Desktop PC new build... Have a look and let me know what ya think...

to see the specifics of each item, you can also check out my public wishlist on Newegg, title is: Yanofsky

http://secure.newegg.com/...t/PublicWishLists.aspx


EDIT: most stuff has been purchased now, so wishlist is shorter

Large Style


Hey Dave,

Thought I'd chip in and say that you'll have a very sweet system soon - most jealous!

Just a couple of comments for the sake of it:

As you're prob aware, the GPU you've chosen is more orientated around gaming performance than anything - is that intentional? You'll lose the availability of 1Gb from your system RAM because of the card (I believe) - has this been factored into your plans? If multiple monitor support is your thing there are more "dedicated" workstation GPUs - I use a nVidia NVS440 which although is only for 2D graphics (no gaming) it only has 256MB RAM which I personally thing is better, especially if you think you're going to do RAM intensive work.

The other thing being PSU - I'm sure you've done you're research, but do you think that PSU will actually be quiet enough for your needs? I know you'll have a juicy system to power so I understand the high(ish) wattage, but I've been through god knows how many alleged quiet / silent / "stealthy" PSUs and most have been unacceptable noisy and usually get returned immediately. Maybe have a look at websites that sell "approved" purely quiet pc components, even if they're like gaming pc websites they'll suit the same desires.


Otherwise, again, sweet setup, and I 1000% agree (no typo) about reconfiguring your setups every year or so to refine things to your needs more - I'm doing the exact same thing now, and not only does it make everything more effecient, it (for me) reinvigerates passion and creativity.

All the best with it anyway!

Thanks for the feedback!

I'm TOTALLY a PC gamer :)... guilty as charged, hehe...  I'll eventually even have 2 identical cards installed in Crossfire mode... I'm going to run dual boot using the 2 separate drives, and the third drive will be for my audio disk... When I can afford it, I'll drop in additional drives for samples, and even if I'm going to go with a raid backup array... The case can hold a ton of drives. Was even considering an SSD drive to use maybe for samples, or virtual instruments... haven't done enough research on SSD's yet tho, to know if there's a benefit when compared to the cost.

I wasn't aware that the dedicated graphics card would use up 1GB of my system ram? I just assumed it's dedicated ram built into the card...  That card (as is) can support up to 4 monitors right out of the box.

Yeah, for the PSU, I had originally picked out a 700w, but, when considering the amount of fans, potential drives, peripherals and also potential future upgrades (cpu, ram, having two high end graphics cards in crossfire mode) I thought I'd just suck it up and get the 850w even if it leaves me with some headroom. I'll maybe re-look at the PSU tho, and see if there's one that claims to run as silent as possible. I do know I wanted a modular PSU, and Corsair or OCZ were the brands I was leaning towards.

Ok... off to the web I go! :)

EDIT: Ok, now I remember more details of the PSU and why I picked it out... yeah, most of the user reviews on Newegg describe it as being very quiet... I guess I can just try it out and return it if necessary. I think it will be fine tho... fingers crossed.

Dave

Was even considering an SSD drive to use maybe for samples, or virtual instruments... haven't done enough research on SSD's yet tho, to know if there's a benefit when compared to the cost.

I've not got a SSD myself, but a mate of mine bought one a year (or slightly more) ago, and to me it seemed too early technology to invest in. I say this as there were numerous firmware issues causing significant performance issues (ran no better than a SATA HDD in some cases), sometimes they slowed down (read and write speed) the more you filled the SSD up, and some were just plain unstable. It admittedly gave him better performance with "simple tasks" like basic Windows functionality, but some games ran no better on it. Like I said, this was a while back so they may be loads better now.
 
 

I wasn't aware that the dedicated graphics card would use up 1GB of my system ram? I just assumed it's dedicated ram built into the card...  

Don't quote me on this (I don't mean literally!) but there is some confusion and arguements about this which I never finally sussed out, but I believe it's something to do with memory sharing and allocation. I've had times in the past when I've upgraded GPU (with more RAM) and my computer reported less AVAILABLE system memory. I'm in the same boat though as I'm about to ditch my 256MB NVS440 GPU and replace it with my 768MB GTX280 GPU, and I'm expecting to lose RAM. Again, I may be wrong, in fact, I hope I am. More research required..... 

jcschild


you dont lose ram using a big video card.

get the 2600k its far far faster than the 2500k as the 2500 has NO HT
so 4 cores vs 8.

gaming wise the 2500 is ok workstation wise not so hot..

I think for now I'll stick with the Core i5 2500k, and just overclock it...  Already way over budget as it is... 

I am wondering though if a 10k rpm hard drive should have been included somewhere in the build? i.e. for a system drive or audio drive?

i would not touch anything that starts with an A but definately not the asrock...
FYI as an avide gamer myself (yeah like i have time anymore) crossfire or SLI is a complete waste of $
more than 1/2 the games out there barely support it and the other 1/2 only get a big 20% boost at best..
just get a 570 and be done with it.

jcschild


i would not touch anything that starts with an A

like.......... ADK?  jk  ;)

Just ordered most of the components today (what I could afford for now), so I guess I'm committed now... Still need extra fans, FW PCIe card (TI), and the vid card I wanted.

I did switch to a Z68 motherboard tho, which at least will let me use the built in GPU of the Core i5 2500K.... I also read that I can swap between the onboard GPU and the Radeon video card with the software included with the MB. That might make a lot of sense when I'm strictly in DAW mode and want to bypass the Radeon 6870 altogether... The P67 boards don't seem to allow that (no vga outputs, etc).

But yeah, Newegg had a sale + free shipping for most of the stuff, so I couldn't resist... Although Newegg ALWAYS seems to be having a sale... heh...