Feedback on a build

[ictoos]

Hello all;

Thanks for taking a look at this. I'm building my first computer in a long long time. I've tried the Alienware(Dell) and IBP route with spotty success so thought I'd see if I could do better at a better price. I'm shopping out of Newegg so if anyone knows a place for better rpices, please let me know that too.

I do a lot of number crunching and video editing(young children=video video video)

But I love to game as well, Skyrim, SOASE, PVZ, I'm skyping a play in development, work on an international emergency Medicine Website, and multitask like crazy I want to be able to render video, slay dragons and edit at the same time. I'm on two monitors currently a Dell 30" and a veiwsonic 27".


The questions I have are:

1) You'll see there is no PSU listed. What SIZE would be appropriate in the groups opinion?

2) Two Vid cards in SLI or would one suffice in this build. (I know I need two if I want to put on that third monitor)

3) I have room on the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA for 32 Gig of ram. overkill or useless overkill?

4) Water cool? (Scares me a bit when I see the number of people reporting leaks)

5) Any other additions? I have a bluray burner already and optical drives in hand from other computers.

6) Prob put a media reader in as well.


COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119225
$199.99

Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820148443
295.99
(Boot drive and current game, and maybe microsoft office and vid editing software)

Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136792
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$249.99/
500.00 total
Will be in Raid 1 for majority of programs

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128514
$142.99

HIS IceQ Turbo H697QT2G2M Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with ...
Item #: N82E16814161382
$359.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9S-8GBXL
Item #: N82E16820231485
$279.96
($69.99 each)

AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8120FRGUBOX
Item #: N82E16819103961
$199.99



Again, thanks for looking

Kerry

[RickyTick]

Great looking build. For all the heavy duty multi-tasking, gaming, and video stuff, you'd really be much better off going the Intel route this time around.
I'd suggest looking at a i5-2500 with a Z68 motherboard. Or if it fits in your budget, go with the i7-2600 for the hyper threading that helps with video encoding.
Also, 32gb of ram is bit much. Start off with 16 gb and see how it goes. You can add more later if you need to, but I doubt you'll need it.

[ARchamps]

I also think Intel is the way to go. The i7 is a bit more expensive but you will benefit with the hyperthreading. The FX processor has 8 cores, but it isn't optimized well. You can google some benchmarks to see. Get only 16GB of RAM. I really doubt you need more than that. Use the savings toward the i7!

Everything else is great! I'll also adress your questions:

The questions I have are:

1) You'll see there is no PSU listed. What SIZE would be appropriate in the groups opinion?
--I think 750W would be a good. It'll give you headroom if you decide to SLI or overlock later on. Get something high quality too.

2) Two Vid cards in SLI or would one suffice in this build. (I know I need two if I want to put on that third monitor)
--I think 1 GPU will be pretty good and run your games well. What resolution are your monitors?

3) I have room on the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA for 32 Gig of ram. overkill or useless overkill?
--Overkill for sure. Even 16GB might be, but RAM isn't too expensive so I would cut it to 16GB.

4) Water cool? (Scares me a bit when I see the number of people reporting leaks)
--I really don't think its worth it unless you are doing some serious overlocking. Just get yourself some fans and a good CPU cooler and you should be fine. It also seems like a lot of headache to maintain.

5) Any other additions? I have a bluray burner already and optical drives in hand from other computers.
--Think you got everything!

6) Prob put a media reader in as well.
--Good idea, they are pretty cheap.

Hope that helps!

[zburns]

I do a lot of number crunching and video editing(young children=video video video)

Here are two links that will help you decide on how much RAM: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404439.html (scroll down to the heading 'MAX OUT on RAM' -- good simple and short explanation as to why you need so much)

This link is a Photoshop forum in which this topic -- how much RAM for video editing required -- is discussed: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/784009