Wanting to build my first rig..

[Jin316]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing?

The computer will be used for heavy photo editing, possibly video editing, maybe gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$1500 - 2000

3) Where do you live?

Orlando, FL

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?

Building from scratch and need all components

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?

OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD

6) Will you be overclocking?

Yes

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

Currently have a single Dell 2209WA, would like a video card(s) that support multiple monitor use

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?

Firewire, RAID

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?

No, I do not.

I would like the computer to be very quiet/cool and not lag/bottleneck at all when using Adobe Photoshop CS4 or Lightroom 2

 

[lt_shiro]

are any cases you are interested in?

 

[Jin316]

are any cases you are interested in?

I'm currently leaning towards the Corsair 800D, I really like the large building space and it seems like a quality case.

 

[lt_shiro]

target overclock for i7 920?

 

[Jin316]

target overclock for i7 920?

Possibly 4GHz, as long as it's stable.

 

[lt_shiro]

Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail and CORSAIR CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail Combo $395

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Retail $240

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail and
CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler - Retail Combo $352

3x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail $282

Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EADS 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $110

SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM $28

XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail $180

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $105

5770 while not the fastest card on market, its still good for 90% of the games for that size display.

 

[Jin316]

Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail and CORSAIR CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail Combo $395

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Retail $240

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail and
CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler - Retail Combo $352

3x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail $282

Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EADS 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $110

SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM $28

XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail $180

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $105

5770 while not the fastest card on market, its still good for 90% of the games for that size display.

Thanks for the quick reply, is it possible to add in another 4GB of RAM to the setup?

Also, would this 800D / PSU combo work as well?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304271

 

[lt_shiro]

anything pass 12 GB is very costly...

 

[tiraides]

Thanks for the quick reply, is it possible to add in another 4GB of RAM to the setup?

Also, would this 800D / PSU combo work as well?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304271

You can't add another 4GB kit, as the board lt_shiro chose for you only has six DDR3 slots -- and he picked out three 2x2GB dual-channel kits (that will function just as well in tri-channel mode) for you. If you want more than 12GB RAM, you'll have to buy 4GB sticks -- and they're very expensive.

The combo deal that you chose for yourself would work -- it's actually cheaper than lt_shiro's deal.

 

[Jin316]

You can't add another 4GB kit, as the board lt_shiro chose for you only has six DDR3 slots -- and he picked out three 2x2GB dual-channel kits (that will function just as well in tri-channel mode) for you. If you want more than 12GB RAM, you'll have to buy 4GB sticks -- and they're very expensive.

The combo deal that you chose for yourself would work -- it's actually cheaper than lt_shiro's deal.

Ah, makes sense. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Leon_Solitario]

I'd drop the Corsair CWCH50-1. it's performance is lower than that of the better heatsinks (at similar prices, if not cheaper) and it'll vent it's exhaust back into the case unless it's mounted outside, and I doubt you'll want to modify such a nice case, lol. with a processor like the i7 series I'd rather go with a top-end heatsink if you didn't want to go water, it'll improve performance and help increase the processor's lifespan in the long-run.

can't comment on other parts yet, as I'm still learning about them myself too, lol.

 

[engiNURD]

For video editing, I'd imagine you'd be hitting that HDD much more often than most people, so I'd recommend a Samsung F3 1TB or Caviar Black 1TB instead of the Green.

 

[tiraides]

I'd drop the Corsair CWCH50-1. it's performance is lower than that of the better heatsinks (at similar prices, if not cheaper) and it'll vent it's exhaust back into the case unless it's mounted outside, and I doubt you'll want to modify such a nice case, lol. with a processor like the i7 series I'd rather go with a top-end heatsink if you didn't want to go water, it'll improve performance and help increase the processor's lifespan in the long-run.

can't comment on other parts yet, as I'm still learning about them myself too, lol.

The fan on the H50 can be positioned to serve as a "traditional" exhaust fan, but Corsair recommends that it be used as an intake fan. (Corsair also recommends that you use a different fan to serve as an exhaust fan. Various benchmarks show that, unless you use a double-fan push/pull configuration, the H50 works better with the fan used as an intake fan.)

That said, the H50 is considerably quieter than most fan-based CPU coolers running at full load. Plus, it can easily handle a Core i7 processor running at stock speeds for better-than-stock-Intel-HSF performance.

 

[Jin316]

Thanks for the help and recommendations everyone. Here is my current setup, please critique and let me know if I need to make any changes. Thanks

Video card: EVGA 896-P3-1171-AR GeForce GTX 275 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Memory: G.SKILL PI Series 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T2-12GBPI - Retail

Motherboard: EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Retail

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

Case: Corsair 800D

CPU cooler: Corsair H50

Also, with this setup, is it possible to safely OC the rig to 4GHz in the future? Can someone recommend a component that has Firewire? Thanks in advance

 

[tiraides]

Why the GTX 275? When are you going to start buying multiple monitors? Which games do you plan on playing on this system? Nothing that you've mentioned in this thread suggests to me that you need that card.

Instead of buying one 12GB set, buy three 4GB sets, like lt_shiro picked out for you earlier. If one stick went bad all of a sudden, you would have to RMA the entire kit. For the PI series 12GB set, that would mean you would have to return all six sticks of RAM for the RMA process.

The Asus P6T (and its spinoffs) has onboard Firewire, as does the majority of Gigabyte's X58 boards. You could also buy an add-in card for the EVGA board.

Generally, you should look for a few NewEgg combo deals to help lower the overall costs of this build.

 

[lt_shiro]

GTX 275 has horrible value. Nvidia products are currently class at every price point by AMD onless it is for CUDA.

@tiraides Evga x58 LE does have firewire. Just none on the Rear I/O.

 

[Jin316]

Why the GTX 275?

Seems like a decent card, EVGA's customer service, and from what I've read.. it doesn't have Windows 7 driver issues like the 5770.

When are you going to start buying multiple monitors?

I forgot to put this in the first post, but I already have a Dell 2405 Ultrasharp and 2209WA, and will be purchasing another 2209WA as soon as it goes on sale again.

Which games do you plan on playing on this system?

I would like to try out MW2 on the PC, and StarCraft II........ if it ever comes out.

Instead of buying one 12GB set, buy three 4GB sets, like lt_shiro picked out for you earlier. If one stick went bad all of a sudden, you would have to RMA the entire kit. For the PI series 12GB set, that would mean you would have to return all six sticks of RAM for the RMA process.

I don't like the design of the Ripjaws and took your advice. I went ahead and purchased two sets of this RAM.

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI - Retail

 

[Jin316]

For video editing, I'd imagine you'd be hitting that HDD much more often than most people, so I'd recommend a Samsung F3 1TB or Caviar Black 1TB instead of the Green.

Thanks for the recommendation, I've purchased a couple of Samsung F3 HDDs.

 

[Dangman]

Seems like a decent card, EVGA's customer service, and from what I've read.. it doesn't have Windows 7 driver issues like the 5770.

As lt_shiro said, the GTX 275 is not a decent card for the money considering that it strays into the significantly faster HD 5850's price range. As for the Windows 7 issues, haven't heard of any major issues with the HD 5770.

In general, unless you really hate ATI, buying a brand new Nvidia card would nto be a good purchase for the money considering that you can get faster ATI cards for the less.

 

[tiraides]

Why the GTX 275?

Seems like a decent card, EVGA's customer service, and from what I've read.. it doesn't have Windows 7 driver issues like the 5770.

As Danny mentioned earlier, ATI video cards perform just as well as their Nvidia "equivalents," but oftentimes for less (money).

When are you going to start buying multiple monitors?

I forgot to put this in the first post, but I already have a Dell 2405 Ultrasharp and 2209WA, and will be purchasing another 2209WA as soon as it goes on sale again.

This is another reason to go with an ATI video card, as the new 58xx cards support Eyefinity, which is designed to support up to three monitors on the same card.

Which games do you plan on playing on this system?

I would like to try out MW2 on the PC, and StarCraft II........ if it ever comes out.

I believe that MW2 will be more graphically demanding than SC2. That said, the HD5850 would play MW2 well at a 1920x1080 resolution (granted, on one monitor, but still...).

Instead of buying one 12GB set, buy three 4GB sets, like lt_shiro picked out for you earlier. If one stick went bad all of a sudden, you would have to RMA the entire kit. For the PI series 12GB set, that would mean you would have to return all six sticks of RAM for the RMA process.

I don't like the design of the Ripjaws and took your advice. I went ahead and purchased two sets of this RAM.

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI - Retail

You spent too much money. Regardless of the "looks," the CL9 Ripjaws kit would have performed just as well at stock speeds, and overclock just as far, as the CL7 PI Series kit.

You should have gone with three 2x2GB Ripjaws kits instead... you would have saved about $30 plus the cost(s) of shipping.