Going back to PC gaming and 3D Work, building a new PC help for Bday

[Northelim]

The problem right now is that in order to take advantage of the 5970 at high resolutions is in fact to overclock the CPU since stock speeds of a i7 920 is going to bottleneck the GPU.

Granted the OP has two months before he finalizes anything, there may be a chance that a more solidified presence of Nvidia's Fermi may drive prices down or provide better offerings.

yah, I see what your saying, but I am not overclocking though because I have never done it and I am afraid to burn the parts. I am gonna start ordering the pars around somewhere half-way through January 2010..

 

[zmatt]

CPU bottlenecking is taken way out of proportion. There was a great thread on anandtech several years ago illustrating how everyone over estimated cpu bottlenecking. The conclusion was that with msot 3d work you can get away with a cpu 2 generations behind the video card in a system before you get bottlenecking.

When it comes to 3d stuff the cpu has much less work it needs to worry about and thus can get it's simple work load done much quicker and is often waiting on the video card which is 99% of the time the overworked component in 3d graphics. And that test didn't account for the massive improvements in cpus in the last few years. If I remember right he used a single core Athlon 64 in his example.


this is different in games like supreme command and other RTS games where the bulk of the game isn't in graphics, but AI. AI is an entirely cpu driven thing.

 

[meat_helmet]

You guys have forgotten this isnt just a gaming computer - he wants it to do 3D work. The more power the better for anything 3D - if he uses complex scenes more power, such as what a 5870 will give will help. I know myself sometimes my GTX285 isnt quite enough...

 

[Northelim]

Anyway...

Here are my current finalized specs... with the price , and a explanation to why I picked it.

My total budget to spend $2500

Computer Case - Newegg.com - XCLIO 777 Black/Titanium Finish Chassis: 1.0 mm SECC; ABS Plastic ATX Full Tower Extreme Cooling PC Case - Computer Cases

Individual Price $180

Combo with a Power Supply $280

Why this one? I am big on looks/design when it comes to computer cases, I know there are lower priced cases that probably can give me the same thing, but I really like this one for several reasons..


#1 The titanium finish
#2 It's black color
#3 It has 8 fans
#4 it looks like a futuristic alien jet engine
#5 Great combo price

Power Supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817189020&cm_re=17-189-_-17-189-020-_-Product

Individual Price $130

Combo Price $280

Why this one? I like to buy a PSU that's the same brand as the case, because it's a personal preference of trying to keep everything to match up without any issues. Here are a few other reasons...

#1 880 Watts my computer will be needing a lot of energy
#2 It's black and fits the with the design of the case
#3 Great combo price

I am buying both of these for $280 as a combo pack, i personally think it's a good deal.

Video Card - Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100280OCSR Radeon HD 5970 (Hemlock) 2GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Dual GPU Onboard CrossFire Video Card w/ Eyefinity - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Individual Price $630

Do I need to say more? I need a beast PC.

CPU - Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Individual Price $290

Why this one? Just been told this is a really good processor, and since these days games take up a lot of CPU power, I am looking for the top-tier processors. I also do a lot of rendering and 3D work , so this will help a lot.

Sound Card - Newegg.com - HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

Price - $80

Why this one? Not sure, just decided on this one cause of it's decent price, 7.1 sound and positive reviews... If you know a better card that's not too expensive or around the same range please say so...

Motherboard - Newegg.com - EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Individual Price - $240

Why this one? Positive reviews, I like the black/gray color scheme fits with the case/computer. Has 6 slots for Ram memory, and seems to be a really good product according to Newegg. Also, it has a really decent price in my opinion. Any suggestions always welcome though

RAM - Newegg.com - G.SKILL 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T2-12GBNQ - Desktop Memory

Individual Price - $290

Why this one? Need 12 gigs of ram to fill up my motherboard to it's full potential and also because of rendering. Heavy scene rendering with tons of polygons requires a ton of ram, so might as well...

Monitor - Newegg.com - SAMSUNG ToC T240HD Rose-Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 10000:1 Built in DTV Tuner & Dolby Digital Surround Speakers - LCD Monitors

Why this one? 24'. 1920x1200 resolution, black and sleek and it's Samsung $260 also is not really bad at all in my opinion. Any suggestions welcome!

HDD #1 - Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Price - $85

Why this one? I have a external Western Digital hard drive and it works really well, so I decided to get another one for my new pc for the internal hard drives, price also seems fair. Suggestions welcome!

HDD #2 - Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Price - $55

Why this one? Same reason as above...

Total budget spend so far $2200/2500 good deal? Suggestions, reviews, critics would be nice, thank you all!

 

[Muffin Man]

Re: Finalized PC for Gaming/3D Self Building 1st time Please Review

not really sure if youll be needing 12gigs of ram, but anyway.

get two of these kits instead.
Newegg.com - OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Desktop Memory

upfront, they will cost $10 more than the 12gb kit you linked, but they work at a faster 1600mhz, and have better timings.

plus a little bonus: a single 6gig kit offers a 30$ rebate, so by buying two for a total of 12gigs, you could get $60 back in rebates.

for a main OS/programs drive, i would look into a western digital caviar black hdd, or an ssd, and then additional green drives for storage/data.

 

[Northelim]

Re: Finalized PC for Gaming/3D Self Building 1st time Please Review

not really sure if youll be needing 12gigs of ram, but anyway.

get two of these kits instead.
Newegg.com - OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Desktop Memory

upfront, they will cost $10 more than the 12gb kit you linked, but they work at a faster 1600mhz, and have better timings.

plus a little bonus: a single 6gig kit offers a 30$ rebate, so by buying two for a total of 12gigs, you could get $60 back in rebates.

for a main OS/programs drive, i would look into a western digital caviar black hdd, or an ssd, and then additional green drives for storage/data.

SSD might be a bit expensive, but thanks for the WD Black HDD idea though, i'll prolly get those instead as you said they're better and plus they're black color =D

 

[Northelim]

Do you suggest getting this Blu Ray Rom ?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6292&cm_re=blu-ray_rom-_-27-106-292-_-Product

 

[aliasaid]

Anyway...


Power Supply - Newegg.com - XCLIO DIAMONDPOWER 880W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

Individual Price $130

Combo Price $280

Why this one? I like to buy a PSU that's the same brand as the case, because it's a personal preference of trying to keep everything to match up without any issues. Here are a few other reasons...

#1 880 Watts my computer will be needing a lot of energy
#2 It's black and fits the with the design of the case
#3 Great combo price

I am buying both of these for $280 as a combo pack, i personally think it's a good deal.

I've never heard of having issues with different brands of case and PSU. You like that case, thats your personal preference, and i agree it does look cool, although the price doesn't sit well with me. But as for PSU, it MAY be a good PSU, buy why risk it with a shoddy brand? I say go for something higher quality.

Here's a bunch you could pick from: Prices range from $110 - $140
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12D 850 Silver 850W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - Antec TPQ-850 850W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies
Newegg.com - Antec CP-850 850W Continuous Power CPX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply - Power Supplies

 

[Ste]

The xclio diamond power is a good power supply and it IS on the recommended list, BUT it only has a one year warranty.

I already tried to get him to change to a 750 or 850 TX (which have 5 year warranties)

But he refuses to change.

Its his money, his computer, let him.

 

[zmatt]

I'm going to second the motion to get a real psu. Anything from corsair, pc power and cooling or seasonic will be great.

As for storage I would recommend getting an SSD for the OS+Apps and a fast hard drive for data.

I recommend this SSD: Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex OCZSSD2-1VTXA60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Apple / Mac Edition SSD - Solid State Disks