Debating on a build

[sigma projects]

This if my frist post but I'm not really newb, but there are manythings that i don't know and figure on here there would be people with greater knowledge than me. I'm pretty much ready to plop down money for a new comp and i've been waiting because of supreme commander. I'm debating between two builds. I'm still debating on what PSU to get, I know I want around 650watts or more, but not sure which brand/model to get, I don't like buying stuff based on just names... so I was also wondering if you all know of good brands to look at. As far as the video card goes I'm planning on waiting till march when the 8600 Ultra comes out. Do you think the chipsets on the P5N-Es are pointless if I'm not going SLi or are they better over all then the other nForce chipsets?

Core 2 Duo build

RAM
2 PC2-4200 2GB (4GB) $255 OR PC2-6400 2GB (4GB) for $320?
CPU
core 2 duo e6400 2.13ghz $228
MOBO
ASUS P5N-E SLI $132
HD
2 Raptor SATA 74GB running in raid. $310

subtotal + TAX = $999/$1070 (not including PSU or vid card)

Or

Dual Dual Core Xeon build

RAM
2 PC2-5400 2GB (4GB) $260
CPU
2 xeon 5030 2.67ghz $334
MOBO
SUPERMICRO X7DVL-E-O Dual Socket 771 $336
HD
2 Raptor SATA 74GB running in raid. $310
Sound card
Creatives cheapo $20

subtotal + TAX = $1360 (not including PSU or vid card)


I kinda like the Xeon build but worried that without the proper chipsets will the video card function properly.... I was trying to look for specs of graphic work station that use the Xeons, but no luck. Anyone know info on that? Thanks all

just so you know a lot of the time I use photoshop and autocad at the same time and I use other programs like Flash, Sketchup, 2007 3D Cad, trying to learn ArtLantis and would like to get back into Unreal Runtime. stable raw computing power seems attractive to me =P

thanks for all the help!

 

[saltynay]

first build without the raptors by some Seagate barracudas they're the fastest normal harddrives after raptors obviously and have great gb/price ratio

Matt

 

[Dr DMoney]

Core 2 Duo build
you know know how much you can overclock that thing.

 

[sigma projects]

salty:I checked the Barracudas they are pretty nice, but the raptors are fastest no? I have another HD just for storage, but I wanted top performance for my apps and games. Are you saying barracudas in raid compared to raptors in raid I won't see much of a performance difference?

Dr. Dmoney: If I overclock the E6400 to 3ghz will it be faster than two dual core Xeon at 2.67ghz? The xeon has the cache advatage too.

thanks for the input =D

 

[saltynay]

Yea the raptors are fastest with small packets of data whilst the barracudas are better with larger you will see a very slight performance increase with the raptors but my personal opinion is that it is not worth the money but if you want to go there then the raptors are the best main market hdd's you can buy. the dual dual core xeon should be faster but xeons are designed for servers so i would suspect that they are better for transfers of data in large quantities Iam just guessing here.

This is what I would recommend to you

cpu: E6600
ram:3gb value ram 6400 (800mhz) (i know you use lots of engineering type programs but 4gb of ram is really pushing it
mobo: 680i
hdd: One raptor and 2x barracudas for storage in raid

 

[Nagasama]

Dr. Dmoney: If I overclock the E6400 to 3ghz will it be faster than two dual core Xeon at 2.67ghz? The xeon has the cache advatage too.

i dont think so. aren't the xeon the c2d server cpu's?
i may be wrong...

 

[Dr DMoney]

Yeah, they are server CPU's. I would get a e6600 though because It will smoke the e6400 and the Xeon. At least I think.

 

[Nagasama]

yeah, but in the post i think he/she is talking about a quad core...?

 

[sigma projects]

I was mainly looking at the Dual Core Xeons, but I was interested in the new quad core xeons, just wasn't sure about some of the mobos.

The big graphic works stations use dual core xeons, they're not just for servers.

Sorry if I annoy anyone here, but how will a E6600 be faster than two Xeons? I thought they were based on the same architecture, just the cache on the Xeons are larger and they support a few other functions. E6600 2.4gz < Xeon 5030 2.67ghz?

 

[lookin4help]

I dont know where you are looking for prices, but I just bought my parts today for a rig VERY close to your first one and I spent WAY less. If you want I can hook you up with some links.