Build Suggestions for Gratuitous Multitasker

[stim]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This will be both a work and play comp. New games, web browsing, folding and other distributed projects, MS SQL, Office 2010. There is the potential for minor web development and programming, but not something i would focus on for the build.

I'm a data miner/analyst by day and I tend to bring my work and work style home with me. This means I usually have 7+ apps running with multiple instances for many of them.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
hopefully under $2000 all in
3) Where do you live?
Seattle, WA (Fry's and web)
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Mobo, CPU, RAM, Video Card, PSU, HDD, Case, Monitors, (cooling)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No reuse
6) Will you be overclocking?
No, but open to suggestions for improvements on stock cooling
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
triple-monitor setup, minimum 22"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next month
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Crossfire or SLI would help support the 3-monitor setup, right?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
No. I am planning on getting Win7 64-bit for System Builders.


The two core items I am hoping for with this build is the triple-monitor setup and the power to run multiple instances of a number of apps at once. Here are a few questions that may drive different parts of the conversation.

1. What do you think about a 60-80GB SSD for OS/apps + 1TB for files? This should really push the launch speed for apps and OS, but I'm unsure of the cost:benefit for the SSD.

2. Would the applications I will primarily use (Office 2010, web browsers) take advantage of the i7's HT capability, or is clock speed more important (as for games)?

3. I would like to be able to expand my RAM beyond 6GB and have the ability to bump the processor up in a year or two. Would this require a higher-end mobo?​

Here's a shot in the dark:

CPU/Mobo: Combo: i7 960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz & GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD9 Just grabbed higher end b/c of X58 for future step-up
or Combo: i7 960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz & EVGA X58 132-GT-E768-KR
GPU:
RAM: G.Skill DDR3-1333 6GB(3x2gb) Preference between G.Skill and Kingston? Max MHz?
HDD: WD Black 1TB (FAEX) (also, see Q1 above)
PSU:
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932
Monitors: 3x Acer 23" Widescreen LCD
OS: Win7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM​

Thanks, guys!

 

[Dangman]

1) That's a very good storage setup plan. In your particular situation, a SSD is definitely gonna be worth it IMO
2) The answer is yes and no for both. It's when you use multiple instances of those apps where the i7's HT capability comes into play. However you still want sufficient clock speed to start the apps up in the first place.
3) Not really.

As for your actual parts choice:
CPU + Motherboard: The Core i7 960 is not worth the extra cash whatsoever. Even if you're not overclocking, the mere 400Mhz in clock speed does not justify the extra $280 over the Core i7 930. The mobo is also along the same veins of piss poor price to performance. You'll be fine with this:
$485 - Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo

Less than half the price of the combo you chose but 98% of the performance.

RAM: I prefer G.Skill since they're generally cheaper and just as good quality. DDR3 1333 will last you just fine.

GPU wise: Now there's three major options here actually for you to get triple monitor capability. But I'm just gonna recommend the simplest and easiest option:
Get two of these cards and you'll be set:
$40 - XFX HD-545X-YNH2 Radeon HD 5450 512MB PCI-E Video Card

Do not enable Crossfire and you'll be set.

The other two options are ATI's Eyefinity and Nvidia's Vision. Both of which have large enough cons that I cannot recommend them for your needs.

PSU wise, get whichever is the cheapest of these two options when you buy:
$90 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$100 - XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W Modular PSU

SSD wise, the reigning SSD king is apparently still the Intel G2 80GB SSD:
$220 - Intel SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SSD

HDD, OS, case, and monitor all seem fine to me.

 

[munkle]

1) That's a very good storage setup plan. In your particular situation, a SSD is definitely gonna be worth it IMO
2) The answer is yes and no for both. It's when you use multiple instances of those apps where the i7's HT capability comes into play. However you still want sufficient clock speed to start the apps up in the first place.
3) Not really.

As for your actual parts choice:
CPU + Motherboard: The Core i7 960 is not worth the extra cash whatsoever. Even if you're not overclocking, the mere 400Mhz in clock speed does not justify the extra $280 over the Core i7 930. The mobo is also along the same veins of piss poor price to performance. You'll be fine with this:
$485 - Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo

Less than half the price of the combo you chose but 98% of the performance.

RAM: I prefer G.Skill since they're generally cheaper and just as good quality. DDR3 1333 will last you just fine.

GPU wise: Now there's three major options here actually for you to get triple monitor capability. But I'm just gonna recommend the simplest and easiest option:
Get two of these cards and you'll be set:
$40 - XFX HD-545X-YNH2 Radeon HD 5450 512MB PCI-E Video Card

Do not enable Crossfire and you'll be set.

The other two options are ATI's Eyefinity and Nvidia's Vision. Both of which have large enough cons that I cannot recommend them for your needs.

PSU wise, get whichever is the cheapest of these two options when you buy:
$90 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$100 - XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W Modular PSU

SSD wise, the reigning SSD king is apparently still the Intel G2 80GB SSD:
$220 - Intel SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SSD

HDD, OS, case, and monitor all seem fine to me.

Looks good except the 5450 isn't going to be good for gaming which is what he wants also.

I would get this kingston drive instead, its $100 cheaper. Only thing you will need is some 2.5 to 3.5 adapters.

Also newegg has a killer deal on a xfx 750w psu, I would get this instead. $85

Newegg has a great deal on a 4870 for $100, but you won't get triple monitors so you will need another card if you want that third monitor. Triple monitors gets pricey you can get a 5850 and use eyefinity but make sure its something you want because it is expensive.

 

[Dangman]

Looks good except the 5450 isn't going to be good for gaming which is what he wants also.

I would get this kingston drive instead, its $100 cheaper. Only thing you will need is some 2.5 to 3.5 adapters.

Also newegg has a killer deal on a xfx 750w psu, I would get this instead. $85

Totally missed the gaming requirement. Thanks for the correction!

$100 cheaper but still slow IIRC. Gotta double check that.

I don't factor in rebates. Also the OP is planning on buying the parts next month so that deal doesn't really help him. However that's still a very good PSU choice at $120.

@ OP,
Anyway, forget what I wrote about the PSUs and video cards. Get two of these cards and enable SLI:
$200 - eVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 768MB PCI-E Video CArd

That'll get you triple monitors AND gaming performance.

PSU wise, the XFX 750W PSU that munkle recommended is a good choice for GTX 460 SLI.

 

[munkle]

Totally missed the gaming requirement. Thanks for the correction!

$100 cheaper but still slow IIRC. Gotta double check that.

I don't factor in rebates. Also the OP is planning on buying the parts next month so that deal doesn't really help him. However that's still a very good PSU choice at $120.

@ OP,
Anyway, forget what I wrote about the PSUs and video cards. Get two of these cards and enable SLI:
$200 - eVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 768MB PCI-E Video CArd

That'll get you triple monitors AND gaming performance.

PSU wise, the XFX 750W PSU that munkle recommended is a good choice for GTX 460 SLI.

460 is a great choice if you want to go triple monitor gaming, although can sli be used on intel chipsets? I thought you had to buy a nvidia mobo? (i haven't seriously looked at sli since the old nf4 chipsets).

 

[Dangman]

460 is a great choice if you want to go triple monitor gaming, although can sli be used on intel chipsets? I thought you had to buy a nvidia mobo? (i haven't seriously looked at sli since the old nf4 chipsets).

You can now use SLI with the latest Intel Chipsets like the X58 chipset and P55 chipsets. Older chipsets like the P965, P35, X38, or P45 do not support SLI.

 

[bastage]

It would save another 64 bucks on the Mobo & CPU combo but I like the EVGA P55 SLI 132-LF-E655-KR & Intel Xeon X3440 Lynnfield 2.53GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core. Still has HT, but at a MUCH lower price point.

 

[stim]

Thanks a ton, monkle, Danny and bastage,

@bastage, my only concern with the EVGA board is that it supports dual-channel, where I was hoping to get triple-channel DDR3.

i also tacked a basic DVDRW onto the list.

Here's the most recent layout:

CPU/Mobo: Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo
GPU: 2x EVGA 01G-P3-1371-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB (yes, i sprung for the 1GB) (out of stock, but should be available this week)
RAM: G.Skill DDR3-1333 6GB(3x2gb)
SSD: Intel SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SSD
HDD: WD Black 1TB (FAEX)
PSU: XFX Black 750W
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932
Monitors: 3x Acer 23" Widescreen LCD
OS: Win7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
Optical: Samsung Black DVDRW

And a few extra questions:

1. Since I stepped down from XL ATX to ATX form factor, does it make sense to switch the case to the slightly smaller Cooler Master HAF 922?

2. What are the cooling options with this board/cpu/case? Would stepping down a case size impact the options for future cooling?
​

Since the video cards are out of stock until mid-week, I will wait until after then, but since things seem to be coming together I may as well purchase sooner rather than later.

Any other thoughts?

edit: I switched the DVDRW to SATA from IDE​

 

[bastage]

Thanks a ton, monkle, Danny and bastage,

@bastage, my only concern with the EVGA board is that it supports dual-channel, where I was hoping to get triple-channel DDR3.

& for the cost difference you could instead get more ram. I for one am not sold on triple channel as it adds significant cost, but not a whole lot of real world performance difference.

 

[SpeedyVV]

Thanks a ton, monkle, Danny and bastage,

@bastage, my only concern with the EVGA board is that it supports dual-channel, where I was hoping to get triple-channel DDR3.

i also tacked a basic DVDRW onto the list.

Here's the most recent layout:

CPU/Mobo: Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo
GPU: 2x EVGA 01G-P3-1371-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB (yes, i sprung for the 1GB) (out of stock, but should be available this week)
RAM: G.Skill DDR3-1333 6GB(3x2gb)
SSD: Intel SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SSD
HDD: WD Black 1TB (FAEX)
PSU: XFX Black 750W
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932
Monitors: 3x Acer 23" Widescreen LCD
OS: Win7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
Optical: Samsung Black DVDRW

And a few extra questions:

1. Since I stepped down from XL ATX to ATX form factor, does it make sense to switch the case to the slightly smaller Cooler Master HAF 922?

2. What are the cooling options with this board/cpu/case? Would stepping down a case size impact the options for future cooling?
​

Since the video cards are out of stock until mid-week, I will wait until after then, but since things seem to be coming together I may as well purchase sooner rather than later.

Any other thoughts?

Wow, one of my fav builds in quite some time. /droooool/

 

[Dangman]

1) If you need to cut costs or like the HAF 922 better, then by all means drop the case down. Whether or not you should stick with the 932 depends on whether or not your needs/wants can be met by another case.
2) Stepping down a case doesn't significantly impact the cooling options. One of the better HSF for this kind of setup is this:
$40 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF

Looks like a fairly solid build as it is.

As for bastage's mobo recommendation, personally I think more than $160 for a LGA 1156 is akin to saying "I want a gold plated Civic" IMO. Just seems waay too much money for what is suppose to be a mid-range platform. However he is right that his LGA1156 setup would net you more RAM up front. If my math is correct, you can get 8GB of RAM upfront with bastage's recommendations VS 6GB up front. However that's pretty much it once you hit 8GB. At least with the X58 route, you can add another 6GB of RAM for 12GB of RAM total. For you, that ability to get 4GB more RAM than a LGA1156 might be worth the money.

 

[bastage]

1) If you need to cut costs or like the HAF 922 better, then by all means drop the case down. Whether or not you should stick with the 932 depends on whether or not your needs/wants can be met by another case.
2) Stepping down a case doesn't significantly impact the cooling options. One of the better HSF for this kind of setup is this:
$40 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF

Looks like a fairly solid build as it is.

As for bastage's mobo recommendation, personally I think more than $160 for a LGA 1156 is akin to saying "I want a gold plated Civic" IMO. Just seems waay too much money for what is suppose to be a mid-range platform. However he is right that his LGA1156 setup would net you more RAM up front. If my math is correct, you can get 8GB of RAM upfront with bastage's recommendations VS 6GB up front. However that's pretty much it once you hit 8GB. At least with the X58 route, you can add another 6GB of RAM for 12GB of RAM total. For you, that ability to get 4GB more RAM than a LGA1156 might be worth the money.

If your buying it upfront there is no reason not to pay the small premium & get 2x4gb kit For example the above 3x2gb kit is 22.50 per GB & this is 25.62 per GB (a difference of 3.12 per GB).. Where you run into problems at with the dual channel compared to tri channel is that you get more with tri channel when buying the smaller sticks due to ahving 2 more slots typically. & I agree if I was going to build that EVGA probably wouldnt be my 1st choice as it is quite high for a 1156 board, but it was the 1st one I came across that supported better then x16 & x4.

 

[stim]

The order is in.

Build pics and comments in few days.

I am also considering mounting the monitors on swing arms. Anyone have one of these guys?

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[bastage]

If doing triple monitors I dont like using arms like that. Its ends up being a royal pain in the fuck ass trying to get them all aligned correctly due to having toooooo much range of motion.. For a single monitor those are freeking sweet. If you want to mount 3 monitors I would recommend finding a single mount that can hold all 3 (thats not much of a price difference then 3 of those arms or they have an open box one for 154) or simple use the factory bases since they limit the adjustments & thus limit what can be knocked out of wack.

 

[stim]

I guess I was looking at the single arms more because they looked cool.

The only redeeming quality for independent arms is that when i work from home, having a vertical monitor is a really big help (data entry in a long window). Independent arms would allow me to flip 1 of them.

This one looks cool as well, but it doesn't look like it is wide enough to hold all of them.

Each Acer 23" is ~22" across so the full spread will be 5'2".

 

[bastage]

I guess I was looking at the single arms more because they looked cool.

The only redeeming quality for independent arms is that when i work from home, having a vertical monitor is a really big help (data entry in a long window). Independent arms would allow me to flip 1 of them.

This one looks cool as well, but it doesn't look like it is wide enough to hold all of them.

Each Acer 23" is ~22" across so the full spread will be 5'2".

Yea that one only holds 19" so stretching to 22 would push it.. Also I believe in some of the reviews on the one I linked it said you could rotate the monitors which would server the purpose that you seek..

 

[stim]

All parts have arrived and everything is together, up and running!

I'll post a series of pics of the build in a day or two, but first a few thoughts:

- Since I am running a 64-bit OS, there are very few internal wireless adapters that are compatible. (unfortunately my system isn't on the same floor as the modem)

- I am still running a WRT54G router so I just grabbed this USB wireless adapter.​

- UltraMon seems to be the easiest utility to manage all 3 monitors. I played around with RocketDock, but wasn't feeling it.
- I'm glad I got the 1GB GPUs instead of the 756MB. [H] has been running a bunch of reviews involving the GeForce 460 line and the 1GB in SLI seems to always end up on the top of the heap.
- The Acer displays look great so far.

- Lots of real estate
- good brightness and contrast
- fast on/off​

- The case is working well. There was plenty of room for all the components (not surprised since I only got the ATX formfactor board), which has also resulted in a cleaner layout internally. Despite having a number of large fans, it is running with minimal noise.

 

[Dangman]

Nice!

No pics?

 

[stim]

Allright guys, here are pictures of the components and some of the early build.

Sorry for image quality, I'm still dinking around with my PowerShot A20 from like 8 years ago.

Is it Christmas?

Yea, I'm pretty sure it's Christmas....
front items are CD, HDD and RAM from left to right.

Blank Slate:

Stock cooler for now:

SSD for OS and apps on the left & HDD for files on the right:
(Both have been mounted on the quick-release pieces from the case, which can be seen in the lower-right of the next picture)

Everything fits!

At this point, everything seems to be in place and so I fired it up...

 

[stim]

And who would have guessed? It posted and went through the OS setup in a flash.

Here is my sad, lonely desk before:
(Bleach on the monitor for those who are wondering)

Single monitor watching the OS installation:

Nightlites in action:

Everything in its place:
(Eureka on the monitor for those who are wondering)

Technicolor rainbow:

So far everything is going well. My only issues during the build were:

- Installed power supply upside down. Oddly enough the psu screws into the case with no problem and even has some of its logos facing up even when the unit is upside down. After puzzling over why none of the powercords reached the mobo, I flipped the PSU and good times were had by all.
- The case came with HD Audio and AC '97 on the same line. The AC '97 connection, which was the longest one, did not work. The HD Audio connector however did.
- I also didn't know that I needed to do a little custom work on the second HDD (first timer here ppl). Once I checked all my SATA and power connections I finally found all the partition and drive info and allocated the new drive.

Future prospective additions:
- Better CPU heatsink and fan (this one was mentioned by Danny Bui earlier in the thread)
- Monitor mounts (a few useful thoughts were included earlier as well)
- Mouse and Keyboard upgrade
- Cord management (internal and external power)​

Thanks again for all your help, [H].

 

[cd_rom]

Very nice! enjoy your new cool pc, im jealous with your triple monitors!

 

[Dangman]

Dude nice work!

Thanks for the pics!

 

[stim]

Thanks.

I guess this means I get to update my sig.