Time for a new pc, any recommendations?

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Spiricore

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Sep 8, 2005
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Hi all,

I've recently decided that my old pc is no longer up to snuff and want to upgrade. I've managed to put together a fairly solid list of components - I'm going custom built this time around. My computer usage comes down to this: 50% gaming (EQ2, WoW, FEAR, etc), 20% video/audio editing (AVID, Nuendo), 20% movie/music, 10% large file management.

Any suggestions/comments/concerns?

-eVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
-2x Intel Xeon 5140 Woodcrest 2.33GHz Socket 771 Active or 1U Processors
-LG 18X DVD±R Super-Multi DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE
-SUPERMICRO X7DAE-O Dual Socket 771 Intel 5000X Extended ATX Server Motherboard
-PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 EPS12V EPS12V 750W PSU
-4x CORSAIR 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 FB-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) ECC Fully Buffered Server Memory
-SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
-2x Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
-COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 RC-830-SSN2-GP Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower
-Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS 7.1
-Arctic Silver 5

My only concern thus far is lack of firewire ports, which brings me to a question: will a firewire PCI-e 1x card work in a PCI-e 4x slot? Also, what can I actually use those PCI-X slots for? I'm a bit confused.

Thanks in advance!
 
Spiricore said:
Hi all,

I've recently decided that my old pc is no longer up to snuff and want to upgrade. I've managed to put together a fairly solid list of components - I'm going custom built this time around. My computer usage comes down to this: 50% gaming (EQ2, WoW, FEAR, etc), 20% video/audio editing (AVID, Nuendo), 20% movie/music, 10% large file management.

Any suggestions/comments/concerns?

-eVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
-2x Intel Xeon 5140 Woodcrest 2.33GHz Socket 771 Active or 1U Processors
-LG 18X DVD±R Super-Multi DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE
-SUPERMICRO X7DAE-O Dual Socket 771 Intel 5000X Extended ATX Server Motherboard
-PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 EPS12V EPS12V 750W PSU
-4x CORSAIR 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 FB-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) ECC Fully Buffered Server Memory
-SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
-2x Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
-COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 RC-830-SSN2-GP Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower
-Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS 7.1
-Arctic Silver 5

My only concern thus far is lack of firewire ports, which brings me to a question: will a firewire PCI-e 1x card work in a PCI-e 4x slot? Also, what can I actually use those PCI-X slots for? I'm a bit confused.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

do you really need dual procs? from what you've said about how you'd use it, i doubt it. i'd drop the dual procs and dual proc mobo and go with an evga 680i mobo with an x6800 conroe. throw in a good ($50-$70) hsf and you'll have one hell of a time overclocking the x6800 to an absolute minimum of 3.3-3.4ghz and you'll even save a few $$$ to boot.

also, save further $$$ and ditch the x-fi fatal1ty for an x-fi xtrememusic. take that extra $$$ and put it toward a larger 2nd hard drive for storage to compliment the speed of the raptor.

everything else looks good. be sure to post benchys after you build it.
 
$4202.17 after tax and shipping. It hurts. :eek: But considering the fact that it's highly likely that the 50% of my gaming time will turn over to 50% audio/video editing, I think it's worth it. Especially to last me awhile and run it 24/7. That's the main reason I decided not to go with a single cpu...and as far as the X-Fi goes, I need inputs and I believe the music edition does not supply all of the proper ports I need to get things done. I would have gone Elite, but I couldn't seem to justify the price when I could get a more hi-fi like device a little later.
 
I'd be throwing in 2x400gb hdd's for just general storage you can pick up 2 samsungs HD400J for $220 ($110 each). The pci-x16 slots are mainly for video cards and a pcie-1x card will work in a pcie-4x slot or even pcie-x16 slot :)
 
Well, everything arrived today and I've begun putting everything together. Before I get too carried away, I was curious about the best way to remove the stock thermal paste on the heatsink. All I've got is 91% rubbing alcohol and one of these...will that work alright for my purposes?
 
Spiricore said:
Well, everything arrived today and I've begun putting everything together. Before I get too carried away, I was curious about the best way to remove the stock thermal paste on the heatsink. All I've got is 91% rubbing alcohol and one of these...will that work alright for my purposes?
Click to expand...
Use an old credit card (cleaned with isopropyl alcohol) to scrape out most of the paste. Use that microfiber cloth to wipe it clean with alcohol.
 
Thanks, got that part figured out. My next issue is that it seems like the screws of the heatsink aren't screwing into anything. Upon further inspection it seems as though the screws are either a) too small for the "spring mechanism" or b) I'm totally forgetting about something. Any thoughts?
 
I got some sort of plate with the case that is said to be used for Xeon processors (from the manual: SRM - Installed on the mainboard to fix the CPU -- other then that, not much help.) but for the life of me I can't figure out how it's attached because of the dual processors. Other than that, everything is stock.
 
You're gonna pay almost $450 for 300GB of HD storage? I'd drop the Raptors. They're totally overrated. Go with Seagate's SATA2 drives and get 3x the HD space for the same price.
 
Here's a few pictures to help describe my situation (sorry for the quality):


The plate that came with the case
123540077_399790865_0.jpg


The heatsink - the screws are attached to the heatsink already and have a spring between the head of the screw and the edge of the heatsink. In this picture I'm just applying a little pressure to the head of the screw, pushing the spring down as far as it goes.

The screw *reaches* to the back of the mobo, but they are too small to screw into the holes provided by the metal pieces (seen in the last pic)
123539892_399790231_0.jpg


Processor...
123539484_399788785_0.jpg


and the back of the mobo
123539344_399788275_0.jpg
 
I think you misunderstand...this has nothing to do with the case except the fact that I'm curious about the "plate" that came with it for Xeon processors. Other than that, the case could be on another continent and I'd still have this problem. It's strictly between the heatsink and the mobo.
 
Ok, I misunderstood and I apologize. I just figured out that the heatsink screws into the *case* rather than into the mobo. I was completely unfamiliar with this process as the last computer I built (4 years ago, mind you) had clips.

Wow. Sorry again, and thanks for the hint. :p
 
Spiricore said:
The Cooler Master linked above. Still no luck figuring this damn thing out.
Click to expand...

any chance it details installation in the manual that comes with the processor/motherboard?
 
Got everything going so far, I'm just connecting up cards.

Unfortunately, my GeForce 8800GTX is covering the normal PCI slot, which screws over my ability to connect my Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty. Soo...my question now is will PCI-X 133mhz support my Fatal1ty, or do I get to send it back?

TIA.
 
It should be compatible. See if theres a jumper to clock that slot to a lower speed.
 
Thanks to everyone who helped I finally got this beast running. I'm working on making the switch over to Windows XP Pro x64, but in the meantime I'm trying to find the best power solution. My current UPS (battery backup) will not handle the load once my 8800GTX kicks in and I'm in an old apartment building in the middle of LA with some pretty terrible power flow.

So, I'm curious...what would you recommend to power this huge beast? I need something with at least 8 plugs (I have a ton of peripherals) and, most of all, be able to handle all the power my computer can demand from it. For reference, I'm using a 750w PSU.

TIA

EDIT: I noticed this one has some good write-ups... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842102048

P.S. I'll post benchmarks once I get x64 up and running smoothly.
 
You really only need to plug your system and monitor into the UPS unit; maybe even your router and broadband modem, but nothing else, really. Make sure the UPS you choose has AVR and a good warranty. I use an APC Smart-UPS 1400VA (it was free), and it works great. I also have another system on an APC XS 800VA (got it on sale at comp usa for $50AR).
 
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