What's Your Computer Build?

[jdizzle]

Don't go ASRock.

ASUS is the top choice, Gigabyte is a close second. Stick to those two.
No recommendation for EVGA? :)

[*sigh*]

No recommendation for EVGA? :)Not for motherboards, they are well down the list.

For video cards though, they are the best nvidia option.

[silvrr]

Don't go ASRock.



Whats your reasoning for this? Mine has been flawless.

[*sigh*]

Whats your reasoning for this? Mine has been flawless.It's just my opinion, but ASRock doesn't quite the longstanding reputation that say an ASUS does. They're decent boards for the money, but not the best boards available.

I've had lots of good success with ASUS, so that's who I stick with.

[jdizzle]

Not for motherboards, they are well down the list.

For video cards though, they are the best nvidia option.
Really? I thought EVGA made good mobos.

[*sigh*]

Really? I thought EVGA made good mobos.I've known too many people who have nothing but issues with them.

That isn't to say your computer is going to blow up if you run an EVGA board... But there is a reason why ASUS boards are so popular and EVGA boards are not. :p

[jdizzle]

I've known too many people who have nothing but issues with them.

That isn't to say your computer is going to blow up if you run an EVGA board... But there is a reason why ASUS boards are so popular and EVGA boards are not. :p
Thanks for the advice! I'll stick to ASUS! :)

[Methodical]

Here's the specs of my 2nd build. This is the family computer.

Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
PSU: OCZ Pro 500W Modular
MB: ASUS P8Z68-V LE
CPU: Intel Core i3-2120
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600
OS drive: OCZ Vertex 3 60GB SSD
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB, SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
Optical: Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner
OS: MS Windows 7 Pro 64 bit

[*sigh*]

Wow, another build? Nice. :D

That is one heck of a family computer though. :lol:

[1Tanker]

Whats your reasoning for this? Mine has been flawless.Most hard-core enthusiasts dislike ASRock, as they're not really built for high performance. They (almost-universally) overclock poorly, have limited BIOS adjustments( vCore, vDIMM, no load-line calibration, etc.) I have an older one, 775Dual-VSTA, and it has been an outstanding board. Not great at overclocking, but very dependable and stable as a rock. Their great assets are their versatility..being able to use 2 kinds of RAM, and/or 2 types of graphics cards...and their price. ;)

[sil40sx]

^^^ and you forgot to mention that they look nice too :)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6710034777_d69c16439c_z.jpg

[Methodical]

Thanks *sigh*. Yeah, I kinda got build fever after the 1st one. Oh, I use this one quite a bit too when I am upstairs in the family office. Sometimes I need to come up from the man cave. Both computers were 6 years old, so I upgraded both and gave my old one to my son so that he can download all the crap to his hearts content. No one has download rights on this new one though. And no one has access to the unit in the man cave.

Now I don't have to pretend to be a member of the geek squad trying to fix the computer after some of his crazy downloads.

Wow, another build? Nice. :D

That is one heck of a family computer though. :lol:

[*sigh*]

Thanks *sigh*. Yeah, I kinda got build fever after the 1st one. Oh, I use this one quite a bit too when I am upstairs in the family office. Sometimes I need to come up from the man cave. Both computers were 6 years old, so I upgraded both and gave my old one to my son so that he can download all the crap to his hearts content. No one has download rights on this new one though. And no one has access to the unit in the man cave.

Now I don't have to pretend to be a member of the geek squad trying to fix the computer after some of his crazy downloads.
:lol: Very nice, sounds like you have a nice setup for everyone in the family then. :D

[viper522]

I think some of you guys are about 5 years behind on your ASRock info. They've really started to shine with the Sandy Bridge generation. Coincidentally, ASUS has had some trouble with the same gen. except on their flagship boards ($$$).

ASRock was created by ASUS in the early 2000s to compete with the budget brands, but has since launched its own IPO and now competes with all the major brands under new ownership.

Not trying to ruffle any feathers, but let's not muddy the waters.

[Miyagi-san]

First build since 2005 coming up soon:

Total $655 pretty happy with my build but open to criticism. Not a power user....just looking to upgrade from our HP pavilion (rockin' 1GB ram and a Celeron M) that we've been using forever.

Cooler Master Storm Scout (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196)
ASRock 970 AM3+ Mobo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280)
ASUS ENGT430 1GB Video (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121448)
Raidmax Hybrid 630W Modular (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152035)
AMD Athlon II X4 645 Propus 3.1GHz (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103885)
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2X4) 1333/10666 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231417)
WD Caviar Blue 320GB 7200 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136770)
Samsung BluRay (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151232)
Do not pass go, do not select any other OS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986)

[Methodical]

I like that case, especially the handle and the opening near the PSU for routing cables. Curious - why only 320gb hdd?^^^ Just checked. I see the price is right. How do you like the Asus video card?

Al

[Miyagi-san]

I like that case, especially the handle and the opening near the PSU for routing cables. Curious - why only 320gb hdd?^^^ Just checked. I see the price is right. How do you like the Asus video card?

Al

yes price was definitely a factor. HDDs are so expensive lately wow :) I have a lot of externals and travel a lot so I prefer my big gun harddrives be external.

still haven't ordered anything yet, gonna start in about a week. been removing and adding stuff to the build/wishlist on newegg and think it's just about done. pretty excited!

[Methodical]

I know where you're coming from. I see my 2tb hd price drop by $60 now. I couldn't wait any longer so I got what they had at the time. I may get another one for internal use, but like you I have similar size externals. It was fun, especially with it being my 1st build.

Show some pictures when done. Again I like that case - if it had an option for rollers that would really be nice.

Btw, which externals do you employ? I want to get one or 2 more to back up all my images. Currently I have a Fanton 1tb and some seagates (500gbs). I want to make a second backup for the 500gb units.

yes price was definitely a factor. HDDs are so expensive lately wow :) I have a lot of externals and travel a lot so I prefer my big gun harddrives be external.

still haven't ordered anything yet, gonna start in about a week. been removing and adding stuff to the build/wishlist on newegg and think it's just about done. pretty excited!

[viper522]

For external backups, I bought a hard drive dock (http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-BlacX-eSATA-Docking-Station/dp/B001A4HAFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327284957&sr=8-1) and bare SATA drives. The drives stay cooler because they're half exposed, I only need one set of cables to connect any SATA drive around, and it's never full because I can just dock a new SATA drive and start over. I got tired of having 3 and 4 external HDDs laying around, constantly sorting through power adapters and then what do you do what do you do when it's full? Store the device and its cables forever? Bare HDDs stack and store much nicer, and they fit neatly in ESD-safe bags (http://www.amazon.com/KingWin-6-Inch-8-Inch-Static-ATS-B68/dp/B0042TJ7VI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1327285271&sr=1-1).

[Yohan Pamudji]

For external backups, I bought a hard drive dock (http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-BlacX-eSATA-Docking-Station/dp/B001A4HAFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327284957&sr=8-1) and bare SATA drives. The drives stay cooler because they're half exposed, I only need one set of cables to connect any SATA drive around, and it's never full because I can just dock a new SATA drive and start over. I got tired of having 3 and 4 external HDDs laying around, constantly sorting through power adapters and then what do you do what do you do when it's full? Store the device and its cables forever? Bare HDDs stack and store much nicer, and they fit neatly in ESD-safe bags (http://www.amazon.com/KingWin-6-Inch-8-Inch-Static-ATS-B68/dp/B0042TJ7VI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1327285271&sr=1-1).

I've found that HDDs in docks can run quite hot after a while. For short runs no problem, but for long sessions I prefer to use an external enclosure with a fan. I have a few of these that I use for my drives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042

Has a relatively large 80mm fan, connects to computer via USB and eSATA. There might be a USB 3.0 version by now, haven't checked. If you regularly keep your external HDDs on for more than a few minutes at a time, something with a fan might be a good idea.

[viper522]

An enclosure with a fan is ideal. I can't think of any name brand externals (WD, Seagate, etc) that include one anymore. It's a shame, I think they should be in every case. But when your business is selling drives, I guess extending the life of a drive isn't the first priority.

[davidalindsey]

My first time buliding a computer from scratch.
I built it all myself about 3 years ago.
Kinda of a out dated setup now.

Computer Name: Master-PC
CPU: Intel E8400 @ 3.00ghz
CPU Cooler: Nvidia Zalman CNPS 9700 NT
Motherboard: Nvidia NForce 780i SLI FTW
GPU: EVGA 1GB GTS 250SC, BFG 1GB 9800 GTX+OC (SLI mode)
SLI Cooler: EVERCOOL SB-F1 PCI Slot Case Cooler
Memory: 8 GB Ram (4 x 2 GB DDR2 OCZ SLI)
Memory Cooler: OCZ XTC Memory Cooler
Hard Drive: Htachi 650GB Sata II (for OS and programs)
Htachi 60GB Sata II (for scratch disc, storage)
WD Green 2TB Sata II (Storage)
Power Supply: Dell 750w
OS: Win7 Ultimate 64 bit
Case: Antec 1200 V3 ATX Full Tower , with additional Noctua NF-P12 fans
Display: HP w2207h (HDMI 1920x1080, 1080p)
Speakers: Sony 5.1 800w receiver
I/O Devices: Dell key board, Kensington wirless optical mouse, PS3 camera, WinTV-HVR 950 hybrid TV receiver
Photo Related Software: DSLR Remote Pro, GIMP 2, Lightroom 3.5, Perfect Photo Suite, Photomatix Pro 4.1.3, Portrait Professional Studio 9.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6750890843_43d483420b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30488813@N06/6750890843/)
screen shot (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30488813@N06/6750890843/) by davidalindsey1 (http://www.flickr.com/people/30488813@N06/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6750417591_ab85dae6d2_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30488813@N06/6750417591/)
Computer setup (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30488813@N06/6750417591/) by davidalindsey1 (http://www.flickr.com/people/30488813@N06/), on Flickr

[silvrr]

^FYI Windows 7 comes with software called "snipping tool" or something very close to that which allows you to take a screenshot of anything. Pretty helpful little tool and easier than getting the camera out to show a shot of your desktop.

[viper522]

^FYI Windows 7 comes with software called "snipping tool" or something very close to that which allows you to take a screenshot of anything. Pretty helpful little tool and easier than getting the camera out to show a shot of your desktop.

^Or just Print Screen key, then paste directly into your application of choice.

[davidalindsey]

I know, I just decided to take a photo of the desktop since I had the camera out.
Post edited.

[alpine2306]

^Or just Print Screen key, then paste directly into your application of choice.
Yep...
Print Screen to get the whole desktop to the clipboard.
Also...
Alt-Print Screen to just get the current application (does not grab background) into the clipboard.

[viper522]

and a +1 for SnippingTool. i have it setup as a keyboard shortcut, ctrl-shift-s, for regular use.

[sapearl]

Nice looking rig there gooey and great pricing - I like those fan control knobs. How did you like working with Microcenter? They're just a few miles from my home here in Cleveland and where I'll be getting all my pieces and parts for the build.

Just built this, performance on a budget:
AMD Phenom x6 1055T @ 3.5ghz
Gigabyte motherboard free with the CPU (Microcenter special)
2x4gb Crucial 1333mhz DDR3
GTX 460 1gb
Corsair HX520 PSU

Paid a little over $400 for it.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6669305753_7b6749d173_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65687189@N05/6669305753/)

Now I'm thinking about trying to find a used Dell U2311h monitor to go with it to replace the Dell 23" TN panel I've been using for about 3 years.

[timeasterday]

Just finished my build last night and have been busy most of today loading drivers, software, etc. Everything has worked great from the moment I first powered it up. I am loving the SSD - Windows 7 loads up in less than 15 seconds. Lightroom 4 beta is running much, much faster than v3 on my other PC. My new Dell monitor makes my old one look like crap now! Here's a list of what I bought and a photo from today:

Fractal Design Arc Midi Case
ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Motherboard
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz Quad-Core Desktop Processor
SeaSonic 520W BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
EVGA 01G-P3-1441-KR GeForce GT 440 1024MB (Fermi) DUAL DVI PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
Logitech 920-000914 Black USB Wired Ultra-thin Illuminated Keyboard
Logitech G400 Black 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Gaming Mouse
Dell Ultrasharp U2412M 24" Monitor

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6819185895_d6d51d6b55_z.jpg

[gooeydruid]

Nice looking rig there gooey and great pricing - I like those fan control knobs. How did you like working with Microcenter? They're just a few miles from my home here in Cleveland and where I'll be getting all my pieces and parts for the build.

Microcenter was fine. I was kind of on my own finding stuff, some employees were decent, some were clueless.
I didn't mind though, they have great deals, prices as good as or sometimes better than Amazon.
Huge selection on custom PC parts that you would usually only find at Newegg.

Also, I already owned the GTX 460 and the Corsair PSU, which saved me >$200.

[timeasterday]

Everything has worked great from the moment I first powered it up.

I spoke too soon - the 1 TB drive I just got failed. It was working at first then I noticed I had trouble unzipping files from it. Then it failed the SMART check on bootup. It's going back to Newegg.

[Methodical]

Here's an update to my build. I've gotten hooked on gaming, so I've added a 2nd PGU in SLI and OC'g them to 950mhz. The good thing about this build is it can support 2x - GTX 570 cards, so an upgrade if necessary would be a simple swap of GPUs - oh and some dough, too. Hey *sigh*, you've created a monster.:D

http://www.methodicalimages.com/img/s3/v39/p907514447-5.jpg

Here's the backside showing my wire mgmt.

http://www.methodicalimages.com/img/s3/v42/p1014739098-5.jpg

[YP5 Toronto]

Updated: some additions, changes

Computer name: Haven
CPU: Intel i7 920 @ 4.2Ghz, 1600mhz QPI
Cooler: Koolance 350, Swiftech 655, MCR220 Rad, 4 x Scythe S-Flex Push Pull
Mobo: Asus P6T Deluxe V2
GPU: EVGA Limited Edition Nvdia GTX 590
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium FATAL1TY Champion PCI-E 1X 24BIT Sound Card 7.1
RAM:[/b] 6x2gb OCZ 1600 Platinum 7-7-7-24
HD1: 1 x OCZ Vertex 2 Extended 100GB - OS
HD2: 2 x 120GB Corsair Force Series 120GB 2.5IN SATA2 SSD Sandforce - Raid 0
HD3: 3 x 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD - Raid 0
HD4: 1 x Intel XM-25M 80GB SSD
HD5: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1 TB x 2 in Raid 1
HD6: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 2 TB x 2 in Raid 1
Optical: 2 x Sony 18x DVD RW drives
PSU: Enermax ERV1020EWT REVOLUTION85+ 1020W
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Case: Coolermaster Cosmos S
Display: HP LP3065 30" Wide 2560 x 1600
Display: Dell 2005FPW - Inverted Portrait
Speakers: Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker System
IO: Logitech G15, Cyborg RAT 9, Razer Ironclad Hard Gaming Mouse Mat
Photo related: PS LR, Delkin USB 3.0 Universal Card Reader, ColorVision Spyder 3 Pro

is going to be replaced/transitioned into this (sneak peak):

http://www.mazdas247.com/members/YP5%20Toronto/TooBig/IMG-20120111-00103.jpg
http://cdn.overclock.net/c/cf/600x400px-LL-cf2cec47_IMG_8614a.jpeg
http://cdn.overclock.net/a/a0/600x400px-LL-a00fb174_IMG_8682.jpeg

[PM01]

SWEET RIG!!! 3930 you should be able to OC like crazy!

[sapearl]

Very nice looking Methodical - what led you to select the Corsair AX750 PS -I'm leaning towards that one myself.

Here's an update to my build. I've gotten hooked on gaming, so I've added a 2nd PGU in SLI and OC'g them to 950mhz. The good thing about this build is it can support 2x - GTX 570 cards, so an upgrade if necessary would be a simple swap of GPUs - oh and some dough, too. Hey *sigh*, you've created a monster.:D

http://www.methodicalimages.com/img/s3/v39/p907514447-5.jpg

Here's the backside showing my wire mgmt.

[*sigh*]

Updated: some additions, changes

*snip*

is going to be replaced/transitioned into this (sneak peak):

http://www.mazdas247.com/members/YP5%20Toronto/TooBig/IMG-20120111-00103.jpg
http://cdn.overclock.net/c/cf/600x400px-LL-cf2cec47_IMG_8614a.jpeg
http://cdn.overclock.net/a/a0/600x400px-LL-a00fb174_IMG_8682.jpegThat's going to be a beast. Very nice.

What case is that? Looks quite roomy. :p

[YP5 Toronto]

That's going to be a beast. Very nice.

What case is that? Looks quite roomy. :p

Caselabs TH10

www.caselabs.net

[*sigh*]

Caselabs TH10

www.caselabs.netNice looking case, looks like a breeze to watercool in.

[sapearl]

Thank you to whomever posted the link to the Power Supply Calculator (http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/index.jsp). It's quite helpful and informative.

I have a question about calculating power needs for the present/future though. When I plugged in my values, I assumed I'd be adding a 2-3 more internal drives in the future. How critical is it to select a PS as close to this value as possible, or should you always go (significantly?) higher? My calculation came out to about 580 WATTS, and I'm considering one of the Corsair AX Certified Gold units.

The 600 Watt unit is closest to my calculation but you always want to get some excess. The plan then is to get 750 WATTS. Is this a reasonable choice or would it be wiser to jump up to the 850 WATT Corsair AX?

[pcschwenke]

I'd go with the AX 750. Very efficient and quiet power supply. You don't want to buy one just big enough because the capacitors and other components degrade over time.

[sapearl]

I'd go with the AX 750. Very efficient and quiet power supply. You don't want to buy one just big enough because the capacitors and other components degrade over time.

Thank you PC - that makes sense. In addition to sufficient future power my goal is an overall quiet case assembly.

I understand the Corsair AX series is strong in this area although it would help if mfr's listed db sound levels in their specs. I just have to decide now if I want to go as high as 850 Watts or if that's getting carried away ;).

[*sigh*]

Thank you to whomever posted the link to the Power Supply Calculator (http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/index.jsp). It's quite helpful and informative.

I have a question about calculating power needs for the present/future though. When I plugged in my values, I assumed I'd be adding a 2-3 more internal drives in the future. How critical is it to select a PS as close to this value as possible, or should you always go (significantly?) higher? My calculation came out to about 580 WATTS, and I'm considering one of the Corsair AX Certified Gold units.

The 600 Watt unit is closest to my calculation but you always want to get some excess. The plan then is to get 750 WATTS. Is this a reasonable choice or would it be wiser to jump up to the 850 WATT Corsair AX?A 750W should be fine, but you're talking $170 for the 750 versus $190 for the 850. For $20 I would just say go with that.

[Methodical]

Thanks. This was suggested by *sigh* when I stated my needs. I'm glad, too because it can support what I need with room to spare, plus it future proofs my system. For the family PC I used a 500 or 550w PSU, but I have no gpu's or audio card, nor is it over clocked - just your regular home computing rig. As *sigh* stated for $20 more why not; it will only use what it needs, but if you have plans to upgrade your gpus down the road the 750 can support upto 2x 570 gpus. I always think about what I may do and not just for the current state and choose accordingly. I knew I wanted to do some gaming and set my build off of that. Or you could go with the PSU calculator results and add 100w for a little head room.

Very nice looking Methodical - what led you to select the Corsair AX750 PS -I'm leaning towards that one myself.

[silvrr]

Thank you to whomever posted the link to the Power Supply Calculator (http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/index.jsp). It's quite helpful and informative.

I have a question about calculating power needs for the present/future though. When I plugged in my values, I assumed I'd be adding a 2-3 more internal drives in the future. How critical is it to select a PS as close to this value as possible, or should you always go (significantly?) higher? My calculation came out to about 580 WATTS, and I'm considering one of the Corsair AX Certified Gold units.

The 600 Watt unit is closest to my calculation but you always want to get some excess. The plan then is to get 750 WATTS. Is this a reasonable choice or would it be wiser to jump up to the 850 WATT Corsair AX?

Just an FYI I put my system through that calculator and it is significantly over the actual values. I have a kill-a-watt meter and at full load (folding) on both the CPU and GPU it is pulling ~272 watts. That calculator gave me a value of 445 watts. Now take into account the 80% efficiency off the PSU and that is 272 watts from the wall the PSU is really only seeing something in the rage of 215-220 watts actual load. Also that calcluator is accounting for the CPU over clock and not the GPU overclock so it is even further off.

People often buy to large of a PSU and unless your running dual high end GPUs you shouldn't need an 850 or even the 750.

[*sigh*]

Just an FYI I put my system through that calculator and it is significantly over the actual values. I have a kill-a-watt meter and at full load (folding) on both the CPU and GPU it is pulling ~272 watts. That calculator gave me a value of 445 watts. Now take into account the 80% efficiency off the PSU and that is 272 watts from the wall the PSU is really only seeing something in the rage of 215-220 watts actual load. Also that calcluator is accounting for the CPU over clock and not the GPU overclock so it is even further off.

People often buy to large of a PSU and unless your running dual high end GPUs you shouldn't need an 850 or even the 750.Well, Folding is a decent load to base wattage off of, but they aren't running at peak values.

The other thing to consider, is if he adds quite a few harddrives while the drives won't pull that much during use, they do draw a decent amount during boot, that's really the biggest time you have to worry about a peak in usage, is during boot. He'll be absolutely fine with either, and like you said, it's probably a bit of overkill. But the 750 is the smallest AX PSU they make, which for efficiency reasons is worth going for, and if he has plans in the future to upgrade GPU, harddrives, or anything else major, the 850 wouldn't be a bad piece of mind for $20.

[pcschwenke]

Sapearl, I have the AX750 and you can not tell it's on. With the Coolmaster scout case, AX750, noctua d14, and Asus GTX560 the system is barely audible. You can hear the click of the hard drives easily.

I'm powering a graphics card, 2 pcs- 1 terabyte drive, 1pcs 3 terabyte drive, 120 gig SSD, and 1 Bluray. I'll be adding 2 additional drive soon.

[Glueeater]

Hard drive prices are blowing my mind right now. Wish I started my build back in November when I planned. Oh well, bought a 70-200 instead (haha).

[timeasterday]

Hard drive prices are blowing my mind right now. Wish I started my build back in November when I planned. Oh well, bought a 70-200 instead (haha).

And quality seems to be slipping too. I never had a HDD fail within hours of installation & formatting. Now I have to wait for a replacement - but at least it wasn't my SSD!

[pcschwenke]

The prices went crazy the day after my order. I went back to order another drive, but didn't because of the prices. May get anther SSD instead! I have a couple IDE drives that I may use until the price come back down.

[sapearl]

......The other thing to consider, is if he adds quite a few harddrives while the drives won't pull that much during use, they do draw a decent amount during boot, that's really the biggest time you have to worry about a peak in usage, is during boot. He'll be absolutely fine with either, and like you said, it's probably a bit of overkill. But the 750 is the smallest AX PSU they make, which for efficiency reasons is worth going for, and if he has plans in the future to upgrade GPU, harddrives, or anything else major, the 850 wouldn't be a bad piece of mind for $20.

Yes, in the scheme of things $20 is nothing over the life of the machine and a very small portion of the total cost. I have definately decided to go with something in Corsair's Professional series.

But I am a little confused on one of their specs. The fan size of the Corsair 850AX Pro shows as 120mm, while the lower cost 850 HX and TX850 both sport 140mm fans. I assume all the fans are dual ball bearing although that wasn't clean on the 850AX

[*sigh*]

Yes, in the scheme of things $20 is nothing over the life of the machine and a very small portion of the total cost. I have definately decided to go with something in Corsair's Professional series.

But I am a little confused on one of their specs. The fan size of the Corsair 850AX Pro shows as 120mm, while the lower cost 850 HX and TX850 both sport 140mm fans. I assume all the fans are dual ball bearing although that wasn't clean on the 850AXTHe PSU is more efficient, so there less heat. The difference between a 120mm fan and a 140mm fan isn't going to be noticable in that scenario. :)

[UK_Tomcat_Fan]

Computer Name: Widowmaker

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2
Motherboard: ASUS M3N-H/HDMI
GPU: GTX 560Ti
Memory: 8 GB Ram
Hard Drive: Around 2TB's of storage (Mixture of SSD and 7200 HDs)
Power Supply: Coolermaster Silent Pro 700W Modular PSU, Backed up with an APC 650 UPS
OS: Windows 7 X64 Ultimate
Case: CoolerMaster Storm Scout
Display: Generic 23" screen + 19" Screen
Speakers: Logitech Z506 + Logitech G35
I/O Devices: Logitech G15 Keyboard, Logitech G9 mouse, Wacom Tablet, Logitech G-19
Photo Related Software: Photoshop CS5, Lightroom Beta 4,

tempted to Watercool it soon though

[sapearl]

THe PSU is more efficient, so there less heat. The difference between a 120mm fan and a 140mm fan isn't going to be noticable in that scenario. :)

Thank you Nick - appreciate the explanation.:D

[silvrr]

Well, Folding is a decent load to base wattage off of, but they aren't running at peak values.


Ran some tests tonight on this, on another forum we were discussing if certain folding work units draw more power or if 100% CPU load is 100% CPU load.

(All on a i5-2500K at 4.4GHz, Kill-A-Watt used for power readings)

Folding = 208 Watts (6098 WU with 1.35 GB RAM used)
Prime 95 Small = 235 Watts (1.42 GB RAM used)
Prime 95 Large = 233 Watts (1.42 GB RAM used)
Intel Burn Test = 243 Watts = 243 Watts (7.53 GB RAM used)

It appears that Prime 95 and IBT both pull a little more power. I checked the RAM usage also just in case the extra RAM being used would drive up the power consumption. All my fans are constant speed and OS and all programs are on my SSD so there shouldn't be any HDDs spinning up or down changing the values.

I don't have any GPU stress testing programs but I would guess there would be similar results.

[*sigh*]

Ran some tests tonight on this, on another forum we were discussing if certain folding work units draw more power or if 100% CPU load is 100% CPU load.



I don't have any GPU stress testing programs but I would guess there would be similar results.Yeah, that's what I would have suspected. It can be seen pretty easily in CPU temps when you are folding versus running Prime 95 for example. But yeah I would guess the GPU is the same.

If you have harddrives, they'll spin up when you boot whether the OS is on them or not, if you only have 1-2 regular drives though it will be minimal.

A bit off topic... what CPU/GPU are you folding with, and what kind of PPD are you getting? I just starting folding again the other week with a 2600k/570 and I'm trying to figure out if my PPD is low.

[silvrr]

A bit off topic... what CPU/GPU are you folding with, and what kind of PPD are you getting? I just starting folding again the other week with a 2600k/570 and I'm trying to figure out if my PPD is low.

Here is a GPU ppd database:
http://www.overclock.net/t/475163/folding-home-gpu-ppd-database

and the CPU version:
http://www.overclock.net/t/591976/folding-home-cpu-ppd-database

CPU can vary wildly depending on if your folding regular SMP, bigadv or huge adv. Bigadv and hugeadv were supposed to go out the window for the 2600k guys mid Jan but Stanford hasn't changed the rules yet.

edit: make sure you have a passkey from stanford for your 2600k, without it you won't get bonuses and thats where the points really add up. Doesn't matter for the GPU.

[*sigh*]

Here is a GPU ppd database:
http://www.overclock.net/t/475163/folding-home-gpu-ppd-database

and the CPU version:
http://www.overclock.net/t/591976/folding-home-cpu-ppd-database

CPU can vary wildly depending on if your folding regular SMP, bigadv or huge adv. Bigadv and hugeadv were supposed to go out the window for the 2600k guys mid Jan but Stanford hasn't changed the rules yet.

edit: make sure you have a passkey from stanford for your 2600k, without it you won't get bonuses and thats where the points really add up. Doesn't matter for the GPU.Ah sweet, Thanks... Folding has changed so much over the years. It's way more complicated now. :lol:

[sapearl]

Looking at a lot of these builds I see people using 8GB and 16GB of RAM to great effect.....it's fast, economical and will give you a solid machine. I'm still running CS3 on my 7 year old machine so I don't really have a baseline of accurate comparison, but will CS5 make use of up to 32GB of RAM running in 64-bit mode with Win 7 Pro?

[*sigh*]

Looking at a lot of these builds I see people using 8GB and 16GB of RAM to great effect.....it's fast, economical and will give you a solid machine. I'm still running CS3 on my 7 year old machine so I don't really have a baseline of accurate comparison, but will CS5 make use of up to 32GB of RAM running in 64-bit mode with Win 7 Pro?I hardly ever go past 8GB in usage.

8GB DIMMs, used to be really expensive as well, so that's why you don't see most people using them. I would start out with 16GB of ram, if you think you may need more go with 2x8GB rather than 4x4GB, it will cost a little bit more, but nothing outrageous.

[PM01]

It'll use pretty much anything you can throw at it! 32 gigs on my rig - I'll have to see exactly what it uses in cs5.

When I'm rendering my panoramic shots, it will use all 32 gigs and then some. Makes me want to upgrade to 64 gigs at times.

[sapearl]

I hardly ever go past 8GB in usage.

8GB DIMMs, used to be really expensive as well, so that's why you don't see most people using them. I would start out with 16GB of ram, if you think you may need more go with 2x8GB rather than 4x4GB, it will cost a little bit more, but nothing outrageous.

Right Nick - I remember when RAM had gone through the roof one or two purchases ago, and that was enough to make me economical :lol:. But now at $99 for 16GB, another $100 will double that at Microcenter. Again, prorated over the life of the machine and compared to the other components - like that beefier power supply - it's all relative ;)

[Cygnusx1]

I just built a budget/speed system based on AMD's AM3+ socket. I hope they develop on this for a while, unlike Intel that changes sockets every week. I am hoping to be able to swap out for a faster CPU on the AM3+ socket, add more RAM, and switch to a SSD in two or three years. The disasters in the far east, have really effected the price of hard drives.

--AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor
--HIS IceQ X Turbo H695QNT2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit video card
--CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
--ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
--(2) 500G SATA6 Drives in RAID-0
--(1) 3T External Drive
--RAIDMAX RX-850AE 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Power
--LIAN LI PC-8NW USB3.0 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
--Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

[*sigh*]

It'll use pretty much anything you can throw at it! 32 gigs on my rig - I'll have to see exactly what it uses in cs5.

When I'm rendering my panoramic shots, it will use all 32 gigs and then some. Makes me want to upgrade to 64 gigs at times.Sheez... what size panoramas are you doing? I was running some like 30 shot Panoramas in PSE and it was using maybe 5-6GB.

Right Nick - I remember when RAM had gone through the roof one or two purchases ago, and that was enough to make me economical :lol:. But now at $99 for 16GB, another $100 will double that at Microcenter. Again, prorated over the life of the machine and compared to the other components - like that beefier power supply - it's all relative ;)Yep. :)

[PM01]

530+ 21 megapixel shots. Took a bit for my 3960x to churn through it, even with high speed 2000Mhz Corsair GT ram and processor OC'd to 4.8 Ghz.

[*sigh*]

530+ 21 megapixel shots. Took a bit for my 3960x to churn through it, even with high speed 2000Mhz Corsair GT ram and processor OC'd to 4.8 Ghz.Wow... that is quite the panorama :eek:

[viper522]

seriously, is that for an immersion project or the like? it would make a great technical write up, I bet.

[thrash_273]

crazy rigs boys and girls. quick question guys, my 6 year old laptop died on me. im thinking of bulding a desktop. how beneficial a ssd to a system? this build will be focus on photo processing

[*sigh*]

crazy rigs boys and girls. quick question guys, my 6 year old laptop died on me. im thinking of bulding a desktop. how beneficial a ssd to a system? this build will be focus on photo processingSSD's are one of the best upgrades for a system, or one of the best uses of money in a new system.

With photo editing it will help your programs load faster, and be a little snappier when loading tools and such. It's more of an all around upgrade for a system.

[thrash_273]

SSD's are one of the best upgrades for a system, or one of the best uses of money in a new system.

With photo editing it will help your programs load faster, and be a little snappier when loading tools and such. It's more of an all around upgrade for a system.
how do you combine an SSD and HDD? since its storage is notas huge as HDD.

[*sigh*]

how do you combine an SSD and HDD? since its storage is notas huge as HDD.

The most common setup is to run your Operating System and primary programs (Photoshop, LR3, etc) on the SSD, and then use your HDD's as a seperate drive to store files.

For example in my rig, I have a 120GB Vertex 3 SSD, that houses Widnows 7, LR3, PSE, MS Office, a couple of games and some other misc stuff, and then I have a 3x1TB Caviar Black Raid 5 array that is my primary working drive which has all of my pictures, documents, music, and videos on it.

[thrash_273]

i see. on your kind expertise advice. as a college student, how much can i get for a $500 build. excluding software. i have a ball park and different ideas, but i want to see other peoples thoughts on this budget

[outtamymind]

SSD's are one of the best upgrades for a system, or one of the best uses of money in a new system.

With photo editing it will help your programs load faster, and be a little snappier when loading tools and such. It's more of an all around upgrade for a system.

another good thing about SSD's if you don't have the money for a big one (120GB+), you can get a small one and use it as a paging file drive to also help improve the overall system performance

[thrash_273]

overall ssd speeds up everything cause the OS and all software for processing is stored in there so everytime i want to use the application its quick like a usb in compared to hdd (storage for raw files and final output) right?

[outtamymind]

depends on how you have it setup

SSD as OS drive = fast OS speeds and application starts (as long as application is installed on SSD drive)

SSD as paging file system = not as much improvement from SSD as OS drive but increase from standard setup

SSD as file storage = not really recommended as the file space is small and not really taking full advantage of the drive

hope that kinda clarifies things a lil bit

[silvrr]

The most common setup is to run your Operating System and primary programs (Photoshop, LR3, etc) on the SSD, and then use your HDD's as a seperate drive to store files.



This is how I have mine setup and its great. Windows boots quickly, programs open in a snap. Everything else is on another drive, programs that I don't need the speed of the SSD for and all my storage.

Windows 7, Lightroom, Firefox and a few other small programs isn't even 20GB if setup correctly. When I process photos I copy them to the SSD and work off the SSD and then later move them to the HDD for storage when Im done. You don't need a large SSD if you set things up right.

[Yohan Pamudji]

i see. on your kind expertise advice. as a college student, how much can i get for a $500 build. excluding software. i have a ball park and different ideas, but i want to see other peoples thoughts on this budget

Not to discourage too much, but I think it'll be tough to fit a decent sized SSD in a $500 build. You'd probably have to skimp elsewhere to do so, although there might be some SSD deals going on right now that would help.

[outtamymind]

this is a good video to show what SSD's can potentially do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKcSxd_ynsM

[thrash_273]

Thanks for the vid. its an awesome set to have but budget wont allow it. i will have to stick with HDD then. =D

[outtamymind]

ya that's under a no budget build but just cool to see what some of our newer technology is potentially capable of. now i don't know anyone outside of a company that has the means to do a project like that but one can dream lol

[*sigh*]

this is a good video to show what SSD's can potentially do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKcSxd_ynsMThe most absurd thing about that video, is your standard SSD is 3-4x's as fast as the ones used in that video. :D



But yeah, for $500 you're going to have to skimp. Now what I would suggest is build up a decent $500 rig, and then save up for a SSD to toss in later. You can find a nice 120GB SSD for $100-150 these days.

[outtamymind]

The most absurd thing about that video, is your standard SSD is 3-4x's as fast as the ones used in that video. :D



But yeah, for $500 you're going to have to skimp. Now what I would suggest is build up a decent $500 rig, and then save up for a SSD to toss in later. You can find a nice 120GB SSD for $100-150 these days.

ya one thing i forgot to mention, that video was released around the time SSD's were just starting to become more mainstream

and i agree with your recommendation on the rig. i would do the same thing of forget about the SSD for now and purchase one later when funds become available again.

[thrash_273]

thanks for the lesson guys.=D will post soon for my new rig.=D

[Methodical]

Ben here's a list of some diy computer kits, just scroll down or filter based on price.

DIY computer kits (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=30000007%204020&IsNodeId=1&name=%24400%20-%20%24500)

Here's an i5 kit (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.752648) for $414. You can then buy This SSD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227737) and with the rebate you are at or $500 with an SSD and a 1Tb hard drive i5 computer. Purchase through Mr. Rebate (http://www.mrrebates.com/categories/electronics.asp) and some more cash back. There, you have a $500 system with an SSD. Believe me the 60gb will hold your OS, LR, PS, Windows software and have some spare change.


What do you think.

thanks for the lesson guys.=D will post soon for my new rig.=D

[thrash_273]

^^ thanks for the breakdown. i am looking onto it and will compare on my prospect rig. btw i dnt see a slot for the ssd on that mobo

[thrash_273]

this is a good video to show what SSD's can potentially do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKcSxd_ynsM

im getting a 60 gb ssd to load my OS and processing software in it.=D

[Yohan Pamudji]

^^ thanks for the breakdown. i am looking onto it and will compare on my prospect rig. btw i dnt see a slot for the ssd on that mobo

SSD plugs into an SATA port. I think there are 4 of them on that motherboard.

im getting a 60 gb ssd to load my OS and processing software in it.=D

Nice! Will you have budget room left over for a bigger regular hard drive for your other stuff?

[sapearl]

im getting a 60 gb ssd to load my OS and processing software in it.=D

That should work out quite nicely for you Ben ;).

Possibly team that up with a conventional 7200 RPM 1TB internal HD, Western Digital Caviar black for speed for all of your data and photos and you'll have a speedy combo.

[thrash_273]

SSD plugs into an SATA port. I think there are 4 of them on that motherboard.



Nice! Will you have budget room left over for a bigger regular hard drive for your other stuff?
will do. im actually getting a computer kit with 2TB HDD in it. will see how it goes.=D im consulting the Gods of the Crib (wife).=D we shall see. =D

[outtamymind]

im getting a 60 gb ssd to load my OS and processing software in it.=D

that should do you quite nicely

[thrash_273]

thanks again for all the advice guys. god bless you all

[outtamymind]

all good buddy, just pass along the help when you can

[timeasterday]

im getting a 60 gb ssd to load my OS and processing software in it.=D

What are you going to put on that drive? Just asking because I built a new system last weekend with a 120GB SSD. After loading Windows 7, Lightroom v4 beta, Photoshop Elements, and MS Office Home & Student (Excel & Word) I have 50GB free. That thing fills up fast!

[*sigh*]

What are you going to put on that drive? Just asking because I built a new system last weekend with a 120GB SSD. After loading Windows 7, Lightroom v4 beta, Photoshop Elements, and MS Office Home & Student (Excel & Word) I have 50GB free. That thing fills up fast!Did you turn of hibernate mode?

If not Windows 7 will reserve a chunk for hibernate and for page filing, those are easy to remove and will free up quite a bit more space. (Generally keeping the page file is a good idea though).

So for example, if you have 16GB of ram, if you turn off HIbernate you will gain 16GB back on your SSD.

[silvrr]

What are you going to put on that drive? Just asking because I built a new system last weekend with a 120GB SSD. After loading Windows 7, Lightroom v4 beta, Photoshop Elements, and MS Office Home & Student (Excel & Word) I have 50GB free. That thing fills up fast!

Look into disabling hibernation and a few other items if you don't use them and it will free up quite a bit of space. I have the same programs (minus Elements) and am only using 20GB.

I followed this guide.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-guide-optimization-for-ssds-hdds

[Methodical]

Yeah, I got back over 8gb by disabling hibernate mode. I never liked it either. Plus there's a few other tweaks you can do on the SSD to get some space back, but hibernate was the one of the largest for me. That 60gb SSD will hold more than enough. I got back about 22gb of space on my 128gb SSD after those tweaks and about 12 for my 60gb SSD.

[timeasterday]

I didn't do any tweaking yet. Thanks for the link silvrr - going through the guide now.

[PM01]

seriously, is that for an immersion project or the like? it would make a great technical write up, I bet.

The image was definitely one of the highlights of AIC, Advanced Imaging Conference in San Jose, California. Nothing but top images in astrophotography and people using astro optics. My picture was the one in the Astro Physics booth. 2 feet x 9 feet. You could print it at native resolution on a 12 foot billboard and it will show plenty of detail.

Look for it on the upper left hand pic of the link.

http://raygralak.smugmug.com/Astronomy/AIC-2011/19946161_XZvgXg#!i=1573307842&k=hXPrVR8&lb=1&s=XL

[Erik_L]

I already started a thread asking a question about my build, but here's what I went with:

Antec P193 case
Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 Motherboard
Intel i7 2600k 3.40 GHz
4x 4GB Kingston DDR3 1333 RAM
EVGA Nvidia GTX 550
Seasonic 760 Watt X-series PSU
OS/Apps on 128 GB Crucial m4 SSD
Data on 3x 2TB Hitachi 7200 RPM SATA

[toxic]

New Win7/hackintosh build

Case: Fractal Design Define R3
MB: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
CPU: Intel i5-2400 (3.1GHz)
PSU: CoolerMaster GX 450W
RAM: 12GB Crucial DDR3-1333
GPU: EVGA GTX 285
HDD: 1TB WD Blue, 1TB WD Green, 1TB Samsung F3, 2TB Hitachi 5K3000

[JoeyC]

How do you like the FX-8120? I know it is more like a quad core in real world use. Microcenter has a pretty good deal on this CPU with free mobo and I am considering.


I just built a budget/speed system based on AMD's AM3+ socket. I hope they develop on this for a while, unlike Intel that changes sockets every week. I am hoping to be able to swap out for a faster CPU on the AM3+ socket, add more RAM, and switch to a SSD in two or three years. The disasters in the far east, have really effected the price of hard drives.

--AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor
--HIS IceQ X Turbo H695QNT2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit video card
--CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
--ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
--(2) 500G SATA6 Drives in RAID-0
--(1) 3T External Drive
--RAIDMAX RX-850AE 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Power
--LIAN LI PC-8NW USB3.0 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
--Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

[viper522]

The image was definitely one of the highlights of AIC, Advanced Imaging Conference in San Jose, California. Nothing but top images in astrophotography and people using astro optics. My picture was the one in the Astro Physics booth. 2 feet x 9 feet. You could print it at native resolution on a 12 foot billboard and it will show plenty of detail.

Look for it on the upper left hand pic of the link.

http://raygralak.smugmug.com/Astronomy/AIC-2011/19946161_XZvgXg#!i=1573307842&k=hXPrVR8&lb=1&s=XL

pretty cool, thanks for sharing!

[*sigh*]

The image was definitely one of the highlights of AIC, Advanced Imaging Conference in San Jose, California. Nothing but top images in astrophotography and people using astro optics. My picture was the one in the Astro Physics booth. 2 feet x 9 feet. You could print it at native resolution on a 12 foot billboard and it will show plenty of detail.

Look for it on the upper left hand pic of the link.

http://raygralak.smugmug.com/Astronomy/AIC-2011/19946161_XZvgXg#!i=1573307842&k=hXPrVR8&lb=1&s=XLThat's awesome. :D

[gooeydruid]

The image was definitely one of the highlights of AIC, Advanced Imaging Conference in San Jose, California. Nothing but top images in astrophotography and people using astro optics. My picture was the one in the Astro Physics booth. 2 feet x 9 feet. You could print it at native resolution on a 12 foot billboard and it will show plenty of detail.

Look for it on the upper left hand pic of the link.

http://raygralak.smugmug.com/Astronomy/AIC-2011/19946161_XZvgXg#!i=1573307842&k=hXPrVR8&lb=1&s=XL

Mmmm, I'm jonesing for an AP 900 GTO and a 160mm when I'm done with grad school.

[PM01]

Mmmm, I'm jonesing for an AP 900 GTO and a 160mm when I'm done with grad school.

160mm you can get used for mid 20 grand when they're available. Wait list is at least 10 years back for one of the 7.5 scopes, or you can go with a TEC160FL which has a shorter wait time. They're not making the 160FL now since one of the glass types is not available. Might change in the future though. AP900 you can get almost off the shelf.

[Winwin]

My system is aged... will upgrade soon, but:

Intel Q6600 VID 1.22 Running @ 3.6Ghz w/ Corsair H50
6GB DDR2 RAM
ASUS P5Q Motherboard
Corsair VX550 PSU
G.Skill Falcon II 64GB SSD
3x Seagate 7200.12 500GB HDDs in Raid 0
Powercolor ATI 5750 Graphics

[gooeydruid]

160mm you can get used for mid 20 grand when they're available. Wait list is at least 10 years back for one of the 7.5 scopes, or you can go with a TEC160FL which has a shorter wait time. They're not making the 160FL now since one of the glass types is not available. Might change in the future though. AP900 you can get almost off the shelf.

On AMart the 160s go for around $12k, been on the wait list for the 140 for many years, of course I know I'll never get called for it brand new.

[PM01]

On AMart the 160s go for around $12k, been on the wait list for the 140 for many years, of course I know I'll never get called for it brand new.

Last one went for mid 20s on auction. Now getting back to computer builds... :)

[Erik_L]

3x Seagate 7200.12 500GB HDDs in Raid 0



Zoinks. Someone's a high-roller :D

[thrash_273]

pulled the trigger yesterday morning and was able to stay under $500.00 after mail in rebate.
following build:

Mobo: Asus M4a88t-m Amd 880g
Cpu: Amd Phenom II X6 core 1045 Thuban 2.7 Ghz
Ram: 2x Patriot Gamer 2 ddr3 4gb
PS: Diablotek 600w atx
SDD: Ocz Agility 3 60gb
HDD: Seagate 2tb
Vidc: Zotac Geforce gt 529 1gb
Case: Msi Raptor Atx Mid Tower (built in card reader)
PCI: Sebrent 2.4 Ghz Wireless pci

[JoeyC]

I've thought about this X6 1045. I have an Asus MB that I can flash to update to AM3 and might look to reuse that MB as a cost effective upgrade. Love to hear your thoughts, especially if using with LR3. Did you find any reviews before pulling the trigger?


pulled the trigger yesterday morning and was able to stay under $500.00 after mail in rebate.
following build:

Mobo: Asus M4a88t-m Amd 880g
Cpu: Amd Phenom II X6 core 1045 Thuban 2.7 Ghz
Ram: 2x Patriot Gamer 2 ddr3 4gb
PS: Diablotek 600w atx
SDD: Ocz Agility 3 60gb
HDD: Seagate 2tb
Vidc: Zotac Geforce gt 529 1gb
Case: Msi Raptor Atx Mid Tower (built in card reader)
PCI: Sebrent 2.4 Ghz Wireless pci

[gooeydruid]

I've thought about this X6 1045. I have an Asus MB that I can flash to update to AM3 and might look to reuse that MB as a cost effective upgrade. Love to hear your thoughts, especially if using with LR3. Did you find any reviews before pulling the trigger?

I'm running a 1055T in my desktop, OC'ed easily to 3.5ghz on a free mobo I got with a promotion from Microcenter.
In artificial tests it is 2x as fast in CS5 as the i5-2540m in my Thinkpad. In real world usage, LR3 is so much smoother. Very quick preview renders during scrolling, the develop tools are much faster, pretty satisfied with it. I got the x6 processor and a mobo for $140 at Microcenter.

[JoeyC]

Thanks for the real world feedback. Yes, I see my Microcenter has the x6 1045T for $130 right now. Might be a nice, inexpensive upgrade and buy me some time. I have a PC sitting unused with an Asus M378A-EM and 7750BE Kuma. The 7750 is a bit dated at this point, but the board can be flashed for use with an AM3 CPU. Might buy me some more time before really needing to spend. I figure 6 cores and 8GB ram, OS on an SSD and 7200rpm drives, it should be sufficient for a little while. My main use is LR3, some light photoshop use.

Good way to spend $130?

[Panoz]

I waaaay overbought this last purchase with an i7 chip (7 processors) and 12GB RAM. None of which is necessary or even useful for photo editing. It had been a while since my last computer purchase so I really overdid it. I could've spend 1/2 and still had overkill for what I do. What I don't regret is the 24-in widescreen monitor.

[outtamymind]

I waaaay overbought this last purchase with an i7 chip (7 processors) and 12GB RAM. None of which is necessary or even useful for photo editing. It had been a while since my last computer purchase so I really overdid it. I could've spend 1/2 and still had overkill for what I do. What I don't regret is the 24-in widescreen monitor.

i don't see that as over spending....i see that as thinking for longevity, means you don't have to worry about having to upgrade near to the extreme in the future, prolonging the usefullness of your computer

[Daphatty]

Upgraded my home PC and used the existing equipment to upgrade my home server as well. All told, I only came out of pocket about $270 since I recycled as much as possible (denoted by *) and used a $400 Amazon gift card to buy the new components (CPU, RAM, Mobo, GFX Card) for the desktop. Here are the build outs.

Desktop

Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 2500k 3.3Ghz
Kingston 8GB of DDR3 RAM (Still have room for another 8GBs)
ASRock P67 Pro3 Motherboard
EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 550Ti
*750GB Western Digital HD
*500GB Hitachi HD
*Antec 500w PSU
*Coolermaster CM Stacker Case

Server

*Intel Core2Quad Q6600 @ 2.4 Ghz
*ASUS P5Q Pro Motherboard
*4GB RAM (Soon to be upgraded to 8GB)
*Nvidia Geforce 6800 GS
*1x 150GB Velociraptor 15k RPM HD
*5x 1TB Western Digital Green HD in RAID 5
1x 2TB Western Digital Green HD
*Corsair TX850w PSU
Diablotek EVO Mid Tower ATX case (http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351733)

I've included the link to the Diablotek computer case because I was blown away by the build quality, versatility, and feature set. At the time, I was searching for a mid tower case that could accommodate plenty of hard drives while providing proper cooling in an enclosure that did not weight a ton completely empty. This case is not only light but it has a total of 7 dedicated 3.5 inch drive bays (five include drive rails) and also includes four 120mm case fans. For $42 US, this is by far the best case I've used in this price point. My only complaint is that I have nowhere to hide all of the excess PSU cables due to the case's form factor. However, that is mostly my fault since I re-used a PSU with excessive power options instead of a modular PSU.

[tolyD]

Just picked up Dell XPS 15z, i7, 8gb of memory. So far so good. Display as a bit too sharp i think.

[viper522]

Zoinks. Someone's a high-roller :D

They're back under $100/ea now.

[gooeydruid]

I waaaay overbought this last purchase with an i7 chip (7 processors) and 12GB RAM. None of which is necessary or even useful for photo editing. It had been a while since my last computer purchase so I really overdid it. I could've spend 1/2 and still had overkill for what I do. What I don't regret is the 24-in widescreen monitor.

My best purchase for my PC so far is my Dell 24" Ultrasharp 8-bit display and a X-rite calibrator. Now that I have that setup, all the other displays I use (the ones at my school, my Thinkpad, my wife's laptop) look horrible.

[outtamymind]

i haven't spent more then $100 on my 3 computers and they are all currently at core 2 duo's....and that $100 was for a 1TB hard drive for the one :) i also didn't pay anything for the computers either lol

[Methodical]

Just an FYI if you have not ordered. Newegg has 15% off all Corsair PSUs. Code: EMCNHJN69 (exp 2/16) Plus they have a $20 rebate

Yes, in the scheme of things $20 is nothing over the life of the machine and a very small portion of the total cost. I have definately decided to go with something in Corsair's Professional series.

But I am a little confused on one of their specs. The fan size of the Corsair 850AX Pro shows as 120mm, while the lower cost 850 HX and TX850 both sport 140mm fans. I assume all the fans are dual ball bearing although that wasn't clean on the 850AX

[sapearl]

Just an FYI if you have not ordered. Newegg has 15% off all Corsair PSUs. Code: EMCNHJN69 (exp 2/16) Plus they have a $20 rebate

Thanks Methodical - appreciate the lead :D.

[Cygnusx1]

Here is my new build. All Newegg, all the time. This PC is so fast and so quiet that I don't understand how my old one was so slow, hot, and noisy.

HINT: Don't mess around with old disc drives. Get a Solid State in there if at all remotely possible. It TRANSFORMS the system. Use your old disc drives as data storage drives only.

http://dcer.smugmug.com/Computers/NEW-PC-2012/i-43Xdvcn/0/XL/IMG1726-XL.jpg

http://dcer.smugmug.com/Computers/NEW-PC-2012/i-tBXVBbL/0/XL/IMG1711-XL.jpg

http://dcer.smugmug.com/Computers/NEW-PC-2012/i-GgXd6qw/0/L/IMG1707-L.jpg


Lian Li mid-tower case / ASUS 990X EVO MB / AMD FX-8120 / 16G Corsair Vengeance / Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2GB / Intel 120G Solid State Drive / 850W Raidmax / Thermalright Silver Arrow cooler / Blue LED light strip / Win7 64bit

[sapearl]

OMG Cygnus! I'm looking into the U235 cooling pools of a power plant. Did you you have to pass inspection with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission? Seriously nice lighting effects though :D. Are those labels on the 5.25 drive cages?

[Cygnusx1]

OMG Cygnus! I'm looking into the U235 cooling pools of a power plant. Did you you have to pass inspection with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission? Seriously nice lighting effects though :D. Are those labels on the 5.25 drive cages?

hahahaha! I could not resist spending the extra $7 for a strip of blue LED's. Yes, there was a removable sticker on the motherboard with all the specs on it. You see, I am diseased. I can't get enough of stickers, and I can't seem to throw them away, so I stick them where they fit. :lol:

[Erik_L]

They're back under $100/ea now.

I meant more in terms of risk. Any one of those drives fails and all your data's gone.

[sapearl]

This is a little lower octane than some of the other components being discussed, but what is a pretty decent wireless keyboard/mouse combination?

I'm not looking for the cheapest nor most expensive - just something solid, reliable, does not have to have a palm rest, not too big due to limited space, and I'm more inclined to get a traditional (old school) styled keyboard minus all those split ergonomic curves. I've been using those "institutional" Dell, HP, Compaq and IBM keyboards for the past 30+ years and I'm pretty used to them . Thanks in advance - Stu

[DisgruntledVirus]

This thread really makes me want to mod my Silverstone FT02WRI more (which I've been wanting to do for months now anyways)

[silvrr]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/6206034746_a5f3b48b73_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adammrugacz/6206034746/)
Updated Rig - Week 40 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adammrugacz/6206034746/) by Adam.Mrugacz (http://www.flickr.com/people/adammrugacz/), on Flickr

Got tired of working in the Antec 300 so I picked up a Corsair 650D, very nice case with some nice features.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n143/silvrr600/IMG_0035.jpg

[Methodical]

Did the hd cage come like that or did you mod it^^^^^^. Looks nice and clean - both of them.

[silvrr]

Did the hd cage come like that or did you mod it^^^^^^. Looks nice and clean - both of them.

Stock config is two bays like that under the 5 1/4 bays. I figured this would be better for airflow as I don't need the second set of bays with only 3 drives.

[thrash_273]

its not the cleanest but its a whopper
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/6772936620_aec95dd10e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22951249@N08/6772936620/)
Day 168 of 365 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22951249@N08/6772936620/) by madyimages (http://www.flickr.com/people/22951249@N08/), on Flickr
Day 168 of 365
Installed the final Parts, ssd tray and wireless PCi. Rig is officially a portable beast.=D

[HazChem]

My system is coming up on 3 years old but it was built to last.

Corsair 800D Case
Intel i7-920 2.66 GHz OC'd to 4.0 GHz
Asus Rampage II Extreme
Corsair PC1500 6GB RAM
XFX 4890
Corsair 1000W PS
Intel X-25 160 GB SSD

All water-cooled using BP compression fittings and blocks. All cables sleeved with MDPC sleeves.

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af333/Haz_Chem/Project%20-%20Black%20and%20Blue/HazChem11.jpg

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af333/Haz_Chem/Project%20-%20Black%20and%20Blue/HazChem09.jpg

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af333/Haz_Chem/Project%20-%20Black%20and%20Blue/HazChem08.jpg

[uOpt]

My line of continuing workstations with single-processor board with unbuffered ECC has come to an end. With the i7s the Intel platforms of that kind are very expensive, and the only mainboard manufacturer left offering ECC support in single-processor AMD boards is Asus. I just went through 3 Asus boards, one of them needed a BIOS update to even do memtest86 and never realld worked right, one give me no trouble and one was perfect until it died out of the blue last week. Also, although the AMD CPUs do very well for Unixy stuff like shellscripts and compling programs they are very slow in many GIMP operations.

<<== had it

My workstation currently being assembled is a dual i7 with 2.66 GHz Quad-cores (with the Turbo they do pretty well), Supermicro X8DAi and 6x 4 GB ECC unbuffered. With this board that is only half of the slots that it can use with unbuffered memory. I got some 120mm fan cooler master heatpipe coolers and the while thing runs pretty quiet, too. Looks good, too, should take a photo.

The only holdup is that a memtest86+ run on this thing takes endless so I can't make the switch this weekend.

The AM3 board with the 1100T and 16 GB will move to be a virtualization base with Xen, it will do very well in there. Asus can't **** up I/O in that one :D

[Pit]

Right now i'm running:
Intel i7 2600k overclocked to 4.8ghz across all cores.
16gigs of 1600mhz ddr3
asus P8Z68v mobo
OCZ Agility 3 240g SSD as boot/apps
2x 1.5TB segates (storage)
2x 750g Segate Barracudas ES (storage/backup)
2x ATI/XFX Redeon 6970 HD GPUS in crossfire (one is actually a 6950 with 6970 bios but they're technically same cards)
Cooling on cpu is a dtek fuzion waterblock, dual 120mm radiator, and a MCP 655 pump.

[kiapolo]

just built this bad boy:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7045/6783727280_e29c977b6c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiapolo/6783727280/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6929790651_e4c5e913aa_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiapolo/6929790651/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7059/6783673280_37fb75592a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiapolo/6783673280/)

more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiapolo/sets/72157629089963316/show/

Part list permalink (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/5XnG) / Part price breakdown by merchant (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/5XnG/by_merchant)

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80623i72600) ($249.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) ($29.33 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz68xpud3) ($149.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbrl) ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct128m4ssd2) ($152.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 1GB Video Card (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-01gp31460kr) ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-rc912kkn1) ($47.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Antec 650W ATX12V Power Supply (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-ea650green) ($52.46 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS524-06 DVD/CD Writer (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lite-on-optical-drive-ihas52406) ($25.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Gateway FHX2402Lbid 24.0" Monitor (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gateway-monitor-fhx2402lbid) ($208.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64-bit) (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-fqc04649) ($138.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1278.67
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-03-22 03:16 EDT-0400)

[silvrr]

^Nice and clean, I like it.

[kiapolo]

^Nice and clean, I like it.

Thanks. This was my first computer build in a decade. First build where I had the means to get pretty much what I wanted (i.e. - not a broke college student build). I was going for a clean look, both for aesthetics and for air flow.

Inspiration here: r/CableManagement (http://www.reddit.com/r/CableManagement/)

[sapearl]

Folks - apologies in advance because I know this information was posted somewhere in this thread - I just can't find it.......... some of you are using some great CPU, Fan, HD and motherboard utilities that enable you to monitor temperature, voltage, fan RPM, etc.

What were those apps again? Thanks.

[silvrr]

I have been using open hardware monitor, I used to use CPUID Hardware monitior but liked the ability to graph with Open Hardware Monitor.

http://openhardwaremonitor.org/

[*sigh*]

Folks - apologies in advance because I know this information was posted somewhere in this thread - I just can't find it.......... some of you are using some great CPU, Fan, HD and motherboard utilities that enable you to monitor temperature, voltage, fan RPM, etc.

What were those apps again? Thanks.If you have an ASUS motherboard they have their own utility called Smart Monitor, that's actually what I use because it gives me some control over BIOS settings in windows.

Several other motherboard manufacturers should have similar programs if not, smartfan is a good all around one, coretemp is a good CPU monitor, GPU-Z has logs for graphics card. It really depends on whether you just want to monitor temps and such or have more full control over your system along with monitoring.

That openhardware monitor that silvrr suggested is a good one as well.

[sapearl]

Thank you silvrr and Nick - I've got the Asus MB so I should be in good shape with it's utilities as well as your suggestions.

[megawatz]

Here's my current build...

a Compaq Presario SR1800NX. Sweet, right? :rolleyes:
or my Toshiba A105-S4254....:mad:

anyway..here's what I'm looking into getting:

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Case: Anten Nine Hundred ATX Mid-Tower
Power Supply: XFX Pro550W
Processor: Intel Quad-Core i5-2500 SB 3.3Ghz
Video: EVGA GeForce GTX 350Ti 1GB PCIe
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaw Series 2x4GB 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM 12800
HD: (2) WD 500GB 7200RPM SATA 6.0GB/s


All for $779 not including shipping. Not bad IMO. Opinions?

[Methodical]

Here are Some (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=13805545&postcount=31) that I use. If you are getting a gpu, you can use MSI Afterburner to montior gpu temps. Realtemps can be setup to monitor gpu temps, too. As *sigh* stated Asus has Fanxpert to monitor and change fan settings on the fly.

AL


Folks - apologies in advance because I know this information was posted somewhere in this thread - I just can't find it.......... some of you are using some great CPU, Fan, HD and motherboard utilities that enable you to monitor temperature, voltage, fan RPM, etc.

What were those apps again? Thanks.

[Mahgnillig]

Thanks to all the help I received on this forum, I built my own computer. I was originally budgeting around $1000, but decided to spend a bit more to get exactly what I wanted. I'm really happy with the result... it's much faster than the 4 year old HP I was using! It is also nice and quiet. I really like the case too... it hold everything perfectly well, is relatively small, and doesn't look like a prop from Battlestar Galactica ;) Here it is:

Case: Lian Li PC-A05FNB
Motherboard: ASUS PZ68-V PRO/GEN3
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600k
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB
Graphics: EVGA GeForce GT520
SSD: Crucial M4 128GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W Modular
Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD burner
Card Reader: Koutech USB 3.0 multi card reader
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

And since this is a photography forum... a couple of pics of the final result. I tried my best with cable management and think I did a reasonably capable job. The two cables going across the middle of the motherboard are for the USB 3.0 card reader, which had to be hooked up to the USB ports in the rear. I'm planning on getting a USB 3.0 card with two internal ports to get rid of this unwieldy arrangement!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/6974777397_70d93ffb88_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67009956@N07/6974777397/)
computer-020-2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67009956@N07/6974777397/) by Jen Churchward (http://www.flickr.com/people/67009956@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7040/6974777547_4be5276666_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67009956@N07/6974777547/)
computer-027-2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67009956@N07/6974777547/) by Jen Churchward (http://www.flickr.com/people/67009956@N07/), on Flickr

[-dave-m-]

PC # 1

Case : Cooler Master HAF X
Motherboard : Asus Rampage III Formula
Processor : Intel i7 960 @ 3760 MHz
Memory : Corsair Vengeance 24 Gigs
Graphics : Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti
eVGA GeForce 8800GTS dedicated to PhysX
SSD : Patriot Pyro 120
HDD : WD Velociraptor 150
P/S : Corsair Pro Series Gold AX850

CPU is cooled by a Swiftech Apogee HD LE Gold, 8800GTS has a full cover waterblock, triple radiator mounted inside top of case with two 200mm pull fans under the top cover.

PC # 2

Case : Thermaltake Xaser VI
Motherboard : eVGA X58 FTW3
Processor : Intel i7 950
Memory : Corsair Vengeance 12 Gigs
Graphics : eVGA GeForce GTX 460
eVGA 8800 GTS dedicated to PhysX
SSD : Patriot Inferno 60
HDD : Seagate 500 Gig 7200 RPM
P/S : Enermax Infiniti 720

CPU is cooled by a Swiftech Apogee GTZ, 8800 GTS has a full cover waterblock, triple radiator mounted to the back of the case and cooled by three 120 mm fans.

PC # 3 : Dedicated to storage and HTPC.

Case : Antec P160(probably the best case I have ever used)
Motherboard : Asus Rampage Formula
Processor : Intel Core2Duo E8500
Memory : Patriot Extreme 8 Gigs
Graphics : Sapphire Radeon HD 5770
HDD : WD Velociraptor 150
4 X WD 2TB Caviar Black
P/S : Corsair HX650

CPU is cooled with a Corsair H60 with two 120mm fans mounted in push/pull at the rear exhaust fan postion.

[megawatz]

PC # 1

Case : Cooler Master HAF X
Motherboard : Asus Rampage III Formula
Processor : Intel i7 960 @ 3760 MHz
Memory : Corsair Vengeance 24 Gigs
Graphics : Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti
eVGA GeForce 8800GTS dedicated to PhysX
SSD : Patriot Pyro 120
HDD : WD Velociraptor 150
P/S : Corsair Pro Series Gold AX850

CPU is cooled by a Swiftech Apogee HD LE Gold, 8800GTS has a full cover waterblock, triple radiator mounted inside top of case with two 200mm pull fans under the top cover.

PC # 2

Case : Thermaltake Xaser VI
Motherboard : eVGA X58 FTW3
Processor : Intel i7 950
Memory : Corsair Vengeance 12 Gigs
Graphics : eVGA GeForce GTX 460
eVGA 8800 GTS dedicated to PhysX
SSD : Patriot Inferno 60
HDD : Seagate 500 Gig 7200 RPM
P/S : Enermax Infiniti 720

CPU is cooled by a Swiftech Apogee GTZ, 8800 GTS has a full cover waterblock, triple radiator mounted to the back of the case and cooled by three 120 mm fans.

PC # 3 : Dedicated to storage and HTPC.

Case : Antec P160(probably the best case I have ever used)
Motherboard : Asus Rampage Formula
Processor : Intel Core2Duo E8500
Memory : Patriot Extreme 8 Gigs
Graphics : Sapphire Radeon HD 5770
HDD : WD Velociraptor 150
4 X WD 2TB Caviar Black
P/S : Corsair HX650

CPU is cooled with a Corsair H60 with two 120mm fans mounted in push/pull at the rear exhaust fan postion.

Want to make a donation to a college kid? ;)

[viper522]

PC # 1

Case : Cooler Master HAF X
Motherboard : Asus Rampage III Formula
Processor : Intel i7 960 @ 3760 MHz
Memory : Corsair Vengeance 24 Gigs
Graphics : Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti
eVGA GeForce 8800GTS dedicated to PhysX
SSD : Patriot Pyro 120
HDD : WD Velociraptor 150
P/S : Corsair Pro Series Gold AX850.

What do you think about that dedicated 8800GTS? I've heard a lot of things that go either way...have you had positive benchmarks? Interested...

[-dave-m-]

What do you think about that dedicated 8800GTS? I've heard a lot of things that go either way...have you had positive benchmarks? Interested...

I don't do benchmarks, I do play Star Wars: The Old Republic which uses PhysX. PC #1 and PC #2 both run the game pretty much lag free with all graphics settings at max. If I disable the 8800GTS and use my main card for PhysX there is a noticable drop off in fps.

[MobyDick]

Upgraded mine last month. Mostly used for Lightroom/Photoshop and gaming and college stuff.

Upgraded from:

Intel Q6600
8GB 800MHz RAM
nVidia 7900GTX
A tiny Tuniq case
Asus motherboard (can't remember)
OCZ 450W PSU

To:

Intel i5 2500k (4Ghz)
8GB 1600MHz RAM
nVidia GTX570
Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen 3
OCZ 650W PSU
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case

No SSD's yet, that will probably be the next upgrade. Either that or a second 24" monitor.

[kiapolo]

Intel i5 2500k (4Ghz)
8GB 1600MHz RAM
nVidia GTX570
Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen 3
OCZ 650W PSU
Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case

No SSD's yet, that will probably be the next upgrade. Either that or a second 24" monitor.

I would recommend SSD over 2nd monitor.