Computer plan 2.0

• Halfslashed wrote on 2010-08-28 16:11
  I really didn't want to necro a 2 month old thread and update it, especially since I wanted that to be closed.
  
  So I was planning on building a high end PC, because i'm done dealing with crappy PC's. It has been two months since I first posted this plan in it's original thread, and it has been heavily worked on ever since, with suggestions from some of you people here at the nation, especially Infamy.
  
  I also did some of my own research in the last two months, so i'm not as dumb as I was with hardware.
  Also, refrain from brand related comments. I already know that Intel CPU's bench higher than AMD CPU's, but AMD has better price to performance. This is also not pure gaming, but it is mostly gaming.
  
  Modifications to the original plan:
  Cheaper, brand name, future proof motherboard
  Downgraded from 16GB memory to 8GB memory
  Took most of Osay's ideal storage setup into consideration (RAID 0'd SSD's + USB 3.0 stick for page file)
  Higher quality CPU cooling system, since I do plan to overclock
  Higher wattage, modular power supply
  From speakers + microphone to headset
  Switch to gaming mouse + gaming mousepad
  Removed gaming keyboard
  Using two widescreen 19" LED back-lit monitors rather than one non-widescreen low contrast
  
  

  
  Computer Plan/Cost
  All from Newegg.com
  
  Motherboard: "MSI 870A-G54" - 99.99
  Processor: "AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban" - 295.99
  Memory (x2): "G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB" - 92.99 (185.98)
  Video Card: "XFX HD-587X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5870" - 392.98
  CD Drive: "Sony Optiarc Black" - 18.99
  Case: "AZZA Solano 1000R" - 129.98
  Hard Drive: "Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS" - 69.99
  SSD (x2): "Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB" - 146.98 (293.96)
  Bay Converter: "SilverStone SDP08" - 12.98
  USB: "PQI U368" - 51.98
  CPU Fan (x2): "COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20CR-GP" - 12.66 (25.32)
  CPU Heatsink: "XIGMATEK Thor's Hammer" - 67.98
  CPU Thermal Gel: "ARCTIC COOLING MX-2" - 12.97
  Power Supply: "Thermaltake TPG-750M Toughpower Grand" - 149.99
  Monitor (x2): "ASUS VH198T" - 133.98 (267.96)
  Headset: "RAZER Carcharias" - 87.65
  Mouse: "RAZER Lachesis Wraith" - 75.98
  Mousepad: "steelseries QcK Mass" - 17.98
  Operating System: "Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit" - 181.98
  
  Grand Total: $2,471.64 USD
  
  ///Specifications///
  Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OS
  8GB DDR3 RAM
  Hex Core Processor at 3.2GHz per core
  1GB Dedicated Video Memory
  1.132TB Total Disk space
  SSD x2 on RAID 0
  750W Power Supply
  1440 x 900 resolution
  
  *Cooling Specs*
  CPU Heatsink with HDT technology
  Two 120mm 90CFM red LED fans mounted on the heatsink
  Two 230mm case fans, Two 140mm case fans, and one 120mm case fan
  

• Mrlucky77 wrote on 2010-08-28 16:17
  This looks pretty expensive. o.o
  
  
  But it seems like a very high-end computer. I think it will last you a good graphic experience in good games for around at least 4 years.
• Eternal wrote on 2010-08-28 19:33
  Well, at first glance, it seems like you can get a whole lot more for 2.5k (1.8k without the monitors, mouse, etc) but I'm not that experienced yet so take that with a grain of salt.
  
  I don't think you need a 1000w PSU if your not doing any crossfire or SLI. And do you really need 8GB of memory?
  
  And at that resolution, a 2GB video card is overkill. This one is 70$ cheaper. XFX HD-587X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5870 1GB
• Halfslashed wrote on 2010-08-28 22:01

  Quote from Eternal;139397:

  Well, at first glance, it seems like you can get a whole lot more for 2.5k (1.8k without the monitors, mouse, etc) but I'm not that experienced yet so take that with a grain of salt.
  
  I don't think you need a 1000w PSU if your not doing any crossfire or SLI. And do you really need 8GB of memory?
  
  And at that resolution, a 2GB video card is overkill. This one is 70$ cheaper. XFX HD-587X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5870 1GB

  
  
  I know the video card is overkill, it's just because I plan to run eyefinity with either 3 of those monitors, 2 of those monitors and a 1080p 10m contrast one, or even 3 1080p monitors in the future.
  
  The PSU is to allow substantial room for overclocking and upgrading to finer things in the future. Examples of that would be more storage space, more fans, another gfx card, better motherboard, etc. I also plan to do avid multitasking on this PC, so anything lower than 6GB is insufficient. The reason why not 6GB is because I've been told that a system runs better when the motherboard has less slots filled with memory, and memory doesn't come in 3GB sticks.
  
  Like I said, 2GB is needed for eyefinity, which I plan to do eventually, so...
  
  Also, I did some calculations, and with all the future upgrades (Three other 5400 rpm HDD's, another 5870), including peripherals and all the fans, as well as room for any external devices, I would need 1000W. Let's not forget overclocking.
• Eternal wrote on 2010-08-29 02:13
  Well, its your choice in the end then if you want full upgradability. Although, I would personally choose one of the top brand PSUs (Corsair, Seasonic, Thermaltake, PC Power and Cooling) if I was going for such a high end machine.
  
  And I'm just wondering, if your planning to go all out here, why not pick a more highend motherboard now? The one you picked seems like a budget board at first glance.
• Kraken wrote on 2010-08-29 03:30
  Your motherboard is pretty much the "base" of your computer. You want it to be 100% compatible with everything you want (duh), and you want to be satisfied with the chipset it supports. I.E. be certain the motherboard you pick is what you want, instead of down the line seeing a processor you want and saying "Oh man, I wish I could use that, but my board doesn't support it".
  
  So, pretty much, it would be worth it to buy the best motherboard you can, so you can be 100% certain you have what you want, and have more options for upgrading it down the road.
• Finnea wrote on 2010-08-29 03:42
  I don't see an Asus motherboard. I do not approve.
  It looks good though. Asus is just my preference.
• Halfslashed wrote on 2010-08-29 04:04

  Quote from Eternal;139728:

  Well, its your choice in the end then if you want full upgradability. Although, I would personally choose one of the top brand PSUs (Corsair, Seasonic, Thermaltake, PC Power and Cooling) if I was going for such a high end machine.
  
  And I'm just wondering, if your planning to go all out here, why not pick a more highend motherboard now? The one you picked seems like a budget board at first glance.

  
  
  A factor that I like to consider for PSU's is price and modular cables, as well as being crossfire ready. I've found that Corsair is too expensive for the wattage that I need + modular cables, Seasonic doesn't have enough wattage even with their highest end power supply and no modular cables, Thermaltake is too expensive period, and not only have I never even heard of PC Power and Cooling before this, but they have nothing that I need and seem overpriced.
  
  The board up there is budget, but it supports everything that I will need until they come out with PCIe 3.0 and DDR4 on motherboards.
  
  

  Quote from Kraken;139775:

  Your motherboard is pretty much the "base" of your computer. You want it to be 100% compatible with everything you want (duh), and you want to be satisfied with the chipset it supports. I.E. be certain the motherboard you pick is what you want, instead of down the line seeing a processor you want and saying "Oh man, I wish I could use that, but my board doesn't support it".
  
  So, pretty much, it would be worth it to buy the best motherboard you can, so you can be 100% certain you have what you want, and have more options for upgrading it down the road.

  
  
  Well, this is just a starter board, although it does have everything I could possibly need/want (other than 890FX AMD chipset). Eventually, after everything is paid off for the initial build, I will get a Crosshair IV Formula, or even extreme if they come out soon.
  
  

  Quote from Finnea;139789:

  I don't see an Asus motherboard. I do not approve.
  It looks good though. Asus is just my preference.

  
  
  As I said, I will upgrade to a C-4 E in the future. You're not alone, I like Asus too (Especially their laptops + ROG products).
• Zatrox wrote on 2010-08-29 04:44
  Not sure how bent you are on obtaining a "legit" Windows 7, but... yeah that's $180 you can pocket.
  
  

  SSD (x2): "Crucial RealSSD C300" - 146.98 (293.96)

  
  
  Aren't you low-balling this a bit too much? Unless you're going for those 64g drives.
  Also not quite sure why you're going for RAID0. SSD's are plenty fast on their own, they really don't need the minute speed push from a RAID config. You'd be better off getting a single Crucial (since you're using that WD Green for file storage I'm guessing).
• Halfslashed wrote on 2010-08-29 15:45

  Quote from Zatrox;139861:

  Not sure how bent you are on obtaining a "legit" Windows 7, but... yeah that's $180 you can pocket.
  
  

  SSD (x2): "Crucial RealSSD C300" - 146.98 (293.96)

  
  
  Aren't you low-balling this a bit too much? Unless you're going for those 64g drives.
  Also not quite sure why you're going for RAID0. SSD's are plenty fast on their own, they really don't need the minute speed push from a RAID config. You'd be better off getting a single Crucial (since you're using that WD Green for file storage I'm guessing).

  
  
  Well, as for the windows 7, I've pirated windows 7 before. It has proven unreliable at least twice for me, hence why I still.. unfortunately.. use vista on this laptop. I'd rather spend that $180 for windows 7 than potentially mess up something on my motherboard or my SSD's (Happened to my uncle, too).
  
  As for the SSD's, I am infact getting the 64GB models. The RAID 0 and two drives are for two things: Space for apps and improved speed. With these drives in RAID 0, I can basically load things at the speed of light, while a single SSD loads it at the speed of sound. Let's not forget, price to storage. I was considering the Vertex 2 SSD 50GB, but it costs $200 for one, and yields lower read speeds. Since I need write speeds less than read speeds, the RealSSD is my choice.
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  Decided to actually go with a quality, lower wattage PSU that has modular cables and is 80 PLUS Gold certified from thermaltake, and also with the card that Eternal recommended, due to not having room for more than two monitors.
  If needed, I'll just upgrade to a 1000W PSU from silverstone in the future.
• wolfram wrote on 2010-08-31 16:29
  Did you get the 3Gb/s or 6 Gb/s SSD's from Crucial?
• Okami wrote on 2010-09-08 14:37
  For the Windows 7 thing, if your a student at a college you may get Windows 7 for 30$ here or you can get Windows Server 2008 for free here. Of course, both require you to be a student though.
• Halfslashed wrote on 2010-09-08 23:13

  Quote from Okami;149247:

  For the Windows 7 thing, if your a student at a college you may get Windows 7 for 30$ here or you can get Windows Server 2008 for free here. Of course, both require you to be a student though.

  
  
  That's microsoft office..
• Mentosftw wrote on 2010-09-08 23:49
  ^lol
  I have a computer from 2003. Running just mabi with an antivirus in the background is 30 percent of my CPU useage.
  Anyway, why not use xp instead of 7?
• Okami wrote on 2010-09-09 00:22

  Quote from Halfslashed;149622:

  That's microsoft office..

  
  
  Do you not see the "Other Deals"? It says Windows 7 right there, and thats were I've gotten mine from..