New workstation/HTPC built

A

Aslund

n00b
Joined
Nov 14, 2010
Messages
32
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Programming, 2D/3D simulation , Web browsing, Videos
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Approx 1000 dollars
3) Where do you live?
Odense (Denmark)
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Motherboard, GFX, RAM, HDD (for OS)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Samsung DVD-burner, Corsair 520W PSU, CoolerMaster Stacker, 4*Western Digital Green HDD's
6) Will you be overclocking?
Maybe
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2*19" + 1*32"(TV)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within 2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Firewire (USB3 and SATA 6Gb/s is nice to have)
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No, using linux, 32-bit


Hey, planning to build myself a new workstation for home since my current is placed at the university for a long term project.
Since I am from Denmark, then prices and availability differs a bit, but I will start out with my own thoughts for a build (using american sites to ease language differences)
CPU - Intel i7 2600K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070&cm_re=i7_2600k-_-19-115-070-_-Product
Motherboard - AsRock Fatal1ty P67 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157240&cm_re=fatal1ty-_-13-157-240-_-Product
RAM - 4GB Crucial Ballistix 1600Mhz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148325&cm_re=crucial_ballistix_ddr3-_-20-148-325-_-Product
HDD - OCZ Vertex 2 60GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550&cm_re=ocz_vertex_2-_-20-227-550-_-Product
GFX - Sapphire 5770 FleX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102906&Tpk=flex%205770
COU Cooler - Scythe Mugen 2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093&cm_re=mugen_2-_-35-185-093-_-Product

The Sapphire 5770 FleX enables me to use the HDMI and two DVI ports simultaniously, which is nice with all my display and I have read about some problems with using a DisplayPort to DVI adapter, so I am trying to avoid that solution.
While the AsRock Extreme6 provides the same features as Fatal1ty, then as an engineer does the heat sinks look better and more efficient on the Fatal1ty, making me interested in throwing a few more bucks for it.

But I look forward for your thoughts.

Regards

Sebastian Aslund
 
The sapphire card looks interesting. Wasn't aware that it was out.

The system looks solid. A couple of thoughts:

1. Unless you have a pressing need for the i7's additional threads, the i5 2500k offers similar performance at much lower cost. If you think your simulation work will take advantage of the i7, go for it.

2. I don't have any experience with Crucial ram, but you could probably find 8GB for marginally more money, and you should err towards lower voltage (1.5v or less) with sandy bridge.

3. Your SSD uses the SATA2 interface. Your MB has plenty of SATA3 ports; if you can find a decent SSD with SATA3 interface, one of the new Intels or the Corsair Performance line, or the Vertex 3, you should see some performance improvements. That said, the Vertex 2 will be more than adequate as a system drive.
 
Aslund said:
Motherboard - AsRock Fatal1ty P67 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157240&cm_re=fatal1ty-_-13-157-240-_-Product
....
While the AsRock Extreme6 provides the same features as Fatal1ty, then as an engineer does the heat sinks look better and more efficient on the Fatal1ty, making me interested in throwing a few more bucks for it.
Click to expand...
Neighther of those motherboards are good choices for the money. Their two year warranty effectively and the high price effectively kills it as a choice IMO. You might be better off with this motherboard:
$180 - MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard

Aslund said:
RAM - 4GB Crucial Ballistix 1600Mhz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148325&cm_re=crucial_ballistix_ddr3-_-20-148-325-_-Product
Click to expand...
Not a good choice: That RAM is rated at 1.65V which is the max RAM voltage for Intel's Core i series CPUs. We recommend getting RAM rated at 1.5V for safety reasons. In addition, you won't notice a real world difference between DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600 RAM. Not to mention that it's a 2x2GB RAM set which limits your future RAM upgrades to 12GB max.

So find a 4GB RAM stick rated at 1.5V for safety and future RAM expansion.
Aslund said:
HDD - OCZ Vertex 2 60GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550&cm_re=ocz_vertex_2-_-20-227-550-_-Product
Click to expand...
Not a good choice. The OCZ Vertex 2 SSDs are based on the Sandforce SF1200 SSD whose real world performance is significantly slower than the stated specs. In addition, OCZ recently did a change that made their SSDs even slower than the standard Sandforce SF1200.

So go for the Crucial C300 64GB SSD as it's significantly faster than that OCZ SSD and shouldn't be that much more:
$135 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SSD

Aslund said:
COU Cooler - Scythe Mugen 2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093&cm_re=mugen_2-_-35-185-093-_-Product
Click to expand...
Not a good choice these days. This is a better HSF for the money:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
 
Hey

Thanks for your replies.
Neighther of those motherboards are good choices for the money. Their two year warranty effectively and the high price effectively kills it as a choice IMO. You might be better off with this motherboard:
$180 - MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard
Click to expand...

AsRock provides +1 year warranty for motherboards bought before 30. June, which gives 3 years warranty and on pair with most motherboards. Another problem is number of connections, I have 4 drives for storage, then I will have my SSD which will be paired with a 2.5" 7200rpm HDD that will contain the heavy writes of my OS e.g temp folder. Including a DVD burner then 7 SATA ports have already been occupied, which does not leave many ports on other sandy bridge motherboards than extreme6 and fatal1ty.

2. I don't have any experience with Crucial ram, but you could probably find 8GB for marginally more money, and you should err towards lower voltage (1.5v or less) with sandy bridge.
----
Not a good choice: That RAM is rated at 1.65V which is the max RAM voltage for Intel's Core i series CPUs. We recommend getting RAM rated at 1.5V for safety reasons. In addition, you won't notice a real world difference between DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600 RAM. Not to mention that it's a 2x2GB RAM set which limits your future RAM upgrades to 12GB max.
Click to expand...

I have looked into the matter and I am quite surprised that it have not been better information of this. I have found these three options, but can't really decide between them.
Corsair XMS3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
Kingston LoVo - http://en.ocworkbench.com/tech/review-of-kingston-lovo-hyperx-modules-khx1600c9d3lk24gx/
 
In general, getting any 1333 MHz 1.5v CL9 stick of RAM will work well with a Sandy Bridge chip. Crucial, G.Skill, and Corsair are usually my go to companies. I also dislike heat spreaders as they usually just get in the way of the heat sink without providing large benefits to a Sandy Bridge system.

To give you more flexibility in choosing a motherboard, consider getting a card like this to boost your number of SATA ports. It may not be cost effective (you'll have to look around.) Note that the card is PCIe x4 when choosing your motherboard. You could also look into getting an external DVD burner to free up another SATA port.

Does your Linux OS have good driver support for that video card? What about the motherboard and all other cards you'll be putting in there?
 
Aslund said:
AsRock provides +1 year warranty for motherboards bought before 30. June, which gives 3 years warranty and on pair with most motherboards. Another problem is number of connections, I have 4 drives for storage, then I will have my SSD which will be paired with a 2.5" 7200rpm HDD that will contain the heavy writes of my OS e.g temp folder. Including a DVD burner then 7 SATA ports have already been occupied, which does not leave many ports on other sandy bridge motherboards than extreme6 and fatal1ty.
Click to expand...
I know that products in europe have a minimum of a two year warranty. But I'm not sure if that +1 warranty from AsRock applies to their European customers.

Aslund said:
I have looked into the matter and I am quite surprised that it have not been better information of this. I have found these three options, but can't really decide between them.
Corsair XMS3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
Kingston LoVo - http://en.ocworkbench.com/tech/review-of-kingston-lovo-hyperx-modules-khx1600c9d3lk24gx/
Click to expand...

Again, don't get 1.65V RAM. So don't get the Corsair. The Kingston is fine however.
 
Danny Bui said:
Again, don't get 1.65V RAM. So don't get the Corsair. The Kingston is fine however.
Click to expand...

The Kingston is fine especially if the mobo can be set to lower than 1.5V. However, even at 1.5V, the RAM is unlikely to fail any time soon.
As for the Corsair, unless you want to "neuter" the memory speed to DDR3-1333 or lower, don't get it for an LGA 1155 build. It requires all of 1.65V just to operate at its advertised speed and timings.
 
Okay, I have now finalized the built. Sadly I had to move away from AMD and go on NVidia wagon due to CUDA.

CPU - i7 2600K: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070&cm_re=i7_2600k-_-19-115-070-_-Product
CPU Cooler - Mugen 2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093&cm_re=mugen_2-_-35-185-093-_-Product
RAM - Kingston LoVo 4GB 1600Mhz: http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-Modules-KHX1600C9D3LK2-4GX/dp/B003B47QKO
Motherboard - AsRock P67 Fatal1ty: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157240&Tpk=asrock%20fatal1ty
HDD - Crucial C300 64GB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357&cm_re=c300_64gb-_-20-148-357-_-Product
GFX 1 - Asus GTX 560 Ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121424&cm_re=asus_gtx_560-_-14-121-424-_-Product
GFX 1 Cooler: Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme Plus: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186043&Tpk=arctic%20cooling%20accelero%20xtreme%20plus
GFX 2 - Gainward GT 520 SilentFX: http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=649

I am working with many threads thus the reason for keeping the i7 2600K over the i5 2500K.
Regarding the motherboard then I have been a bit split, AsRock have previously been known as a discount name and I could see that MSI is highly recommended, but further investigation and reviews have eased my worries and made me more and more interested in the board.
I cant see the point with Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, it might be 15 dollars less ( atleast here in Denmark ) but provides inferior coolinger performance over Mugen 2.
I have been especially torn with deciding for a new graphic card, I want a low noise card with triple display ability (without DisplayPort), but I cant get that with Nvidia, so I needed two cards. The GT520 was a straightforward choice, but the main graphic card was though. Initially I choose GTX 460, but I saw that some test showed nearly a double performance in CUDA with GTX 560 Ti, which cost only 30% more, which made me interested in investing the additional money. For both cards, then their noise levels do not seem to interesting, so I am investing in the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme Pro.

I look forward to comments on this setup.

Regards

Sebastian
 
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Aslund said:
RAM - Kingston LoVo 4GB 1600Mhz: http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-Modules-KHX1600C9D3LK2-4GX/dp/B003B47QKO
Click to expand...
Are DDR3 1333 RAM not that much less over there or something?

Aslund said:
Regarding the motherboard then I have been a bit split, AsRock have previously been known as a discount name and I could see that MSI is highly recommended, but further investigation and reviews have eased my worries and made me more and more interested in the board.
Click to expand...
You never cleared this up: Does that +1 year warranty apply to European customers as well?

Aslund said:
I cant see the point with Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, it might be 15 dollars less ( atleast here in Denmark ) but provides inferior coolinger performance over Mugen 2.
Click to expand...
It's a price to performance thing: The Hyper 212+ offers a better bang for the buck value over the Mugen 2. But if you don't care about that, no matter. However do make sure that you're getting the SCMG-2100 Rev. B version since that comes with the LGA 1156/1155 mounting bracket. The one you linked doesn't come with that bracket at all and therefore won't work that motherboard.

Aslund said:
I have been especially torn with deciding for a new graphic card, I want a low noise card with triple display ability (without DisplayPort), but I cant get that with Nvidia, so I needed two cards. The GT520 was a straightforward choice, but the main graphic card was though. Initially I choose GTX 460, but I saw that some test showed nearly a double performance in CUDA with GTX 560 Ti, which cost only 30% more, which made me interested in investing the additional money. For both cards, then their noise levels do not seem to interesting, so I am investing in the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme Pro.
Click to expand...
If you're gonna replace the stock HSF, I reccommend buying from eVGA or XFX as those companies will allow you to add 3rd party HSF without voiding the warranty. Fairly sure Asus won't allow 3rd party HSF on their cards.
 
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Choosing 1333Mhz over 1600Mhz will make me save 1-2 bucks, so I go for 1600Mhz even though the performance difference in minimal, but we are talking about peanuts here.

AsRock +1 warranty is global, so covers Europe too. Their German website is also announcing the +1 warranty year.

I have Mugen 2 in my other computer too and simply love it, so with only 15 dollars more and better performance, then nothing can make me abandon this baby :D

Hmm, an eVGA card cost 30 dollars more and is super overclocked, not really that interesting. Our choices are a bit limited here http://www.edbpriser.dk/Search/Products.aspx?q=&qft=&s=&cpath=1-2-15&qt=Fql&nf=strmatrix4%3a^%22NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+560+Ti+%C2%A40.0000000000%22%24%5bMultiValSep%5d%C2%A7specifictaxonomy%3a^Hardware|2%2fGrafikkort|15%24
I think about ti, keeping the original fan should cover that problem with warrenty.
 
Aslund said:
Choosing 1333Mhz over 1600Mhz will make me save 1-2 bucks, so I go for 1600Mhz even though the performance difference in minimal, but we are talking about peanuts here.
Click to expand...
Just making sure. Been seeing people who are too stubborn to go with DDR3 1333 RAM simply because it's not 1600. In your case, the price difference is minimal so no worries here.

Aslund said:
AsRock +1 warranty is global, so covers Europe too. Their German website is also announcing the +1 warranty year. .
Click to expand...
In that case, it's a good choice.

Aslund said:
Hmm, an eVGA card cost 30 dollars more and is super overclocked, not really that interesting. Our choices are a bit limited here http://www.edbpriser.dk/Search/Products.aspx?q=&qft=&s=&cpath=1-2-15&qt=Fql&nf=strmatrix4%3a^%22NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+560+Ti+%C2%A40.0000000000%22%24%5bMultiValSep%5d%C2%A7specifictaxonomy%3a^Hardware|2%2fGrafikkort|15%24
I think about ti, keeping the original fan should cover that problem with warrenty.
Click to expand...
Not really if they detect the original HSF was removed. But its your money.
 
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