New Build, your thoughts?Post Date: 2010-07-08 |
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BigBear 
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Joined: 08 Jul 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
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 Topic: New Build, your thoughts?Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 12:36pm |
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Hello All,
I am contemplating a new build. I've been out of the scene for about 5 years. Trying to keep the max for the tower at $2K. Below is what I've built. Primary purpose will be gaming (FPS) and music writing/editing. Your thoughts/suggestions? Thank you.
Chassis Model: Cooler Master Elite 310
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 955 (3.2GHz) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3 (AMD 790X Chipset) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Power Supply: 750W Digital Storm Certified Hard Drive Set 1: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x) Internet Access: High Speed Network Port Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 2GB Sound Card: Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: High Performance Cooler Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis With Zalman Performance Fans (Up to 6 Fans) Boost Processor: Overclock between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz Boost OS: Yes, Disable and tweak all non-crucial services on OS Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) Total: $1850 |
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!ender_
DS Veteran 
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 1:23pm |
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headed in the right direction, you can get a lot more with the same budget i would get
$1750 so far
drop the fan package and get a haf case that comes with good, quiet cooling.
if you want to overclock, you will get way more out of an i7/nocuta then an AMD + "high performance cooler", similar price too
i chose the 470 because im an nvidia fanboy, but your card choice is fine, its preference between those 2 choices
you didnt really say what youre using it for, but not sure why you have 8gb ram, its pretty excessive unless youre doing some heavy non game tasks, mainly photoshop on an industrial level
others will probably tell you to drop the soundcard. i wouldnt, but i am a bigger sound person than i thought. i tried to go with onboard audio and hated it
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BigBear
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Joined: 08 Jul 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 2:31pm |
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I've been out of the game for quite a while, so please excuse some questions that may seem ignorant...
Ender (Orson Scott Card fan?), I do not really have any plans of OC'ing, even though that was a "free" option. Hence the "upgraded coolers/fans". I could possible drop that and still get your price.
So questions for you:
1. Is the nvidia 470 and the Radeon 5870 comparable?
a. And don't the nvidia cards burn hotter?
2. You are thinking that 4gb of ram will serve me well? Main uses are gaming and music writing/editing.
3. Without over clocking... would the I7 860 and AMD 955 be comparable?
Thank you for taking the time to look things over and talk to me.
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!ender_
DS Veteran
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 3:31pm |
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no stupid questions here, thats what the forums are for
yes i adore card's ender series :)
1
this topic is nvidia vs ati fanboy warground. in the benchmarks that ive seen, they look pretty neck and neck. nvidia's stance is that with tesselation becoming the next big thing in visual game quality, that the 470 will pull ahead in the future. i read tons of articles and comments about the 470 being so hot and loud and it turns out that it is all anti marketing, liable, bs, i use this card and even overclocked while running 3d vantage i can EASILY keep it at 80c. not a bad temp at all. power consumption, ati wins
so its preference, take some time comparing the benchmarks or side with the brand you like more. im an nvidia fan personally, but i would never say that the 5870 is not a good card
2 current games would be pretty unlikely to even see 3gigs of ram, let alone stress it or use more, editing is a slightly different story, audio rendering relies more on the processor i believe, which would add a vote to the i7 860(see #3) with hyperthreading. i seriously doubt 4k would bottleneck you at all with any audio editing
3 its tough to compare the 2 chips with the price difference, (the 860 is about twice as much) but for that money you get turbo, which is a free on the fly overclock and HyperThreading, which makes your 4 core processor into a 24/7 eight core processor. the i7 has more under the hood, so its really about if you will use it or not. if the question came to me, i would choose intel becuase in addition to games i do some video and photo editing, and heavy work is where you will see intel soar out in front imo. both would overclock well, but you said you werent interested in that. so it comes to preference. if you do some pretty serious audio editing, the 860 is a clear choice. if its more of a sometimes hobby, perhaps the amd. the way i look at this is to have the power there in case you need it. i never buy hardware to JUST fit what i need, i buy it to do more than i need so that my rig stays strong for a few years instead of a few months with new games, new applications, new hobbies and so on
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Cretae
DS Veteran
Joined: 22 Mar 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 7331 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 4:47pm |
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Fanboys aside, the 470 matches up with the ATI 5850, not the 5870. Stock, the 5870 is superior to the GTX 470 in virtually every way. The video card you need depends on the resolution you are driving on your monitor. (And of course if you want max performance, which is kind of a given around here.)
Without OCing, the i7 860 spanks the AMD six core pretty soundly. It is an excellent chip, but costs nearly the same as an i7 930, which gets you into a more upgradeable path for the future, and better performance in the present. If you could do with a 5850 or a 470 gpu, you could get a 1366 platform with 6 g of ram within your budget. What resolution do you run?
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Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Intel Core i7 930 3.8GHz OC EVGA X58 LE 6GB DDR3 1600Mhz Ram 750W Corsair 1TB HDD 1x ATI RadeonHD 5870 1GB Noctua Dual 120mm I can make my mind think... anything.... |
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BigBear
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Joined: 08 Jul 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 5:24pm |
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Ender - Thank you Sir, very concise and easy to understand. And I agree on the "upgradability" path to take. Thank you.
Cretae - As far as what resolution I run... I don't know. I think the "standard" for games is 1980x1600 I think? I do only use one moniter, I don't need duals or anything. Another question:
1. What does "1366 platform" mean?
So while the 860 spanks the 955, tt seems that I would be better served with an i7 930 and the ATI 5870?... I'm sorry, I'm just not a "fan" of the Nvidia, I've heard/seen great things about the 5870 from friends, etc.
Also, I don't need some super fancy case though I am concerned with airflow and keeping things cool... will everything fit into the Coolermaster 310 cheapy well?
Thank you. Edited by BigBear - 08 Jul 2010 at 5:25pm |
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!ender_
DS Veteran
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 5:48pm |
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i see the 5870 decently ahead in synthetic benchmark tests, but in actual games it seems pretty close to me, within 5-10% average fps from what ive seen surely close enough to question the $200 difference in price (he chose the 2gb)
just as a quick reference 100 fps +- 10% is still 90 to 110 fps (duh), they are both good cards, just dont fall for the crap about fermis being so hot and loud. i have a 470 and they just arent when not overclocked
the only benefit at all of a i7 9 series over a i7 8 series is the socket. theres little difference in power between the two, aside from the lynnfield series turbo being better, for anyone who cares =/
you could get better benchmarks with the 920 oc + 6gb ram, probably, but real world difference would be little to nothing, except how much more money you spend on the 920+6gb ram. better off spending that money on video power, since that is what bottlenecks everything right now Edited by !ender_ - 08 Jul 2010 at 5:54pm |
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!ender_
DS Veteran
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 6:01pm |
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standard is 1920x1080, both cards in question can easily handle that res
its the next step up from socket 1156, its just the highway your parts travel on, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_socket#List_of_sockets_and_slots
lots of people are pushing the 1366 becuase of it being future "proof" great marketing if you ask me. it was thought that this more expensive socket would hold the new intel hex core, but thats not looking good
makes me queasy when i think about how many people bought the 1366 with hopes of upgrading to hex, but again, great marketing
with that out, unless youre editing video/photos on an industrial level theres little to no need for more than 4gb at a good speed
as far as the case goes, i pretty much hate the look and layout of the 310, if you arent going to be overclocking much or at all, then case will not be that big of a player, but i would reccomend the haf 922 or 932 for good airflow at a considerably low volume Edited by !ender_ - 08 Jul 2010 at 6:03pm |
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Dragoonseal
DS Veteran
Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2247 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 6:50pm |
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Hexa-core expandability is a definite big perk, but I don't know if I would call it the main selling point. The x58 platform also has notable other advantages such as triple channel memory, higher memory bandwidth, higher PCIe bandwidth, better support for multiple GPU setups, and in general a better motherboard and CPU selection.
Considering the extremely small price difference between the two I think it is money very well spent for the x58 platform. |
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Lilim
Intel Core i7 920 @4.2GHz HAF 932 - Dual SLI Nvidia GTX 480s 3x Intel X25-M G2 (80GB) SSD RAID0 |
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BigBear
Newbie
Joined: 08 Jul 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 7:18pm |
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Ok,
We are starting to get into lingo I'm not understanding...
More Questions:
1. Why does it seem that Intel systems deal in 3's concerning ram and AMD in 4's? (Intel=3,6,12 or AMD=2,4,8)
2. Under which option (preset rig) do I find the i7 860? Everything seems to be i7 920.
3. Most power for the price is my main concern... So, seeing that I won't be oc'ing, just gaming, etc... do I really "need" the i7 vs. the AMD?
So, bottom line, y'all are thinking this would be a better solution even though it's right at the max in terms of $$?:
Chassis Model: HAF 922
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core) Motherboard: EVGA X58 Micro Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series Power Supply: 750W Digital Storm Certified (Dual SLI Compatible)
Hard Drive Set 1: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x) Internet Access: High Speed Network Port Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Sound Card: Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional (PCI-Express Slot Based) Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis With Zalman Performance Fans (Up to 6 Fans) Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz Boost Video Card: FREE: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible Boost OS: FREE: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial 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) Edited by BigBear - 08 Jul 2010 at 7:28pm |
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!ender_
DS Veteran
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 7:48pm |
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1 its based on the sockets again
2. its 2nd from the left
3. i think the i7 over amd is a definite, but ive already said all i can about the choice between the 2
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edit becuase i just saw your post, leave out the OS tweak and the sound card
both of these can be done later, im starting this new bit of advice after my recent onboard audio experience, try the onboard sound. if you dont like it, you can always get a soundcard later, its the easiest hardware install ever, next to a new mouse --------------------------------------------------------------
after hashing out the differences in the two, ill admit that because of your bigger budget (~over 1600) you might as well get the 9 series:
i left the overclocking on there becuase hey, its free. if you arent interested in pushing any limits, just get dso to set it to a nice even 3.5 for you, you wont see much real world gain after that point anyway. dropping to 1156 would save you exactly $100, but like i said, in your price range it starts to matter less.
you could consider dropping the SSD and getting your 5870, though i wouldnt reccomend it, just keeping you aware of the options
you could also drop to the haf 922 to save a little extra, but the size difference is pretty negligible, and the cooling of the 932 is hard to beat
ill say again to stick with SOME overclock. if you decide you dont want it just hit the forums and we can guide you through turning it down or removing it. we can also help you tweak that ram for $0 here too =D
you will find it hard to pack more overall power into $2000.
this will suit your editing and gaming needs
here we go $2003
you could shave some coin by dropping to the 40gb SSD, $127* (edit dgseal) actually, not a bad plan if youre worried about going over 2k, (shipping should be around $60 in the US) this SSD will be just for your windows and main program installs, not games so try and gauge about 80ish% of the drive will be where you want to max out)
you could also drop to the 40 SSD and get your 5870
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) (Supports SLI or CrossFire) System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (80GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Extreme Performance) (Model: X25-M MLC Edition) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) 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 470 1.2GB (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 1 Year Hassle-free Hardware Service Edited by !ender_ - 08 Jul 2010 at 8:12pm |
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Dragoonseal
DS Veteran
Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2247 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 8:00pm |
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Skimming back over the thread he doesn't seem to have mentioned what his monitor resolution is (only what he thought it was). BigBear can you tell us what monitor your resolution can handle up to, or if you don't know how to tell us what monitor it is so we can look it up?
What resolution your monitor can handle makes a direct impact on what video card you need, which makes a direct impact on how much budget you have left to distribute to other components of the PC. |
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Lilim
Intel Core i7 920 @4.2GHz HAF 932 - Dual SLI Nvidia GTX 480s 3x Intel X25-M G2 (80GB) SSD RAID0 |
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Dragoonseal
DS Veteran
Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2247 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 8:03pm |
Only a $127 difference from DS, $265 for the 80GB vs $138 for the 40GB. |
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Lilim
Intel Core i7 920 @4.2GHz HAF 932 - Dual SLI Nvidia GTX 480s 3x Intel X25-M G2 (80GB) SSD RAID0 |
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!ender_
DS Veteran
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 8:12pm |
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fixed, good catch
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Cretae
DS Veteran
Joined: 22 Mar 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 7331 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 8:16pm |
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@ !ender_ - Ummm, I can already upgrade to hex, did you mean 8-core?
@BigBear - Yes, that is the best total package you can get with your budget. It's actually a little over budget with the high-end video. You would be fine with the ATI 5870. Or less, if your monitor's native resolution is below 1920x1080.
However, as !ender_ has pointed out, you don't have to have the highest end stuff.
When people are close to that platform (the 1366 aka x58 that takes the Intel i900 series of processors) I try to point out that they are close to the threshold of the better equipment as Dragoonseal described. I think !ender_ misspoke when he said we i900 folks couldn't go hexa (6) core. The i7 980X is a six core processor, and it fits my mobo just fine.
BUT there's no current need for 6 cores, and many will never need one, but you couldn't get there with the 1156 socket platform. The i7 860 is a great chip. It is very nearly the equal of the i7 930. And every thing else is more economical in the 860 realm. To view these builds, click on the HAF 922, top row, 2nd from the left. It talks about the i5 750, but the CPU options include the i7 860. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these builds. For quite a distance into the future, gaming performance is going to be in the GPU.
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Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Intel Core i7 930 3.8GHz OC EVGA X58 LE 6GB DDR3 1600Mhz Ram 750W Corsair 1TB HDD 1x ATI RadeonHD 5870 1GB Noctua Dual 120mm I can make my mind think... anything.... |
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!ender_
DS Veteran
Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4219 |
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Posted: 08 Jul 2010 at 8:26pm |
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i gotta stop posting so fast, yes i meant 8 not 6, but as was already said
both are insane overkill for the market, and more specifically for your needs
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BigBear
Newbie
Joined: 08 Jul 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
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Posted: 09 Jul 2010 at 11:06am |
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Rgr, thank you Folks.
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