Build Help!

What is your budget?

What kind of workstation work do you intend to be doing?


Edited by Dragoonseal - 08 Aug 2010 at 3:52pm

acer does make a decent monitor for people who don't have a lot of money to spend on them. they don't back their product, so if you have a problem in their eyes it is your problem. i fought with acer to get a new monitor since i have a strip of white dots on the top and bottom of my screen, by the time they were coming around to sending me a new one (refurbished)... ooops your warranty has expired sorry. samsung makes a good product for a little more, but their cords are short so if you put your computer on the floor it may give you grief (6 ft cord).

you can save your self money by buying it somewhere other then here, not only do you pay a slightly inflated cost since they have to make a profit too, but you also pay individual shipping for each item. i would recommend buying all your accessories from a place like www.newegg.com or in-store. when buying accessories you need to know how they feel and look so don't buy a product with out seeing it or touching it first. this way you know your happy.

do you want the monitors displaying the same image or different ones?

the case you have chosen does not have good airflow, it is a very cheap case with poor quality and may restrict what parts can be put in your system. keep in mind the cooling package you chose only does the cpu not the gpu, which is why you need a case with good airflow.

the top air cooling cases in order:
Assassin
Haf 932
haf x

a computer bought here can last a lifetime as long as you upgrade it. the oc on the cpu will have a lifespan of 7 years roughly before it dies. the video card on the other hand will need to be upgraded before hand to keepo current with your gaming. i would not recommend going with a i7 860 since it runs of a p55 platform and it is as high as it goes. choosing a i7 930 would be your best bet because down the road when you need more processor power you can upgrade to the hex core.

here is a build for you that is extremely powerful, it is $4 over budget (bundle not included) but this will be relevant for years to come, with out the need to upgrade till after your warranty expires. you can upgrade this in the future with free labor for life. if you do not want to use SLI you can downgrade the mobo to the evga micro and save $30. the only difference between the two is a extra pcie slot for a gpu. the psu i chose for you does not have the ability to run two of the gpus selected. to run sli with this gpu you will need the 1200 or 1250 watt psu which would put you way over budget.

you can also consider ATI graphics with a 5870 which will be cheaper, but it has .5gb less vram and no physx. the 1gb and 2gb versions of the 5870 have only marginally different performance. for your needs the nvidia card would be a better choice


Edited by Raif - 08 Aug 2010 at 6:00pm

That does seem like a great system, but the price coupled with 2 monitors from where ever, the keyboard, mouse and speakers will probably put me well over 2,000$.  Plus there are some bells and whistles that I don't need, but would rather have.  Windows 7 Ultimate, 1 TB drive, or 2 500 GB drives, etc etc.

Is my build a bad one?  I do think I should change the case because I can see the airflow in my original is not good at all.

Originally posted by Bense How about a build like this: 430408 With just one monitor this time... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236079

Kinda close to what I'd suggest.

You want a CPU cooler. You can't overclock much with the stock cooler, it can't take much extra heat. But get a good cooler like say the Stage 1 Noctua and they'll be able to overclock the 930 up to 3.9GHz easily enough. An extra 40% processing power for +$95 is a great buy.

I wouldn't recommend the free OS tweak. The disabled services or visual effects are barely even a blip on the radar of an overclocked 930 processor and you can easily miss out on helpful or nice looking things by disabling them. Better to just tweak the OS to your preferences on your own.

The only thing Windows 7 Ultimate offers you that Professional does not is multilingual support and access to encryption software. The only thing that Professional offers you that Home Premium does not is the ability to download and install XP Mode virtualization software. If you don't need multilingual support drop down to Professional, if you don't need XP Mode either drop down to Home Premium.

The second HDD for OS/apps is going the right direction, but for just a little more you can get a 40GB Intel SSD which has literately 100 times better small file read/write performance than any conventional HDD available.

So something more like this:

Ticket #430413, Price: $1985

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Digital Storm Certified (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Recommended)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (40GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: X-25V Edition) (Extreme Performance)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended)
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

OS/apps on the SSD, games/movies/music/media on the HDD. If you want more HDD space it's just another $40 to upgrade to a 1TB Seagate/Hitachi, which is also a bit quicker than the 500GB.

overclocking your video card is similar, but it starts out stronger. overclocking is not as significant. it is a lot easier to overclock, and can even be set to only overclock when you open a specific program, which i find very efficient. that way, if you need it juiced up a little to play a newer game, you can do that, but then you can avoid the noise when you arent using it.

Edited by !ender_ - 09 Aug 2010 at 1:49pm

Originally posted by Bense so I should put OS and things like Visual Studio and photoshop onto the SSD?  Games and everything else on the normal Drive correct?

Correct. Games can be very nice to have on an SSD too, but considering that overall they really don't benefit too much (only start and load times) and that games take up a ton of space and SSD space is really expensive, it's usually better to just leave them on a conventional HDD.

and if I just buy one monitor now (looking at that asus 23" from new egg), it shouldn't be a problem to add a second one in the near future correct?

Correct. Nvidia GPUs can run up to 2 monitors each. ATI monitors can run up to 3 monitors each.

This is assuming you're just using the second monitor for more desktop space though. If you wanted to actually game on two monitors suddenly you're running the game at 3840x1080, which is a lot harder so expect to need more GPU power for that.

yes i do this all the time and its one of the best things i ever did for my computing exp

Ooooh Logitech keyboard sale, score. The G110 is currently going for the same price, which is basically the same thing as the G15 except minus the LCD screen but twice the programmable buttons (12), in case you'd rather have more G-keys.

Mouse should be solid. I prefer Logitech mice with a few additional thumb buttons but those cost more at around $46.

I can't comment on the speakers or monitor. I'm monitor stupid, and I prefer gaming headsets over speakers. I can definitely recommend the Logitech G35 if you like headsets though. Their (virtualized) 7.1 surround is just dreamy in FPS games and ridiculously accurate, I've never been called a hacker so many times in my life, I have to explain to people I have a really good headset almost every game. Could use more bass, but I concede that I can only ask for so much for $95. No sound card needed, they are USB and use software instead of hardware.

PC Ordered!

I opted to not get the SSD, and to not overclock the CPU/add a fan.  Right now I just didn't want to spend the money on these options, and its something I can add on in the future.  I just wanted to thank everyone for their help, and I will be posting a review as soon as it arrives.  Thanks again!

oh and...
@dragoonseal, I totally bought the G35 headset... I'm super excited to use it, as your review along with about a million others say how amazing it is.  Thanks for the suggestion!


$1,802.00

System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series  (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Digital Storm Certified (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Recommended)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (1TB Hitachi/Seagate (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Standard Factory Heat-sink and Fan
H20 Tube Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my processor
Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Memory Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Pre-Install Game: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Large)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Originally posted by !ender_ im pretty sure its not even safe to use turbo with stock cooling

Rofl!

yes. most definitely, get a noctua cooler and an overclock. the performance gains there are massive.

Oh you already ordered it? yeah, just call them or send them a request ticket. Yep, that's what you should get.

Absolutely get the overclock. In effect, you are paying for a $280 CPU and getting an overclocked $1000 CPU equivalent. There is no simpler no-brainer on earth.

yeah these days overclock is essential, it is the cheapest way to maximize your power in your cpu, think of it as putting in a supercharged v8 hemi in a in a tiny v4 sedan. when coupled with the right cooler nearly anything is possible. you can get your cpu to 4.0 with the 120mm dual noc fan easily, i have even seen higher benchmarks with the same cpu and cooler.

just hopefully they will still give it for free, even if they do charge you ($50 normally) it is still plenty worth it

ssd in the end is your call, if you play games where your switching servers it will get into playtime faster, loading and installing will be faster, boot up will be faster, no more annoying defrag needed, lower power consumption, longer lasting ( over a human life when left in read/write mode 24/7), no moving parts to break like in traditional hdds.

i see you dropped the second dvd drive in your latest build... with that said my build is $46 under budget and will beat the one you bought. since you wont be using sli you can drop down to a evga micro mobo (-$30) and increase your ssd/hdd performance by a few %. another think you can add is a ram cooler i think it is around $35 and it will lower your ram temp significantly. that of course if you want to spend the money, if not it is ok we just want to help.


Edited by Raif - 11 Aug 2010 at 4:59am

what made you decide against dual monitors? its a wonderful thing to use

do it!

So how do I play TF2 on the left monitor and still use my mouse on the right monitor?  Do I need to set up a certain system ?  buttons? mouse buttons to switch it over?

Basically someone needs to give me a crash course on having dual widescreens, because I don't want to be lost when they arrive.... everything you think I should know, please fill me in!

Thanks

I understand that much haha... I mean when you play a game, do you play in windowed mode? Full screen... your mouse always stays in the game... correct?