Critique my quad core build

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NleahciM

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Aug 2, 2002
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Hi there - I've been trying to choose components for a while. The release of the 8800GT finally made things easier though. How does this look?:

Intel Xeon X3220 G0 Stepping 2.4GHz $283.00
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT SSC 512MB $299.99
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 $89.99
Abit IP35 Pro $184.99
LIAN LI PC-61 $99.99
Corsair HX series 620W $145.90
2xWD Raptor 37GB in RAID 0 $99.99 each
Asus SATA DVD burner $32.99

I already have two 1TB hard drives - I'm thinking I'll use one for internal storage and the other as an external backup solution. I'd put my software/OS on the RAID array and back it up regularly to one of the 1TB drives, as RAID 0 makes me a bit uneasy. The RAIDed raptors are probably serious overkill - would there be a more cost effective/quieter solution? This computer is for:

  • eCAD
  • SPICE (electronics simulation, the most CPU intensive thing that I do)
  • 3D CAD
  • programming
  • movies/music
  • occasional gaming

What do you all think? Thanks!

edit: I should mention that this is an update to this thread: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1231054
 
NleahciM said:
Hi there - I've been trying to choose components for a while. The release of the 8800GT finally made things easier though. How does this look?:

Intel Xeon X3220 G0 Stepping 2.4GHz $283.00
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT SSC 512MB $299.99
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 $89.99
Abit IP35 Pro $184.99
LIAN LI PC-61 $99.99
Corsair HX series 620W $145.90
2xWD Raptor 37GB in RAID 0 $99.99 each
Asus SATA DVD burner $32.99

I already have two 1TB hard drives - I'm thinking I'll use one for internal storage and the other as an external backup solution. I'd put my software/OS on the RAID array and back it up regularly to one of the 1TB drives, as RAID 0 makes me a bit uneasy. The RAIDed raptors are probably serious overkill - would there be a more cost effective/quieter solution? This computer is for:

  • eCAD
  • SPICE (electronics simulation, the most CPU intensive thing that I do)
  • 3D CAD
  • programming
  • movies/music
  • occasional gaming

What do you all think? Thanks!
Click to expand...

AHHHHHH!!!!!! Excellent choice of parts but who was riding you when you picked the 36GB raptors? Heck ONE 74GB raptor of the new generation is faster than two of those in raid.......they're really really not worth their price anymore.
 
ScYcS said:
AHHHHHH!!!!!! Excellent choice of parts but who was riding you when you picked the 36GB raptors? Heck ONE 74GB raptor of the new generation is faster than two of those in raid.......they're really really not worth their price anymore.
Click to expand...

Oh - I thought all the raptors performed the same - so you're saying one of these would be better than two of the 37GB guys? What are most people throwing their OS on to these days? The last time I built a computer (right when the raptors first came out, way back in the day) - everybody was putting their OSes on raptors.
 
right now im running a 150raptor and 3 500g's in raid 5 osdrive/file drive.. does perfectly well.
 
Overall you have chosen some great parts, but I would get these:
Abit IP35 or Asus P5K (cheaper models, but not the bottom ones, they have no RAID)
Wait for Peryn
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 instead of the Raptors (nearly or just as fast apparently)
Corsair HX 520 (plenty for 8800GT SLI, they don't use much power at all, less than an X1950 Pro)
 
lamboman said:
Overall you have chosen some great parts, but I would get these:
Abit IP35 or Asus P5K (cheaper models, but not the bottom ones, they have no RAID)
Wait for Peryn
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 instead of the Raptors (nearly or just as fast apparently)
Corsair HX 520 (plenty for 8800GT SLI, they don't use much power at all, less than an X1950 Pro)
Click to expand...

Hmm - what do I lose going down to the IP35? As far as I can tell (from doing a comparison), I'd lose an extra ethernet port and 2 USB ports. That wouldn't be tragic - so that seems like a good idea.

Why the 7200.11? As far as I can tell that's the Seagate 1TB drive - I don't need space, just speed (ideally seek time + throughput).

What's the timetable for Peryn? My understanding is that those are just lower power chips?



The HX 520 seems like a reasonable suggestion - there's a substantial price difference between the 520 and 620 so I'll move down to that.
 
If you don't need dual GbLan, an extra pci-e 4.16x slot, an external CMOS reset switch on the I/O panel, uGuru OC'ing sw, nor all solid caps, then the vanilla IP35 is good enough for you. The only thing it lacks is the ability to save BIOS profiles, which would only affect you if you're OC'ing -- its just an inconvenience.

Penryn requires less power. Therefore, it runs cooler. Therefore, it OC's better. If you don't want to wait for Penryn, now is still a good time to build a Q6600 system.

The 7200.11 is faster, no? Anyhow, this has been my experience with HDDs lately:

Avg Transfer Rate, Access Time: HDD info, Price
78MB/s, 08.2ms: WD Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB, $160AR
72MB/s, 15.4ms: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB, $65
65MB/s, 13.7ms: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB, $80
65MB/s, 13.2ms: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3300620AS 300GB, $60
52MB/s, 14.0ms: WD Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB, $70
112MB/s, 13.2ms: RAID0 'cuda's, 600GB total, $120 (ICH9R on P35-DS3R)

As you can see, the 'cuda is twice the size and half the cost, for nearly the same performance. Stick them in RAID0, and you've got an even more cost effective solution. Though, the seek time of the Raptor can't be beat. If you have cash to burn, do so on a Raptor if you really want it. Otherwise, there are better cost effective solutions for better sustained transfer speeds.
 
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