercooling which i'm a newb too but want to get into it! Would love that factored into my build.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Overclocking to the best of my ability.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Present to 6 months from now depending on recommendation from you guys.


Here's what I picked out on Newegg to give you guys an idea of what I'm looking for.... I know it's a little over what I put for budget, but I don't consider getting the extended warrenties as part of my budget so i'll spend more on that.

*EDIT* Sorry, I failed to note that it does NOT need to include a monitor. I will be buying a 30" Dell or Mac for this computer that is separate from this budget, but I need a computer to push that high-end resolution on any game with high frame rates so very important piece of information I left out! Sorry! (resolutions on that are 2560X1600) Thanks!

*EDIT2* Also, I have the vista 64 ultimate O/S already so no OS needs to be included either


Thanks a lot, and help would be so appreciated!!!

-Gyn

1 SONY 4X Blu-ray DVD Burner Black & Gray SATA Model BWU-200S - Retail Item #: N82E16827131055 $559.99
1 ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T - Retail Item #: N82E16827135156 $35.99
1 Thermaltake SwordM VD5000BNA Black/ Silver Aluminum Extrusion ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail Item #: N82E16811133049 $499.99
1 Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822136260 $289.99
1 HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330 (0A35155) 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822145167 $199.99
2 EVGA 01G-P3-1284-AR GeForce GTX 280 SSC Edition 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail Item #: N82E16814130368 $999.98 ($499.99 each)
1 PC Power & Cooling PPCT1200ESA 1200W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail Item #: N82E16817703020 $599.99
1 Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard - Retail Item #: N82E16823126034 $79.99
1 Logitech G9 Black 5 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB Wired Laser Gaming Mouse - Retail Item #: N82E16826104079 $79.99
2 OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P20004GK - Retail Item #: N82E16820227310 $899.98 ($449.99 each)
1 QPAD QPAD_EC-R Gaming Mouse Pad - Retail Item #: N82E16826996006 $45.99
1 EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813188025 $359.99
1 ZALMAN Reserator XT BK Black Reserator (Reservoir+Radiator+Water Pump) Water Cooling System - Retail Item #: N82E16835118032 $419.99
1 SENNHEISER PC151 3.5mm Circumaural Headset Item #: N82E16826106157 $37.99
1 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 Yorkfield 3.2GHz LGA 775 136W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569QX9770 - Retail $1,469.99

Subtotal: $6,579.83
Extended Warranty Fee: $334.93
Grand Total:* $6,914.76
 
Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
No offense, but are you serious?
Click to expand...

I'm not following you... serious about what? buying a computer? my budget? my selections?

Yes i'm serious about buying and about my budget (I only do this every couple of years so I like to get top of the line when I do do it), and i'm trying on my selections but that's why I've asked for help...

Are you serious that you just took the time to post six words after i've obviously taken the time to fill out not only a complete post as per the rules of the sticky which i'm sure a lot of posters don't do but have done at least enough research so I have a general build down?

Please, i'm looking for advice not someone to be rude to me for no reason.

Thanks!
 
Well, the thing is 6-7k is a pretty huge budget considering we normally build 1.5k PCs (a quarter the cost) or less, BUT you will be running a very massive resolution so I can understand the need for more power. Still, I'm not sure if grabbing all the bleeding edge gear is worth the additional cost. Certainly it will cost quite a bit extra to run 25x16 better especially for FPS games, but the 'top of the line' cards usually command a hefty price premium for what might not be similar gains in performance over the second place cards.

Still, for multi-card solutions, I think benchmarks said GTX280 SLI beat HD4870 Crossfire (I may be wrong - I havent looked this stuff up in a while.)
I really can't offer any good advice on the build itself though, it just seems overly excessive to me, I can't think of anything else to suggest.
 
Hrmm, The last build I did 2 years ago was about 4k so I thought this would be an appropriate place again...

Is there a better forum to ask on? It's not that I want to throw away money randomly, I just want to make sure I can push my 30" monitor with no problems, and a system that can handle any game out there for at least the next couple of years. If there is a cheaper solution i'm all ears!

Thanks, and sorry if this was posted in the wrong spot!

-Gyn
 
No, people should be able to help you out here, but I can't suggest anything due to the shock of seeing a high budget lol.

I would opt for something cheaper, maybe SLI GTX260's. 2 of those cuts off nearly $500 from the cost, but I'm not sure what the performance difference between SLI GTX260 vs SLI GTX280 is. Dual 1200W PSU's also sounds insane, but then again those are some hellishly power hungry cards. Why 2 optical drives also, especially a blu-ray burner.. that thing is utterly expensive unless you're seriously going to burn a lot of blu-ray media which is also expensive..

Also, why a $500 case.. that's overly expensive IMO. A P182 would probably do just as well for $150ish.
I'd also get some cheaper hard drives.. $200 for that Hitachi, or $170 for 2 WD640's.

You can also probably save a bunch of money by not going DDR3.. 780i and DDR2 would save several hundred bucks there, and do you REALLY need a QX? At 25x16 you're probably GPU bottlenecked more than anything..

Just my opinion of course, I could be terribly wrong as this is something way above what I normally build.
I've tried though..
 
Let me make one big suggestion before I comment on anything else, if you don't mind. I would venture to say that very few people are going to bother to read your post in detail, because the parts list is a mess. My recommendation would be to list the name of the part, your source, and the price. Or, the name of the product and a link.

For example:
CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400, $175 at Newegg

We don't need Newegg's warranty text, and cleaning up the junk will make it easier for people to help you. The easier it is for people to help you, the more likely they are to do it. Right now it's very difficult to tell exactly what you're paying for what, or even what parts you're buying. There's no logical order to the list.

Edit: And I don't want you to think that I'm not willing to help, because I absolutely am. I just don't want to strain my eyes to do it.
 
Originally posted by: DSF
Let me make one big suggestion before I comment on anything else, if you don't mind. I would venture to say that very few people are going to bother to read your post in detail, because the parts list is a mess. My recommendation would be to list the name of the part, your source, and the price. Or, the name of the product and a link.
Click to expand...

+1

I quit reading after the DVD burner. Too difficult to decipher.
 
I would consider waiting for the 4870x2, which is supposed to outperform the GTX280 if I'm not mistaken.

Don't waste your money on DDR3. There's no appreciable performance benefit, and using fast DDR2 will not hamper an overclock. 8GB of DDR2 would be 1/5th that price, and you'd lose at 5% of the performance at the absolute most. Probably more like 2% or less. You also don't need a 1200W PSU, I don't care what video cards you're using. A good 800-1000W PSU will handle the GTXs with no worries and cost considerably less. The Corsair 1000HX is $250 at Newegg, and probably cheaper elsewhere:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...16817139007&Tpk=1000HX

The QX CPU is also a big money sink with very little return. Again, a Q9450/9550 will have 80-90% of the performance for a third of the price or less. The QX doesn't have any greater longevity than the cheaper chips. You just get an extra letter, basically.

You could spend half of what you're spending and get a computer that performs just about as well.
 
The 4870X2 not only crushes the GTX280, in some cases it beats TWO GTX280's in SLI. So, if you really want bleeding edge, wait for the 4870X2 comes out and set two up in Crossfire. You'll be able to get a better mobo too, since you won't have to buy a buggy nVidia chipset board.

Check out all the benchmarks yourself in the links in the OP -
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2207021&enterthread=y
 
Honestly, I think some of the budget is being wasted. My recommendation would be to buy a 2-3k rig now and then spend another 3k+ on a new computer once nehalem comes out and ddr3 prices go down. You would probably get 99% of the performance of your listed rig, then an upgrade 6-9 months down the line.

You're spending 900 dollars on ram when you could spend 200 on similarly performing ddr2. This would be the first area I'd cut costs.

As for the case, I'd go with an option from Lian-Li or Mountain Mods. Cases from MM in particular are great for a well organized WC setup.

Since you're OCing anyways, you would probably reach similar performance with another unlocked chip like the qx9650 and save 500 bucks.

For a power supply, I think there are other good options in the 1000-1200w range that aren't 600 dollars. The Corsair 1000hx is more than enough power for your rig, and is only about 200.

If you want to spend your budget, invest it in dual or triple monitors.
 
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