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Asking for build critique, please.

P

PrometheuSBoxeR

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Messages
288
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I will be multi-tasking hardcore. Gaming, photoshop, web development, streaming/watching video, music, heavy use of Excel, web browsing and research - likely all at the same time.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'm always open minded and have a bang for budget mindset. I'm looking around 1500+- just for the "tower" with some wiggle room. If something is justifiable for the price, I will shell out. Otherwise, I'm always interested in saving money. I want the best value for my dollar.

3) Where do you live?
Hershey, PA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
Here is the list of parts I've come up with so far.

Case: CM690 II Advanced
CPU & Motherboard Combo: Core i7-950 & GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA1366
CPU Heatsink & Fan: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm
Video Card: (2) EVGA GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
Power Supply: Corsair 750TX
Memory: (2) G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
OS Drive: OCZ Vertex 2 90GB
Storage Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB
Optical Drive: ASUS SATA 24X DVD Burner

Total Price: $1704.89- $20 MIR + $14.83 Shipping = $1699.72


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

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, nothing extreme; just mild to moderate. Just looking to maximize my parts/value/performance.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I am interested in purchasing 3 new monitors, I haven't decided which yet. I will likely post in the displays section to get further advice. I am looking at the 23", 24" DELL UltraSharp IPS Panels, as well as some of the 23"-28" LED Backlight panels. 1920x1080, but would like to enjoy my hand at 1900x1200.

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

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
I need SLI since I am running x2 video cards. USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0GB/s would be nice for the "future proofing". I don't need any RAID support, but it could be nice.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, I use Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit


Thank you for your time, energy, and help.


Sincerely,
PrometheuSBoxeR
 
May or may not be worth going to a microcenter (St Davids PA) for this bundle: http://www.microcenter.com/specials...ews Friday BYOPC 20101029&utm_source=ACT_BYO&

Motherboards are pretty comparable, although with tax, gas, tolls, etc, may not be worth it.

Try to see if this deal for 470s works for you, gigabyte 470s for 220 no rebate needed, just the coupon code (it is ordered from newegg). http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2365121

If you are only mildly overclocking you probably don't need the noctua which is a pretty serious cooler (and obstructs ram slots if you wanted to get more in the future) and get some cheaper but still better than stock cooler.
 
Have you considered a GTX 580 rather than a pair of 470s? Lower power usage, not a lot of performance lost (and way better performance of course in anything that doesn't support SLI), and you don't have to mess with SLI

Also, try this SSD: Corsair Force F80 "80gb" (actually 90) -- same Sandforce controller, same initial price, lower price after $20 MIR
 
Anchen said:
May or may not be worth going to a microcenter (St Davids PA) for this bundle: http://www.microcenter.com/specials...ews Friday BYOPC 20101029&utm_source=ACT_BYO&

Motherboards are pretty comparable, although with tax, gas, tolls, etc, may not be worth it.

Try to see if this deal for 470s works for you, gigabyte 470s for 220 no rebate needed, just the coupon code (it is ordered from newegg). http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2365121

If you are only mildly overclocking you probably don't need the noctua which is a pretty serious cooler (and obstructs ram slots if you wanted to get more in the future) and get some cheaper but still better than stock cooler.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I will likely not bother with all the travel/hassle to save a few dollars if any at all on that combo.

My only concern with the Gigabyte video cards is the lifetime warranty and the support that EVGA brings.

I was considering going with another cooler, I am not sure I "need" the D14, however it seems to be the best. I'm all ears for other alternatives.

That being said - what kind of OC's can one expect out of the i7-950 with a D14? Is the RAM sufficient enough to do so?

fury said:
Have you considered a GTX 580 rather than a pair of 470s? Lower power usage, not a lot of performance lost (and way better performance of course in anything that doesn't support SLI), and you don't have to mess with SLI

Also, try this SSD: Corsair Force F80 "80gb" (actually 90) -- same Sandforce controller, same initial price, lower price after $20 MIR
Click to expand...

I personally didn't even know about the GTX 580. I was reluctant to go with SLI, but with 3 monitors, and seeing as how good SLI is scaling these days - I reasoned with 2 video cards. I considered the Eyefinity single card route.

I'm not sure I follow (actually 90)?
 
The Corsair Force F80 is for some reason marketed as an 80 gig drive but it's actually 90. In other words, the same size as the drive you picked
 
When I go to microcenter's site and add in a 950 and a UD3R manually I get a price of 434.58 after tax, and there is an additional 15 dollar rebate available. So that's potentially 420 vs 490. Worth considering, I would imagine the round trip cost in gas would be about 20 bucks so it is still a 50 buck potential saving. Up to you on the hassle and I agree it is a hassle (I happen to be about an hour from the same microcenter...I can't quite get myself to go to it still). http://www.microcenter.com

There's really no guarantees in overclocking. That said there are a lot of people who can get up to 3.8-4 ghz, and quite a few can get even higher. There's no guarantee though. There are also plenty of 930s (and 920s before) that will oc higher than some 950s (the reverse is of course also true though) so you can look into just getting a 930 instead also.

The GTX580 is generally going to cost the same or more than SLI 470s and have worse performance (depending on game, anywhere from a few frames to something like 20-30% worse). There are of course a variety of gains though with going with the 580:

1) Don't have to deal with SLI. Some games/drivers/patches break SLI for a while or just aren't that well supported.
2) Heat and noise. The GTX580 already runs cooler and makes less noise than a single 470. Compared to SLI 470s it would run significantly cooler and quieter.

One argument against the 580 is right now their prices are pretty locked in at 500 while there is a variety of deals that will be floating around for 470s and the like because they have been out for a bit. Then again AMD's 69XX series is lurking around the corner as well (rumors speculate nov 22nd).

Since you said you were set on SLI I didn't argue it, and there is performance and bang for the buck advantages to it compared to the single 580. You can check the benchmarks and noise/temp/power consumption comparisons at http://www.anandtech.com/show/4008/nvidias-geforce-gtx-580/1 and http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/11/09/nvidia_geforce_gtx_580_video_card_review although the [H] article unfortunately won't give you info compared to the 470 SLI but you can get the idea. The 580 is definitely a good card just be aware of the trade offs.
 
So I have to ask, seriously, I've been considering finally upgrading my 775 series setup.. But really, what is the main reason you're upgrading?

I just don't see the benefit, maybe i'm just defending my old dated setup... who knows.

Not trying to jack the thread, just thought it was worth knowing
 
For Photoshop, stick with IPS panels. LED backlight panels look nice but don't reproduce colors anywhere close to what an IPS panel will.

Also if you're looking at a 1366 system, you'll want either 6 or 12 GB of DDR3, not 2 2x2GB kits.
 
patric said:
For Photoshop, stick with IPS panels. LED backlight panels look nice but don't reproduce colors anywhere close to what an IPS panel will.

Also if you're looking at a 1366 system, you'll want either 6 or 12 GB of DDR3, not 2 2x2GB kits.
Click to expand...

IPS panels and LED backlighting aren't mutually exclusive.
 
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