Hi everybody I want to build a computer that can handle all my needs and more without a problem. I spoke with a local computer guy he showed me most of the parts from a place called newegg.com and tigerdirect.com. I need to get some input on the build to make sure I won?t get ripped off. Now I do all of my work off my desktop video and picture editing, schoolwork, and some gaming here and there. Based off my needs and my wants this is what he came up with.
Motherboard: 8/10 - Good board, but utter overkill for a PC like this, even if you're overclocking you can do fine with a UD4 (As long as it's a P55A - the older P55 boards should not be overclocked) You only need a UD5 if you need two network ports and are using more than 8 hard drives.
CPU: 8/10 - A good CPU, but it depends which programs you use. Unless you use software that works well with hyperthreading, the cheaper i5 750 is much better value.
SSD/HDDs: 10/10, however the enterprise-grade WDs are a little unnecessary, the retail standard WD1001FALS drives will do fine.
RAM: 9/10, make sure you get 1600mhz speed.
GPU: 6/10 - A good card in its own way, but more suited to upgrading cheap Dells and fitting to low-budget systems, if you want to play modern games well, you'll need something better. Fortunately the money being wasted on odd component choices in the rest of the build can be diverted instead towards a better graphics card.
Bluray/DVD drives look fine to me, along with the TV card and recording gear (the latter is not my area of expertise)
PSU: 0/10 - Apart from Rosewill PSUs being cheap nasty deathtraps, 1000W is absolutely absurd. The PC specified here will actually use less than 170W at full load.
Here's what I'd suggest:
P55A-UD4 or P55A-UD3 board
Core i5 750 (i7 860 if you use a program that benefits from hyperthreading)
X25-M, 4x WD1001FALS
2x Corsair XMS3 1600mhz CAS9
XFX Radeon HD5850
Corsair TX 650W PSU
Originally posted by sammorris: You can run two dual slot cards in crossfire as well you realise? The slots on the motherboard aren't that close together...
Oh ok so that's cool so i can still use my other slots without any being blocked. So what do you think I should look at getting one great card or two and run them in crossfire?
Well, it will cover up some of the slots on your motherboard, but it will not cause any problems for your system, relating to heat or not fitting. You will lose the ability to use one PCIe 1x and one PCI slot on the board with two dual-slot cards. However, you will have at least one PCIe 1x slot remaining (at the top) and one PCI slot at the bottom remaining. If you get the UD3, you have another PCI slot to use, the UD4 and you get another PCIe 1x instead.
In general, one powerful card is always better than two slower ones in crossfire. It may work out more expensive, but single cards always perform to the best of their ability, whereas not all games can use crossfire properly, if at all. An HD5850 is only 60% faster than an HD5770 for instance, yet costs 105% more. However, two HD5770s will cost the same, and while there may be up to 100% benefit, in many games it will be less than the 60% the HD5850 offers for the same sort of price.
Of course, you could choose to get an HD5970 over two HD5850s, as this only takes up one slot, but unlike other large cards, the HD5970 does still rely on crossfire, as it's two HD5850s rolled into one card. However, it's the fastest thing you can put in one PCIe slot right now, assuming it fits in your case (the HD5970 is very long!)
