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Decent X58 rig... advice needed.

S

Steve01S4

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Messages
212
So it's time to retire the workstation and start from scratch. I'd intended to wait for Sandy Bridge to do this, but lately I've run into enough hardware failures and glitches that I just don't want to deal with it anymore. The platform is old enough that I just don't want to put any more money or effort into it. My plan is to put together a nice i7 system today, then demote it to gaming HTPC status some time next year when I upgrade the main system to Sandy Bridge.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, web browsing, video encoding, basic 2d/3d graphics, MS Office stuff.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1200-$1500ish. Lower is better but I'd rather stretch the budget and do it right than cut corners and regret it..
3) Where do you live?
Denver, CO. I have a local Microcenter, but no Fry's.
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, gpu, psu, hdd, maybe aftermarket cooling?
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Original cooler master stacker case, Intel 80gb G2 ssd, 2x Samsung BD-Rom
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, but I've never done it before. I'd like to go for 4ghz if that's reasonable.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
30" @ 2560x1600
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Crossfire (and maybe SLI) with at least one accessible pcie slot left over for TV tuners.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Have Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.

Here's my current plan:
ASUS P6X58D Premium $285
Core i7-930 $200
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $150
XFX HD-587X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5870 $380
SeaSonic X750 Gold $150
Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB $180
Aftermarket CPU cooler.... ?????

Total: $1345 without cooler.

Assuming that stuff looks OK, I have a few questions. Will that PSU support 5870s in crossfire if I feel the need? Am I better off wtih the 2tb black than a RAID 0 of smaller drives, assuming all the data on the array is replaceable and/or backed up? And, of course, to hit 4ghz on an i7 930, what's my best bet for cooling? A fully water cooled rig isn't happening this time.

Thanks for any advice.
 
Steve01S4 said:
So it's time to retire the workstation and start from scratch. I'd intended to wait for Sandy Bridge to do this, but lately I've run into enough hardware failures and glitches that I just don't want to deal with it anymore. The platform is old enough that I just don't want to put any more money or effort into it. My plan is to put together a nice i7 system today, then demote it to gaming HTPC status some time next year when I upgrade the main system to Sandy Bridge.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, web browsing, video encoding, basic 2d/3d graphics, MS Office stuff.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1200-$1500ish. Lower is better but I'd rather stretch the budget and do it right than cut corners and regret it..
3) Where do you live?
Denver, CO. I have a local Microcenter, but no Fry's.
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, gpu, psu, hdd, maybe aftermarket cooling?
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Original cooler master stacker case, Intel 80gb G2 ssd, 2x Samsung BD-Rom
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, but I've never done it before. I'd like to go for 4ghz if that's reasonable.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
30" @ 2560x1600
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Crossfire (and maybe SLI) with at least one accessible pcie slot left over for TV tuners.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Have Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.

Here's my current plan:
ASUS P6X58D Premium $285
Core i7-930 $200
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $150
XFX HD-587X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5870 $380
SeaSonic X750 Gold $150
Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB $180
Aftermarket CPU cooler.... ?????

Total: $1345 without cooler.

Assuming that stuff looks OK, I have a few questions. Will that PSU support 5870s in crossfire if I feel the need? Am I better off wtih the 2tb black than a RAID 0 of smaller drives, assuming all the data on the array is replaceable and/or backed up? And, of course, to hit 4ghz on an i7 930, what's my best bet for cooling? A fully water cooled rig isn't happening this time.

Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...

There are a couple of changes that I would like to make:

For most of what you're going to be doing, you don't need a near-$300 motherboard. You can shave off more than $50 by going to the P6X58D-E instead of the Premium.

Second, 2TB hard drives are more likely to fail than multiple 1TB or 500GB drives. This is because the current capacity limit per double-sided HDD platter is 500GB; thus, all 2TB HDDs require four or more platters to achieve that capacity. And generally speaking, the more platters crammed into a given space the hotter that drive runs internally. And excessive heat is one of the biggest killers of computer components.
 
Steve01S4 said:
Assuming that stuff looks OK, I have a few questions. Will that PSU support 5870s in crossfire if I feel the need? Am I better off wtih the 2tb black than a RAID 0 of smaller drives, assuming all the data on the array is replaceable and/or backed up? And, of course, to hit 4ghz on an i7 930, what's my best bet for cooling? A fully water cooled rig isn't happening this time.
Click to expand...

Since you're planning on overclocking, there's really not that much headroom left for the HD 5870 in Crossfire. So I recommend getting at least a 850W PSU. Some recommendations:
$150 - XFX XPS-850W-BES 850W Modular PSU
$150 - Corsair 950TX 950W PSU

Since this is for storage, I recommend just getting a solid fast 1TB drive rather than RAID 0:
$75 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

HSF wise, get this:
$65 - Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler
 
Thanks for the replies. I've checked the ASUS boards and you're right, I think I can step down a bit in price without any issues. The 1tb drive isn't for storage, since I'm putting together a server for that. It's for my excessively large steam folder, and for ripping and processing Blu-Ray discs. Sometimes quite a few discs can accumulate on the drive before I have time to get everything sorted out and moved to the server, so I think the extra space (and speed) would be beneficial.

For the PSU, I have no desire to deal with anything that isn't modular ever again, so that seems to take out the 950TX. Is there any reason other than cost to get the 850w XFX over the Corsair 850HX?

I'm doing a bit of reading on HSFs, and the Corsair H50 with push/pull fans and Noctua NH-D14 look very nice as well. Is there a reason you prefer the Megahalems? What fans do you like with it?

Thanks again for the input, guys.
 
Steve01S4 said:
For the PSU, I have no desire to deal with anything that isn't modular ever again, so that seems to take out the 950TX. Is there any reason other than cost to get the 850w XFX over the Corsair 850HX?
Click to expand...
The XFX is slightly better than the Corsair actually.

Steve01S4 said:
I'm doing a bit of reading on HSFs, and the Corsair H50 with push/pull fans and Noctua NH-D14 look very nice as well. Is there a reason you prefer the Megahalems? What fans do you like with it?
Click to expand...
I see those Megahalems quite often whenever I see a 4Ghz Core i7 OC. Hence my recommendations. Virtually any 120mm fan will work fine with those Meghalems. I prefer Yate Loons myself.

The Nocua NH-D14 just seems obscene to me in terms of price. I'd rather get the Corsair H50 at that point. Another good HSF is this:
$40 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF
 
Steve01S4 said:
Is there any reason other than cost to get the 850w XFX over the Corsair 850HX?
Click to expand...

How can you not get the XFX 850HX when it has a combo with the Radeon HD 5870 1GB

The main reason why someone would still get the Corsair PSU is because they are more familiar with that brand name and rather stick with it. But, it's not to say that the XFX psu is a junk brand by any means. It's made with quality parts and manufactured by Seasonic. The same manufacturer for Corsair power supplies.
 
HardwareGuru said:
How can you not get the XFX 850HX when it has a combo with the Radeon HD 5870 1GB

The main reason why someone would still get the Corsair PSU is because they are more familiar with that brand name and rather stick with it. But, it's not to say that the XFX psu is a junk brand by any means. It's made with quality parts and manufactured by Seasonic. The same manufacturer for Corsair power supplies.
Click to expand...

Actually, SeaSonic manufactures only certain Corsair-branded PSUs (the AX series PSUs in the 750 to 850W range). The TX and HX series PSUs in the 750-850W range are all made by CWT.
 
The main reason I was looking at Corsair is familiarity, and because I don't particularly like the look of the XFX (dumb reason for a windowless case, I guess). Thanks for pointing out the combo... I thought I'd looked at the combo list but must have missed that one.

What real benefit would I get today if I could stretch the budget a bit and start off with crossfire 5870s?
 
Steve01S4 said:
What real benefit would I get today if I could stretch the budget a bit and start off with crossfire 5870s?
Click to expand...

The answer should be bloody obvious: HIgher performance in games.

What else were you looking for?
 
Danny Bui said:
The answer should be bloody obvious: HIgher performance in games.

What else were you looking for?
Click to expand...

OK, good point, I should have clarified my question a bit.

Given the current state of games and my current monitor resolution of 2560x1600, is the second card necessary to get good performance at high to max settings today in a variety of games? Will I get acceptable performance today with a single card, and be able to either add a second card or upgrade to a newer generation as games demand it?

That's what I was looking for :D

edit: Also, any opinions on the 2tb vs. 2x 1tb Raid 0, considering it'll be used for video encoding and my steam folder, but not for any sort of long term storage?
 
Last edited:
Steve01S4 said:
Given the current state of games and my current monitor resolution of 2560x1600, is the second card necessary to get good performance at high to max settings today in a variety of games? Will I get acceptable performance today with a single card, and be able to either add a second card or upgrade to a newer generation as games demand it?

That's what I was looking for :D
Click to expand...

At your resolution, whether or not a second video card is necessary really depends on your level of FPS acceptance. Basically, what's acceptable is relative. For example, a single HD 5870 will average about 42 FPS at 2560x1600 with 4x AA and 16x AF in BC2. For some people, 42 FPS is not an acceptable number. For others, 42 FPS is just fine. So it really depends on you whether or not a second card is needed.

However for max settings, you really do need a second video card.
Steve01S4 said:
edit: Also, any opinions on the 2tb vs. 2x 1tb Raid 0, considering it'll be used for video encoding and my steam folder, but not for any sort of long term storage?
Click to expand...
I say neither. I mean, how hard is it to just move some files over occasionally? Surely, your steam folder install isn't close to 1TB?

But from a performance to cost standpoint, 2 x 1TB in RAID 0 would be the better choice. The Samsung F3 1TB drives recommended above are good.
 
Thanks for the input on crossfire. I'll have to see if it fits the budget. I've got a decent backlog of older games to play, so even if I only get one card now, I'm sure I'll do fine for a while.

Danny Bui said:
I say neither. I mean, how hard is it to just move some files over occasionally? Surely, your steam folder install isn't close to 1TB?

But from a performance to cost standpoint, 2 x 1TB in RAID 0 would be the better choice. The Samsung F3 1TB drives recommended above are good.
Click to expand...

Steam sales have made me a bad person. My steam folder is currently an entire 640gb drive and I can't install all my games. I know I could theoretically uninstall things, but storage is cheap and I never know what I might be in the mood to play tomorrow. Until Qwest gets fiber to my new address and I can get my 40mbps download back, the games will stay. :D Say Steam hits 700gb on the new build, then I rip 2 Blu-Ray movies at once. I could have as much as 800gb used. Converting those to mkv files could get me close to 900gb used. A 1tb drive really gives you about 930gb, and that's cutting it a bit close for comfort. 2tb gives me room to grow, and at well under 10 cents per GB either way, I can't see any good reason not to go with at least 2tb.
 
Steve01S4 said:
Steam sales have made me a bad person. My steam folder is currently an entire 640gb drive and I can't install all my games. I know I could theoretically uninstall things, but storage is cheap and I never know what I might be in the mood to play tomorrow. Until Qwest gets fiber to my new address and I can get my 40mbps download back, the games will stay. :D Say Steam hits 700gb on the new build, then I rip 2 Blu-Ray movies at once. I could have as much as 800gb used. Converting those to mkv files could get me close to 900gb used. A 1tb drive really gives you about 930gb, and that's cutting it a bit close for comfort. 2tb gives me room to grow, and at well under 10 cents per GB either way, I can't see any good reason not to go with at least 2tb.
Click to expand...

Wait, I'm a tad confused here: Why not just have your ripping software rip the drives to a second hard drive?

Dunno about you, but I'd rather not spend any more unnecessary time re-downloading games or doing re-rips should the RAID 0 array fail or that 2TB drive fail. With two separate 1TB drives, if one drive dies, the data on the other drive is still safe. Thus that's half the time needed to get everything back together again.

Also did you not read E4g1e's post about the 2TB drives? Aren't those not good enough reasons not to go with 2TB drives?
 
I understand what you're saying. I just can't help thinking that if I have 700gb of Steam games now, I'll have at least 931gb of Steam games by the end of the Christmas sale, and then I'll be in the same boat I'm in with the 640gb drive. I know I can split up the steam folder by making links, but it's just not worth the time when drives are this cheap. I'll grab a 2tb external or something, and just back up the RAID regularly. Anyway, the movie rips move to a server filled with more 2tb drives, I just need the extra room above and beyond the steam folder as scratch space.
 
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