First New Build ~ Multipurpose - Review Please?

[Spackler]

So, after posting a few questions many months ago, I'm finally getting around to build numero uno. Below is my first shot at putting it all together. Most of the parts are familiar enough to lurkers and regulars.

The purpose of the machine will be a mix:

On top of being able to use the machine for typical work-related duties (VPN connections, MS Office 2010, etc.)...


I want to have a competent gaming machine; while I don't game like I used to, when I do I want a pleasant, no hassle experience with clean, crisp vid, and the ability to handle the latest graphics-intensive games;
I want to be able to handle putting together professional quality HD video / multi-media projects with relative ease (reasonable conversion speeds, nice headroom for pushing complexity);
I want it to be able to run a multi-track home recording studio. Current accessories require 1394 firewire compatibility pending who knows what. On this, fan noise is a pretty big concern. I've also heard having a second one on board drive, one for programs and one for music sound files to be recorded to, isn't a bad thing... but that was before some of the beefier Cache HDs these days, so I don't know how important that still is.
With USB 3.0 looking to get more action... may as well throw it in
Back-up will be handled by separate windows home server, so I don't need tons of headroom for extra drives. Unless folks can think of other reasons...


So, here's my first crack (thanks for all the info here that this is poached from...)


Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139003) - Corsair Graphite Series 600T Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006) CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131666) ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211) Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366

CPU Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010) CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler

Ram G.SKILL 6GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247) (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Video Card (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003ZMTPG0/qid=1008036386/sr=8-4/mysuperpc-20) EVGA GeForce GTX460 1 GB Superclocked GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache

Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204) ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW


Now that's somewhat slapped together... $1361 total. A few questions I don't quite understand:


RickyTick -- why the lower-end FALS WD Caviar Black in your high-end $1500 build vs FAELS in the $1015 build? (Both are same price, though FALS is now out of stock at Newegg, but I'm still curious.)

Am I giving up a ton by "settling" for Rob's recommended GTX460 vs. the GTX570?? (when originally posted, out of stock -- back in stock now...)

Why does Rob not go with the i7950 Bloomfield vs. the i7870 Lynnfield? I'll admit I'm a royal newbie, so there might be something obvious -- but $15 bucks difference is not that much of a deal-breaker, so what is it?

Is the MOBO i've gone along with overkill?


That's a ton of stuff for folks inclined to help out. I guess the only other stuff I'm planning on are:


Monitor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236112): ASUS VE247H Black 23.6" 2ms Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 300 cd/m2 10,000,000:1 (ASCR)

OS: Windows 7


Anyway, thanks again for all of you involved in making this an amazing community, especially those of you providing so much support. I still don't understand why I feel I need to do this, but I'm psyched!

[Spackler]

So i was just reading around on the hard drive question I had above, and I suppose the answer is pretty simple. But with 32MB vs 64MB Cache (all other things being equal), is the extra 32MB really not accessed / just hype as I've been reading? Seems like, price being equal, shoot for the 64 since it can't hurt.

[RickyTick]

So i was just reading around on the hard drive question I had above, and I suppose the answer is pretty simple. But with 32MB vs 64MB Cache (all other things being equal), is the extra 32MB really not accessed / just hype as I've been reading? Seems like, price being equal, shoot for the 64 since it can't hurt.

I would agree. At this point however, I would be tempted to take the SSD plunge with a Crucial RealSSD300, and then have a large mechanical drive for saving large files or such. I guess it depends on the budget.

[RickyTick]

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139003) - Corsair Graphite Series 600T Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006) CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131666) ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211) Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366

CPU Cooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010) CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler

Ram G.SKILL 6GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247) (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Video Card (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003ZMTPG0/qid=1008036386/sr=8-4/mysuperpc-20) EVGA GeForce GTX460 1 GB Superclocked GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache

Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204) ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW



Monitor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236112): ASUS VE247H Black 23.6" 2ms Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 300 cd/m2 10,000,000:1 (ASCR)

OS: Windows 7



I like this a lot, but you would better off to go the Sandy Bridge route now.
Intel i7-2600k
Asus P8P67 Pro
8gb (4x2gb) of DDR3 1600
and maybe an SSD.
also, the GTX570 is tempting as long as it's within your budget.

[Spackler]

I like this a lot, but you would better off to go the Sandy Bridge route now.
Intel i7-2600k
Asus P8P67 Pro
8gb (4x2gb) of DDR3 1600
and maybe an SSD.
also, the GTX570 is tempting as long as it's within your budget.

RickyTick,

Thanks for the suggestion. Since you put it up, I've been digging around on i7 2600k. Seems to be a no brainer, especially since right now NewEgg offers the board and CPU you've suggested and throws in Civilization IV for free and knocks off another $20 for the trouble. My only worry is the newness of Sandybridge. Should I be concerned at all about first generation?

Also, I've been digging around the ASUS site for compatible 8gb (4x2gb) (http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=HMMvTCuBcZLfu2YL&templete=2) but am having a hard time finding 1600 in 4x2. See it as 2x4. See 4x2 in 1866. I'm all confused about timing. Any recommendations?

For the extra $150 I'm also really thinking I may well go with the GTX570.

SSD ain't cheap, though... Although reading up on the speed, it is pretty crazy. Any thoughts on when prices might start dropping?

Thanks again for the input.

[RickyTick]

Check through here. You could go with 2x4 or 4x2.
http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=353&c1=&c2=

The SSD's have fallen a good bit over the past year, but they are still very pricey

[Spackler]

OK... So I'm went all in this a.m. This is a machine I want to hum for a long while and really enjoy with few hiccups. So I decided to with the the GTX570, and threw caution to the wind on the SDD after reading up on boot times ranging from 10-20 seconds, and scorching program load times. So, by all accounts, this should keep me happy for a while... as long as I can figure out how to put it together properly. Please don't tell me I royally screwed something up... (actually, please do... even though it'll make me sick.)

Thanks for all the help, RickyTick. And thanks to all the others who contributed to other threads. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me through the build. Hopefully everything arrives by Saturday so I can build over the holiday weekend. (Longshot... we'll see.)

So, here is my final build. I put prices in there since I found that sort of thing helpful for me when considering options. (Note the $20 discount on the CPU / MOBO deal that throws in Civilization IV for free.) Hope it helps others kicking ideas around, especially as a reference in the future for price point drops. (All prices NewEgg)



Box

Case- Corsair Graphite Series 600T Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $159.99
Power Supply- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V $109.99
MOBO- ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $189.99
CPU- Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge $329.99
***** DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #575880 (MOBO and CPU) ($20.00)
CPU- Cooler CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler $74.99
RAM- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL $109.99
GPU- EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $359.99
Boot Drive - SSD- Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $264.99
Internal HD- Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $89.99
Optical Drive- ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $19.99

Sub: $1,689.90



Other


OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $99.99
Monitor - ASUS VE247H Black 23.6" Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor $189.99
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $9.99
CABLES UNLIMITED ACC-1400 Anti Static Wrist Strap With Grounding Wire $8.99

Sub: $308.96

Enticers / Freebies

Intel Sid Meier's Civilization V Free Game for CPU promo (thrown in with MOBO and CPU combo) $39.99
NVIDIA Free Just Cause 2 + Mafia II Coupon (thrown in with GTX570) $59.99

Sub: $99.98

Shipping $47.11

[Spackler]

So I just realized that the RAM i'm ordering is qualified for the ASUS P8P67 DELUXE, not the P8P67 Pro.

Should I be worried??!??!!!!!!?

[RickyTick]

So I just realized that the RAM i'm ordering is qualified for the ASUS P8P67 DELUXE, not the P8P67 Pro.

Should I be worried??!??!!!!!!?

I wouldn't think so. Should be fine.

[Spackler]

I wouldn't think so. Should be fine.

Cool. About fell out of my chair for a minute there. Thanks again, RT.

[ImissDos]

I have to thank "Spackler" (especially), "RickyTick", "Rob", colin_b88" and several other members/lurkers. I wanted to replace my aging current Pc, but wanted to actually build one this time. This Pc is 10 years old, but it is our 3rd one. Well, I just knew that I could do better. Well, after a very short research period I knew that I was WAY behind the current technology. What did I do? I followed the thread between Spackler and RickyTick and that of colin_b88 and read most of what "Rob" said we should do. I just ordered my "killer system" from NewEgg and I will definitely need to read / re-read what Rob said to do. I have to thank everyone mentioned above plus all who have asked any question in the past 4 months. Thank you. This site has been a blessing to me.

[Spackler]

I wouldn't think so. Should be fine.

I ended up double confirming via a call to G.Skill. They said no problem, as well. Thx, though.

[Spackler]

So, the build is up and running on the SDD. Only two issues remain to resolve.

I'm currently running the extended test on the Caviar Black 1TB HDD which will be my primary storage HDD. Had a /!\ "failed to update disk property" notice at the end of the completed write zeros test, both of which are noted as successfully completed. The quick test received a "pass". Not sure if the zeros tests would have "pass" listed with them if they ran without the /!\ notice above. Still have a 1:57.xx before the extended test wraps up. If anyone has thoughts on the zeros notice above, I've created a thread in the HDD upgrade area of the forums asking about it.

The CORSAIR CWCH50 cooler was a little intimidating while building. The connection bracket base to be attached on the backside of the motherboard didn't seem to line up correctly to the predrilled boad holes, and the contents didn't contain any references to the 1155 board layout for my ASUS P8P67... after stumbling around a bit, I decided to mount the stock cooler after reading of successful overclocking with the stock piece, leaving me the opportunity to further research the H50's compatibility. If it's kosher (which I've seen a reference that the 1156 holes will work just fine on a site where someone showed their installation process with and H50 into the same box, Corsair 600T -- which was, BTW, a pleasure to work with re cable management), I'll keep it and put it in eventually. Otherwise, back it goes.

Anyway, so far, so good. Probably the only other thing I couldn't get running was a pre-check of the SSD via a optical drivebay boot, before just rolling with installing windows. Wasn't sure if the SDD needs to be checked, but alas, it's checking out with more simple tests so far. And good God, did I say that thing is blazing fast?

Anyway, thanks for all the help, folks! So far so good!

[Spackler]

Was stopping by for the first time in a while. Boy, it's been quiet here for the last few years.

Anyway, after reading my old build thread, I thought I'd chime in to say this build is still running pretty strong. A year ago I cleared the system for a full clean reinstall of WIN7 and drivers, and it's been pretty clear sailing.

As for gaming, I don't slam it too hard, really. Mostly a CSGO player these days, so I may lose a hair of a second to a newer rigged competitor, but it's still plenty peppy for most of what I do. Maybe I just don't notice what I'm missing compared to the old days of 5-years being an eternity = dragging, old, obsolete machine.

Alas...





Box

Case- Corsair Graphite Series 600T Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $159.99
Power Supply- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V $109.99
MOBO- ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $189.99
CPU- Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge $329.99
***** DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #575880 (MOBO and CPU) ($20.00)
CPU- Cooler CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler $74.99
RAM- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL $109.99
GPU- EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $359.99
Boot Drive - SSD- Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $264.99
Internal HD- Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $89.99
Optical Drive- ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $19.99

Sub: $1,689.90



Other


OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $99.99
Monitor - ASUS VE247H Black 23.6" Full HD HDMI LED BackLight LCD Monitor $189.99
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $9.99
CABLES UNLIMITED ACC-1400 Anti Static Wrist Strap With Grounding Wire $8.99

Sub: $308.96

Enticers / Freebies

Intel Sid Meier's Civilization V Free Game for CPU promo (thrown in with MOBO and CPU combo) $39.99
NVIDIA Free Just Cause 2 + Mafia II Coupon (thrown in with GTX570) $59.99

Sub: $99.98

Shipping $47.11