- Nov 30, 2011
- 34
- 0
- 18,530
First I will tell you what I'm looking for according to this forums' guidelines. Then I will explain what I have and why I'm not satisfied as that will help you understand where I need to focus on upgrading.
Approximate Purchase Date: Starting ASAP I would like to buy one or two components at a time until I have everything in. Then I will build the system. With Xmas coming up soon I don't want to spend too much money on myself.
Budget Range: $2000-3000 based on sale prices, hopefully. May not include extended warranty options.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: 1) Mostly for business applications and serious multitasking. It's not uncommon for me to have 15+ applications and/or windows open at a time, spread across 3 large hi-res monitors. 2) Graphics intensive applications such as PhotoShop, Dreamweaver (not that bad), After Effects and Premiere Pro. 3) HD Streaming video via in-house networked media server and Netflix plus full 1080p Blu-Ray movie playback. My center monitor is an HD 30" so it makes a nice TV. 4) Occasional gaming. The only types of games I like are RPG's like newer D&D style games and the new Diablo III coming out. I'm not a big gamer so I don't know how demanding these types of games are compared to others but when I do want to play them I want them to run smoothly at the highest settings. 5) This might sound picky but I have some nice OpenGL screensavers that look like crap with my existing video cards. Probably because I run a high resolution and these are workstation video cards. Nevertheless, this is on my list of wants.
Parts Not Required: I do not need a keyboard, mouse, OS, speakers, or monitors. Also don't need any switches or routers or a printer. Basically the case and everything inside it is what I need.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I prefer Amazon and Newegg. I have a Prime account with Amazon and a ShopRunner account that works with NewEgg and I like NewEgg's extended warranty options and prices.
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: Not sure I have any personal preferences other than to say I try to stay away from some brands that are low quality or which companies don't support their products very well, like HP for example. I don't think this would apply as I'm building a performance system and have the budget available and it's flexible. I haven't used an AMD processor in a long time but I do have the Intel Core i7 920 right now and love it. If you honestly feel that AMD can perform at least as well or better with a long life then I'm open to suggestions. I haven't kept up with AMD products for a while so consider me ignorant.
Overclocking: Maybe - May not be necessary for this system.
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe now or at least as a future proof option, yes.
Monitor Resolution: I currently run 3 monitors. A 30" center display at 2560 x 1600 and two side monitors that are rotated 20" each running at 1200 x 1600.
Additional Comments: I have lots of comments! See below...
The main thing I'm not pleased with in my current system is the video cards. I bought them out of necessity because my Dell system only has one PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot. But even the primary video card is lacking in performance and 3D or OpenGL apps. My current video cards are both Nvidia. One Quadro FX 380 (the x16 card) and one Quadro NVS 295 (the x1 card). Both are low profile and run somewhat hot with just the heatsink it came with. I need either one good video card that will run all 3 monitors at different resolutions or 2 separate (still good quality) video cards. The video card I realize could determine the case, motherboard, and power supply that I will need so I figure this is a good starting point.
Crossfire/SLI is optional but I think it should be figured in as a future upgrade option so the system needs to support up to two large video cards and the power requirements.
One other thing to think about is a way to overcome the a kind of restriction with the BIOS and the order it looks for video devices to boot with. For example, with my current system it always boots off the right monitor that's rotated. I think that's because that's the only video card (the NVS 295) that uses a DVI port. The other 2 use a Display Port, and the BIOS will find the DVI port first and use it. If I can set this up so the main center display uses the DVI port and that doesn't hurt my resolution or anything that would be great. Of course you know that once Windows starts loading it sets the primary monitor anyway but when there are system problems it's no fund tilting my head for hours.
The case is very important to me. If I can get a mid tower case to work that's my preference as it takes up less space where my knees are under my desk. But I am not opposed to going with a full tower. I also have dogs that shed so filter traps that are easy to access and clean would be a nice option. I've seen some cases that have that option. Not a requirement though. One thing that I do want is the extra cooling. I also prefer to have at least 2 USB ports and maybe a eSATA port on the front or top front of the case with at least one USB supporting 3.0. I've also seen some newer cases that have 3 layers of siding to eliminate most of the noise. Since this is my main work PC that would be nice. I'm willing to spend the extra money on the case to get everything I want if such a case exists.
For storage I intend to go with a SSD for my boot/OS device and then have either 2 1Tb drives or 2 2Tb drives. I use a WD MyBook 1Tb USB 3.0 drive right now for backing up data, which is ok but not as fast as I would like so if you have a better suggestion I'm all ears. For media I have a networked media server with 18Tb of storage so I don't need massive storage in my main PC. What's a good size to use for the SSD boot/OS device?
I'd like to go with a faster processor than what I have now, which is the 2.67GHz i7 920 which is actually 8 cores. Technically it's more like 4 dual core processors from what I've read but the system sees it as 8 separate processors it can use. I don't think there's anything out there with more cores but faster would be nice. Maybe not going as far as the new i7 Extreme though. They run over $1000 just for the CPU.
For RAM, I need a monster. I use up just about all of my 9 gigs as it is. Not sure how much more I need but I do need more.
Gigabit for Network speed. Wireless is not necessary although Bluetooth might come in handy. Anybody doing that with PC's these days?
I think that's it. Some of you PC whiz's would probably love to design this one, huh? Appreciate your help and guidance with this.
Oh, one last thing. I intend to run Windows 7 Enterprise x64 on this new system in case compatibility is an issue with any hardware recommendations.
Clay M.
Approximate Purchase Date: Starting ASAP I would like to buy one or two components at a time until I have everything in. Then I will build the system. With Xmas coming up soon I don't want to spend too much money on myself.
Budget Range: $2000-3000 based on sale prices, hopefully. May not include extended warranty options.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: 1) Mostly for business applications and serious multitasking. It's not uncommon for me to have 15+ applications and/or windows open at a time, spread across 3 large hi-res monitors. 2) Graphics intensive applications such as PhotoShop, Dreamweaver (not that bad), After Effects and Premiere Pro. 3) HD Streaming video via in-house networked media server and Netflix plus full 1080p Blu-Ray movie playback. My center monitor is an HD 30" so it makes a nice TV. 4) Occasional gaming. The only types of games I like are RPG's like newer D&D style games and the new Diablo III coming out. I'm not a big gamer so I don't know how demanding these types of games are compared to others but when I do want to play them I want them to run smoothly at the highest settings. 5) This might sound picky but I have some nice OpenGL screensavers that look like crap with my existing video cards. Probably because I run a high resolution and these are workstation video cards. Nevertheless, this is on my list of wants.
Parts Not Required: I do not need a keyboard, mouse, OS, speakers, or monitors. Also don't need any switches or routers or a printer. Basically the case and everything inside it is what I need.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I prefer Amazon and Newegg. I have a Prime account with Amazon and a ShopRunner account that works with NewEgg and I like NewEgg's extended warranty options and prices.
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: Not sure I have any personal preferences other than to say I try to stay away from some brands that are low quality or which companies don't support their products very well, like HP for example. I don't think this would apply as I'm building a performance system and have the budget available and it's flexible. I haven't used an AMD processor in a long time but I do have the Intel Core i7 920 right now and love it. If you honestly feel that AMD can perform at least as well or better with a long life then I'm open to suggestions. I haven't kept up with AMD products for a while so consider me ignorant.
Overclocking: Maybe - May not be necessary for this system.
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe now or at least as a future proof option, yes.
Monitor Resolution: I currently run 3 monitors. A 30" center display at 2560 x 1600 and two side monitors that are rotated 20" each running at 1200 x 1600.
Additional Comments: I have lots of comments! See below...
The main thing I'm not pleased with in my current system is the video cards. I bought them out of necessity because my Dell system only has one PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot. But even the primary video card is lacking in performance and 3D or OpenGL apps. My current video cards are both Nvidia. One Quadro FX 380 (the x16 card) and one Quadro NVS 295 (the x1 card). Both are low profile and run somewhat hot with just the heatsink it came with. I need either one good video card that will run all 3 monitors at different resolutions or 2 separate (still good quality) video cards. The video card I realize could determine the case, motherboard, and power supply that I will need so I figure this is a good starting point.
Crossfire/SLI is optional but I think it should be figured in as a future upgrade option so the system needs to support up to two large video cards and the power requirements.
One other thing to think about is a way to overcome the a kind of restriction with the BIOS and the order it looks for video devices to boot with. For example, with my current system it always boots off the right monitor that's rotated. I think that's because that's the only video card (the NVS 295) that uses a DVI port. The other 2 use a Display Port, and the BIOS will find the DVI port first and use it. If I can set this up so the main center display uses the DVI port and that doesn't hurt my resolution or anything that would be great. Of course you know that once Windows starts loading it sets the primary monitor anyway but when there are system problems it's no fund tilting my head for hours.
The case is very important to me. If I can get a mid tower case to work that's my preference as it takes up less space where my knees are under my desk. But I am not opposed to going with a full tower. I also have dogs that shed so filter traps that are easy to access and clean would be a nice option. I've seen some cases that have that option. Not a requirement though. One thing that I do want is the extra cooling. I also prefer to have at least 2 USB ports and maybe a eSATA port on the front or top front of the case with at least one USB supporting 3.0. I've also seen some newer cases that have 3 layers of siding to eliminate most of the noise. Since this is my main work PC that would be nice. I'm willing to spend the extra money on the case to get everything I want if such a case exists.
For storage I intend to go with a SSD for my boot/OS device and then have either 2 1Tb drives or 2 2Tb drives. I use a WD MyBook 1Tb USB 3.0 drive right now for backing up data, which is ok but not as fast as I would like so if you have a better suggestion I'm all ears. For media I have a networked media server with 18Tb of storage so I don't need massive storage in my main PC. What's a good size to use for the SSD boot/OS device?
I'd like to go with a faster processor than what I have now, which is the 2.67GHz i7 920 which is actually 8 cores. Technically it's more like 4 dual core processors from what I've read but the system sees it as 8 separate processors it can use. I don't think there's anything out there with more cores but faster would be nice. Maybe not going as far as the new i7 Extreme though. They run over $1000 just for the CPU.
For RAM, I need a monster. I use up just about all of my 9 gigs as it is. Not sure how much more I need but I do need more.
Gigabit for Network speed. Wireless is not necessary although Bluetooth might come in handy. Anybody doing that with PC's these days?
I think that's it. Some of you PC whiz's would probably love to design this one, huh? Appreciate your help and guidance with this.
Oh, one last thing. I intend to run Windows 7 Enterprise x64 on this new system in case compatibility is an issue with any hardware recommendations.
Clay M.
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