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Another first build thread

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  • 19-05-2009 10:15pm
    #1
    leninbenjamin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,983 ✭✭✭


    Hey guys, just looking for some advice on a PC build for college work. It will actually be my first build, so although I think I have a fair idea of hardware and that expect some nooby questions :)

    Budget: €1000-1200
    Purposes: Primarily Educational and Recreational. The main thing to note is I’m building it for doing a project on, mainly C++ and GPGPU development. The other thing to note is I’m a fairly heavy multitasker, multiple projects open and running, that kind of thing. Possibly some use of 3DS MAX aswell…
    Specific Needs:     Will be doing some development with CUDA and PhysX SDK, so that limits me to a Nvidia card. Will be doing some GPGPU so it will need some poke, was thinking the 275GTX? I was kinda half wondering about a Quadro but they seem mad expensive?

    I’ve specced out a list anyway that I’d like your opinions on. I’m kinda leaning towards an iCore although I guess it isn’t entirely necessary… just not sure what's worth going for from the core2quad range.

    compspec.jpg

    Few other things:

    Would there be a need for a cooler in there or would the Antec case have enough airflow?

    Seeing as it’s for college aswell, should I avoid the 1TB drives (was thinking of putting them in RAID0)? What would the risks of failure be… the only reason I’ve gone 1TB anyway would be to pull them out and use as externals after I’m done with the PC, the storage isn’t hugely necessary.

    on the optical drive... haven't a notion with all the options out there. What's a half decent DVD-RW to go for?


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    #2
    uberpixie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,864 ✭✭✭uberpixie


    leninbenjamin wrote: »
    I was kinda half wondering about a Quadro but they seem mad expensive?

    Stick with an off the shelf Nvidia, you do not need a quadro.
    leninbenjamin wrote: »
    Would there be a need for a cooler in there or would the Antec case have enough airflow?

    Define what you mean by cooler?

    If you mean CPU cooler, then YES you bloody need one! Your CPU will overheat in a few secs and cut out after you power the pc on otherwise.

    If you mean case fans: the antec case comes with a few and should fine (if a little loud) out of the box.
    leninbenjamin wrote: »
    Seeing as it’s for college aswell, should I avoid the 1TB drives (was thinking of putting them in RAID0)? What would the risks of failure be… the only reason I’ve gone 1TB anyway would be to pull them out and use as externals after I’m done with the PC, the storage isn’t hugely necessary.

    Raid 0 is what you use when you want to loose all your data....

    Raid 0 has no redundency or error checking, it splits data over 2 drives to imporve access speeds, but one wobble and you loose all your data. Rare but will happen, probably when you need to hand a project in.

    With RAID 0 if you go from two working harddirves to just one working harddrive: you have just lost all your data. Again the data is stripped or split evenly over both drives: e.g. half of a file is one each drive....

    Skip raid and do regular backups. RAID 1 does mirror changes from one harddrive to another, but if you change a file in error on one harddrive, the error is replicated instantly on the second harddrive.

    RAID1 on it's own is not bad, backups are better to have.

    Get x2 harddrives or a secondary external drive and backup all your course work regularly. Also would advise backing stuff up for college on a USB stick aswell. Always have 3 copies of any important project work full stop on atleast two different media types: harddrive and flash drive and/or DVD etc...

    Other than that partition the fcuk out of your main harddrive: x1 partition for OS, x1 partition for games, x1 for media/data etc...

    Windows is much easier to recover when all you have to do is wipe the OS partition and reinstall windows from scratch leaving all your other data intact on the seperate partitions.

    leninbenjamin wrote: »
    on the optical drive... haven't a notion with all the options out there. What's a half decent DVD-RW to go for?

    Get the cheapest or one with a half dacent retail package. They are all more or less the same theses days. You won't be burning many DVDs/CDs...

    External Hardrives FTW for data sharing.


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    #3
    game4it70
    Registered Users Posts: 2,125 ✭✭✭game4it70


    If your going to overclock (a waste not to) you will need an aftermarket CPU cooler,if not the stock one will do you fine.
    The case you picked is very good for airflow albeit a little noisey.
    You picked 6 sticks of 1gb ram.Get 3 x 2gb sticks intead as that will leave slots in mobo for more ram at a later date and will also overclock easier with 3 sticks.

    Everythimg else looks good.


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    #4
    requiem1
    Registered Users Posts: 611 ✭✭✭requiem1


    uberpixie wrote: »

    Other than that partition the fcuk out of your main harddrive: x1 partition for OS, x1 partition for games, x1 for media/data etc...

    Windows is much easier to recover when all you have to do is wipe the OS partition and reinstall windows from scratch leaving all your other data intact on the seperate partitions.

    I never do this but now I'm thinking I will, I still love my RAID 0:p


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    #5
    leninbenjamin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,983 ✭✭✭leninbenjamin


    thanks for the replies guys.

    pixie, i actually meant an aftermarket CPU cooler. sorry for the confusion. I don't plan on overclocking immediately (maybe when the project is over and i'm not worried about not having a PC for a few days should i f*ck up :)) but i'd heard the iCores can run a bit hot on the stock?

    thanks for the info on RAID. I tend to back everything up to the external as well as making DVD copies periodically along the way, so that's why i was thinking of giving RAID0 a go... think i'll scrap that idea now though :)

    the other thing would be the GFX card. could stretch the buget to get the 285 if i thought it was worth the performance gain over the 275?


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    #6
    uberpixie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,864 ✭✭✭uberpixie


    leninbenjamin wrote: »
    thanks for the replies guys.
    pixie, i actually meant an aftermarket CPU cooler. sorry for the confusion. I don't plan on overclocking immediately (maybe when the project is over and i'm not worried about not having a PC for a few days should i f*ck up :)) but i'd heard the iCores can run a bit hot on the stock?

    If you are getting an after market cooler: get it before you build. I know from experience how much of a PITA it is to strip a working build down to fit in an after market cooler: all the good ones will have a backing plate you need to fit to the bottom of the motherboard so the weight of the cooler doesn't damage it....

    Buy it before you build. Komplett have a terrible selection of CPU cooler for socket 1366, you will be buying the cooler elsewhere.

    (as much as I hate overclockers.co.uk they have good coolers in stock...)
    http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-060-TR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

    http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-008-TI&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

    http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-NC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

    leninbenjamin wrote: »
    thanks for the info on RAID. I tend to back everything up to the external as well as making DVD copies periodically along the way, so that's why i was thinking of giving RAID0 a go... think i'll scrap that idea now though :)

    If you want to give raid 0 a go, give it a go.
    (you do not have to take the word of a randomer off the internet as bible!) Just make sure you have backups!

    I personally think it's an extra layer of un-needed complication and something extra to go wrong.
    Def partition out the main drive. And have a partition for the windows pagefile. Makes a difference in speed than having the page file on the c: drive with windows.

    Also consider picking up some imaging software such as Achronis True Image or Norton Ghost. Have Achronis myself and it really helps getting the pc back on it's feet when windows dies: popping back on a perfect image of windows with all your settings intact and applications intact is a time saver.
    leninbenjamin wrote: »
    the other thing would be the GFX card. could stretch the buget to get the 285 if i thought it was worth the performance gain over the 275?

    Well there is about €20 if difference between the 275 and the 285 on komplett.ie.

    I know there is meant be a wee bit of difference between the 275 and 285.
    If you feel €20 for the slightly faster card is worth it go for it.


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    #7
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    Assuming you're not intending to go SLI here's a slightly cheaper build, complete with quieter case and one helluva cooler ;)

    HWVS200509.png

    Shame about the lack of a CCF or BARAM but I don't know if they bundle LGA1366 brackets anyway (plus the BARAM needs a 1337 fan to go with it). Oh well... :rolleyes:


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    #8
    mus3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16 ✭mus3


    uberpixie wrote: »
    Def partition out the main drive. And have a partition for the windows pagefile. Makes a difference in speed than having the page file on the c: drive with windows.
    No!!! While there will a speed difference, it'll just be in the wrong direction! Putting a pagefile on a seperate partition will cause the driveheads to go allll the way to the end of the Windows partition, maybe even further depending on where you put it, every time it needs to read/write it to. Which is gonna slow it down!

    I can't believe this is my first post on boards! :D


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    #9
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    Welcome to Boards.ie lol.gif


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    #10
    cherryghost
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 17,134 Mod ✭✭✭✭cherryghost


    mus3 wrote: »
    No!!! While there will a speed difference, it'll just be in the wrong direction! Putting a pagefile on a seperate partition will cause the driveheads to go allll the way to the end of the Windows partition, maybe even further depending on where you put it, every time it needs to read/write it to. Which is gonna slow it down!

    I can't believe this is my first post on boards! :D

    i got rid of my page file last week. best thing i ever bloody done on vista.


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    #11
    uberpixie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,864 ✭✭✭uberpixie


    mus3 wrote: »
    No!!! While there will a speed difference, it'll just be in the wrong direction! Putting a pagefile on a seperate partition will cause the driveheads to go allll the way to the end of the Windows partition, maybe even further depending on where you put it, every time it needs to read/write it to. Which is gonna slow it down!

    I can't believe this is my first post on boards! :D

    Must have a play around and test the rig with a windows managed pagefile and see the difference!


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    #12
    colwood
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12 ✭colwood


    Wait for intel core i5 cpu if you are going to build. ETA September. The i5 is basicaliy on par with the i7 but it only uses 2 channels of memory instead of three for core i7. Therefore ram, motherboard and cpu will be far cheaper than any rig built around core i7. Plus if you wait the few months there will be sata III, usb 3, Direct X 11 graphics cards and windows 7 you would be mad not to wait a few months.


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    #13
    leninbenjamin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,983 ✭✭✭leninbenjamin


    colwood wrote: »
    Wait for intel core i5 cpu if you are going to build. ETA September. The i5 is basicaliy on par with the i7 but it only uses 2 channels of memory instead of three for core i7. Therefore ram, motherboard and cpu will be far cheaper than any rig built around core i7. Plus if you wait the few months there will be sata III, usb 3, Direct X 11 graphics cards and windows 7 you would be mad not to wait a few months.

    lol, i'm sitting here posting from my i7 920. if you read through my first post you would have seen i couldn't wait til September :rolleyes:

    at the risk of backseat modding, might be best not to just copy and paste the same replies to threads over a month old.


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    #14
    z0oT
    Registered Users Posts: 740 ✭✭✭z0oT


    I'll add my bit.

    That's a fine solid high end build. But if you wanted to save a little bit of money you could consider dropping the graphics card to a GTX 260 or HD4870 and maybe going with a Phenom II or Core 2 instead of the i7. With the Core 2's and Phenom II's going as cheap as they are, the i7 doesn't really justify it's price. JMO though....


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    #15
    leninbenjamin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,983 ✭✭✭leninbenjamin


    z0oT wrote: »
    I'll add my bit.

    That's a fine solid high end build. But if you wanted to save a little bit of money you could consider dropping the graphics card to a GTX 260 or HD4870 and maybe going with a Phenom II or Core 2 instead of the i7. With the Core 2's and Phenom II's going as cheap as they are, the i7 doesn't really justify it's price. JMO though....

    It does and it doesn't. Certainly not for games.

    As my first post said, i needed a CUDA GPU. and I'm working in DSP and sound synthesis which needs all the grunt you can get. Trust me, i've developed some stuff in the area, and testing in debug mode was an absolute nightmare on an old dual core, one second samples might take minutes to render in debug mode, which isn't very good for developing real time applications. So I decided to stretch my budget a little. So far so good anyway, though i've hardly given it a workout yet (although i'm half debating adding another GTX285 already, we'll see how much of it i can put on CUDA :)).

    final spec anyway to add closure to the thread:

    Coolermaster HAF 932
    Corsair Powersupply 750W Black, ATX/EPS
    Asus P6T, X58, Socket-1366
    Intel Core™ i7 Quad Processor i7-920
    OCZ Gold DDR3 1600MHz 6GB KIT
    Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
    Gainward GTX285 1GB
    Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA2 x 2

    and a complementary pic to thank everyone for their advice ;)
    I've called it Baldric.

    http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2624/img0540x.jpg
    (won't embed as it's a bit big)


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    #16
    colwood
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12 ✭colwood


    I have my i7 rig since march and altough a great setup i believe when spending 2g on hardware i should have waited.

    Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8ghz (OCZ Freeze Extreme)
    Asus P6T Deluxe
    6gb Ocz Platinum DDR3 1600mhz
    Zotac GTX 260 55nm sp216 factory OC 650mhz Sli
    WD Caviar Blacks Raid 0
    Creative x-fi titanium
    CM Storm Sniper
    Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme RT1366
    Corsair 850watt
    Microsoft x6 sidewinder

    Vista premium x64


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