Help with new build

2009-02-26 20:06:36

#1

deepblade_42: Member; +3|6377|N.S.W Australia

Hi I'm after some advice on building a new pc.
I'll use it for gaming, CAD, FEA and crunching numbers for simulations etc. I plan to overclock it.

Its being partly funded by the Australian economic stimulus package soon due to students

Parts carrying over:
76gb raptor, g5, g15, 2 x 22" Samsung LCD,antec 900,dvd drive

My choice is to go with either the C2Q or i7 chips.

Option 1
CPU: Q9400 overclock to 3 or 3.2
MB: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS5
RAM: 8 gb Corsair Dominator 1066 MHz with fan
PSU: 1000 W Antec
GPU: ??? maybe an overclocked HD4870 ($350)

Total Cost ~AU$1300 + video card.

Option 2
CPU: i7 920
MB: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
RAM: 6 gb Corsair 1600 MHz
PSU: 1000 W Antec
GPU: GTX 295

Total Cost ~AU$2500.

(1 AUD ~= 0.64 USD)

Money is not really an issue but I would like some of your thoughts on
the value of going for the second option. Is the performance difference worth the price?
The benchmarks I've seen show a good increase for the i7 build but I'm not sure if the technology is too new.
Some rough prices of gpu's in Australia.
4870 $350
GTX260 $380
4870X2 $700
GTX295 $800

Some general comments would be great. Thanks heaps.

2009-02-26 20:43:33

#2

The#1Spot: Member; +105|6538|byah

I would go for an Amd setup with the new Phenom II 940 black processor. Easy to overclock and should cost even less than the option 1 for similar performance. The Amd Phenom II X3 black is a little slower but will overclock easily on air with just messing with the multiplier and voltage. It is also compatible with a Am2 + and Am3 motherboard. Also with DDR2 and DDR3 ram

2009-02-26 20:59:51

#3

The_Sniper_NM: Official EVGA Fanboy; +94|6112|SC | USA |

Really, unless you spread your windows display over both 22s, there is no need for a GTX 295. The card will be limited at that res and you will not be getting the most performance. Especially for number crunching, i7 is faster.

All in all I'd go with the 2nd system, replacing the 295 with a 260 or 285. EVGA as always (Unless they don't have any stock down there).

2009-02-26 22:05:11

#4

deepblade_42: Member; +3|6377|N.S.W Australia

thanks for the replies!

I have the desktop spread across both monitors. One usually has a game or cad etc on it and the other for browsing/excel/word etc.
the 280 and 285 both cost about $575. Is it worthwhile to go with one of those until physx has been on cards for a bit longer?

2009-02-26 22:51:11

#5

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6195|Winland

i7, 650-750W Corsair PSU, 1kW is nothing but overkill, 2xGTX260, if not just one. Depends on what you wanna do.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-02-27 02:44:02

#6

Scorpion0x17: can detect anyone's visible post count...; +691|6764|Cambridge (UK)

Freezer7Pro wrote:
1kW is nothing but overkill

Agreed.

Unless you're running like 3 top-end GPUs, you really don't need that kind of power.

2009-02-27 02:48:51

#7

Little BaBy JESUS: m8; +394|6147|'straya

Scorpion0x17 wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
1kW is nothing but overkill
Agreed.

Unless you're running like 3 top-end GPUs, you really don't need that kind of power.

Lol my friend bought a 1000w PSU for a Q6600 and 880GT build... i was like "wtf complete waste"

2009-02-27 06:28:05

#8

Lawdy_: ahhhh dangit!; +15|5963|Australia

Little BaBy JESUS wrote:
Scorpion0x17 wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
1kW is nothing but overkill
Agreed.

Unless you're running like 3 top-end GPUs, you really don't need that kind of power.
Lol my friend bought a 1000w PSU for a Q6600 and 880GT build... i was like "wtf complete waste"

And i don't even use it

2009-02-27 06:35:10

#9

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6412|Finland

Corsair HX1000W is not waste of money. You pay for silence and upgradeability.

CPU: i7 920
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
MB: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
RAM: 6 gb Corsair 1600 MHz
PSU: Corsair HX1000W
GPU: GTX 295

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-02-27 07:11:58

#10

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6195|Winland

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:
Corsair HX1000W is not waste of money. You pay for silence and upgradeability.

CPU: i7 920
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
MB: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
RAM: 6 gb Corsair 1600 MHz
PSU: Corsair HX1000W
GPU: GTX 295

A 295 will run on a HX520. 1000 is overkill for a system like this. Graphics cards simply can't become much more power consuming. It won't work.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-02-27 07:16:48

#11

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6412|Finland

Freezer7Pro wrote:
GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:
Corsair HX1000W is not waste of money. You pay for silence and upgradeability.

CPU: i7 920
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
MB: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
RAM: 6 gb Corsair 1600 MHz
PSU: Corsair HX1000W
GPU: GTX 295
A 295 will run on a HX520. 1000 is overkill for a system like this. Graphics cards simply can't become much more power consuming. It won't work.

PLEASE try running GTX 295 with i7 on HX520. From personal experience I can tell that setup overclocked will stress a 750w PSU enough to not be silent anymore. if you can afford i7 and GTX 295 but for some odd reason start saving a little on PSU, I can tell that is not very smart...

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-02-27 08:16:23

#12

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6195|Winland

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:
Freezer7Pro wrote:
GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:
Corsair HX1000W is not waste of money. You pay for silence and upgradeability.

CPU: i7 920
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
MB: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
RAM: 6 gb Corsair 1600 MHz
PSU: Corsair HX1000W
GPU: GTX 295
A 295 will run on a HX520. 1000 is overkill for a system like this. Graphics cards simply can't become much more power consuming. It won't work.
PLEASE try running GTX 295 with i7 on HX520. From personal experience I can tell that setup overclocked will stress a 750w PSU enough to not be silent anymore. if you can afford i7 and GTX 295 but for some odd reason start saving a little on PSU, I can tell that is not very smart...

I never said i7. I said GTX 295. With a C2D-class machine, a HX520 has plenty of power.

The 295 has a power draw of 290W, or 24 Amperes. That is about half of the 12V rail of a HX520, leaving plenty of room left for even an i7 on about 12A. That's a total of 36A out of 40. If you have a lot of peripherals, it could be a bit of an overload, yes, but tests have proven that corsair PSUs can handle continuous overloads of about 25% (cross rails) without issues.

I'm not saying you should push a PSU to its absolute limit, you shouldn't, but I'm saying that it is plausible to run an i7/295 combo on a HX520. The power ratings I used are also quite generous towards you; They're what the hardware will draw under 100% load, equal to running Linpack and Furmark at the same time, which I doubt very many people do.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-02-27 08:58:36

#13

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6412|Finland

Very well.

It works, but its everyones decision whether silence means anything to them. 1Kw PSU for GTX 295 and i7 is not waste of money, for C2D it would be...

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-02-27 10:44:43

#14

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6195|Winland

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:
Very well.

It works, but its everyones decision whether silence means anything to them. 1Kw PSU for GTX 295 and i7 is not waste of money, for C2D it would be...

1kW is still a waste for a system like that. 750W (Corsair) is more than sufficient.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2009-02-27 16:45:31

#15

deepblade_42: Member; +3|6377|N.S.W Australia

The only reason I was going for the 1000 W psu is because the 750, 850 and 1000 are all within about $30 at the pc markets.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll probably be buying it all next weekend.
@ Panzer: is the cooler you mention better than the one I wrote? It's the only one I've seen in Aus so far...

2009-02-27 16:56:36

#16

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6412|Finland

deepblade_42 wrote:
@ Panzer: is the cooler you mention better than the one I wrote? It's the only one I've seen in Aus so far...

Hmm I can't find the cooler you mentioned in this thread... might be just 3am and sleepyness here but mind typing it again?

edit: but yeah the Noctua will do great. Its withing couple degrees of the best of the best and more expensive air coolers.

Last edited by GC_PaNzerFIN (2009-02-27 17:02:52)

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-02-27 20:26:54

#17

deepblade_42: Member; +3|6377|N.S.W Australia

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:
deepblade_42 wrote:
@ Panzer: is the cooler you mention better than the one I wrote? It's the only one I've seen in Aus so far...
Hmm I can't find the cooler you mentioned in this thread... might be just 3am and sleepyness here but mind typing it again?

edit: but yeah the Noctua will do great. Its withing couple degrees of the best of the best and more expensive air coolers.

hmm thats because I forgot to write it in...
the most commonly available one is the thermalright ultra-120 extreme rt1366
I'll see if I can find the other one though

2009-02-28 03:18:27

#18

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6412|Finland

TRUE will be nice if you get the mounting for socket 1366.

TRUE or Noctua. Either one will be great.

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-02-28 03:21:21

#19

Microwave: _; +515|6653|Loughborough Uni / Leeds, UK

If 295's are that expensive I would recommend SLI 260's.

Actually... how much are 285's over there?

2009-02-28 03:35:42

#20

GC_PaNzerFIN: Work and study @ Technical Uni; +528|6412|Finland

GTX 285 is the least bang for buck card from green team atm. I got my second hand Asus GTX 295 for same price as they sell EVGA GTX 285 here lol...

Last edited by GC_PaNzerFIN (2009-02-28 03:36:05)

3930K | H100i | RIVF | 16GB DDR3 | GTX 480 | AX750 | 800D | 512GB SSD | 3TB HDD | Xonar DX | W8

2009-02-28 03:46:31

#21

Microwave: _; +515|6653|Loughborough Uni / Leeds, UK

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:
GTX 285 is the least bang for buck card from green team atm. I got my second hand Asus GTX 295 for same price as they sell EVGA GTX 285 here lol...

Whoa not good!

SLI 260's then. Unless you want to look into the idea of getting some dirt cheap (they will be!) 2nd hand 280's...

2009-02-28 03:57:24

#22

max: Vela Incident; +1,652|6565|NYC / Hamburg

I'd go with an i7 simply for the added CPU crunching power. Cooling with a TRUE or a noctua is both great. For motherboards, nearly all X58 chipset boards are good. I don't know what's cheap down there. I have a EX58-UD5. I like it. Panz has a P6T Deluxe and is also happy with it. For ram DDR3-1600 is good. The PSU I'd drop to a 750W version unless you want the future proofing that a 100W provides. The GTX295 suffers from the heat that's produced. Unless you really need SLI on one card - either because you don't have a SLI board or you want to go quad SLI - stick with dual single GPU cards. The GTX260 has 24 less shaders than than a single core in the GTX295 but can clock much higher. In the real world the performance of 2 SLI'ed GTX260 will be pretty much identical to a GTX295. SLI'ing GTX260s is cheaper and you don't have to live with the noise the GTX295 produces at high loads

tl;dr : i7 920, 2x GTX260

_{once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.}

2009-02-28 05:16:30

#23

Finray: Hup! Dos, Tres, Cuatro; +2,629|5786|Catherine Black

Max you're tired aren't you

2009-02-28 06:02:25

#24

RookTgz: The Rookie; +8|5539

Go with Core i7. Obvious the new architecture is faster than C2D regardless of clock speed. You could always overclock if you want to see high Ghz.

If you were running say Tri-SLI or Crossfire + RAID 0 with a sound card and generally overclocked system with upped voltages then you would want to get that 1000W. All you really need is a 750W with a modular design and you should be set for upgradeability.

I know I can build a mock up i7 for $1,500CAD which is 1,800AUD

2009-02-28 22:45:26

#25

deepblade_42: Member; +3|6377|N.S.W Australia

GTX 260 = $380
GTX 280 = $570
GTX 285 = $600
HD4870X2 = $700
GTX 295 = $800

The cost of 2x 260 is only $40 less than the 295 and $60 more expensive than the 4870X2. Both appear to perform better than the sli 260's.
Also (Please correct me if I'm wrong) I've read that sli must be disabled to run dual view on the monitors and that the single card crossfire/sli don't have this problem.

BF2S Forums Help with new build

Freezer7Pro wrote:

Scorpion0x17 wrote:

Freezer7Pro wrote:

Little BaBy JESUS wrote:

Scorpion0x17 wrote:

Freezer7Pro wrote:

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:

Freezer7Pro wrote:

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:

Freezer7Pro wrote:

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:

deepblade_42 wrote:

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:

deepblade_42 wrote:

GC_PaNzerFIN wrote:

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