Yet another computer thread.

Muzzoid

Sorry for adding to the pile .

This will be the first time building my own comp and I'm not completely sure of all the parts that i have listed, esp the graphics card. If i could get some comments on the parts it would be really greatly appreciated.
Pretty much my needs are 3d sculpting, high rez digi painting, games and some vid work.

Also remember with the prices that im an aussie. Also i dont need to worry about getting a copy of windows as i have msdn access which gives me free legal copies. Ill prob go vista 64 bit.

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHZ Black Edition
Price: $344.00

Mother board
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H AM2+
Price: $125.00


Case
Coolermaster RC-690-KKN1 690 Case with Black mesh design with no psu
Internet Price: $124.00


Power supply
Thermaltake Tough Power 750W Q-FAN PSU
Internet Price: $210.00


3d card
Leadtek GF GTX260 Extreme PCI-E2.0 896MB
Internet Price: $349.00


Ram (x2 to make 8 gig.)

Geil DDR2 4G PC2-8500 1066Mhz(2x2G) CAS 5 GeiL
Internet Price: $105.00
$210

Solid state drive for os:

PQI 32G 2.5in MLC SSD SATA II and USB2
Internet Price: $135.00

HD

Western Digital 1TB SATAII HDD 32M Cache Green Power
Internet Price: $150.00

I'm about $100 under budget with this build as well so where would it be best to improve?

Mechadus

Id see about upgrading the mobo - Ive used gigabyte boards in the past, and they work fine, but sometimes you can get some nicer features from Asus, or better stability from Tyan. Ive built about 30 render nodes for my work, and by far the tyan machines seem to work harder and longer before throwing up errors than the asus and gigabyte machines with the same ram and processors.

Just my opinion tho - looks like its going to be a nice machine - good call with the SSD for the os - I have one in my new machine and its amazing - loads Deadspace in like 4 seconds.

-N

Muzzoid

Cheers!

I don't thunk Tyan exists in Aus, so i cant go down that road. Asus it is then.

How about this one?
http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=105&bid=2&sid=34661

Its about $100 more expensive, and it seems to get really good reviews, but is it worth spending the extra dosh?

Also i need a cooler for the black edition of the cpu i think?

Muzzoid

no more input?

I guess ill go out and buy it then if no one can see anything wrong with it.

Microneezia

AMD is obviously pulling up the rear these days in terms of processing with CPU's, but then, they are cheaper, and realtime graphics dont really require that much, if any cpu demands at all. So I get where you are going...

However it looks like you are not saving money on the processor but are sacrificing processing power for a Case/PSU and an SSD... which I dont really agree with. I like SSD's but they are too pricey for their relatively small gift IMO.

Id drop the SSD and repurpose that money back to the processor -.. Also you have some strong brandnames going into your case and PSU - Id bet you could save money and achieve the same useability if you grabbed less touted name brands for this gear. Put that next to the SSD money and upgrade to and Intel chip - DDR3 ram and maybe have money left to buy new keyboard or something...

jerry

I Would drop the SSD and invest it in another mobo, i'm not really up to date on hardware so i can't really recommend anything. I've experienced myself that cutting cost on a good motherboard bites you in the back later on.

Seems like it's gonna be a fast beast

Muzzoid

Ok ill go through and make an alternative list . Cheers guys, the help is really appreciated.

sir-knight

SDD drives are fast, but they do wear out faster than conventional drives I believe.Performance does degrade as the drive ages as well. They're currently not worth the premium you pay.

EarthQuake

Where are you buying? Newegg has that same CPU for $225, $120 less than what you have listed, probabbly has everything else cheaper too if thats the case.

For $289 you can get an Intel I7 920, which would be a better CPU as well. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
Check this out:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html

You can find some benchmarks where the amd 940 beats the i7 920(only slightly, and they have to overclock it to do it) but i would consider that amd's 940 is their fastest chip available, and the intel 920 is their low-end I7 chip. So something to consider when thinking upgrade etc. Biggest problem is the mobo's are a bit more expensive still.

MSI GF GTX260 $189 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370
RAM: 12GB (6x2) DDR3 1333mhz(for I7 board) $175 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227402 (more expensive but much faster ram)
PSU: Thermaltake toughpower 750w $170 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153036
CASE: Coolermaster RC-690-KKN1 690(i actually have this case, its a nice case.) $80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137&Tpk=Coolermaster%20RC-690-KKN1

If you were to price the same system out at newegg, you'de save a ton of money. Price out an i7 system and still probabbly be under budget as well.

EarthQuake

I took the liberty of pricing out the same exact(nearly, the WD HD is slightly different, video card is different manufacturer) system on newegg.
Total w/ shipping: $1,123.74



[edit] Oh shit, just realize you're in AUS. Oh well, now i feel like a doofus, hah but atleast im not paying those prices!

glib

I thought I'd join in the fun:

NCIX.com has been all I've used for the last 6 or 7 years for computer parts (it also helps that they're local for me, so I just buy online and say 'in store pickup' and then show up with a ticket and they hand it to me) but they're primarily an online store and have a very good selection and competitive prices (and pricematching). This is what I ended up with for $1500 CAD which is 1200 of your ameribucks. If you want an SSD for OS loading (and I'd recommend programs as well, just use your slower drive for data... also helps with reformats). Then it would be an extra 250CAD (200USD) to get a 64GB SSD that should hold all your programs (I'd be a bit worried with a 32GB about running out of space to be honest).

Also I went with 8GB of ram since it was only 50 bucks more. The other benefit with NCIX is that they'll build it and test it for you to make sure all your components work, and work together properly. I think they do a short burn-in too. There won't be anything on the HD when you get it, but it's nice to know everything is in working order and won't need to be warrantied, plus it saves you some time on your end.

Just go to ncix.com and hit PC Configurator in the top left.

1 x AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Quad Core Processor AM2+ 3.0GHZ 8MB Cache 125W 45NM Retail Box
1 x Please Use The Heatsink Included with My CPU -NOT Available with OEM Processors
1 x ASUS M3A78-T ATX AM2 AMD790GX CrossFire 3PCI-E16 PCI-E 2PCI SATA RAID Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard
2 x Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-18 240PIN Memory Kit
1 x GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 576MHZ 896MB GDDR3 1.998GHZ PCI-E Dual DVI-I
1 x Antec Twelve Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 1200 ATX 12 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio eSATA
1 x Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 140MM Fan *IR-$5.00*
1 x Microsoft Office Ready 2007 SP1 60 Day Trial - Free with New NCIX or Nx Fusion PC Purchase
1 x Samsung Spinpoint F1 Series HD103UJ 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 8.9MS 32MB 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM *IR-$20.00*
1 x Please Use The Onboard Sound Card Integrated On My Motherboard
1 x Please Use The Onboard Network Ethernet Card Integrated On My Motherboard
1 x PC Assembly and Testing with 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty (PRE-CONFIG OS If Purchased)
Assembly and testing requires an additional 4-5 business days to ship your order once all parts are in stock. Does not include any water cooling or server CPU installation. 1 Year Limited Warranty on system components only when assembled by NCIX.
1 x 1 Year Parts & 1 Year Labour Limited Warranty On System Components - Click for Details

Oh crap I just read EQ's edit. Yeah international shipping on something this big might be a tad expensive.

Ryan Clark

I'm pretty sure pqi SSDs use a jmicron controller... most of the cheaper MLCs use them. Jmicron controllers tend to stutter during random writes, so I would avoid them for any drive which receives frequent writes.

Intel MLCs cost more per gig, but they don't have the stuttering problem.

Just something to be aware of!

glynnsmith

I'd hazard that you might struggle to get Vista to fit on a 32GB drive nicely.

Ryan Clark

If it fits your budget, consider the 80gb intel X25m. It has room for your os, program files, and pagefile, leaving only data on the mechanical disks.

diminished_Self

any word on the SUPER TALENT UltraDrive ME FTM28GX25H 2.5" 128GB SATA II? newegg has it listed as 50 bucks cheaper then the intel 80gb, and ive heard good things about supertalents thumb drives.

Ryan Clark

Alas, SuperTalent uses the jmicron controller. It performs very poorly. The intel disc is definitely worth the extra $50.

Microneezia

hes Australian, they got that outback dollarz there and impossible shipping constraints!

NCIX FTW!

Muzzoid

haha guys, thanks for trying to help, but buying this shizz from america probably isnt that much of a good idea.

feel glad you dont buy games at our prices... $120 for a new game.

I asked the head of the lead games distributor why it was when he was having a talk to us in college and he told us that there is no reason at all, its just because they can .

Ive got to go to work now but ill try and price out an intel system and see what else i can afford.

What you will find though is there is a much bigger jump in aus to more performance...

Microneezia

if thats the case just try to concentrate on video card - and a mobo that can use DDR3. So if AMD is really cheap there, get the AM3 socket -- I think that is the DDR3, get the nice mobo and the cheaper CPU, IMO when using AMD. Usually the cheaper versions of a run of CPU's are the best ones for overclocking - such as the i7 920 which proportionally overclocks way higher than the others in its run. I see you are getting a non-standard cpu cooler so you want to try air-overclocking?

Case, HDD's, PSU - get what you need to expand, but try to save money here.

Also, before you spend money, check prices on getting a CPU shipped by itself overseas... then just order that alone and get everything else locally. CPU's are pretty light weight. there are tons of videos on how to install procs and it only fits one way, getting the heatsink on though, thats a bit of a struggle sometimes...

good luck!

Illusions

I'd consider small things too, like if you want any extra fans inside the case, cable ties for decluttering, optical drives, CPU heatsink, etc.

...and maybe switching to an Intel processor.

I have that very same case though. Its a really good case, if you throw a bunch of fans in it, it'll keep your system decently cooled, but it'll be pretty loud though. Also, some people seem to miss it, but the screws you'll need are actually inside the case lined up vertically near the drive bays.

EarthQuake

Illusions wrote: »

Also, some people seem to miss it, but the screws you'll need are actually inside the case lined up vertically near the drive bays.

Yeah i think its a really good case. I actually had to order a screw kit from newegg, only to realize once i finally got everything installed, that i had the screws all along. Bastards.

Muzzoid

so yeah which out of these 2 systems would be a better buy?

Thanks a lot for the help guys! I finally have the time to go buy everything tomorrow so i need to choose what im getting by tomorrow morning.

The ocz ssd doesnt have a jmicron controller btw ryan .

Muzzoid

Also i was talking to a friend and he was saying that with dual channel with this mobo, i can only run 2 sticks of fast ram, if i fill those extra 2 dimms with ram then it will need to go back down slower?

sir-knight

I think that's pretty common on some motherboards to only support 1 pairing at high speeds.

I would go for the i7 system, but if you can get the WD black drive and not the green, (green is slower for power savings) I don't think phenom holds up to i7 at all.

I've got that coolermaster case too, it's not too bad for a cheap case.

I think you'll be pretty good.

EarthQuake

I7, wait for SSD price to fall a bit more and then pick one up. You'll have a better overall system with the 6GB of faster ram, and faster CPU.

Muzzoid

one more quick question, would i be able to get away with a 650 watt?

Otherwise im overbudget with the i7 and have to go for the amd.

Edit:
Actually the card needs a min of 36 amps at 12 v...

http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=140&bid=2&sid=37912
Perhaps?

Muzzoid

It lives!!!!

I settled on the i7 system, and im just installing windows now.

Thanks for your help guys you are all champions!

sir-knight

your system is probably closer to 500w actual consumption at a guess... my c2q was built with a 750, and I could probably tri SLI 3 9800s with it without issue. There's a wattage calculator out there somewhere that does a best guess but I think the i7s are fairly efficient, which would leave your video card as the next big power eater.

If in the future you get a second video card for physx or sli, you will might need a bigger psu.

When I plugged in my numbers to the calculator, I think it came out to 400w. The guy at the computer store even asked me why I wanted a 650w (it was modular) and I told him I might SLI it in the future, he said either would be good, the 750 non modular or the 650 modular... I think the 750 was actually 10 bucks cheaper, both were corsair.