Upcoming build - please comment :)

[monkey7]

I have been saving money for about half a year now and the great moment seems to be coming In two weeks I will be buying my new rig on the HCC! days (large computer gathering).

The reason I buy at the HCC! days is that you can negotiate with the stores. A friend has bought several parts (mobo/ram/cpu/psu) there two years ago and was able to save around 15%, even though he's not a good negotiator.

The specs for the system:

CPU&cooling: Core i7 920 stock cooling for now

Mobo: Asus P6T-Deluxe

RAM: 3gb triple channel, maybe 6 if I run across a kit cheap, but I do not really need 6. 3 will also allow me to stick with XP32, which is a good thing.

PSU: coolermaster 720w modular OR PC&C 750w, even though that one is rare in the Netherlands.

GPU: ATi HD4850 some OC edition

HDD('s): single 640gb or quad 320GB in intel matrix RAID (0+5) if I can catch a good deal.

Case: Antec P182 (will be ordering that somewhere in the coming days)

Mouse&pad: OCZ Dominatrix with the Behemoth pad

Keyboard: Logitech UltraX

When anything of my budget (€1200 for the hardware) is left over after I bought this I will probably buy a few more silent fans to shut the P182 noisemakers up.

So is this a good setup, what should I change / add? I know the 4850 is a bit underpowered, but gaming will only be the secondary function of the rig. CAD drawing is the primary.

And yes I will be posting a build log on here once I get the hardware

EDIT: and oh, I will be folding on at least 2 of the 4 cores as much as possible of course ^^ I hope I can get it silent enough to be running 24/7

 

[Rastalovich]

Any of ur CAD software take advantage of the nVidia gpu ?

Otherwize u can make ur decision on the day, but keep an eye out for 4870 or above maybe.

Ur CAD work might use 6g depending on what projects u do, that'd mean jumping ship to Vista 64bit tho, ur gaming probably not. Similarly does it work better with a gfxcard with more memory.

As to the i7 stuff, absolutely no idea - cept we will ofc expect pics and benchies

 

[monkey7]

Heh the pics will certainly come

The main program I will be using is AutoCAD 2008 or '09 if I can get my hands on a copy of 09. Projects will vary a lot, since I've only recently started my education and haven't started any specialisation yet. Will probably be 3D models for the largest part.

And as far as I know AutoCAD doesn't really benefit from nVidia. I searched their site, and all they said was that the card had to support OpenGL.

6GB will indeed be required for larger drawings, but at the moment I think a 6GB triple channel kit is just way too expensive. It might be a good idea to buy 3GB and still use Vista64 so upgrading is easier though...

The problem with the graphics cards is that the 4850 floats around €120 and the next best (4870) is already around €200, while not offering a whole lot more performance. I think I'd rather CF two '50's than using a single '70.

 

[GamingGod]

nice

 

[monkey7]

Okay I think I downloaded all software to test, overclock and burn my i7 as soon as I get it

- Winrar (for unrarring installation files)

- 3DMark vantage

- HDTach (XP only? Could anyone tell me if it runs under Vista?)

- SiSandra

- MemTest

- Orthos (for the final test)

- SuperPI

- CoreTemp

- Cpu-z

- RealTemp

Does anybody miss any programs that will be crucial to the overclocking?