|
I recently posted this in the computer build tech support thread. This is important to me so I thought why not make a blog about it too, for those who don't check that forum. To add the blog aspect I will explain why I am making this new computer.
My old computer was top-of-the-line when I got it in 2004, awesome for about 4 years after that, then became average, and has since become worse and worse. It finally had its first major HDD failure, and despite backing up every 6 months or so I stand to lose a fair amount of stuff that I would rather not. The most promising method of recovering the data requires a new hard drive to copy an image of the old one to. This combined with the steadily growing need for a new computer means one thing: it is time to upgrade.
So here's what I posted over yonder:
Hey guys, I'm looking for a new kickass build. I am pretty knowledgeable about some aspects of hardware while pretty ignorant of others. I'll get into my own thoughts later, but first answer the required questions:
What is your budget? About $1000. That's negotiable though; if what I want to do requires more money than I thought, I can save a bit.
What is your resolution? 1600x1200 dual monitors (so 3200x1200 effective).
What are you using it for? This is my primary home PC. I use it for all sorts of development (programming, running apache/mysql, VMWare, some image editing, recording/editing/producing music), as well as occasional gaming and media usage. At least for now, before I get a true server, it will also function as my primary data repository. Music, videos, log files, my personal documents, just basically any content I want to keep.
What is your upgrade cycle? It's been 7 years since I got my last computer. I like to do it right once and keep a working machine for a long time. I do plan on making slight 'adjustments' to it over time though...but that's not relevant now as I have no idea when or even if that will truly happen.
When do you plan on building it? Between one and two months from now is the window I'm shooting for.
Do you plan on overclocking? No.
Do you need an Operating System? Hmm. Probably not. I'm pretty resourceful and can imagine finding Windows 7 for cheap or free. It would be important to know if I could install Windows XP in the meantime though. If I can't, just getting a new OS right away may be more important.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire? No.
Where are you buying your parts from? Wisconsin USA. I've used newegg mainly in the past but really have NO preference regarding that -- assuming the place has a good reputation. But mainly wherever the specific parts I need are the cheapest.
----------
Ok, here's what I know I want:
HDD: Two identical large HDs from Western Digital (WD is the only brand for me) to be setup in data-mirroring RAID (my data are my babies). Minimum 7200rpm and 1TB -- though 2TB highly preferred. This is big. Less big: a small-size SSD solely for my OSes and major programs...really don't think this should need to be bigger than 60GB. I know nothing about SSD manufacturers, so looking for help here on what fits my needs best.
Disc Drive: Minimum needs: DVD read/write, CD read/write. Ideal: blu-ray read/write. I hope to have a separate media pc soonish so blu-ray really isn't that important...it would honestly probably be more for storage capability (25gb discs mm) and DVD storage is still pretty damn good at 4.7gb.
CPU: I have little knowledge here. Something fast. I've stuck with AMD processors in the past but that's not super important to me if a better CPU exists for my setup.
Power supply: I have this 530W modular power supply. Is 530W enough? If not, I very much like the modular aspect.
RAM: 4GB minimum. 8GB considerable depending on cost. Beyond that I know little about different types of RAM.
Video Card: Dual output is a necessity for my dual 1600x1200 monitors. Do any video cards have the option of switching between dual VGA output and dual DVI output? My monitors currently use VGA though I definitely want the DVI option. Other than that I want something decent but definitely don't need top-end quality. I still occasionally play new games, but not that much anymore. Also I do work with image/video editing on rare occasion.
Sound Card: I have a Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2G. Is that outdated? Don't feel like my sound quality needs much of an upgrade to be honest.
Motherboard: Needs to be expandable for options of at least 8GB of RAM, 2 disc drives, 4 SATA drives. Also obviously needs to hold all the other stuff listed. Would be nice to have the option for second Video Card or Sound Card even though I can't imagine ever ACTUALLY using it. I don't know much about picking a motherboard to match all my other needs (compatible RAM/CPU and other nightmares).
Case: Really the only requirement is it's big enough to hold everything comfortably. Options of where to look would be good as of course I'd like it to look somewhat stylish and/or badass.
Cooling: I am quite noob when it comes to cooling. How many fans do I need, do I need extra heatsink, how should I mount the fans? My build is mostly about practicality so I don't need to have anything crazy like liquid cooling or whatever. But clearly maintaining a good temperature is key.
Sorry for the length. I just tried to be detailed. Any help I could get regarding the whole build, or really any specific aspect would be much appreciated. Thanks!
As stated within, I'd be grateful for any thoughts.
|
You could get a top of the line computer with 16 GB of ram, an i7 sandy bridge processor, a GTX 560 video card, a power supply, and a good motherboard for under $1000. This discludes CD/DVD, HDD or SSD, and case. I know this because I just made one on newegg for my friend. It also doesn't have a sound card. The total came out to about $900. A case would probably put it up to about $1000, and then you would also need the optical drive and hard drive.
I don't know much about your money situation, but you could easily build a rig that accomplishes what you want for about $600-$700. The only thing I'm missing here is what types of games and what settings. Do you want SC2 on all extreme/ultra settings? Then that $900 rig I selected for my friend would work. Do you play older games like BW or AoE? You could probably go down to a much cheaper rig if you can't spare the money.
If you want me to give you a parts list I can, but I would rather know more about what you intend to do with it. Programming obviously doesn't take much resources, well unless the programs you create take a lot of resources. Multimedia isn't very descriptive. Multimedia is such a huge gray-scale. A lot of simple stuff doesn't require that good of a computer, but some of the higher end stuff requires a lot more power if you don't want to set your computer to render something and leave it there while you go to work. The gaming part also needs to be more descriptive, but I already went into that.
Also, your gaming taste also depends. Are there any games that are announced to be coming out or at least could come out before you build your next computer that would require you to build a computer to handle it even if your current tastes don't require the top of the line?
|
A) With ram, don't worry about getting high speed RAMs, the difference from 1333 to 1600 in price is rarely worth the cost
B) With cooling, if you're going to be running two video cards (and likely a decent quad core proccesor, based on what you're using the PC for) You're going to want some additional cooling. Don't get liquid cooling, it really isn't necessary in this situation. Your case does play a part in cooling, so make sure you consider that while selecting. If you're looking for something ~$100 for your case, the one I linked is a great choice. It's got room for extra 120mm fans (2 I believe), so putting an extra one in might be beneficial
You might not even need to, depending on what cards you go with, how cool your PSU, CPU, and motherboard are, and what your ambient temperatures are like.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108395
C) Motherboards are pretty good with being widely compatible nowadays, IMO, a lower end P67 should do you just fine
D) CPU: If you're not planning on overclocking, an i7-2500, or i7-2400 are great fits
|
|
|
All: thanks for the replies.
Frozenhellfire: I like your ideas but I don't know why you discluded the SSD and other HDs. Those are the most important aspect of this build for me and will likely cost at least $300 between them, possibly $500 depending on quality. Ideally I really want 2TB HDDs and a 100GB SSD. I *may* be able to use my old case but it has seen better days and may not even be big enough for this build. Realistically I think a new case just has to happen.
The games I play...well, I do play mostly older games. I mean I currently only have a GPU from 2004 so I don't have much choice. I'd like to be able to play newer games, SC2 included, but don't care so much about graphics settings. Obviously it'd be NICE to play on highest settings but definitely not an area I care much about. I really don't game much anymore.
I do pretty serious development. I'm talking 3 instances of visual studio open, an instance each of eclipse/mysql query browser, occasional instances of image or sound-editing tools, lots of firefox tabs, plus the actual programs I make -- some of which really are CPU/memory intensive. Media in general isn't more intense than playing a video or listening to music. However on rare occasions I will want to do actual sound production/recording (via Reason and Cakewalk Sonar) or video editing (haven't done it before but might need to, either way not sure of programs). I don't need to optimize for that level of stuff since it'll be rare, but I will be using the computer for that reason sometimes.
Gaming really isn't that important to me. It'll still probably dictate what quality GPU I get (need to be able to at least play all current new games). Stuff like CPU/RAM I feel is more based on my development needs and should be relatively high-end. The HDD/SSD is a big requirement as I really want to start storing my data right, aka in a huge RAID array. Even though this computer will not function as a 'server' type deal forever, it definitely will be my data repository in the short term. The SSD for OS is a luxury but a big enough one that I am willing to pay for it.
---
gdo5: I don't plan on getting two GPUs. Not really necessary for my tastes.
The advice for RAM, Mobo, and CPU are all helpful. Helping me get that clear picture in mind.
---
JingleHell: Thanks for the links!
|
For the love of god Get 2 GPU's and SLI them up (get nividia if your going to want to game well) Most games even these days are useing primarily your GPU not to mention their becoming the workhouse's of any good server these days (most powerful one currently is in China with 9,600 Nividia cards slaved together) just get a pair of Nividia 560's and you'll enjoy it.
Hard drive space is really really cheap and is just getting cheaper I wouldn't get too overboard as you'll be able to get cheaper and cheaper external memory which is something you can store away in your fire safe for your things you REALLY need to keep safe. Having that high speed 1 TB one in your rig and a small SSD boot drive otherwise you'll be just fine with external memory off of that.
If you don't agree with nothing else Get a good large external drive and store the things you want to keep the most somewhere safe in that thing.
|
On July 25 2011 08:43 RoTaNiMoD wrote:
All: thanks for the replies.
Frozenhellfire: I like your ideas but I don't know why you discluded the SSD and other HDs. Those are the most important aspect of this build for me and will likely cost at least $300 between them, possibly $500 depending on quality. Ideally I really want 2TB HDDs and a 100GB SSD. I *may* be able to use my old case but it has seen better days and may not even be big enough for this build. Realistically I think a new case just has to happen.
I didn't include them because they weren't a part of my friends build. He told me a budget, and what he already had, and that determined what components I included. Bringing up that build was merely a point of reference for the price tag you may expect from a purely gaming computer. Without knowing what kind of a gamer you are I couldn't begin to build a parts list.
I can give you some ideas, but I will not include a case because cases are my weak point. I've never researched them much, and I've never really had to buy one myself. Thus, I wouldn't want to recommend a bad one. Other than that I can make give you some AMD and some Intel builds.
Edit: Contrary to what I said, I will include a case, mostly because this one is so cheap and the reviews are overwhelmingly good. It also looks like the airflow is good.
Here are two base builds that I will use for both the AMD and Intel builds. I need you to choose one because it will greatly affect the parts I can add. You requested 7200 RPM, and 2TB. However, I did some research and found a 5900 RPM model that uses a new type of data storage and has some pretty good speed benchmarks. This 5900 RPM model actually beat the 7200 RPM model by a surprisingly significant margin in speed or came in a negligible close second. Two of these drives are also as expensive as just one of the 7200 RPM models. Please make the choice so I can continue. If it were my computer I'd probably take the bottom one, but this choice is yours.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/yYb0Z.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/sJ9CI.png)
|
On July 25 2011 09:26 sermokala wrote:
For the love of god Get 2 GPU's and SLI them up (get nividia if your going to want to game well) Most games even these days are useing primarily your GPU not to mention their becoming the workhouse's of any good server these days (most powerful one currently is in China with 9,600 Nividia cards slaved together) just get a pair of Nividia 560's and you'll enjoy it.
Hard drive space is really really cheap and is just getting cheaper I wouldn't get too overboard as you'll be able to get cheaper and cheaper external memory which is something you can store away in your fire safe for your things you REALLY need to keep safe. Having that high speed 1 TB one in your rig and a small SSD boot drive otherwise you'll be just fine with external memory off of that.
If you don't agree with nothing else Get a good large external drive and store the things you want to keep the most somewhere safe in that thing.
Two GPUs just isn't necessary for my needs. The option to upgrade to two would be nice certainly, but to say I can't play the newest games with just one GPU is ridiculous. My computer is not a server either. My created programs will run in plain old memory, and I imagine most of my development programs will too.
The HDD stuff though you actually are getting me thinking. Clearly the ability to take my data with me quickly adds a lot of safety value. Are read/write speeds to external drives comparable to internal? Can I RAID external drives?
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
