[YA] Rate my build

[beyonddc]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Occasional gaming (e.g. StarCraft II)
Software development and virtualization

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Less than $900 including tax

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
MA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
See my parts below

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
See my parts below

6) Will you be overclocking?
Nope

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Dual monitor configuration
1920x1080 on my 21'
1280x1024 on 17'

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
USB 3, SATA II

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 Professional 64 Bits

$116.87 MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
$244.65 CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
$ 99.98 RAM: G.SKILL Sniper 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
$134.99 VIDEO CARD: SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit
PSU: COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-750 (from old PC)
$ 18.99 DVDRW: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk
$ 24.13 CPU FAN: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1
$ 13.36 CASE FANS: 4 Kingwin CF-012LB 120mm Case Fan
$ 6.99 THERMAL COMPOUND: Tuniq TX-2
$ 29.74 CASE: NZXT Source 210 S210-001
$ 69.99 HD: HITACHI HDS721050CLA362 (0F10381) 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Primary HD
2 x 2TB Segate SATA 3.0Gb/s ST315005 41AS as data hd (from old PC)

Sub Total: $739.69
Rebates: - $ 35.00 ($10 motherboard, $15 video card, $10 case)

Grand Total: $704.69

 

[DSee]

I would upgrade the PSU and get a better Video card. (used?)

 

[Dangman]

Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can better critique that build better.

Off the bat though:
Ditch that WD drive and go for this faster Hitachi drive:
$80 - Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Where are you getting that 2600K for $245? Is this a Microcenter CPU + mobo combo deal?

PSU wise, you're fine.

 

[beyonddc]

Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can better critique that build better.

Off the bat though:
Ditch that WD drive and go for this faster Hitachi drive:
$80 - Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Where are you getting that 2600K for $245? Is this a Microcenter CPU + mobo combo deal?

PSU wise, you're fine.

Really? The Hitachi drive is faster? Everything is identical to the WD drive I bought except the WD drive is SATA 6.0Gb/s while the Hitachi is SATA 3.0G/bs. Can you please explain why the Hitachi drive is faster?

The CPU and the motherboard is from the Micro Center deal. $229.99 for the i7 2600K and $119.99 for the motherboard. I included my tax in the post so it's more accurate.

 

[beyonddc]

I would upgrade the PSU and get a better Video card. (used?)

I was looking for a budget video card and I thought Radeon HD 6850 was a good choice over Nvidia 550 ti.

 

[Dangman]

Really? The Hitachi drive is faster? Everything is identical to the WD drive I bought except the WD drive is SATA 6.0Gb/s while the Hitachi is SATA 3.0G/bs. Can you please explain why the Hitachi drive is faster?

When it comes to mechanical hard drives, the SATA interface doesn't matter as mechanical hard drives are nowhere near the limits of SATA 3.0Gb/s. The Hitachi drive offers slightly higher performance at a lower costs:
http://blog-imgs-12-origin.fc2.com/s/k/y/skyline798/20091025_010.jpg
http://img.pconline.com.cn/images/upload/upc/tx/itbbs/1012/08/c0/6144030_1291770414838_1024x1024.jpg

I was looking for a budget video card and I thought Radeon HD 6850 was a good choice over Nvidia 550 ti.

The HD 6850 is indeed a better choice over the 550Ti.

 

[E4g1e]

Really? The Hitachi drive is faster? Everything is identical to the WD drive I bought except the WD drive is SATA 6.0Gb/s while the Hitachi is SATA 3.0G/bs. Can you please explain why the Hitachi drive is faster?

Despite the same nominal rotational speed, every hard drive is different. Unfortunately, despite the SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, the physical transfer speed of that WD Blue is actually slightly slower than the Hitachi that Danny mentioned: While the Hitachi delivers a maximum sequential speed of about 135 MB/s, the WD struggles to make it past 125 MB/s sequentially. The physical transfer speed of any mechanical hard drive will always be far slower than the interface.

What's more, the WD Blue (at least in its 500GB version) is also relatively slow in random access speed for a 7200 RPM hard drive: Compared to the average of around 13.5 ms, the WD Blue's random access time is over 15 ms - more like a faster 5400 RPM hard drive.

Worst of all is the warranty: WD has reduced the standard warranty of all of its Green and Blue series drives from three years to only two years. You can buy extended warranties from WD - but even a one-year upgrade makes that WD Blue a poor value because it would then make the cost substantially more expensive than other 7200 RPM hard drives of this capacity.

 

[beyonddc]

When it comes to mechanical hard drives, the SATA interface doesn't matter as mechanical hard drives are nowhere near the limits of SATA 3.0Gb/s. The Hitachi drive offers slightly higher performance at a lower costs:
http://blog-imgs-12-origin.fc2.com/s/k/y/skyline798/20091025_010.jpg
http://img.pconline.com.cn/images/upload/upc/tx/itbbs/1012/08/c0/6144030_1291770414838_1024x1024.jpg



The HD 6850 is indeed a better choice over the 550Ti.

Okay, you convinced me. I just cancelled my order on my hard drive. Where can I research on hard drive performance?

BTW, none of the 2 links you provided work.

 

[Dangman]

Okay, you convinced me. I just cancelled my order on my hard drive. Where can I research on hard drive performance?

I just read numerous threads in the Data Storage subforum and reviews when I can but if I'm really lazy, I'll just google for the hard drive's HDTune and Crystal Mark results to be honest

BTW, none of the 2 links you provided work.

Firefox doesn't want to read the links correctly for some reason. Links work fine in Google Chrome and Opera and I.E .

 

[E4g1e]

Firefox doesn't want to read the links correctly for some reason. Links work fine in Google Chrome and Opera and I.E .

Actually, it does not work in I.E. 9. Clicking on one of the links returned a 404 error while clicking on the other simply returned a completely blank page.

 

[Dangman]

Actually, it does not work in I.E. 9. Clicking on one of the links returned a 404 error while clicking on the other simply returned a completely blank page.

Weird. I clicked on the links while on this page in IE9 and works fine for me. Try copying and pasting the links.

 

[E4g1e]

Weird. I clicked on the links while on this page in IE9 and works fine for me. Try copying and pasting the links.

It still returned the same thing - 404 error on one link, blank page on the other. It does the exact same thing with IE9 on both of my active PCs.

 

[Dangman]

It still returned the same thing - 404 error on one link, blank page on the other.

Hmm, now this is getting weirder and weirder: The first link now no longer works but the second link works.

It appears to be spotty with IE9 those links.

 

[E4g1e]

Hmm, now this is getting weirder and weirder: The first link now no longer works but the second link works.

It appears to be spotty with IE9 those links.

Actually, I rechecked. The second link works if I copy and paste the link location. The first link, however, gave me a 404 error regardless of the browser. It seems as though someone took the first link's content offline.

By the way, the result from that 500GB SATA 6.0 WD Blue is, indeed, slower than those from my Seagate 7200.12 SATA 3.0 Gbps drives.