Please help me configure my perfect 3XS system

[NightOwl]

Hello everyone. It's my turn to ask some questions and work out a final spec for my "perfect system", I hope you good people can help guide me in some choices.

Firstly, it might help to explain what I want from the system; my main priorities are:
a) to have a beefy multi-core CPU to handle intensive/lengthy mathematical (fractal) calculations and
b) a system that is as quiet as humanly possible (it will be located close to my lounge at home).
I also do a fair bit of graphical/photographic work in Photoshop, play older strategy games (Civilization IV, Age of Mythology), listen to music and watch downloaded/streaming videos.

I'm drawn to the 3XS Intel X58 Core i7 system with:
- Intel i7 920, overclocked + Thermalright Ultra 120 cooler
- Coolermaster RC-1000 Cosmos case (chosen for the soundproofing)
- 620W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU
- 6GB of DDR3 RAM
- single graphics card (see question below)
- one or two hard drives (plus another of my own that I will add myself)
- DVD writer, Creative X-Fi Titanium audio, Akasa Multi Memory Card Reader
- 24" Dell 2408WFP monitor
- Keyboard & mouse - I'm not overly impressed with the choices on the configurator, all geared towards "gamers" it seems, but presumably I could substitute something else from the Scan shop instead?

Re. the GPU: I am not a hardcore gamer so I see no reason to go over the top for features I will never need or use, I just need a card that will suit my graphical needs and give decent quality for watching videos. I've been looking at the 512MB Gigabyte 9600GT [Link] - I like the idea of a passively cooled card (quiet!!) and it's well within the price range I think is suitable for this item (<£120). Would this be a suitable companion for the Dell monitor and would this combination enable me to watch high definition video on the PC? I'm afraid I'm not terribly knowledgeable about these things as I haven't moved into the world of HD yet... but would like to.

Another major question I have concerns cooling. My present system is prone to getting a bit toasty, especially when the CPU is maxed out with calculations for extended periods of time. I am therefore acutely aware (paranoid, even) of the need for really good cooling. I would like to know what the recommendation would be for adequate cooling in the Cosmos 1000 case (bearing in mind the need for minimal noise and that I may have a passively cooled GPU in the case as well) - do I need to add any extra fans to the configuration? If so, how many and which would be the quietest? What about the fan on the CPU heatsink and the fans that come with the Cosmos - all reasonably quiet or should I consider better/quieter alternatives? Recommendations? I'm happy to pay a little extra for quality/quietness if needs be.

I understand that the Scan system builders will stress test a new system before shipping - presumably this includes putting the CPU under full load for some time to test reliability & cooling. I would really like to have the reassurance that these tests will seriously stretch the CPU to its limits because that is what I will be doing with the PC for a lot of the time and I don't want the worry of my lovely new PC getting too hot under the collar.

Now, this is a bit of an idle thought but, as part of my research I would like to find out more about the possibility of using water cooling. I was looking at the Zalman Reserator1 V2 Fanless Water Cooling System
[Link] but see this kit does not include fittings for a Socket 1366... would it be possible to add/substitute a suitable CPU cooling block to the Zalman system? Is it really as quiet as they say it is? Is such water cooling worth the extra expense? I love the idea and appearance of that reserator tower, and if it provides excellent cooling (and possibly fewer fans needed in the system case as a result?) then I would definitely consider this as a cooling option, even if it is more costly. There is a lot to think about, though, and my knowledge of water cooling is zero so any advice/opinions/thoughts on this would be most welcome indeed.

Sorry for all the questions! I'll probably have a few more before settling on my final configuration so I hope you will bear with me while I work through all these issues and decisions - this is an expensive purchase that I hope will last me another 3 years+, so I need to get it just right for my present (and foreseeable future) needs. Thanks for reading this far and for any feedback anyone may have to offer.

[Philipp]

NightOwl,

Glad to see your considering scan for your custom build system...

I have not forgotten about your post.... getting a reply together ASAP

Cheerios

[NightOwl]

Thanks a lot, Philipp. I would rather have a well considered and informative reply than a rushed answer, to be honest. I can see you have been very busy today, so I appreciate your acknowledgement.

I'm loving the build photos you're posting up for other members, by the way - no doubt it requires some extra effort to take them and post them up but I have to tell you that I for one think it's well worth it - from a prospective buyer's point of view it makes the Scan systems much more attractive, gives a good idea of the impressive quality of the build/cabling etc. and really adds a lot to the buying experience. Keep 'em coming if you can!

[Philipp]

NightOwl,

Thanks for the understanding It really has been a hectic day...

Ill have an in depth reply for you by morning

Cheers for the great feedback about the pictures, its something that will be integrated onto our site in the form of a gallery shortly!!

Thanks

[NightOwl]

You know, I almost said something about a gallery of pix in my last post, you must have read my mind (or I yours)! Hehe. Glad you appreciate the feedback, anyway. From what I can tell you have a great site and service here, and the fact that you listen to customers, help them personalize their systems and go the extra mile to show them photos of builds-in-progress is really fantastic. It gets people involved, not just the current system buyers but prospective buyers as well, and that's a good thing for all concerned.

What I think would be really useful in a gallery (if it's not too much work) would be system photographs with some information alongside them, maybe a short list of the major components used, case style, any special or custom features etc. That way people can see a variety of systems, different configurations, the physical size and appearance of the system, what other customers actually chose to buy and so on, all of which may inspire and/or help them in their purchasing decisions. I know I've found myself trawling through various posts here over the last few days, re-visiting photographs for some reason or other (sad reasons involving envy and desire mostly, ha ha!), I would find a gallery page very useful for that sort of thing.

[Philipp]

NightOwl,

Sorry it has taken me a while to get back to your original questions…

The ASUS 9600GT is a good choice for your needs, as you have stated it’s silent and it will do everything that you need it to. The card and monitor both support HDCP Tek Spek Artical so will allow the play back of HD video, as such it would be worth adding a blu ray drive to your system and some decoding software

Both options are available on our system configurator

Blu Ray Reader / Writer
LG GGC-H20L - Super Multi DVD Writer & Blu-Ray + HD-ROM Reader

Software – DVD / Blu Ray Decoding
Ahead Nero 9 Suite - CD/DVD/Bluray Media Software

I can understand your concerns in regards to the system cooling, I believe that the Cosmos RC1000 is again a good choice we can replace the normal fans with up rated Akasa Amber ones this will provide a good balance of air flow for cooling and noise reduction!! We will stress test the system using Prime95 (with the side panels on) for 24hours to ensure it is completely stable under 100% load.

The Zalman Reserator1 V2 gets a cracking review from Hexus. Hexus Review

I am not completely sure how it would handle the heat from an over clocked Core i7, I don’t think it would perform any better than a heat sink fan but there is the noise angle if its really silent then it might be just what you are looking for, We could stick a Socket 1366 CPU block onto the end

If you are intressted in this option, I will grab one from stock and have a look about, I would need to figure out how we can ship the system with this cooler in place...

Dont worry about all the questions, if there is anything I have missed or you need further clarfication just give me a nudge

Cheers

[Philipp]

You know, I almost said something about a gallery of pix in my last post, you must have read my mind (or I yours)! Hehe. Glad you appreciate the feedback, anyway. From what I can tell you have a great site and service here, and the fact that you listen to customers, help them personalize their systems and go the extra mile to show them photos of builds-in-progress is really fantastic. It gets people involved, not just the current system buyers but prospective buyers as well, and that's a good thing for all concerned.

What I think would be really useful in a gallery (if it's not too much work) would be system photographs with some information alongside them, maybe a short list of the major components used, case style, any special or custom features etc. That way people can see a variety of systems, different configurations, the physical size and appearance of the system, what other customers actually chose to buy and so on, all of which may inspire and/or help them in their purchasing decisions. I know I've found myself trawling through various posts here over the last few days, re-visiting photographs for some reason or other (sad reasons involving envy and desire mostly, ha ha!), I would find a gallery page very useful for that sort of thing.

Hahah ruddy mind reader!!!!

All I can say is its coming sooooooooooooon

Keep the good ideas coming NightOwl....

Cheers

[NightOwl]

Good news about the gallery, Philipp, and you're welcome.

Thanks for your reply re. my system enquiries, it was very helpful. I think I will go for that passive Gigabyte GPU, then, and some fan upgrades. More on that in a moment.

Regarding the Zalman water cooling system, I've had a good think about what you have said and have come to the conclusion that it is probably rather too expensive and complicated an option to go for at this time. The cooling abilities of the reserator compared to modern air cooling with big fans don't seem to be very different - just looking great and being silent are not good enough reasons to warrant adding £200 or more to the overall price so I'm going to stick with normal air cooling (I'm hopeful that the upgraded/quiet fans and case soundproofing will result in a perfectly acceptable, quiet system). A shame about the Zalman, but I have to be realistic. Siting it all, here at home, would be slightly problematical too. Thanks for your thoughts on this anyway.

I've tweaked my system specs to include the Blu Ray reader/writer as you suggest (I like the Lightscribe functionality this offers too), but with the basic PowerDVD software rather than Nero (my last run in with Nero turned very ugly - it used to be a great burning program but the modern day Nero suite is bloated and temperamental, I'm sad to say).

Anyways.... I'm beginning to firm up on the final system spec now, I just have a couple of further quick questions for you:

1. As I understand it the Thermaltake cooler will be fitted with two Akasa Amber fans as standard, I believe. But how many of these Amber fans would I need to add in the configurator to replace the fans supplied with the Cosmos 1000 case? I'm not sure if I need 3... or is it 4? Can you confirm please?
Also: I hope your back room boys will send me the old case fans that they have removed? I might just be able to use them in another PC - waste not want not, as they say!

2. What do I do about the graphics card? If I order the system online would it be OK to configure "no card" at all on the system specs and simply add the one I want from the shop to my order?

3. I want to add some other items to the order too (keyboard/mouse and maybe a couple of other small-ish items) - hopefully you can ship the lot to me when the time comes?

I think that's all my queries for now. I'll post my proposed system specs in a minute so you can give it the once over if needs be.

Cheers, and thanks for your continued advice and assistance, much appreciated!

[NightOwl]

Here is my proposed system - I may change my mind about hard drive sizes but this is basically it, I think - hopefully I have everything I will need:

System Overview

Case: Coolermaster RC-1000 Cosmos - Silent Aluminium Full Tower Case
CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66GHz 4.8GT s QPI 8MB Cache Retail
CPU Coolers: Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme 120mm Heat Sink Fan
Overclocking: 3XS System Core-Logic Overclocking*10 - 20%*
Memory: 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) CAS 9-9-9-24
Power Supply Unit: 620W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU (Single Graphics Card)
System Drives: 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200 rpm 16MB Cache
Storage Hard drives: 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200 rpm 16MB Cache
Floppy Drive Flash Card Readers & Writers: Akasa Multi Memory Card Reader & USB 2.0 Port
Blu Ray Reader Writer: LG GGC-H20L - Super Multi DVD Writer & Blu-Ray + HD-ROM Reader
Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio - PCI-E (x1)
Case Cooling Fans: 120mm Akasa Amber Case Fan Ultra Quiet and Long life with NO LEDs, x 3

Operating system: *Operating System Not required*
Software - Application: MS OFFICE 2007 - 25 Usage 60 Day TRIAL
Software - DVD Blu Ray Decoding: CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Standard Movie Audio Player & Decoder

TFT Monitor: 24" Dell 2408WFP Ultrasharp Widescreen LCD 1920x1200 3000:1

Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty - 2 Years (1st Year Onsite 2nd Year Return to Base)

Plus fixed specifications:
3XS X58 Core i7 System
Asus P6T Deluxe - Intel X58 - Sok 1366
2 x 120mm AK-183-L2B Akasa Amber Case Fan
Silverstone FP51B Black Transfer Bracket
Thermalright Ultra Fan Clip
Thermalright LGA1366 Bolt Kit
Akasa 8 Pin Extension cable
45cm Akasa Rounded Floppy Drive Cable
Acronis True Image Home 2009
Scan 3XS System - 1year Onsite Warranty (Mainland UK)
Scan System Configuration

Additional requirements/changes not found on configurator:
Graphics card: 512MB Gigabyte 9600 GT, PCI-E 2.0(x16), 2000MHz GDDR3, GPU 720MHz, 64 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I / HDTV ...... Scan shop code LN23589
Keyboard/mouse: Logitech Desktop MX 3200 Cordless Keyboard, USB 1.1/2.0, 1000dpi Laser Mouse, Black ........ Scan shop code LN17722
+ possibly a pair of "home plugs" for a domestic LAN
+ possibly a HDD enclosure to turn a hard drive of mine into an external backup device

[Andy14]

You won't have any problems ordering other components from Scan and getting them delivered with the system, I've done that too and they also included everything on one invoice.

[transylvanic]

Mate, if you are going to spend &#163;120 on a graphics card, get the HD 4850. I'll concede ignorance on the heat a silently-cooled 9600 GT can kick out, but I would expect to have issues without a fan sitting directly on top of the card. You also have 3 120mm fans, the silent or fan-assisted operation of your video card is not going to make any sort of noticeable noise difference.

On the other hand, if within the next few months a game comes out that you might love, you can safely go and max out the details on the radeon card without worrying about its stability. And trust me, I'm not going to be playing Empire: Total War for 12 uninterrupted hours with a passively-cooled gpu.

Additionally, I think you are going overboard on the memory and the hard drives. 4GB and half a TB not enough for you? Really? I mean I get that you are geeked about this build, I know the feeling very well, but sometimes you have to take a step back and grab some perspective. You can store your 100 favourite movies in HD quality within ~400GB. What could you possibly do with the other 600GB? I get it, memory and HDs are cheap, but you can save the extra you are paying now for upgrades down the line.

[sleepyhead]

Mate, if you are going to spend £120 on a graphics card, get the HD 4850. I'll concede ignorance on the heat a silently-cooled 9600 GT can kick out, but I would expect to have issues without a fan sitting directly on top of the card. You also have 3 120mm fans, the silent or fan-assisted operation of your video card is not going to make any sort of noticeable noise difference.

On the other hand, if within the next few months a game comes out that you might love, you can safely go and max out the details on the radeon card without worrying about its stability. And trust me, I'm not going to be playing Empire: Total War for 12 uninterrupted hours with a passively-cooled gpu.

Additionally, I think you are going overboard on the memory and the hard drives. 4GB and half a TB not enough for you? Really? I mean I get that you are geeked about this build, I know the feeling very well, but sometimes you have to take a step back and grab some perspective. You can store your 100 favourite movies in HD quality within ~400GB. What could you possibly do with the other 600GB? I get it, memory and HDs are cheap, but you can save the extra you are paying now for upgrades down the line.

Personally, I don't agree with all your comments. Image work in photoshop, the raw files can be absolutely huge and if you are quite particular, you will render several versions until you are happy and then compress that image to something more manageable. A large HDD is required for saving all those raw images.

With i7, it uses tri-channel memory, so to use it you need 3 sticks of 1GB or 3 sticks of 2GB ram. 4GB (either 2x2GB or 4x1GB) won't utilise the potential bandwidth available...his fractal/mathematical calculations programs may take advantage of this. 6GB of ram is perfect for his application for speed and available footprint for programs the OP may use.

Graphics card; the HD4850 is noisey even in a P182 case. I know, my mate has one and when gaming the fan ramps up to an annoying volume. I've got a previous generation 8600GT passively cooled (and overclocked) and that's fine day in day out. I am assuming of course all those fans he is having installed will be low dB low-med CFM and the most you will hear is the air rushing in and out. With good case airflow, a passively cooled GPU will be fine.

I'm assuming also, that the OP is not a massive gamer and therefore doesn't require all the settings maxed out. With the monitor he selected, if 1920x1200 gaming is a slight struggle he can set the 2408WFP to do 1:1 pixel mapping and run the games at a lower resolution.

Anyhow, that's just my opinion.

[NightOwl]

You won't have any problems ordering other components from Scan and getting them delivered with the system, I've done that too and they also included everything on one invoice.

Thanks, Andy, that's what I thought.

Mate, if you are going to spend £120 on a graphics card, get the HD 4850. I'll concede ignorance on the heat a silently-cooled 9600 GT can kick out, but I would expect to have issues without a fan sitting directly on top of the card. You also have 3 120mm fans, the silent or fan-assisted operation of your video card is not going to make any sort of noticeable noise difference.

On the other hand, if within the next few months a game comes out that you might love, you can safely go and max out the details on the radeon card without worrying about its stability. And trust me, I'm not going to be playing Empire: Total War for 12 uninterrupted hours with a passively-cooled gpu.

Additionally, I think you are going overboard on the memory and the hard drives. 4GB and half a TB not enough for you? Really? I mean I get that you are geeked about this build, I know the feeling very well, but sometimes you have to take a step back and grab some perspective. You can store your 100 favourite movies in HD quality within ~400GB. What could you possibly do with the other 600GB? I get it, memory and HDs are cheap, but you can save the extra you are paying now for upgrades down the line.

Thank you for your thoughts.

I have a passively cooled GPU (GeForce 6600GT) in my present system that has given me good service. As I have said elsewhere in this thread, I am not a gamer so a fairly ordinary, and relatively cheap GPU is quite adequate for my present and future needs - I seriously doubt any future game would be of interest to me (I know you don't know me but ask yourself if your Mum would ever want to play Total War or GTA and you will get an idea of who I am and where where I'm at! hehe). As far as I'm concerned, the fewer fans there are inside the better as fan noise tends to be cumulative and a small GPU fan is bound to add noticeably to the overall noise output, not to mention the additional power/energy requirements to run it constantly for 12 hours a day.

The memory is perhaps slight overkill, granted, but I have my reasons for 2 x 500 GB drives. I like to have access to my photographs and digital art files, the latter often being around 120MB in size, it soon mounts up! I use two drives for backup purposes (I don't use Raid as such but it's a similar idea, just manually configured so my important files and critical data are essentially duplicated as a safeguard against data loss. Before you ask, I do also permanently archive this material to DVD disks but it's a chore so I only do this once a month) - I've tried to work out what my storage needs are likely to be over the next 3-4 years and this config will hopefully cover it. HDDs are so cheap these days, I've even been considering 2 x 750GB... believe me, with the sorts of things I do I can never have enough space!!

[Andy14]

I agree fully with disk space. You can never get enough and certainly I've found that video takes up lots of space, download / create in high-def and that's four times bigger again. If you are going to keep the system for 2 / 3 or 4 years then space requirements will doubtlessly have moved on again during that time frame.

TB drives are now very cheap and seem to offer the best value for money so (looking at the cash that you are already prepared to spend) I'd install a 1TB drive as standard and then have another for backup via external unit with eSATA and USB connections so that data would be securable and portable.

I'm doing the same with mine, only I have a 1.5Tb drive in the system and already own a 1.5Tb external unit to back it up.

[transylvanic]

Well, NightOwl, you've thought it through so I can't rag on that. I just remember picking components myself and getting carried away with one extra level of goodness and ending up with expensive overkill.

I guess times are passing me by, but I'm living quite decently with a 75 gig drive. So yea, I just wanted to highlight those things in case you just wanted big drives for the sake of big drives.

[NightOwl]

Personally, I don't agree with all your comments. Image work in photoshop, the raw files can be absolutely huge and if you are quite particular, you will render several versions until you are happy and then compress that image to something more manageable. A large HDD is required for saving all those raw images.

With i7, it uses tri-channel memory, so to use it you need 3 sticks of 1GB or 3 sticks of 2GB ram. 4GB (either 2x2GB or 4x1GB) won't utilise the potential bandwidth available...his fractal/mathematical calculations programs may take advantage of this. 6GB of ram is perfect for his application for speed and available footprint for programs the OP may use.

Graphics card; the HD4850 is noisey even in a P182 case. I know, my mate has one and when gaming the fan ramps up to an annoying volume. I've got a previous generation 8600GT passively cooled (and overclocked) and that's fine day in day out. I am assuming of course all those fans he is having installed will be low dB low-med CFM and the most you will hear is the air rushing in and out. With good case airflow, a passively cooled GPU will be fine.

I'm assuming also, that the OP is not a massive gamer and therefore doesn't require all the settings maxed out. With the monitor he selected, if 1920x1200 gaming is a slight struggle he can set the 2408WFP to do 1:1 pixel mapping and run the games at a lower resolution.

Anyhow, that's just my opinion.

Thank you for your comments, sleepyhead.

You're spot on about the image file requirements. Just to explain a little bit about what this PC will be used for: I'm a fractal artist - the program I use primarily needs raw CPU grunt power to calculate each pixel of the image, to this end it can take full advantage of any multi-core and/or multi-threading capabilities of the processor (hence my choice of this Core i7 system, it should fly compared to my present dual core Athlon!). I sense that RAM is important too - recently my 3GB-equipped PC has begun to struggle with opening multiple files (though that could be a combination of both memory and a less able CPU as well as a more complex program since a recent software upgrade). Once the fractal calculations are done the image is rendered. This is a less intensive background task but should be completed more quickly on the new PC. The resulting files can be up to 120MB in size (they are really huge image files, for high resolution printing at large sizes) and these are then tweaked in Photoshop. This is where the extra RAM may well also come in handy. As you can imagine, at these sizes all these files and revisions certainly do take up a lot of space.

I'm opting for 120mm Akasa Amber fans throughout - I believe these are supposed to be as quiet as they come. Although I might have 5 or 6 of these in total, plus the low noise fan in the PSU, I expect the soundproofing properties of the Cosmos case will help a lot in reducing any noise. With any luck the pc will be pretty quiet - I can't abide too much pc noise, it really grates on my nerves and literally makes me very tetchy (just ask my husband!), hence my quest for something as quiet as possible.

Like you I've been happily using a passive GeForce 6600GT for the past three years - it's also a Gigabyte, I think, so I'm happy with the brand and how it functions without the need for a fan. Anything more advanced in the new PC would be total overkill for what I will actually be using it for. PCs should be tweaked and configured for the individual needs of the user, in my case I mostly need sheer processor power and a simple GPU to display image files on screen. You're right; I am not a gamer, as shocking as that may sound to most readers here , my requirements are quite different.

The large monitor is really to give me much needed extra screen real estate for my artwork and program windows/toolbars etc, though I have made a mental note of what you say about games on larger screens. I just hope the GPU I've chosen will be adequate for showing videos and such (not that I will be doing much of this, mind, that's what I have a television for!). Even if it turns out to be not quite man enough for full screen action I'm OK with that, it's a relatively minor consideration for me.

Goodness, writing all this makes me want to get my mitts on the new PC as soon as possible!! I'm fed up with how slow my present PC is, it's really cramping my style. Where's the "impatient" icon? Hehe.