First Build: Advice Would be Much Appreciated!

[S-C-3-1-3]

Hi all,

Purpose of this computer: I will be multi-tasking all the time, running the following programs simultaneously: Several Microsoft Word documents, few PDF documents, two or three Powerpoint presentations, couple Mozilla Firefox windows loaded with a multitude of addons, several spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Skype, Media Monkey, Mathematica 7, Maple 14, Merriam Webster's dictionary, and Le Petit Robert (a French to English dictionary). Above all this, I would like a computer to be able to run ProTools M-Powered with no limitations. In other words, I do not want my creativity to be limited by the power of my computer. I have three builds I have built,well configured, and I was wondering if I could get your expert opinions. As well, with memory, what is better, 9-9-9-24 or for example, 8-5-9-23 or something: what do you look for when looking at memory?

Build A:

* Case: Antec P183

* Case cooling: 2x Noctua NF-S12B ULN 120MM Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan

* Power Supply: Coolermaster 'Silent Pro' 1000W

* Motherboard: Gigabyte X58A-UD3R

* CPU: Intel Core i7 980x, 6-cores, at 3.33GHz

* Memory: Corsair Vengeance 12GB 3x4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 XMP Triple Channel Core i7Memory

* Video card: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Super-clocked Fermi 763MHz 768MB GDDR5

* Storage drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB, 7200rpm, 64mb cache

* Boot drive: Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB 2.5IN Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6GB/s

* Optical Drives: 2x Liteon DVDRW IHAS224-06 24x SATA

* Operating system: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Price with taxes and shipping: $2806.20

Build B:

* Case: Antec 183 case

* Case cooling: 2x Noctua NF-S12B ULN 120MM Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan

* CPU: i7 980x, 6-cores, at 3.33GHz

* Motherboard: Gigabyte X58A-UD3R

* Video card: EVGA GTX 460 768MB GDDR5

* Memory: Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K6/12GX, 9-9-9-27, 6x2GB, at 1600MHz

* Single drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB, 7200rpm, 64mb cache

* Power supply: Coolermaster 1000W Silent Pro Power Supply

* Operating system: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Price with taxes and shipping: $2838.85, bought locally at a store.

Build C:

Case: Antec P183

Case cooling: Three Noctua NF-S12B ULN 120mm Ultra Quiet Cooling Fans. (500-700rpm)

Power supply: Corsair TX850W

Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D-E X58

Processor: i7 950 Quad Core

Processor cooler: Noctua NH-U12P

Memory: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte PC3-12800 12GB 3X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Triple Channel memory

Video card: Gigabyte Radeon HD5750 Silent Cell 700MHz 1GB 4.8GHz GDDR5

Boot drive: Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6GB/s

Storage drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 3 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache

Optical drives: One LG WH10 Blu-ray Writer 10X BD-R 16X DVD-R Lightscribe, and one LG GH24LS50 24X Super Multi Lightscribe

Price with taxes: $2024.83

Instead of posting a new thread, I will ask here:

Would there be a substanial performance difference between an ATI HD5750 and a nVidia GTX 460 when rendering 3-D graphs and calculating formulas in both Mathematica 7 and Maple 14. I am still in first year as a mathematics major, thus, everything is fairly simple, but as the years progress, will I wish I would have purchased the GTX 460 because of its 'vertex calculations?'

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lorem-Ipsum]

With memory the lower the timings the better, but the difference between 9-9-9-24 and 7-7-7-24 would only be noticeable in benchmarks.

Nvidia cards have CUDA which IIRC is better for number crunching. I am not too knowledgeable on GPU's though.

If you are going for Intel then wait for sandybridge to come out. Its not far off at all.

 

[S-C-3-1-3]

With memory the lower the timings the better, but the difference between 9-9-9-24 and 7-7-7-24 would only be noticeable in benchmarks.

Nvidia cards have CUDA which IIRC is better for number crunching. I am not too knowledgeable on GPU's though.

If you are going for Intel then wait for sandybridge to come out. Its not far off at all.

What exactly is 'Sandy Bridge,' and why is it all that better? I see it mentioned a lot in the forums, but I have been able to get a clear idea.

 

[Aurus_OC]

Sandy Bridge is intel's Replacement for the socket 1156 CPU, which is the more budget end of the market. The i7 950 and 980X are both socket 1366 chips, supporting triple channel ram etc. In your case I wouldn't bother with Sandy Bridge that much, because it will only be dual channel ram etc. Socket 1366 will still be the high end/enthusiast platform.

Now to your specs:

Instead of the 980X I would go with the 970, which is basically the same chip but with a locked multiplier, so unless you are planning to do some extreme overclocking you won't need the 980x.

In case of memory I would try and look around and see if you can get a hold of some mushkin's which are known to perform really great.

PSU wise go with an Enermax, Corsair or Seasonic one. 850W will be more than enough for your needs.

The gigabyte mobo is fine, good choice.

I would go with an Samsung F3 for storage and a Kingston SSD as a bootdrive with the money you saved on PSU and CPU.

Edit:

The i7 950 is also a great chip btw. If you don't want a hex-core or want to save some money

 

[siravarice]

Are you planning on not having to upgrade this pc for a long time? Because if so then you have easily achieved that. Other than that, I wouldnt even bother going 1366 and go with the new Sandy Bridge socket when it comes out, you will save massive amounts of money and even though you have a lot of stuff going on at the same time, they will cope just fine.

As for graphics cards, I would maybe get an Nvidia 570 GTX with the money you save on the CPU. Make sure you get a nice SSD which will massively reduce loading times of programs.

Finally, get TWO monitors, it will make your life so much easier!

 

[chudley]

Don't forget your CPU cooler

go for a NH-D14 they are brilliant!

 

[siravarice]

Don't forget your CPU cooler

go for a NH-D14 they are brilliant!

+1!

 

[SnW]

+1!

+ 14

 

[Stryker64]

CPU: Switch with a 970, get a decent cooler like the Noctua D14 and overclock it.

PSU: 1000W is overkill, unless your trying to get future proof it. One that's 700-850w should be more than adequate for most builds.

GPU: Two nVidia cards, run triple monitors, the extra screen real estate should be a lifesaver with all the stuff you have going on, as an added bonus nVidia cards do fair better with number crunching etc, especially if the program supports CUDA. (Also no need to buy a super overclock version, save the money and get the regular one)

Storage: May get a "Green" drive, could save some money.

SSD: Gotta have one for all those programs, can't give you too much advice on which one though.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance, since I think it might offer better price to performance, since you'll probably need 12gbs of RAM.

Case: Not too sure about the Antec P183, a Lancool K60/K62 or a 690 II Advance might be better, since you save money and don't need to buy case fans. Although this is ignoring personal styling preferences and I'm a bit bias towards Lian Li xD

EDIT: Actually with RAM you might want to opt for Mushkin to avoid clearance issues with the D14, if your going to get one

 

[adicool96]

Go with build C just change the ssd to kingston v+100 and the CPU cooler to NH- D14 and maybe go with Gtx 570 or 2x 460's. Oh yeah and why only the Antec P183 you could look at another case?

 

[Stryker64]

so my advice, which everyone can feel free to completely tear apart.

Case: Lancool K62

PSU: Corsair AX750

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R

CPU Cooler: Noctua D14

CPU: Intel i7 970 6 Core (Overclock to ~4GHz?)

RAM: Mushkin Blackline Frostbyte 9-9-9-24 (6x2GB)

Graphics Card: 2xeVGA 460 1GB (Regular and overclock yourself)

Boot Drive: G.Skill Phoenix 120GB

Storage: 1.5TB WD Green 64MB Cache

Optical Drive: 1xCheap DVD Drive and 1xLG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support - OEM

OS: Windows 7 64bit Professional

Overall Cost: $2,343.88 (Ignoring Shipping) (Newegg)

EDIT: Which country are you shopping in?

 

[S-C-3-1-3]

Sandy Bridge is intel's Replacement for the socket 1156 CPU, which is the more budget end of the market. The i7 950 and 980X are both socket 1366 chips, supporting triple channel ram etc. In your case I wouldn't bother with Sandy Bridge that much, because it will only be dual channel ram etc. Socket 1366 will still be the high end/enthusiast platform.

Now to your specs:

Instead of the 980X I would go with the 970, which is basically the same chip but with a locked multiplier, so unless you are planning to do some extreme overclocking you won't need the 980x.

In case of memory I would try and look around and see if you can get a hold of some mushkin's which are known to perform really great.

PSU wise go with an Enermax, Corsair or Seasonic one. 850W will be more than enough for your needs.

The gigabyte mobo is fine, good choice.

I would go with an Samsung F3 for storage and a Kingston SSD as a bootdrive with the money you saved on PSU and CPU.

Edit:

The i7 950 is also a great chip btw. If you don't want a hex-core or want to save some money

Sandy Bridge, therefore, would make little difference to me? The Intel Core i7 970 is merely, in my situation, 15 cents less expensive than the Intel Core i7 980x. I was contemplating the Corsair TX850: sufficient enough, and would I have headroom to, in the future, if I intend on expanding? I do not want to purchase another power supply if I can avoid it. Moreover, I do not want the power supply to be running anywhere near its full capacity. Any reason you have selected the Samsung F3? I was considering purchasing the Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200RPM, 64MB cache, as I have had excellent experiences with Western Digital. The only issue I have with the Gigabyte motherboard is its layout for the graphics card slots: they are very close, and I have heard there can be issues with no airflow between the two cards causing the video cards to run uncomfortably warm.

 

[S-C-3-1-3]

Are you planning on not having to upgrade this pc for a long time? Because if so then you have easily achieved that. Other than that, I wouldnt even bother going 1366 and go with the new Sandy Bridge socket when it comes out, you will save massive amounts of money and even though you have a lot of stuff going on at the same time, they will cope just fine.

As for graphics cards, I would maybe get an Nvidia 570 GTX with the money you save on the CPU. Make sure you get a nice SSD which will massively reduce loading times of programs.

Finally, get TWO monitors, it will make your life so much easier!

Thanks for the response! Yes, I am a Mathematics major in my Bachelor of Arts, and I intend on having this computer last the four and a half remaining years of my undergraduates. A solid state drive is on the top of my priority because there are not a lot of things that can go wrong with them, as there are no moving parts to quit working. I have been looking at the nVidia 570 GTX, and from my understanding, it is designed to be quiet. Does anyone have any experience with the noise level under load? I have a dual monitor setup for a computer I used for recording in the past, and while it is convenient, I do not find it all that different. My current computer has a 24” monitor, and I have found it to be easier! Thanks again!

 

[S-C-3-1-3]

Don't forget your CPU cooler

go for a NH-D14 they are brilliant!

Thanks for the response! Would the stock Intel i7 980x work well, or would an aftermarket cooler make all the difference in both lifespan and performance? Thanks again!

 

[Aurus_OC]

Sandy Bridge, therefore, would make little difference to me? The Intel Core i7 970 is merely, in my situation, 15 cents less expensive than the Intel Core i7 980x. I was contemplating the Corsair TX850: sufficient enough, and would I have headroom to, in the future, if I intend on expanding? I do not want to purchase another power supply if I can avoid it. Moreover, I do not want the power supply to be running anywhere near its full capacity. Any reason you have selected the Samsung F3? I was considering purchasing the Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200RPM, 64MB cache, as I have had excellent experiences with Western Digital. The only issue I have with the Gigabyte motherboard is its layout for the graphics card slots: they are very close, and I have heard there can be issues with no airflow between the two cards causing the video cards to run uncomfortably warm.

If you aren't planning on massive overclocking or needing a 6 core processor or triple channel ram, then Sandy Bridge will be perfectly fine for you. You could go with a high end Sandy Bridge system (i7 2600K (supposed to be 200 quid) and premium mobo (another 200-250 quid)) and some nice Mushkin dual channel ram. That would be a real nice setup.

Power supply real depends on what graphics card(s) you plan on using. For a single 570 or 460 SLI an 850W unit will be perfectly fine and won't run at 100% load at all. If you are talking 570s or 580s SLI, an 850 W PSU won't be enough.

I recommemded the Samsung because me and a lot of people at OC3D are using them and are having no problems whatsoever. But the WD will be fine too

If you think about going dual graphics cards, yes the Gigabyte won't be ideal for airflow, and you may want to consider buying a different mobo then. That's all up to you. Although I would recommend buying the best single card that you can comfortably afford.

EDIT: At stock speeds the stock cooler will work perfectly fine, if you plan on overclocking you will deffo need an aftermarket cooler.

 

[S-C-3-1-3]

CPU: Switch with a 970, get a decent cooler like the Noctua D14 and overclock it.

PSU: 1000W is overkill, unless your trying to get future proof it. One that's 700-850w should be more than adequate for most builds.

GPU: Two nVidia cards, run triple monitors, the extra screen real estate should be a lifesaver with all the stuff you have going on, as an added bonus nVidia cards do fair better with number crunching etc, especially if the program supports CUDA. (Also no need to buy a super overclock version, save the money and get the regular one)

Storage: May get a "Green" drive, could save some money.

SSD: Gotta have one for all those programs, can't give you too much advice on which one though.

RAM: Corsair Vengeance, since I think it might offer better price to performance, since you'll probably need 12gbs of RAM.

Case: Not too sure about the Antec P183, a Lancool K60/K62 or a 690 II Advance might be better, since you save money and don't need to buy case fans. Although this is ignoring personal styling preferences and I'm a bit bias towards Lian Li xD

EDIT: Actually with RAM you might want to opt for Mushkin to avoid clearance issues with the D14, if your going to get one

Thank you for the advice! As mentioned earlier, the cost difference between the Intel Core i7 970 and Intel Core i7 980x, in my situation, is not worth mentioning. I am in fact trying to future proof it. Until this power supply dies, I do not want to be purchasing another one. I will in the future perhaps install a second video card, but at the current time, one will do. Besides, I unfortunately don’t have the space for three monitors. I was thinking of opting for a Caviar Black, but would a “Green” drive be that better. Some people are recommending the Corsair Vengeance, and other people are recommending Mushkin memory-difficult decisions! You raise, however, a point that with the design of the Vengeance, I may have issues with the cooler. I selected the Antec P183 because first, I love the simplified, clean look of it, and secondly, silence is something that I am after. I will be purchasing the parts through a local retailer, and Antec is a line they recommend over others. The case fans are only 24 dollars for a set of two and if it means that much more of a silent case, it is worth it, in my opinion!

 

[S-C-3-1-3]

Go with build C just change the ssd to kingston v+100 and the CPU cooler to NH- D14 and maybe go with Gtx 570 or 2x 460's. Oh yeah and why only the Antec P183 you could look at another case?

Thank you for your reply! Would the i7 950 be equally future proof as the i7 980x? I am coming from an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300. Ultimately, will six cores be the standard, as quad cores are becoming, in the near future. Why the change of solid state drives? I am leaning towards the single GTX 570. I selected the Antec P183 for several reasons: 1) In my opinion, its look is great; 2) Silence is important to me; 3) The retailer in my city is familiar with Antec cases more, and I have a feeling they are able to purchase them at a discount, but I may be mistaken. Thank you once again and look forward to hearing your response.

 

[S-C-3-1-3]

so my advice, which everyone can feel free to completely tear apart.

Case: Lancool K62

PSU: Corsair AX750

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R

CPU Cooler: Noctua D14

CPU: Intel i7 970 6 Core (Overclock to ~4GHz?)

RAM: Mushkin Blackline Frostbyte 9-9-9-24 (6x2GB)

Graphics Card: 2xeVGA 460 1GB (Regular and overclock yourself)

Boot Drive: G.Skill Phoenix 120GB

Storage: 1.5TB WD Green 64MB Cache

Optical Drive: 1xCheap DVD Drive and 1xLG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support - OEM

OS: Windows 7 64bit Professional

Overall Cost: $2,343.88 (Ignoring Shipping) (Newegg)

EDIT: Which country are you shopping in?

Thank you for taking the time to configure this. I do not find the case all that attractive, but as Lancool seems to be coming up a lot in this thread, I am willing to listen to any reasons you may have. Overclocking is something that I do not want to do, in all honesty, and instead of the GTX 570 would be comparable to the two GTX 460s, correct? The Intel i7 970 would be upgraded to the Intel i7 980x, as the difference is less than a dollar. The selection of the boot drive has peaked my curiosity: why? Just because of the cost? The operating system is not necessary, as I already have an oem copy, and yes, it is genuine. Overall, it looks excellent and something I will definitely look into. I am shopping in Canada, preferably from www.ncix.com because they are in the same province as myself, and thus, shipping is affordable. Thank you once again!

 

[Aurus_OC]

Thank you for taking the time to configure this. I do not find the case all that attractive, but as Lancool seems to be coming up a lot in this thread, I am willing to listen to any reasons you may have. Overclocking is something that I do not want to do, in all honesty, and instead of the GTX 570 would be comparable to the two GTX 460s, correct? The Intel i7 970 would be upgraded to the Intel i7 980x, as the difference is less than a dollar. The selection of the boot drive has peaked my curiosity: why? Just because of the cost? The operating system is not necessary, as I already have an oem copy, and yes, it is genuine. Overall, it looks excellent and something I will definitely look into. I am shopping in Canada, preferably from www.ncix.com because they are in the same province as myself, and thus, shipping is affordable. Thank you once again!

Concerning two 460s vs. a single 570. If they are comparable? Yes and no. In benchmarks they may be somewhat similar, BUT you will have two graphics in your system, which brings up several problems. One of them is airflow and temps as you said already. The other one is SLI, it works great in Benchmarks, but in real situation a single card will save you a lot of trouble. SLI and Crossfire are known to be a real pain in some situations. And since you were talking about future-proofing your system I would ditch that SLI 460 idea and throw in a single 570, because it offers so much more and the same/lower price.

 

[S-C-3-1-3]

If you aren't planning on massive overclocking or needing a 6 core processor or triple channel ram, then Sandy Bridge will be perfectly fine for you. You could go with a high end Sandy Bridge system (i7 2600K (supposed to be 200 quid) and premium mobo (another 200-250 quid)) and some nice Mushkin dual channel ram. That would be a real nice setup.

Power supply real depends on what graphics card(s) you plan on using. For a single 570 or 460 SLI an 850W unit will be perfectly fine and won't run at 100% load at all. If you are talking 570s or 580s SLI, an 850 W PSU won't be enough.

I recommemded the Samsung because me and a lot of people at OC3D are using them and are having no problems whatsoever. But the WD will be fine too

If you think about going dual graphics cards, yes the Gigabyte won't be ideal for airflow, and you may want to consider buying a different mobo then. That's all up to you. Although I would recommend buying the best single card that you can comfortably afford.

EDIT: At stock speeds the stock cooler will work perfectly fine, if you plan on overclocking you will deffo need an aftermarket cooler.

I do not believe I will be using six cores, but for this build, it is all about lasting comfortably four to five years, being able to handle any and every application I throw at it. I was under the impression that dual channel memory was a thing of the past. You are positive Sandy Bridge will not be working with triple channel memory? It does not make sense why the new technology would be paired with the old technology. At most, and I stress at most, as I highly doubt I would do this, I would select only two GTX 570s. Would a 1000W power supply for the 30 dollar difference make it that much more future proof? I will for sure read more into the Samsung F3, as if a lot of people here are using, it must be doing something good! I was looking at the ASUS P6X58D-E: any comments in comparison to the Gigabyte one? Regards the stock cooler working well that is what I wanted to hear! Would an aftermarket cooler affect the lifespan of the processor in any way? Thanks in advance!