New 1.8K System

[gtalarico]

Hello and thank you for your time.

I was basically given 1,800 to spend on a new computer.
I am an architect/designer. I do some heavy rendering work (I am hoping 2600K OC should do it)
Lot's of Photoshop, Illustrator, HEAVY files. No gaming, a little video editing.

I decided on the 2600K, and based on that, I put together the following.

I have never built a system from scratch. Please let me know if you think that are any major problems with this build.
(Mostly I am kind of clueless with all the new SSD/Raids/ z68+SS stuff.

I am a back up freak, so reliability is more of a priority than speed.
I don't know if it makes any sense but I though I would do 2x 1TB (Mirror) + one ssd for caching. Does this make sense.

Thank you for any help you can offer.


Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black Steel, ABS Plastic, Mesh bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified

ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F60GB3-BK 2.5" 60GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

2x Seagate Barracuda St320005N1A1AS-RK 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM

Noctua NH-C14 140mm x 2 SSO CPU Cooler
XIGMATEK PTI-G4512 thermal grease with gold grade thermal matrix filler particles

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

= $1,850

Thanks again!!!!

 

[QwertyMusicMan]

Should work fine. With the type of files you're running, I don't think you really need a SSD, so if you take that out you could go for the GTX 580. Either way it'll work fine.

 

[gtalarico]

Thanks for your response Qwerty, but I think actually could actually take advantage of the SSD. If I don't see a huge improvement, I will just use it for boot/OS

Changed an item or two (Case, HD's)

Final Storage scheme:
1x TB for OS (I know it is a lot, but I currently have 300 gb in it. I want to make sure I won't run out of room.
1x 2TB for Media/Data > this will be backed up into a 2TB esata external (which I already own).
1x SSD for caching.

Case:
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

PSU:
Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified

Hds:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Video:
ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model

MB:
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM

Noctua NH-C14 140mm x 2 SSO CPU Cooler

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM


Total: $1,825

I plan on placing by the end of this week, so speak now or forever hold your peace
(Please tell me this will work!)
Thanks!

 

[Guest]

If I shall say, it looks almost perfect, though I prefer Corsair H80 CPU Cooler. I've seen it gets as much as 11ºC cooler when extreme OC (that is, 2600k at 5.2 Ghz, Voltage 1.5v, 102mhz bus, 52x multiplier, both coolers with fans at 100%), but also few degrees cooler with stock speeds. Just 20 more dollars at newegg.

Also, get OCZ Agility 3 or Vertex 3. Few more bucks, almost double the bandwidth. Sata 3 is a must, you won't go wrong with it. The Corsair you put in the first rig would also be better than OCZ Agility 2.

About the usage of the SSD as cache for the HDD, it looks like you'd probably be better installing the OS and the applications in your SSD, then use the HDD for the big files. Those Caviar Black are pretty fast by themselves, SRT technology sure gives a boost, but it's a bit inconsistent and doesn't get that close to SSD performance. Anyway, try which way works best for you, I've only seen some reviews here and there about it.

PS: Your rig looks just like the one I ordered. Different brands, same raw power . In my case, for Adobe Premiere and After Effects.

Good luck and hope this helps.

 

[gtalarico]

Thanks Raysito.
I makes me feel more confident that you had a very similar build.

I had to stick with my Noctua cooler though. The one you suggested seems awesome, but it was more than $30 extra, and I am already a little over budget. The reviews for the Noctua were also really really good. I hope I won't regret this

I followed your advice and I swapped the SSD I had for the Agility 3. Good call, it was only $10 more.

As for running the OS of the SSD, I worry that 60gb isn't enough. My current Os drive has more than 100gb (lot's of autodesk and adobe programs that use several gigs each). Also, I am a little skeptic of using a SSD as my boot drive... I've read tons of reviews about these things being unstable, unreliable, etc. I thing I just trust a "solid" 3.5 hd more.
But if I change my mind (should I?)

Either way I will have 2 HDD + 1 SSD, so I could do
1 HDD (OS) + 1 HDD (Data) + 1 SSD (Caching)
+ Backup to External
or
2 HDD (Data + Back up) + 1 SSD OS

Thanks for your comments. If anyone have any insightful experiences regarding the new SSD caching feel free to add to the discussion: I haven't quite made my mind up.

Thanks!

 

[chillin15]

Instead of the caviar black, get the samsung spinpont f3 1tb. fastest 1 tb hard drive on the market.

 

[gtalarico]

Too late : (

 

[Guest]

Caviar Black is good anyway, it's not like you'll notice that much of a difference (same happens with SSD's, some people just fancy benchmarks but in real world usage, differences are barely noticable).

About the SSD, I finaly swapped to a Crucial M4 (last day change). Reason was the problems with SSD's powered by Sandforce controller having some troubles (not all of them, but more than just a few). Also people with those trobules are having headaches with the support, specially with OCZ (who even blame Intel for the problem, meanwhile, all SSD's without the Sandforce controller are having 0 troubles with the BSOD).

So you probably are much better using it for caching. Perhaps, if in the near future the problem gets solved, you might want to give it a try and use it as Boot drive. For video editting you want stability (we all have had a "WTH" expirience were we loose an hour of work with our vids or photoshop, and that actually makes me quite mad), so I wouldn't take the risk using the SSD for the OS.

Hopefully, not all SSD's are affected, probably as much as a third, or a fifth, maybe a tenth of them. But it's too much at least for me to take the risk, that's why in the end I changed my mind (hadn't read about that trouble when I posted here, otherwise I would have given you the advice). Try and search if people are having trouble with Sandorce powered SSD's using them for caching.

Good luck. I'm pretty sure you'll anyway get the performance you were searching for.

PS: 60GB is enough for the OS and a few of your most used programs, so anyway, if it were stable, I'd use it that way. Performance gain is big over caching, specially with the kind of work you talk about.

 

[chillin15]

Caviar Black is good anyway, it's not like you'll notice that much of a difference (same happens with SSD's, some people just fancy benchmarks but in real world usage, differences are barely noticable).

About the SSD, I finaly swapped to a Crucial M4 (last day change). Reason was the problems with SSD's powered by Sandforce controller having some troubles (not all of them, but more than just a few). Also people with those trobules are having headaches with the support, specially with OCZ (who even blame Intel for the problem, meanwhile, all SSD's without the Sandforce controller are having 0 troubles with the BSOD).

So you probably are much better using it for caching. Perhaps, if in the near future the problem gets solved, you might want to give it a try and use it as Boot drive. For video editting you want stability (we all have had a "WTH" expirience were we loose an hour of work with our vids or photoshop, and that actually makes me quite mad), so I wouldn't take the risk using the SSD for the OS.

Hopefully, not all SSD's are affected, probably as much as a third, or a fifth, maybe a tenth of them. But it's too much at least for me to take the risk, that's why in the end I changed my mind (hadn't read about that trouble when I posted here, otherwise I would have given you the advice). Try and search if people are having trouble with Sandorce powered SSD's using them for caching.

Good luck. I'm pretty sure you'll anyway get the performance you were searching for.

PS: 60GB is enough for the OS and a few of your most used programs, so anyway, if it were stable, I'd use it that way. Performance gain is big over caching, specially with the kind of work you talk about.

OCZ claims another victim

 

[gtalarico]

Best answer selected by gtalarico.