Hi All, Nice place you have here! I have just started to build myself a new system, and was just after some friendly advice. Here's what I have so far... Lian-Li X2000 Case, OCZ ModXStream 600W PSU, Asus SATA DVDRW, Seagate 250GB SATA2 HD (for data & backups), Windows XP Pro. Here's what I have on order... Asus P6T Deluxe motherboard Here's what I am going to get to complete the build... Intel Core I7 920 CPU Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 Cooler OCZ 3GB DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Gold What I haven't decided on ... Graphics? HDs? Questions/Decisions I can't decide on 2 lower end cards in SLI or 1 high end card. (Max £400) I also can't decide on the HD's, should I go for 2 x 64GB SSD or 2 x WD Velociraptor 150GB? (Size is not an issue, I currently have 2 x 40GB SATA drives striped, and have space to spare) Primary uses for the system are gaming (which is probably going to be CoD5 for the foreseeable future), programming and video editing. I also want this system to be as quiet as possible. I have read lots of reports about stuttering with the SSD drives, and would also think the WD VRs would be better for video editing, so am swaying towards the VRs. Any thoughts or suggestions from you gurus would be appreciated. Regards, Les PS. If anyone is interested, I could upload photos of the build as it progresses, I spent the whole of Wednesday, sleeving those horrible cream cables in the case. I also have to make up some custom modular leads, as the OCZ ones aren’t long enough. So although there won't be any major mods, the aim is to have a good spec, nice looking (internally and externally) quiet system.
If you can get hold of the Intel SSD that's supposed to be quite good, otherwise I'd stick with conventional HD's for the moment. Very, very pricey though: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-000-IN For the graphics, its a choice between the 2Gb HD4870x2 or two GTX280's in SLI - both have their merits (and both are possible on the X58).
SSDs stutter badly when simultaneous read/write operations are in effect, the VRs are better in that respect and have a bigger capacity. CoD 5 needs next to no power to run - what monitor are you using?
easy go for the 920 tekheads apparently have stock on monday with the new rampage board (phoned them up yesterday) Perosnally go for the 4870x2
CoD 5 runs OK on my current system (FX61,4GB DDR 400, GF 7900 GTX), so I know it run will OK on the new system. As for the monitor I have Philips 22" CRT as my main screen, with a 17" Dell TFT as secondary. Yes I know it's old, big and ugly, but I don't want to get rid of it all the time it works. (Bit like the missus really ) As for the rest, prices seem to vary by as much as £20 per item, so you need to shop around. Haven't found anyone with the OCZ ram or Noctua 1366 cooler in stock yet though. Regards, Les
The G.Skill memory is pretty nice, but then again, so is Super Talent, Patriot Viper (in blue!), Corsair (DHX+'s are funky! but expensive), A-Data (who are having a massive "enthusiast" push right now) Try memoryc.com - they're a distributor out of Ireland for many of the UK stores, and tend to stock a bigger variety of brands. We'll be doing an "Affects of memory performance on Core i7" later in the month/next month but given that it has oodles of memory performance anyway, even if you're overclocking you don't need to buy super expensive fast memory and imo, "low latency" matters even less - CAS-9 is fine. Even running a dual channel kit makes very little difference in performance (see our original Core i7 performance article for examples).
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll probably wait til later in the week for Aria to get stock, as they seem to be the cheapest for all the bits I want. I think I have decided on a OCZ 6GB kit, even though I am sticking with XP. You never know Windows 7, might be worth upgrading to. As for the rest, my motherboard turned up today , so far I have resisted the temptation to get it out of the box and drool over it. I managed to make the custom PSU leads, and route most of the cables in the case yesterday, and now I have the board I should be able to do the rest of the cabling tonight. I was planning on using my existing X-FI sound card ( think it's the original Fatality), does it still cut the mustard? How about the Asus Xonar D2? Regards, Les
Still dear though - i7 920, P6T and 3x2GB coming to over £700 - oof! Give it a few weeks/month or so and prices should drop.
I really don't think they'll come down that much. Memory, maybe, but not a huge degree. When you include the fact that memory companies want to make up for DDR2's loss, new tooling techniques cost money (performance DDR3 low voltage) and the current economic climate I can't see it happening unless someone sparks a price war. This is also why you see companies going "Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature Feature"
Oh dear, I been a very naughty boy. Think I just blew my budget! I just ordered... Core i7 920 6GB Patriot 12800 DDR3 RAM Noctua NH-U12P Cooler Asus Xonar D2X 2 x BFG GX280 0C Corsair HX1000 PSU 2 x WD VR150GB Guess what I'll be doing this weekend? Les
The good news is I have recieved everything to finish off the system. The bad news is I have Man Flu and feel like shite, don't think I'll be doing anything tonight. Hopefully I'll be fit enough tomorrow to put this lot together and post some pics/benchies. Regards, Les
Well the system is built, but i haven't had too much time to play, as I still have this damn cold! Initial impressions are good... No problems with the build, Windows XP installed in about 7 mins and the system is very quiet. First benchmark run on 3dmark06, was just over 19000 at stock speeds, after clocking the CPU to 3.2Ghz this rose to just over 22000. (Almost 4 x better than my old system!) A couple of minor niggles though... Seems you can't have dual view monitors and sli in XP. This is a big disappointment as I have been using 2 monitor for ages, and find it extremely useful, especially when gaming/programming. I can't play CoD WaW with the Xonar D2X, as it crashes (both SP & MP) on start up (unhandled exception). I have the latest BETA drivers, but still no go. If I disable the card and enable onboard it plays fine. I will try and post some pics later, if I get time. Regards, Les
