Computer Build Advice

renowilliams

Ok lets get down to it re hard drives and in particular a Samsung F3 Vs an Intel X-25M SSD. There is no comparison in performance between the two drives. Another thing I want to mention is that when people talk about hard drives for their computer, they shoud be talking about a boot drive and storage drive. I completly agree with Sherardp when he suggests to get an ssd for the boot drive. Yes there are some extra costs associated with configuring in this way but the benefits are substantial. One thing to keep in mind when looking at performance benchmarking on hard drives, is that read rates are the most important as that is what we are doing most of the time.
Now, if we compare a Samsung F3 head to head with an Intel X-25M SSD you will find that a Samsung F3's read rate is 124.8 Meg/Sec and an Intel X-25M SSD is 250 Meg/Sec.
Another thing to consider is, that most people could easily get by with an 80gig boot drive. When we go looking for a drive we tend to look at performace per gig/vs price in making a choice for a hard drive, but given that we only need 80 gig or less for a boot
drive, this factor should also be considered.

I have two X-25M SSD drives raided and I get read rates of over 500 megs/sec. I can tell you that this translates into a real world performance of "Holy Crap"...lol


Anyway, hope I was able to get my point across clearly.


Tossing out SSD when looking at the big picture may not be what you should be doing.

Sherardp

Excelllent post Reno. The 40gb SSD can be had for about 117.00 or so over at Newegg. For an OS drive this would be perfect. If you chose the 80gb, even better as you could load any programs you want to on there and still have room. I have the 80gb version and still have roughly 43gb left on it. Granted I run Office and everything else on it as well, which is why I'm considering the 160gb version. I would definitely factor in the 40 or 80 version as your budget could handle it.

KrazyMofo24

40GB for $117 is a great price. I haven't been keeping up with them as much lately, but I'm guessing it hasn't been that cheap for that long.

Another option to look is getting two 40gb SSD and running it in raid 0. Faster performance and get the Samsung F3 for storage/backup. Depending on budget get two F3's and just have those in mirror along with the 2 SSDs.

PerfectCreature

Ok, so then just pick up an SSD say 40 gig for a boot drive, and then pick up just a regular hard drive or should I stick with the samsung spin point as my storage?
That would most likely give me the best storage....
So!

Antec 900
Samsung Spin Point
Intel SSD
AMD Phenom II 550 Calisto 3.1Ghz
OCZ Fatal1ty 550 watts.


That is what I have so far.
I will look at the motherboard within the next day and the gaming card such and post back. So far does everything look rock solid?
So far it at $440.91

KrazyMofo24

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-geforce-radeon,2646.html

I would check out that article out for the graphics card. A big factor is your monitor and it's resolution.

That site also has charts comparing all the processors too.

PerfectCreature

I have heard of this site...or its really familer....Hmmm. Anyway thanks a bunch I will thumb through it and post the finals in a bit....
Hoping to stay around 700...Hoping haha.

PerfectCreature

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard


AMD Phenom II X2 550 Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Model HDX550WFGMBOX

SAPPHIRE 100296HDMI Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL


Okay, I have decided to drop the idea of the SSD for the moment. I will get one later when the price goes down.
So the grand total is this. $657.35
Its about 50 over what I wanted to spend but that's ok. I already have the os, my school is giving me a free copy of windows 7. Anyway does this all check? I have sent it to my uncle and if he checks it all golden and you guys do, I will start to chip away at it piece by piece.
Now, does anyone know of any good books are articles that will help me if I find a rough spot?
Thanks so much.

PerfectCreature

Okay so check out frys...I will do that before I order my parts. Thanks.

KrazyMofo24

What monitor are you using? Are you a gamer?

If you don't mind open box items. I would suggest getting a better video card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130275R

Also I would go with the Black Edition of that processor.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846

I believe it's a $10 difference. However you'll have the opportunity to overclock it if you want to get more performance out of your system.

The open box version of that motherboard will save you $30.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130275R

Sherardp

Substitute the 900 for the 902. The 902 has much better cable management and airflow. The inside of the 902 is better looking also since it is painted black. Very nice case.

PerfectCreature

Thought about the 902...wasn't sure if it was that much better or not, and the processor, thanks so much, I had been wondering and actually searched but didn't find that one.
Perfect.


LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support

Antec Nine Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard


ProcesAMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision Model HDZ555WFGMBOX

SAPPHIRE 100296HDMI Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL


Okay updates have been made due to suggestions. This puts me near 700...A little more than I wanted but I am sure it will pay off. As for the monitor it will be my Vizio Tv...

KrazyMofo24

PerfectCreature wrote: »

Thought about the 902...wasn't sure if it was that much better or not, and the processor, thanks so much, I had been wondering and actually searched but didn't find that one.
Perfect.


LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support

Antec Nine Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard


ProcesAMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision Model HDZ555WFGMBOX

SAPPHIRE 100296HDMI Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL


Okay updates have been made due to suggestions. This puts me near 700...A little more than I wanted but I am sure it will pay off. As for the monitor it will be my Vizio Tv...

The system is looking good. The motherboard should last you another upgrade later down the line. I would still recommend that 4850 it would give you more freedom to play current games in good quality and future games.

Sherardp

That is a pretty good build. Not sure what your using for CPU cooling as you did mention you want to overclock. Stock cooling will get you by though, but will limit your overclock so keep that in mind. Here's the one I'm putting in the new build I'll be doing also.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150

Some other good ones to name a few. Keep in mind these chips get hot, so be aware some of these coolers are huge. The ones I mentioned will work in your 902 though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233023

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242001

My Xigmatek Dark Knight with two 120mm fans in push/pull

Sherardp

useful link I use for heatsinks

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

renowilliams

Sherardp wrote: »

useful link I use for heatsinks

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

I opted for the Noctua DH-14. It has very good build quality and comes with mounting hardware for all newer amd and intel sockets. Its performance is very good. I have my i7 860 clocked to 4 GHZ up from 2.8 GHZ stock speed. My idle temp is 26 deg C. When I put it under load doing video encoding it will get to 48 deg C.

Sherardp

renowilliams wrote: »

I opted for the Noctua DH-14. It has very good build quality and comes with mounting hardware for all newer amd and intel sockets. Its performance is very good. I have my i7 860 clocked to 4 GHZ up from 2.8 GHZ stock speed. My idle temp is 26 deg C. When I put it under load doing video encoding it will get to 48 deg C.

I was looking at that, what a beast. Nice OC you have there also. I'm struggling to get over 4.0ghz on my AMD 965BE. OP also keep in mind with these aftermarket coolers, most of them require mounting screws on the mobo(backside), so you will want to save yourself the time by buying it up front.

PerfectCreature

What about this one for the cooling fan? Will this fit into the 900 case?
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
NEW Rev.2 for Intel 1366, 1156, 775 and AMD AM3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Anyone seeing it to big and think it would bust up my case a bit?
I think this cooler looks really good. A lot of reviews on it dropping temps upwards to 200-30 degrees C.
Thanks.

Sherardp

PerfectCreature wrote: »

What about this one for the cooling fan? Will this fit into the 900 case?
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
NEW Rev.2 for Intel 1366, 1156, 775 and AMD AM3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Anyone seeing it to big and think it would bust up my case a bit?
I think this cooler looks really good. A lot of reviews on it dropping temps upwards to 200-30 degrees C.
Thanks.

Nice man and will work no problem. BURRRR!!!!!

PerfectCreature

Meant 20-30....but that is alot.
SO for $40 It didnt look that bad.
I am sticking with the 900 case, its about the same specs, and its 20 bucks cheaper...
Anyway.
SO, all in all.

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100296HDMI Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision Model HDZ555WFGMBOX

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler


I think this is what I am set on. Will I need to buy any extra cables or should I be all set? I assume it would come with everything correct?

Sherardp

PerfectCreature wrote: »

Meant 20-30....but that is alot.
SO for $40 It didnt look that bad.
I am sticking with the 900 case, its about the same specs, and its 20 bucks cheaper...
Anyway.
SO, all in all.

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100296HDMI Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision Model HDZ555WFGMBOX

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler


I think this is what I am set on. Will I need to buy any extra cables or should I be all set? I assume it would come with everything correct?

Cables are included with the Mobo, and power supply. Do it.............Hope the 900 works well and the 20 bucks is worth saving, otherwise start building already.

PerfectCreature

I am going to ditch the idea of over clocking after research there really is no benefit to doing so. I am going to look around see if I can find a tad better mother board.
I have done a little tweaking on the build specs. I will post everything when I am done.
Thanks for all the help.
I will post by the end of tonight most likely.

Sherardp

No SSD, No overclock, No 902 case; DUDE YOUR GETTING A DELL!!!!

PerfectCreature

Okay....I have thought about tweaking stuff but decided that I will just leave it alone because it looks solid as it is.
I will see if I am able to buy it all at once...or if I will have to wait a bit and chop away.
It does look solid, and I am super pumped.

KrazyMofo24

Overclocking does make a difference.

doctorcilantro

KrazyMofo24 wrote: »

Overclocking does make a difference.

Given how many problems one can encounter with a stock-speed setup, I'd say overclocking is a hobby, not part and parcel with a serious hifi or HTPC setup. Why anyone is still creating potential problems with system latency and its affect on streaming audio over wifi, for example, is beyond me. With more and more various products, drivers, and peripherals on the market, I'm seeing that things haven't even come that far since the year 2000 when doing PC-audio was a heroic effort; battling PCI latency issues etc.

doctorcilantro

DSkip wrote: »

Somehow this finally reminded me, but I can speak for this. I built my grandfather a computer with an Intel E3300, a cheaper Biostar MB, 1 GB memory, and integrated graphics. At stock, I couldn't get it to run high def videos on hulu or youtube on my 1680x1050 20" monitor. At about 20% OC, I could get it to run 720p with a few glitches. At 35%, it was running even 1080p smooth.

Don't let anything convince you it doesn't make a difference in performance. The only issue might be if you will notice any difference in your daily use. If you intend to use it for modern gaming, expect a difference.

Well hell yeah, that makes sense. My previous comments were regarding o'Cing an already beefy system. My Zotac w/ 330 ATOM is doing 1080P stock over the LAN with JRMC. People are overclocking them successfully; do I need or want the heat, possible instability, and guesswork...no.

KrazyMofo24

I have a cheap micro atx gigabyte board, and a quad core AMD Phenom II X4 940. It came with a nice copper heatsink, and I was able to overclock it and still have it running at 20C. It's been 100% stable and runs cool.

Overclocking is useful for people on a budget and still wanting a high performance PC. Prices of CPU is so low now overclocking isn't that big of a deal anymore.

Before there would be an $80-$100 processor that can overclock well to match a $300 processor. I just checked the price of my quad core, and it's now only $125.

Sherardp

Prices will continue to drop on the quads since the release of AMD's new Hexacore models being released.

PerfectCreature

Alright, well. My MB does have Auto OC Genie and Unlock CPU Core so it will probably be easy to do so.
I may try to make it like 3.7 or 3.8....maybe I'll get lucky and have a tri or quad core

KrazyMofo24

Lasareath wrote: »

I just put the new PC together Today, Loading Win7 Ultimate x64 right now on the 80GB SSD

I did not buy the 600GB Raptor yet.

Here's a Video:

http://www.4u2me.com/Lasareath's-new-pc.avi

And some Pics below & I changed the case, no more Sonata

Sal

Nice looking case.

I'm going to go with an SSD as my next upgrade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqm5OBbbzuc&feature=related