Yes, It's i7, But not the norm!

[alexbruce]

Hey,

Have an issue.. I gave away my current rig (in my sig), a long story but it was necessary, I was able to swap some parts out before I gave it away so i have:

OCZ EliteXstream 1000W PSU
Coolermaster HAF 932
Samsung T240 24" Monitor
Samsung 1TB HDD

The problem is, I have no spare cash and am getting a PC on credit, so it ALL has to be from www.overclockers.co.uk

I've come up with this, and I think it's about the best without getting silly ££.

I am a serious enthusiast, gamer and I live on CS4 (Photoshop, InDesign etc) so I know it's got to pack a hefty punch, I want a board that preferably will be both SLI/Crossfire and overclocks very well too.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-324-AS - P6T6 WS Board

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-280-IN - This is the D0 stepping version, which I seem to remember reading is better for O/Cing? but I might be wrong

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-110-HT - I struggled on this, but the 4890's seem the best choice in a value vs performance basis, but please correct me if you have a better solution, never used HIS so feedback on them would be good?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-148-OC - Memory.. Good latency, like OCZ...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-053-SA - Another Samsung to put in RAID

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-026-CM - Reviews love this, customers loves this... and I mist admit I've always had a chubby on over this...


Sorry If the links are messy, I'm still not 100% with all the stuff on the site...

Thanks In advance!

Alex.

 

[alexbruce]

Right I cocked that up!

Hope this works...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-324-AS - P6T6 WS Board

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-280-IN - This is the D0 stepping version, which I seem to remember reading is better for O/Cing? but I might be wrong

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-110-HT - I struggled on this, but the 4890's seem the best choice in a value vs performance basis, but please correct me if you have a better solution, never used HIS so feedback on them would be good?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-148-OC - Memory.. Good latency, like OCZ...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-053-SA - Another Samsung to put in RAID

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-026-CM - Reviews love this, customers loves this... and I mist admit I've always had a chubby on over this...

 

[alexbruce]

Figured I'd change the cards to the sapphire, from experience and online reviews the cards generally overclock well and perform nicely.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-195-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1403 - Card x 2

 

[Shadow703793]

HSF: Yes, the V8 is a good cooler.
CPU: Yes, i7 920 D0 should OC a bit more with a little less voltage.
HDD: I prefer WD or Seagate, but you'll be fine with the Samsung.
RAM: Good, decently priced.

Now for hard part: the GPU.

You have a few options when it comes to this:

1. Get a decent workstation card (FireGl or Quadro). This is expensive, but you get a performance boost for workstation kind of work like CAD,etc. Not sure about the performace boost for CS4.

2. Get a decent gaming card. There is no drive optimization for the workstation work. It's mainly aimed at gaming performance.

3. Get a gaming card and softmodd it. This takes a bit of work but usually cheaper than buying a workstation graphic card. This method gives you the performance of the workstation card and you'll be able to use the workstation drivers.
See: http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539
^nVidia
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=105&pgno=0
^ATI

Note: CS4 offers GPU acceleration. Not sure about the cards that are supported. Not sure if SLI/CrossFire is even supported.

 

[Helloworld_98]

you would be right with the D0 overclocking better than the C0.

some get to 4.6ghz on air.

 

[alexbruce]

Thanks both,

Shadow... It's not for a workstation per say, only CS4 and such which doesnt' require the same stuff as CAD and so forth.. it's mainly a gaming / editing PC, so it is purely standard graphcis cards

I know what you mean about HDD but I can't believe how good this Samsung has been, I had 2 WD and Seagates and they both failed and I got fed up with all the RMA'ing!

Any suggestions?

Helloworld : Thanks man!

 

[alexbruce]

I don't think XFire/SLI is supported in CS4, it used GPU support for a small amount of features, but to be honest I'm not too fussed, becasue from what I have read a decent card will provide good performance

 

[Outlander_04]

HSF: Yes, the V8 is a good cooler.
CPU: Yes, i7 920 D0 should OC a bit more with a little less voltage.
HDD: I prefer WD or Seagate, but you'll be fine with the Samsung.
RAM: Good, decently priced.

Now for hard part: the GPU.

You have a few options when it comes to this:

1. Get a decent workstation card (FireGl or Quadro). This is expensive, but you get a performance boost for workstation kind of work like CAD,etc. Not sure about the performace boost for CS4.

2. Get a decent gaming card. There is no drive optimization for the workstation work. It's mainly aimed at gaming performance.

3. Get a gaming card and softmodd it. This takes a bit of work but usually cheaper than buying a workstation graphic card. This method gives you the performance of the workstation card and you'll be able to use the workstation drivers.
See: http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539
^nVidia
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=105&pgno=0
^ATI

Note: CS4 offers GPU acceleration. Not sure about the cards that are supported. Not sure if SLI/CrossFire is even supported.

The OP is a gamer . He needs a gaming card , and the 4890 looks about right for that .

There is no advantage using a workstation card or softmodding a gaming card for CS4 . Image processing is cpu intensive and doesnt use the gfx card [except to display the image on the screen]

 

[alexbruce]

Yeah that is true, CS4 does utilise some GPU performance, but this is only for canvas modifications, rotating ETC, and for some filter applications AFAIK

any suggestions outlander? or the 4890 better than Nvdia GTX 275 ETC

 

[alexbruce]

I didn't even mention that I'll be using Crossfire or SLI, sorry guys...

 

[alexbruce]

I seem to be reading that the GTX275, outperforms the 4890?

I'm not worried on specific games because of course these change in time, but I seem to be leaning towards NVidia becasue of there seemingly better support for gaming geatures like CUDA etc

That completely wrong?

 

[Shadow703793]

^GTX275 vs 4890 comes down to price at the end. Both have smiler performance AFAIK.

 

[Shadow703793]

The OP is a gamer . He needs a gaming card , and the 4890 looks about right for that .

I thought his job was some photographer/photo editor since he said "I am a serious enthusiast, gamer and I live on CS4" 😀

 

[alexbruce]

It Is, But since I use a PC for loads of other stuff too it's not viable (and I can't afford it flat out) to get a workstation..

I can see where you were coming from though!

 

[alexbruce]

Does anyone have opinions on the board?

I know it's branded a WS board but everything I've read says it's a brilliant gaming/OCing board...

Can anyone else recommend a board off www.overclockers.co.uk that is better suited and offers equal performance?

 

[Shadow703793]

The board is good. Any good gaming GPU will work fine for you.