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Need some opinions ....
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Theebs
Junior Member
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16. October 2007 @ 00:24 |
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Hi, love the site. This is my first post.
I have built all of my computers but have not built anything since 03. My current computer is a p4 2.8, 512 dual rambus, ati 9700 etc..
anyway, I am looking to build a compter that will aid me in video rendering times and be able to handle editing some hd video.
I plan to purchase a blue ray burner at some point in the next 8 mos. or so.
So my big question is Which board and cpu. I currently have a 2.13 hp xw 4400 workstation that I use with Avid Express Pro, adobe after effects, boris red and adobe photoshop.
I have read core 2 duo is better for rendering. Can anyone let me know if that is true. And reccomend one? I am going to use this computer as a "render Farm" and hope to increase time wasted rendering.
I am planning on installing 2 or 4 500 gb sata drives. 2 gb memory, dvd drive, undecided on a graphics card is the nvidia 8800 overkill.
I am not a gamer. ALthough I may grab maddens or nhl 2008..nothing big.
any help would be appreciated, I hope this wasnt too scattered.
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AXT
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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16. October 2007 @ 01:49 |
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Your best bet would be a quad core. In areas such as rendering and video editing quads dominate over dual cores. Especially if the program that is used is multitreaded.
Intel's Q6600 can be found for as low as 280 dollars.
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. October 2007 @ 09:02 |
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Indeed, by a reasonably powerful but inexpensive graphics card like an X1950 Pro, and go with a Quad core CPU.
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Theebs
Junior Member
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16. October 2007 @ 10:07 |
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thanks guys. So a graphics card like the nvidia 8600 is not needed, and the 8800 for sure.
I would also like to have something that gives me options down the line.
Can you guys recommend a board to go with the quad core and a power supply.
and finally, There is a cooler master case that is a full tower that I love, I will find it and post the link, easy access to all the 3.25 drives and that is what I will be putting in and taking out.
Are hot swappable drive bays universal? Can I install them in any case?
any info is super appreciated.
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Theebs
Junior Member
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16. October 2007 @ 10:23 |
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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 16. October 2007 @ 10:25
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. October 2007 @ 12:41 |
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Depends what you mean by 'efficiently'. If the 900 is still the same as when I bought it, you'll swear your head off trying to get the drives into the front bays. Hot-swappable the drives certainlt aren't. Whilst you can pull those bays out, the fans need molex connectors, and since theyre attached to the drive bays, the bays aren't hot swappable either, since hot swapping molexes is a very bad idea. (and no, those drive bays will only ever fit the 900 or the upcoming 1200 case) The 900 is a good case for cooling, and with a bit of tweaking can run very quiet indeed, but if you're after hotswappable drives, look elsewhere, something like a Coolermaster Stacker perhaps?
As for the board, the Gigabyte P35-DS3L seems quite a good one of late. On the power supply, although Antec units like the truepower trio are quite good, this one will work.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...=corsair%2b520W
It's better and it's cheaper. Don't be put off by the lower wattage, Most people very rarely use over 520W for their PC. I certainly don't, and look at my signature.
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AXT
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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16. October 2007 @ 13:41 |
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. October 2007 @ 13:49 |
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The cooling in that case looks far less powerful than the 900, so high speed fans will be needed. I'm not fooled by marketing spiel about where the fans are placed and all this, it's a standard layout but with only a pair of 80mm fans at the top and rear, rather than the 120 and 200 that the 900 has. I'm sure it's well built, but from a cooling standpoint, it's not exactly my number 1 pick.
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Theebs
Junior Member
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16. October 2007 @ 18:25 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
Depends what you mean by 'efficiently'. If the 900 is still the same as when I bought it, you'll swear your head off trying to get the drives into the front bays. Hot-swappable the drives certainlt aren't. Whilst you can pull those bays out, the fans need molex connectors, and since theyre attached to the drive bays, the bays aren't hot swappable either, since hot swapping molexes is a very bad idea. (and no, those drive bays will only ever fit the 900 or the upcoming 1200 case) The 900 is a good case for cooling, and with a bit of tweaking can run very quiet indeed, but if you're after hotswappable drives, look elsewhere, something like a Coolermaster Stacker perhaps?
As for the board, the Gigabyte P35-DS3L seems quite a good one of late. On the power supply, although Antec units like the truepower trio are quite good, this one will work.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...=corsair%2b520W
It's better and it's cheaper. Don't be put off by the lower wattage, Most people very rarely use over 520W for their PC. I certainly don't, and look at my signature.
I was just hoping the tower could handle 4 internal sata drives. My HPxw4400 I use to edit with is out of commission right now because the power supply just died, it was new in june. I just installed two 500 gb internal sata drives to go with the existing drives. I am not sure it is related.
So As long as I can get them in there and keep them cool that is all that matters I guess.
So anymore reccomendations on boards, I am trying to get a price together, and memory too.
I do like that cpu that was reccommended and the antec 900.
I do like nvidia cards also.
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16. October 2007 @ 18:27 |
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no, it's probably directly related. Installing my two 250GB Caviars is what killed my cheap Qtec power supply two years ago.
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Theebs
Junior Member
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16. October 2007 @ 18:39 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
no, it's probably directly related. Installing my two 250GB Caviars is what killed my cheap Qtec power supply two years ago.
I figured that, but they insisted it wasnt and they are sending me a new power supply.
I am worried about the same thing happening in the next few days.
That is a 460 watt delta power supply that hp puts in their towers.....they told me they would not be responsible if I put in a bigger supply, so now I am leery of that. It really stinks because I need the interior space because of some stuff I am working on.
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16. October 2007 @ 19:25 |
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460W is loads, but I bet it can't put out anywhere near that.
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Theebs
Junior Member
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16. October 2007 @ 19:36 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
460W is loads, but I bet it can't put out anywhere near that.
hey so can you reccommend a board and some memory to me?
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. October 2007 @ 19:38 |
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A Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L and 2x2GB of Corsair XMS2-PC6400.
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Theebs
Junior Member
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16. October 2007 @ 19:56 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
A Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L and 2x2GB of Corsair XMS2-PC6400.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176
is that the right memory.
About that motherboard, it does not have a firewire in and no raid card. I could put those in, but is there one comparable that has that. Also with just one eide does that mean it will need sata optical drives? that is cool if it does, have never installed them but I assume it is the same as a hard drive.
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. October 2007 @ 19:59 |
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Not if you use S-ATA hard drives. It just means you can't use IDE for both.
That memory is indeed the stuff I was recommending.
As for firewire, it seems absent on a lot of boards, but for RAID, definitely buy a separate PCI card. Hardware RAID is way superior to integrated software RAID.
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joe777
Member
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16. October 2007 @ 20:15 |
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Hi, just built a new system recently, so hope this helps you:
Antec sonataIII
Earthwatts 500
Gigabyte GA- P35 DS3P
Intel Q6600
GEIL 800Mhz 4-4-4-12 2gigs
Scythe Mugen ( the new infinity)961grams and 161mm tall, 120mm fan, side mounted.
Sapphire HD 2400 ( I would imagine your looking for something other than this card).
2 seagate barracudas 500gigs SATAII running in RAID 0.
My old pc's are still in the Athlon XP era where stretching 2.6 / 2.8 gigs from the proc was pretty dam good in its day, but alas, as I started some home studio projects then the old pc's were showing their age.
So am gonna say that moving to my new system was certainly different, to say the least. In a word WWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW.
Like yourself, ah done a lot of research, and after counting the money for the build, ah decided to buy the above components.
Gygabyte seem to be new players in the overclocking freindly market, but dont go for anything below the DS3P as there is not so much scope for voltage control( and will certainly hinder a stable overclock)Above the DS3P I have read that the extra money is for more SATA channels, more accessories and more cooling on the chip-set, that apparently doesn't work that good.
The proc is bloody amazing, but a word of caution is if your software can use all cores and look in forums from your software to see if it really does use all cores. Cause if theres bugs and there promising to have it sorted in the next 6 months or so then the price of the Quad will have dropped again. Remember this model was for sale at over a thousand dollars at the start of this year. I wonder why!!!
Anyway I have it running @3Ghz at the mo and all is very stable, maybe ahl nudge it up a little if I need more power, but ah dont think even Scotty would need more power to beam anyone up with this proc.
The scythe mugen cooler was a bit fiddly to fit but keeps the temps down to 28 @ idle, mid to late 40's during stress test. The case came with 1 120mm fan and I bought another 120. So front of case has a blower in-line with the side-mounted cpu fan and a 120mm exhaust at the rear.
The memory was also a bit fiddly to hit the low timings, M/board set the voltage @1.8 turns out the ram needed at least 2.1 to run low timings. So having a M/board that can provide more scope for voltage adjustment is a must, even if your not planning on overclocking.
Ahl skip the GPU.
The case is quiet'ish. But for home studio's theres not many case's that can't be heard with a condensor microphone, so all mic'd tracks are done in another room. For all the hardware I have 500watts is just enough, but for you with 4 HD's and a meaty GPU then I would say you need more meat and veg in your PSU than me
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. October 2007 @ 20:59 |
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28C IDLE? that's some extreme cooling, no wonder it's noisy.
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Theebs
Junior Member
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16. October 2007 @ 21:49 |
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AfterDawn Addict
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17. October 2007 @ 03:25 |
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joe777
Member
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17. October 2007 @ 04:38 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
28C IDLE? that's some extreme cooling, no wonder it's noisy.
I think Intel rate the stock cooler @ 37 idle, and I had to use a shoe-horn to fit the scythe in my case Lol. I lapped both proc and heatsink but didnt go for the liquid metal but did go for the spring option over the standard locking mechanism. For what I've read, my temps are pretty good but not spectacular. I have nudged the Vcore down a little to 3.45, still stable and a degree or to under, but I think thats as low as the temps will fall. I also read that a side-mounted cpu fan can dramatically reduce temps combined with good case fans.
As for noise pollution Lol yeah I have 3 120mm fans (only the exhaust fan has speed control) and it can be loud, but still a good bit quieter than my old rigs. The exhaust is set to low, the blower does its own thing and as we speak the cpu fan is sitting @823rpm no wait 824 no wait 826 Lol he he he you know what I mean. I was thinking about 2 raptors before I bought the system but hey that kind of noise would wake up the neighbours.
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AfterDawn Addict
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17. October 2007 @ 06:18 |
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That figure would utterly depend on the case temperature and ambient room temperature, I rarely find that they give specific temperature readings. In all honesty, compared to some people's case fans (Rubixcube for example), Raptors really aren't that noisy.
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joe777
Member
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17. October 2007 @ 07:09 |
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Originally posted by Theebs:
Thanks guys so If I have this correct I will go this setup so far...
cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductRev...ating=-1&Page=2
this case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
this power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...=corsair%2b520W
this motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...byte%2bP35-DS3L
this memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145176
I am undecided on the graphics card. so any more reccomendations?
I am going to install xp or xp pro....and use 4 sata drives and most likely sata opticals.
Please let me know how this looks so far.
cpu - deffo
case- looks pretty
PSU- sounds the bollocks, will there be enough power, could be borderline maybe.
Main board- dont go for anything under the DS3P, please trust me its worth the extra money.
Ram- man thats expensive, ok 4 gigs but still too much. Rated timings @ 5-5-5-18 and 1 customer comment saying it wouldn't pass 800Mhz, that doesn't sound promising. The G.E.I.L. ram ah bought cost 59 Euro for 2 gigs 4-4-4-12, 835Mhz, mem multiplier @2.50 and voltage @2.15 http://www.alternate.nl/html/highlights....evel1=Geheugen&
Ah also heard or read should I say about good ram from Crucial running low timings and O'c. I would say its worth shopping around first, and do you really need 4gigs? I know you posted that your a heavy user with video/graphic rendering, but do you really need all that? I work with a home studio comprising of several virtual instruments and still have plenty head-room. Windows xp32bit will not see all 4 gigs it uses 4 gigs max including the pagefile so you will get 3.5gigs instead. Xp64bit will see all 4gigs. Now I have never tried 64bit but not alot of peeps have much good to say about it. Vista (ohhhhh nooooo) can handle the 4gigs, as it probably needs that to run half a proccess or display an error that cant be displayed because of the previous error Lol. Maybe you could stick with 2 gigs and xp 32bit pro and keep your new system as fast as microsoft can go.
On a side note, ever heard of a prog called Nlite. Great prog to use to customise your operating system. With what your doing ah would look at a multiboot with especially a ripped O's for your video/graphic work. That way you can speed up that O's for your work and something else(on another partition, maybe even a linux distro) as an internet / blah blah O's.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 17. October 2007 @ 07:13
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17. October 2007 @ 07:24 |
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The guy who couldn't get it past 800mhz was a noob, look at how many other positive comments there are. $219 is not a lot to pay for 4GB of quality RAM, not a lot at all.
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joe777
Member
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17. October 2007 @ 08:36 |
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Originally posted by sammorris:
The guy who couldn't get it past 800mhz was a noob, look at how many other positive comments there are. $219 is not a lot to pay for 4GB of quality RAM, not a lot at all.
Yeah I did execute a sweeping statement there, sorry, there are positive comments of course. 219$ roughly 155Euro, I might be penny pinching but the difference of 35Euro(comparing my ram) would mean I could add 10 euros and buy a good heatsink, he he he I have been living in the netherlands for to long now eh!!! Greedy sod. Lol
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