Desktop failed, new build

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Whitebread

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 28, 2002
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Within the last 6 months, the following has happened:
1 Hard drive failed
The boot sector on my main drive was corrupted
2 video cards mysteriously failed. Neither overheated. They just stopped working one day.

I'm tired of having to replace parts so I'm going to build something new. Here are the parts I want to purchase:


Two issues:
Is that Zalman cooler worth the 50 dollars? I do plan on overclocking.

I am currently using an Xclio 480BL 480 watt PSU. I'm wondering if 480 watts would be able to run a PC with 4 HDDs, 3 CD rom drives, 3 fans and a quad core. I don't think the problems I've been having are due to the PSU so I'm tempted to save 170 dollars and use the Xclio. What do you guys think?

Any other opinions? Thanks.
 
If the 480 watt Xclio PSU is the same PS you used for your last build, I wouldn't bother using it. True, you can save some $$ by using existing part but, as far as that PSU. I wouldn't. I did that before using my old PS for a new build and sure enough my PC wouldn't boot. At the time, I had that same mentality where if there's power coming out of the PS, the PS is fine and it's working. You don't need to spend $170 on a quality PS. BTW, what's your budget on this pc? Also, what's your primary use of this PC?
 
I'd like to keep the final cost under 1200 dollars, which those parts satisfy.

Primary use will be CAD with Solidworks and Pro-Engineer, FEA with COSMOS and Ansys, Matlab work, C and C++, Fluids analysis with Fluent. The only other intensive application might be mass transcoding of stereo audio, picture editing and video editing. Although those last three activities won't happen very often.

What PSU would you recommend?
 
Also, I've going to use my old case and 2 DVD-RW drives that still work. I also have 2 20 inch monitors (see sig).
 
At $1200, you can build a pretty decent system. That Corsair PS you listed is an awesome PS but, pretty overpriced nowdays especially on NewEgg. I don't really care for modular PS and for $95 with $20 MIR I rather get the Corsair TX650 PS from Buy.com. Free shipping to. The Zalman CNPS9500 heatsing was a good heatsink. But, this cpu cooler is old. Look at the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 at a cheaper price and performs better than that Zalman cooler. Plus, ditch the 4gig G. Skills DDR2 1066 for the 4gig G. Skills DDR2 800 for $80 instead. Though, $105 for that 1066 G. Skills aint bad to.
 
Ok, I'll get that PSU and the recommended cooler. As for the RAM, do you know how far that slower g.skill will overclock? I was interested in the faster ram because it designed to run faster.
 
If you plan on overclocking the Q6600, all you really need is DDR2 800 RAM. Some figures:

enginurd said:
Stated FSB/4 = Actual FSB
Multiplier x Actual FSB = CPU Speed
1:1 Ratio: 2 x Actual FSB = RAM Speed
1:1 Ratio: FSB = 1/2 RAM speed

Q6600:
Multi x Actual FSB, Stated FSB, RAM Speed = Clock Speed
9 x 266Mhz, 1066Mhz, DDR2 533 RAM = 2.4Ghz <== Stock Speeds
9 x 333Mhz, 1333Mhz, DDR2 667 RAM = 3.0Ghz <== Good OC
9 x 400Mhz, 1600Mhz, DDR2 800 RAM = 3.6Ghz <== Excellent OC, About the Max
Click to expand...

As mentioned before, get the G.Skill DDR2 800 kit instead. (And use promo code "HARDOCP7215" at checkout to instantly save $5 on the RAM -- though that deal expires on Monday.)

I second the recommendation to use the Xigamtek HDT-S1283 (with the retention bracket) instead of the CNPS9500.

If you want a Corsair power supply, get it from either Provantage or Buy.com. I recommend getting the Corsair TX750 instead; you get more power for less money than the HX620. (The caveat is that the TX750 isn't modular.)
 
Decided that modular cabling is a necessity because my case isnt that large and will be very full so I'm going to stick with the HX series. The 520 HX is 85 dollars at buy.com so I'll go with that. It's less wattage but I think it will still suffice especially since I don't play games and will be using a cheap vid card.
 
Whitebread said:
Click to expand...
 
imo id spring for a 4850 or 4870
yes get the best HSF you can afford
every thing else looks good
 
Whitebread said:
Decided that modular cabling is a necessity because my case isnt that large and will be very full so I'm going to stick with the HX series. The 520 HX is 85 dollars at buy.com so I'll go with that. It's less wattage but I think it will still suffice especially since I don't play games and will be using a cheap vid card.
Click to expand...

Actually, it's around $105 before a $20 mail-in rebate. You don't get the savings right away. But since you could afford to, get the HX620 instead, so you have some extra headroom for future upgrades.

robfactory said:
Sapphire Card is a lot better 3850 for $10 more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102715

Mobo, CPU, HDD's & PSU are great selections.

Mushkin Redlines are better n cheaper than your current ram selection
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146755

If you plan to OC...
This is one of the most complete Coolers; Tuniq 120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

The Sapphire HD3850 that you've linked to is actually $30 more than the OP's HD3650. Since he went for such a low-end card, I'm assuming that gaming is not a consideration for this build.

I explained earlier that the OP only needs DDR2 800 RAM. Please reread my comments on that matter.

Though the Tuniq Tower 120 is a good CPU cooler, the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is cheaper yet performs just as well, if not better.
 
Elios said:
imo id spring for a 4850 or 4870
yes get the best HSF you can afford
every thing else looks good
Click to expand...

Why should I spend 190 dollars on a card when I don't game? The only game I'm anticipating is Starcraft 2 and frankly I'm not sure if I'm even going to buy it. I haven't played video games regularly since junior year of highschool. That was almost 4 years ago.
 
tiraides said:
Actually, it's around $105 before a $20 mail-in rebate. You don't get the savings right away. But since you could afford to, get the HX620 instead, so you have some extra headroom for future upgrades.



The Sapphire HD3850 that you've linked to is actually $30 more than the OP's HD3650. Since he went for such a low-end card, I'm assuming that gaming is not a consideration for this build.

I explained earlier that the OP only needs DDR2 800 RAM. Please reread my comments on that matter.

Though the Tuniq Tower 120 is a good CPU cooler, the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is cheaper yet performs just as well, if not better.
Click to expand...

Eh, well even at 105 dollars before the MIR, its still 65 dollars less than the 620. And I really don't think I'm going to need anymore than the 550 watts I was set on. I mean, 4 HDDs and 3 DVD-RWs don't leave much room for upgrades in the mid tower case I've currently got. And the video card isn't a possibility since I don't game.
 
robfactory said:
Sapphire Card is a lot better 3850 for $10 more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102715

Mobo, CPU, HDD's & PSU are great selections.

Mushkin Redlines are better n cheaper than your current ram selection
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146755

If you plan to OC...
This is one of the most complete Coolers; Tuniq 120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

What features does the Saphire card bring that the card I picked doesn't have?
 
Whitebread said:
Why should I spend 190 dollars on a card when I don't game? The only game I'm anticipating is Starcraft 2 and frankly I'm not sure if I'm even going to buy it. I haven't played video games regularly since junior year of highschool. That was almost 4 years ago.
Click to expand...

if your not gaming no point in OCing stock will do you fine and then you dont need an after market HSF

and even then SC2 may be pushing it with a 3850 its not going to be out for atlest a year im sure
 
Elios said:
if your not gaming no point in OCing stock will do you fine and then you dont need an after market HSF
Click to expand...

I disagree there. There are many applications that use CPU power as much, or often moreso than gaming. 3D rendering and audio/video encoding being the most stereotypical, but also development and scientific simulations.

Whitebread said:
Primary use will be CAD with Solidworks and Pro-Engineer, FEA with COSMOS and Ansys, Matlab work, C and C++, Fluids analysis with Fluent. The only other intensive application might be mass transcoding of stereo audio, picture editing and video editing. Although those last three activities won't happen very often.
Click to expand...

Those applications will definately benefit from as much CPU power as can be thrown at them.
 
farfromhome said:
I disagree there. There are many applications that use CPU power as much, or often moreso than gaming. 3D rendering and audio/video encoding being the most stereotypical, but also development and scientific simulations.



Those applications will definately benefit from as much CPU power as can be thrown at them.
Click to expand...

if CAD then i would go with a better GPU FOR SURE OGL has never been ATi's strong point and you would want all the rendering power you can get

no point not to get a 4870 or GTX260 or better then
 
Elios said:
if CAD then i would go with a better GPU FOR SURE OGL has never been ATi's strong point and you would want all the rendering power you can get

no point not to get a 4870 or GTX260 or better then
Click to expand...

Actually, if it will be used for work and not play (and specifically CAD work), I wonder if it might be worth the premium for the OP to get a Quadro FX or FireGL instead of just a plain GeForce or Radeon.
 
thats what i was thinking too
but a 4870 or GTX260 would be just as well i think the only real difference is the drives trade more accuracy for less speed
imo you can get the same with a consumer level card turning all the opts off
 
Elios said:
if your not gaming no point in OCing stock will do you fine and then you dont need an after market HSF

and even then SC2 may be pushing it with a 3850 its not going to be out for atlest a year im sure
Click to expand...

Umm, gaming isnt the only reason to OC a proc. The increased clock will DEFINITIVELY help when running matlab programs, FEA analyzes, and other intensive apps. Have you ever run a numerical integration program over a large range with a small step size? I ran out of system resources on my old overclocked 165 machine with 2 gigs of ram on a few occasions (100% CPU usage and 100% RAM usage, computer would lock up for a while until the calculations were done). More speed and more ram are welcome in that regard.

You say that SC2 will probably be too much for a 3850 and I agree. Therefore, purchasing a cheap card now and waiting for SC2 to come out is probably a better idea.
 
I strongly considered getting a Fire or a Quadro a while ago but I couldn't justify the cost of those cards. I will be CADing often, but it won't be the primary activity and it isn't for work, its all personal/for classes. The Fire and Quadro cards are very specalized and IIRC are not as capable in handling HD video as their gaming counterparts.
 
Whitebread said:
I strongly considered getting a Fire or a Quadro a while ago but I couldn't justify the cost of those cards. I will be CADing often, but it won't be the primary activity and it isn't for work, its all personal/for classes. The Fire and Quadro cards are very specalized and IIRC are not as capable in handling HD video as their gaming counterparts.
Click to expand...

well a fast CPU will handle HD video just fine mine does

but for any kind of CAD work you really need the fastest card you can get
 
Elios said:
well a fast CPU will handle HD video just fine mine does

but for any kind of CAD work you really need the fastest card you can get
Click to expand...

Maybe if you've got a companies budget to back your purchase. I don't usually use CAD models or assemblies with more than 20 parts. There are a few acceptions but its not worth the extra 1000 dollars for a good CAD card. You really don't NEED to have the fastest card you can get. I'm a student making 14 an hour who is only buying all this hardware because his old computer failed suddenly. Sure, I wish I had some more processing power to work with when doing CADing on my old machine, but i just can't spend another 1000 dollars on a FireGL or a Quadro card. I don't make my living with this hardware.

Also, if I were to get a 4xxx card it would provide no benefit for cad work, right?
 
Whitebread said:
Maybe if you've got a companies budget to back your purchase. I don't usually use CAD models or assemblies with more than 20 parts. There are a few acceptions but its not worth the extra 1000 dollars for a good CAD card. You really don't NEED to have the fastest card you can get. I'm a student making 14 an hour who is only buying all this hardware because his old computer failed suddenly. Sure, I wish I had some more processing power to work with when doing CADing on my old machine, but i just can't spend another 1000 dollars on a FireGL or a Quadro card. I don't make my living with this hardware.

Also, if I were to get a 4xxx card it would provide no benefit for cad work, right?
Click to expand...

no it would its still a faster card then any of the 3xxx line
and you can get a 4850 for 160 after rebate any more
 
Eh, I'll think about it. Its still 100 dollars more than the vid card I have in my current wish list.
 
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