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Shadowsoal

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Dec 15, 2008
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Hello everyone. I'm looking for advice on a system I'm building. It'll be the first time I'm building a computer in a long time and as far as I can tell nearly everything has changed, so if I've made any stupid component choices please tell me. My biggest concern is compatibility, I want to ensure the parts I've picked out will play nice with each other. I'm also looking to ensure I'm not going overkill or underkill on any of my components. I plan to use this machine for some amount of gaming, a lot of text editing, web browsing and movie/television viewing. It will also probably be used as a test machine for high performance parallel applications (my research field).

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550
SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (x2 for RAID 1)
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK (x2 for a total or 8GB of RAM)
Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F
Lenovo L222 HD LCD Monitor with Soundbar--4432HF1

Comments, concerns, suggestions, past experiences with any of the components are all very welcome!
 
I was going to say that the Q9550 is overkill for what you want, until I read about the "test machine for high performance parallel applications" bit. I wouldn't get the Q9550 if you want this, move to i7. I'm not sure if thats in your budget, so I'll only comment on what you included. You should try to get it however.

RAM: Intel CPUs don't need fast memory, so buying the 1066MHz stuff is pointless. Just get 2x2GBs of DDR2-800 and you'll be fine. Also, I assume you will be running a 64bit OS? If not, just stick with one 4GB kit.

PSU: I'm not a fan of ThermalTake PSUs. When they came out they had some duds, and I'm never sure of which I'm buying. Double check the purepower series and make sure its one of their good ones. You might be better off getting a Corsair 500W+, or a similar SeaSonic based unit. Newegg has been having the Antec 500W Earthwatts with 34A on the 12V rail and 80+ efficiency for $49 with free shipping recently. Thats a great deal.

Other then those two (possibly three) issues, everything else looks fine. I myself would avoid RAID1 and just use a single drive with a USB backup solution, but thats just me. Looks like you got a solid build there.
 
A large portion of this machines processing power will be testing and benchmarking high performance parallel applications, specifically software level transactional memory, So the Q9550 was a minimum. Would it be really worth it to step the clock down to 2.66 for the i7 920 (and save ~$20) or to chuck out an extra $250 for the i7 940?

I will be running a 64bit OS, and if I won't see any performance boost between DDR2 800 and DDR2 1066 then can anyone recommend a specific brand of RAM.

I'll poke around more at PSUs, that's for the advice

With my track record for failing drives, I don't feel comfortable with anything less than RAID1...
 
Newegg has great prices on OCZ RAM right now, that maybe somewhere to look for DDR2 800. If you don't feel comfortable with less than RAID 1, then maybe you should look at a 3 drive RAID 5 array. Get 3 Seagate/WD 500GB HDD's and do RAID 5 on those. Going i7 is a little too pricey right now, means buying a $400 Motherboard. Go with a Core 2 Quad with 1333FSB and you can overclock it.
 
Step down to 2.66GHz? Have you forgotten that clock speed only matters if you are comparing CPUs in the same family line? The i7 920 in CPU tasks is more then Q9550, trust me. The IMC more then makes up for the slight drop in speed. (HT will also help it, 8 threads at once should be faster then 4.) As I eluded and Spruce mentioned, its expensive to get it, I don't know if your budget will allow for the x58 motherboard and more expensive DDR3 memory.

As for ram, try to stick with good name brands and you shouldn't have any issues. OCZ, Corsair, etc should all be fine. G.Skill isn't bad stuff either. If possible, try to get sticks that run at 1.8v, and have a CL timing of 4. These will be the best.

If you have had problems with failing drives, make sure you make an image of your system as soon as you have everything installed. That way you only have to use ghost to get back up and running. With everything important saved on a USB backup drive, you shouldn't have to worry about dead drives. This way, RAID 1 or 5, either way.
 
I've decided to switch to:
G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B (x2 for a total of 8GB of RAM)
and
SILVERSTONE ST70F 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Gotten enough comments about my PSU and my RAM that I figured I should swap them out for better choices. If this raises any compatibility issues with my other components, of if I've picked out new components that aren't so hot, I'd appreciate it if someone told me.
 
How much for the PSU? I'm not a fan of silverstone either. I read in one review that its $140, which is much to high for what you get. (review was probably old, so its probably gone down in price.) I believe there are several corsairs for around $100, and would be a better buy. Silverstone tends to use Enhance for their manufacturer, not the best.
 
So here's what I've got so far. Any additional comments are still extremely welcome, I've been taking advice from a handful of websites/friends/coworkers, so if you made a suggestion that wasn't taken to heart, I'm not trying to ignore you, and if you feel a previous suggestion is still applicable, remind me...

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550
A lot of what this computer will do is parallel application design and testing. This processor seems to be the best performance/cost for what I need.

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
While I plan on getting more into gaming as time passes, it's not my highest priority, so I'll stick with this GPU for the moment, and if I find it isn't cutting it later on, I can upgrade, a better GPU just isn't worth the cost right now.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (x2 RAID 1 configured)
This is still sort of up in the air, I may decide 650GB is sufficient and tone it down, to save some $$, but for now I'll tentatively leave this here. RAID 1 (or maybe 5) configuration is really a must for me, I've had so many HDs fail in the past, that I don't want to leave things up to chance.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
Several people from different parts of the internet have pointed me at this mobo, I'll take their word that it's what I want.

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B (x2 for a total of 8GB of RAM)
64-bit OS, so 8GB of RAM is usable, 800MHz with 4 CL that runs at 1.8-1.9V should get the job done.

PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Leaves plenty of room to expand and upgrade in the future. Deciding on a PSU has been one of the harder choices for me, since I know so little about them, additional commentary in this section is still very welcome.

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F
Optical drives are nice... this one seems sufficient.

COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Hypothetically everything listed above will fit in this case. I'm not big on aesthetics, I just want something which is not covered in blue LEDs, that will fit all my components and ventilates well.

Lenovo L222 HD LCD Monitor with Soundbar--4432HF1
22" 1950x1200 native resolution for $222, if someone can point me in the direction of a better deal for a monitor of this caliber I'd appreciate that!

Again all suggestions/comments are very welcome. Another thing I haven't really thought about is additional cables. I don't really want to purchase all this stuff to find out that some components require additional cables etc to hook them up, is there anything I should be on the lookout for in that regard?

Thanks again in advance!
 
It looks very good, in general.

If you believe this picture here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...E GA-EP45-UD3P ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
then the UD3P comes with two SATA cables. You will need to buy a third one separately for the burner. I'm not 100% sure the picture is accurate though.

I'm not familiar with that monitor. If it really has 1920x1200 at 22" then the pixels must be very small. You better have very good eyesight.

You can trust that PC Power & Cooling. For one thing, I have one myself and never had any problems with it in a year and a half. OK, I did have frequent blue screens for the first few months, but I know for sure they were all because of nVidia drivers, because they were all talking about nv4_disp.dll. Not a single blue screen or reboot since I got nVidia's drivers in November 2007. It is one of the best PSUs out there, and IMO the best 750W available. Here's an article about it:
http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3186



 
I'm still somewhat undecided about the PSU. You suggestion is quality and leaves room to upgrade, but is pricey compared to other suggestions I've gotten.

I run at 1600x1200 on a 14" monitor already...
 
Well, $90 for that PSU is not really that pricey. I paid twice as much for it last year.

Anyway, there's a PC P&C 610W version for $70, if you prefer:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005

Or a Corsair 650TX for $80:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650TX

This is a decent PSU too:
OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI 600W, $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341001

If you really insist, there's a Rosewill 450W for $37 too, and so on. However, that is a junk PSU and puts the rest of the PC at risk. It also leaves no room for upgrades, and it will run at 65% efficiency instead of 85%.

Try to pick something recommended here:
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/permalink/369181/323050/ShowThread.aspx#323050
 
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