Lots of PC Build Specific Questions!

[ZenShredder]

Hello there, so I'm new to the forum, however I don't lack experience with computers. I'm pretty adept with software and pretty knowledgeable with hardware, however I do have some more "advanced" questions that I'd like answered if possible. I only have a few questions but I tend to write a lot in order to be thorough so I'll try to star my questions. Thanks in advance for your response, and hopefully I can get some answers!


My Current Build:

Case: NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR black/orange
CPU: AMD FX 8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-core 4.0/4.2 Ghz Turbo
GPU: Asus Radeon HD 7770 Ghz Edition 2GB 128-bit
MOBO: Asus M5A78L-M/USB3
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2X8GB(16GB) 240 PIN DDR3 SDRAM 1866
PSU: Corsair CXM series CX600M 600W ATX12V
Drives: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD, Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB HDD, Hitachi 1TB HDD(it's an external drive that came with a case that I turned into an internal HDD, no idea what model it is, just know its made by Hitachi), LG Black 12X Blu-ray Combo Drive
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

So before I get to questions real quick, my basic goal is to upgrade and maximize my computer's versatility and performance because I am a gamer, a digital artist AND a musician who records digitally. So with all that being said, I've kinda got a triple threat going on and I need to figure out what I need to optimize each aspect in which I need my computer.


Question 1.0: This series of questions pertain to graphics cards and their relationship for both gaming and digital medium workstations.

I'm looking to upgrade my 7770 to two of these crossfired:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202111&cm_re=sapphire_vapor_x-_-14-202-111-_-Product

Obviously this will boost my gaming performance immensely, however I'm not only looking for gaming performance, but adequate performance in programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, perhaps Fuse and maybe even Poser/Maya/ZBrush in the future. It is to my understanding that the hardware for gaming cards and workstation cards are almost identical, the main difference is their drivers and based off my own assumption, their firmware considering the $700+ price mark-up. ***So my question is will crossfiring two of the cards I linked be an appropriate solution to my problem? If not, what should I be looking for?*** Based off my guessing the core clock rates and stream processor counts are important factors in determining performance, but I've ran Photoshop and Illustrator fairly well with the 7770, opening a large document at 500DPI and using the brush tool at maximum width (5000 pixels) is a bit laggy, but I don't intend to do that much! I've not really heard much about using gaming cards for workstations, so I am not entirely sure what I should expect except based off my own experiences with the 7770. ***Also, I'm fairly loyal to Asus products since they've always worked for me, but their version of the card I wish to upgrade to is a little more expensive, and since I'm crossfiring that will increase the cost even more, so what I want to know is if Sapphire is a reliable company? If not, can anyone recommend someone equally good to Asus?***



Question 2: This series of questions pertain to professional audio equipment and how it relates to my computer. I know absolutely nothing about sound cards for a PC. I am an amateur prog-metal guitarist with a simple home studio setup. I have a Line 6 POD UX1 hooked up to my desktop via USB and getting sound through some Behringer MS16 studio monitors. ***My question is whether or not I should invest in a sound card?*** I don't know what precisely sound cards do for the PC so I have no idea what to look for. ***What I would also like to know is whether or not it will affect the signal quality coming to the PC and will it help with mixing in DAW(digital audio workstations) such as Reaper and Cubase?*** I feel kind of sad that I don't know this because I know a lot about PCs and their components, but I've never delved into sound card technology really. I'm sure it's not really difficult to learn about, however I've had trouble finding information that is for a user like myself who isn't just starting but doesn't have a lot of knowledge, it's mostly super technical discussions about how it works coinciding with tones for certain guitar modeling processors such as my UX1 or the super sexy Fractal Axe FX! ***Anyways if someone could lay down some knowledge on sound cards, what their primary function is, what makes a good vs. bad card, etc. that would be deeply appreciated.***



Question 3: This series of questions pertain to power usage and approaches to my PC build. So I'm not only looking to upgrade my graphics, but also my MOBO and to consolidate all of my data onto one large HDD. The MOBO I have been looking at is this one because it has 8 SATA ports for extra upgrade room:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877

***With the idea of upgrading my graphics cards and MOBO, my first question is should I consider getting a higher watt power supply? I would think 600W would be enough for my build, but if not could you recommend what wattage I look for?*** Also, I am having a little difficult time differentiating the selection of drives that Western Digital offers, they offer drives based off colors such as Blue, Green, Black, Red, etc. and they all have a different purpose, however some are more expensive than others despite them having the same specs. ***My next question is whether or not it would be wise to purchase say a purple WD 4TB HDD to save $50 or so instead of buying a blue/black 4TB HDD which are optimized for performance?*** I only plan to use them as storage for my personal files and games on Steam/Origin(the SSD reads the games off the HDD), currently I consume about 1.5 TB worth of data between my two 1TB HDDs, so I want to consolidate them into one drive to reduce power consumption and the hassle of having 2 drives. Lastly, I have a series of questions about MOBO choices, last series of questions I promise! So as I mentioned I was looking into upgrading my MOBO to the one linked above. The main reason was so I could have more SATA ports(it seems my SATA ports are all consumed!) but I've began to contemplate other MOBO solutions. I don't NEED 8 SATA ports, but the extra room is nice in case I wish to expand later down the road, but I have also started to contemplate potentially using a built-in APU/CPU along with my dedicated GPU(s) and my FX 8350. ***So I guess my next question is whether it is possible to have a chip that is already on the board like the one above, add another chip such as my FX 8350, and then use whatever integrated graphics are built into the MOBO and combine their power with the dedicated GPUs?*** I got this idea from my laptop from Asus which has a Radeon HD 8670M, which is basically a smaller dedicated card and the on-board GPU combined together to make a 2.5GB GPU with a decent clock rate(at least for a laptop). The model is the Asus R510-DP if you want to look it up, but regardless I think it would be interesting to see if this is possible with a desktop build in order to maximize the hardware given on the MOBO along with the dedicated hardware added onto it. And if I'm talking nonsense or contemplating the impossible, please just tell me so, because it sounded really cool in my head lol.

On a side note, if you have a better suggestion for a MOBO upgrade, or you think I should stick with my current one, let me know! I was also looking at AMD MOBOs with 20-pin connectors but there are so few, and the only one I found so far was the other option for an 8 SATA port board, but it's a bit much for my budget -.-


Thank you for anyone who reads my massive paragraphs! I'm sorry I write a lot but I like to be thorough with information and my perspective on things to help get a better understanding of how I think and what I want.

 

[popatim]

1: Adobe products cant make use of xfire/sli cards. You will get single card performance. You are much better off buying a $700 single gpu that two $350. Also consider that not all game support xfire/sli either; the single card is always supported. The main difference between gaming cards and workstation cards is mainly quality control, double precision floating point calculations (not needed in gaming so its usually crippled), and support for more ram (usually) are all better on workstation cards. For non-gaming applications i suggest you stick to non-overclocked cards, they seem to be more stable.

2: since the signal is coming in thru a usb port then its already been digitized and a sound card will do nothing for you in that respect. It may help in reproducing the sound if you are using the pc for that but it doesnt sound like you are so the point is moot.

3: if you are going to game from a hard drive, please get a 7200rpm non-green drive. With WD that leaves Blue or Black. (only black if you want 4tb). green/red is fine for storage. Purple is for video surveillance systems, and while they will work in a pc, they are designed for sequential reads & writes, and pc users are heave on random reads & writes.

4: no your laptop does not combine the power of the 8670 & the igpu into one card. It runs one or the other but when it runs the 8670 the data is passed thru the iGPU so you only have the 1 connector to your monitor.

no they dont make this kind of motherboard, not even for amd apu's, that I am aware of. Theres no real point to it in a desktop. its mainly there in laptops to help them run longer on battery when you shouldnt be running a game anyways. Have you noticed your games dont run as well on battery? that because the 8670 is normally programmed to run with reduced cores while on battery to save power.

 

[ZenShredder]

Okay, I will stick to a single really good card then, I'll look for a non-overclocked GPU but I'm sure that might be easier said than done. The info is definitely helpful though, I knew that workstation cards work better with more VRAM but I had no idea about quality control or double precision floating point calculations. I'll have to read up on that more if I can find a good source.

As for the sound card, you probably saved me a good chunk of change considering the price for the "good" sound cards. I know some gamers use sound cards to get better sound quality out of their PC for 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound systems, however I don't need this really.

I will definitely stick to a black drive then since you sincerely suggest it lol. I know purple is for surveillance(I work as a security guard) but I was just curious about it being a potential money saver. Clearly it's not, I did not know it is set up for different read/write situations. I guess I'll just stick with a black HDD because I know red is for NAS systems, which I know are just storage systems, but I do plan to read/write from it a lot so I think the black might be the better option. So much for saving money ='|

As for my laptop, under the drivers it says that it uses the APU and GPU together using Dual Graphics which is based off the Crossfire system, so the fact that it says this is incorrect, and does not actually work this way? Or perhaps were you unaware of that prior to me saying so? I'm not trying to say your wrong necessarily, I just want to know if AMD is lying to me or not lol.

Anyways, I thought it would be cool if there was a way to have a setup like my laptop with a desktop but with a heavier processor such as the FX 8350 and heavier GPUs, but a man can dream I guess...and yeah I don't run games on battery, I know it affects performance regardless of whether or not you choose to set it to maximum performance. Since it's not getting a direct flow of voltage, I'm sure the power output is ever so slightly lower, meaning less performance regardless, so I always play games and work in Adobe software plugged in.

Thanks a lot for your help! Glad to get some of these issues cleared up, now to go shopping some more to figure out the right components needed to complete my upgrade...