First ever PC build - Core i7

[ag55]

Intro

Hey, im a virgin when it comes to building computers. My only experience inside computers (that didnt sound right ) is adding some RAM to my Dell, and replacing the RAM and HDD in a mac mini with an SSD.

My current Dell is 3 years old, and with the recent RAM upgrade it handles most tasks well. But i have some movies to edit, started using photoshop a lot, and HD movies aren't playing as smooth as they should. Plus the HDD is in the red, GPU is weak etc etc so i thought its time for an upgrade rather than upgrading seperate components.

I was looking at Dell again because my current one has done pretty well, but the noise and me being generally bored made me decide to start a new project - building my first PC. My budget is £1500 give or take, i dont know how good this is in i7 pc terms, but i would like to prioritise my parts if you will, need a powerful CPU, at least 6GB RAM (something from crucial or corsair that flys), decent case to reduce noise, GPU for watching media and then the rest...

What i need

• I use photoshop a lot
• Quiet PC - sick of dell, so a quiet PSU is wanted badly
• Have a ton of AVCHD movies to edit - powerful CPU ideal
• Watch a lot of TV and films, a good GPU with maybe a HDMI port would be great
• Because of the amount of data i have i have an external drive, an eSata port would be very handy to connect it to
• I have a playstation so i do not need a gaming PC, but power is wanted
• A media card reader for quickly getting photos off cards is for me, added bluetooth would be good
• I have a PS3 so i dont need a BD drive, a regular CD/DVD drive which can handle all the DVD varieties is all i need
• Wireless N card. Something decent to make use of 20mb speed.
• After using an SSD in a mac mini i dont want to go back to HDDs, so a fast 30GB-60GB SSD which i can boot from and store frequent files, and then a big 7200rpm HDD, preferably WD green 1-2TB.
• A lot of USB ports, i have 8 on my dell which i used up. So 8 or more would be perfect-o.

What im thinking

Like i said before i dont have much of a clue, but here is what i think looks good. But i would really like some suggestions from 'teh pros'. So please reply.

Case.......................No idea, noise reducing, easy to upgrade would be best. I like the color black
Motherboard: ....................I heard of ASUS Deluxe, and another something like EVG - take your pick
PSU:............................ Something quiet, able to handle minor future upgrades. Nothing to serious.
Processor: ........................£500 for the processor? Leaving a grand for everything else
GPU: ................No idea, something good enough for TV/films, HD.
HDD: ............A fast SSD (30 or 60GB to boot), WD Green 2TB as main HDD.
RAM: ............6-8GB of good RAM from popular brand like crucial or corsair
Cards...........decent Wireless N, bluetooth and a media card reader and eSata.

If i missed anything please add
I already have an awesome monitor, keybo and mouse so more £ to spend elsewhere

Thanks for your help

Note: I have never OC'd, mainly because of Dell's locked BIOS. But i did with some software, up from 2.4 to 2.8.
Im a coward, but keeping everything cool with decent amount of power is fine if i do ever oc.

[nightkhaos]

First off, I highly do recommend you overclock, please look at my guide for more information on how to do this. Secondly, I recommend the following system, which should fall within your budget and fit your requirements. Please note I am specing completely from Scan, you can get some of these components, in particular the RAM, cheaper elsewhere. (Corsair is expensive and Scan doesn't stock any other 1600MHz CL8)

CPU - Intel Core i7 920 D0 - £204.90
Heatsink - Prolimatch Megahalems with a Noctua P12 - £41.96 + £15.97
Motherboard - Gigabyte X58-UD5 - £193.40
RAM - Corsair 6GiB CL8 1600MHz - £103.64
SDD - Intel 80GB X25-M - £206.77
HDD - 3x WD Caviar Green 1TB in RAID 5 for a total of 2TB with redudancy. 3x £62.01
GPU - XFX ATi 4890 - £129.95
PSU - Corsair 620W HX Modular - £89.94
Case - Coolermaster HAF 932 - £119.59
Wireless - Edimax Wireless N Doggle - £26.43
ODD - Sony Optiarc DVD+/-RW - £16.55
Mouse - Logitech MX1100 - £41.39
Keyboard - Logitech G15 - £51.51
BT - Edimax Bluetooth Doogle - £5.08
5-in-1 - El-cheapo one from Tesco (seriously!) - About £5

Total £1433.11 + Shipping and 5-in-1 from Tesco

[Mazzle]

That is one solid build there Nightkhos nice one!

If there's anything I would change then it would be to drop to the EVGA SLI LE for £20 less although as I've stated in another thread my Intel knowledge is limited so if there are other huge reasons that I can't see with the Gigabyte then ignore me and I'll crawl back to my cave.

As a part of a reference guide Fudzilla has done a round up of the X58 boards link here.

[nightkhaos]

That is one solid build there Nightkhos nice one!

If there's anything I would change then it would be to drop to the EVGA SLI LE although as I've stated in another thread my Intel knowledge is limited so if there is another reason that I can't see with the Gigabyte then ignore me and I'll crawl back to my cave.

As a part of a reference guide Fudzilla has done a round up of the X58 boards link here.

I recommend the UD5 cause it seems to overclock well, even when you account for its Vdroop problem. The BIOS is extremely easy to nagivate compared to other X58 based boards I have seen. But EVGA do make some very good boards... there is one in particular that looks really cool (physically and in terms of reviews) but I can't remember what it is called.

[Vimeous]

That's a fairly substantial budget you have there!

I like khaos's setup but there a couple of changes I'd make for personal preference:

Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-...)-1600(OC)-ATX)
HDD: Add a fourth HHD and use RAID10



Why?
1. I prefer ASUS and have had no probs with the standard P6T.
2. All your editing will be on the HDD's not the SSD unless you opt for a 256Gb SSD. Therefore RAID5 is unlikely to be fast enough. I use RAID10 for speed and redundancy.

Sounds like you'll be hammering your HDD's so I was going to suggest choosing server-class versions such as the 1TB Western Digital WD1002FBYS RE3 x4 in RAID10 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1TB-W...B-Cache-420-ms).
However it'd blow your budget clean away!

BTW depending on your editing package FSB will be just as important as straight CPU speed.

[ag55]

Total £1433.11 + Shipping and 5-in-1 from Tesco[/QUOTE]

That sounds pretty damn good.

However, i already have a dinovo edge keyboard and mx revolution mouse.
So you could shave £90 off your list, that would bring the total down to £1350.
Sounds good, but if there is anything for £150 which would make any difference then i think i'll go for it!

I'll shop around for the best prices, Amazon can normally undercut most by a bit.

Thanks again

[nightkhaos]

That's a fairly substantial budget you have there!

I like khaos's setup but there a couple of changes I'd make for personal preference:

Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe V2 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-...)-1600(OC)-ATX)
HDD: Add a fourth HHD and use RAID10



Why?
1. I prefer ASUS and have had no probs with the standard P6T.
2. All your editing will be on the HDD's not the SSD unless you opt for a 256Gb SSD. Therefore RAID5 is unlikely to be fast enough. I use RAID10 for speed and redundancy.

Sounds like you'll be hammering your HDD's so I was going to suggest choosing server-class versions such as the 1TB Western Digital WD1002FBYS RE3 x4 in RAID10 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1TB-W...B-Cache-420-ms).
However it'd blow your budget clean away!

BTW depending on your editing package FSB will be just as important as straight CPU speed.

I considered a RAID 10 or 01 but was worried that a fourth HDD might eat to much into his budget. If it is a worry he might consider dropping back to a 4870 for the graphics.

The P6T Deluxe V2 is a great board. He will be very happy with either imho.

I am worried about the case however, I know that he'll have 3 eSATA ports (1 on the board itself, and a back panel) with the UD5 (not sure about the P6T), and that the case with stock fans is pretty quiet... but if he wants uber quiet I would drop down to a simple RAID 0 for the HDDs and get an RC-1000 Cosmos and fit it with S12Bs and P12s for the case fans. My friend did this and you cannot hear the case even with your ear right up against it, and that is with an OC of 3.6GHz.

The HAF932 is really good at keeping things cool, but althrough it is likely quieter than the Dell you used to own, it still produces some noticable noise. But you have to remember, if you want to get a completely slient system you will never get one. I know a guy who refited the pads in his keyboard because it was "just too clicky".

[nightkhaos]

Total £1433.11 + Shipping and 5-in-1 from Tesco

That sounds pretty damn good.

However, i already have a dinovo edge keyboard and mx revolution mouse.
So you could shave £90 off your list, that would bring the total down to £1350.
Sounds good, but if there is anything for £150 which would make any difference then i think i'll go for it!

I'll shop around for the best prices, Amazon can normally undercut most by a bit.

Thanks again

Good to hear. Keep us updated on your choices, etc... and we'll see if we can ofter any words of wisdom.

[ag55]

I considered a RAID 10 or 01 but was worried that a fourth HDD might eat to much into his budget. If it is a worry he might consider dropping back to a 4870 for the graphics.

The P6T Deluxe V2 is a great board. He will be very happy with either imho.

I am worried about the case however, I know that he'll have 3 eSATA ports (1 on the board itself, and a back panel) with the UD5 (not sure about the P6T), and that the case with stock fans is pretty quiet... but if he wants uber quiet I would drop down to a simple RAID 0 for the HDDs and get an RC-1000 Cosmos and fit it with S12Bs and P12s for the case fans. My friend did this and you cannot hear the case even with your ear right up against it, and that is with an OC of 3.6GHz.

The HAF932 is really good at keeping things cool, but althrough it is likely quieter than the Dell you used to own, it still produces some noticable noise. But you have to remember, if you want to get a completely slient system you will never get one. I know a guy who refited the pads in his keyboard because it was "just too clicky".

I think anything will be better than the Dell, the fan has a mind of its own. You cant even control the speeds as its all locked. Only thing i could tone down was the GPU fan with Nvidia's tune app. I wont really mind a bit of noise, placing it under the desk should make everything as silent as its going to get

[nightkhaos]

I think anything will be better than the Dell, the fan has a mind of its own. You cant even control the speeds as its all locked. Only thing i could tone down was the GPU fan with Nvidia's tune app. I wont really mind a bit of noise, placing it under the desk should make everything as silent as its going to get

Cool. Well since you managed to shave off £90, I would consider buying a 4th HDD and then putting them in RAID 10/01 as suggested. Also always leave about £50 or so in your budget for unexpected expenses. You have no idea how many times I have bought a PSU and found that one of the cables was just an inch to short to reach the required point cleanly, and had to grab an extension cable for a couple of quid... and that is just one of the many examples of things that can go wrong... lack of SATA cables, short SATA cables, broken component in the case that needs replacing and can only be ordered from europe... but hey, maybe I just had a spot of bad luck.

[Vimeous]

If the budget doesn't stretch to a Cosmos then a Stacker 831 or 832 at around £110-115 would certainly pack alot of space and cooling.

Our 830 is only audible because of the gpu and cpu coolers being standard - and that it's one the desk next to my head!

[Agent]

I recommend the UD5 cause it seems to overclock well, even when you account for its Vdroop problem.

The UD4 has no Vdroop when LLC is on in the BIOS. Mentioned this previously here : http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...rclocking.html

Does the UD5 not have such an option?

[nightkhaos]

The UD4 has no Vdroop when LLC is on in the BIOS. Mentioned this previously here : http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...rclocking.html

Does the UD5 not have such an option?

I'll check when I get home. I haven't had time to explore every corner of my BIOS, not that I'd want to. I'd spend a week optimising my memory timings!

[nightkhaos]

I'll check when I get home. I haven't had time to explore every corner of my BIOS, not that I'd want to. I'd spend a week optimising my memory timings!

Yes it has LLC... didn't see it when I was doing my first overclock. The Vdroop is decreased significantly. I was able to drop my voltage half a volt with no problems. My idle temperatures have dropped about 3 degrees as a consequence as well.

[Agent]

Cool, glad it helped

[Pob255]

Ok to start picking some hole in the build

XFX ATi 4890 - £129.95

Why the heck a 4890?
He's not playing games, just video encodeing/decodeing.
Photoshop (if CS2 or better) = cuda acceleration = nvidia

I'd say a gts250 evga, for a good warranty £98
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...-2x-DVI-I-HDTV

Just spotted the Gainward GTS 250 Green for £70
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1056567
Not sure what it's like, but speed really isn't much of an issue just and added bonus for cuda acceleration.


Cases are rather personal things, but I do have A sugestion for you to consider, the new Silverstone Raven 02 @£115
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Silve...Window-w-o-PSU

There's a mini-review of it here http://ianho.blogspot.com/2009/07/si...02-review.html
It has cages for 3 hadr drives and a special bracket for an SSD, it's a fairly short case, but longer than most.