The wife needs a new PC

Here is the story, the wife's computer is giving her fits, slow, balky, just not happy. When mama is not happy, nobody is happy.

Her current rig is an Athlon (tm) 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+, 3.25 GB ram, 360GB (OS), 1TB Data. It is running XP Pro, SP3.

I have about convinced her that it is time to step up to a 64bit system to be able to address more ram an operate PS more efficiently.

This is what I am looking at and I would like to know your thoughts. Opinions are welcome.


Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950

ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS ENGTS450 DirectCU TOP/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video .

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model 998770

Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH120G2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ...

KINGWIN Lazer LZ-1000 1000W Modular 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC W/ 3-Way LED Switch and Universal Modular Connector ...

Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB Port / Extra Silver Face Plate

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

I am not planning on building this myself but have a local shop build it. They built my current computer and I am quite happy with their work, besides I don't want Maureen pissed at me if anything goes wrong

Let me know if I have any glaring mistakes or omissions.

Everything looks alright to me, I'd double check the RAM is on the recommended RAM list for the motherboard and thats about it, however I don't think I have ever had issues with Mushkin ram.

I would maybe personally get more HD space, 2TB drives are pretty cheap now. Also, I know people are going to say something about my next comment, I would RAID your drives. I had a 2TB fail on me recently and I lost no data because my drives are raided. If you don't like raid, I would still get a second drive (maybe external) and get some good backup software. Western Digital Caviar Black is a good line, I have never had issues with those drives.

I may get a larger case. I am a big fan of super sized cases because they have improved air flow and easy to mess with the internals when you need to. Last two computers I have recommended to my friends both have sported huge Cooler Master cases, the case on my primary computer us a large xClio case.

Also you graphics card link does not work.

Are you buying the parts online from Newegg, or purchasing in shop? I assume from the Newegg links it's the prior, just checking.

Specific parts: Samsung F3 is both faster and less expensive than the Caviar Black, there's no way you need an expensive 1000 watt PSU for a ~400 watt system. Get a smaller, more efficient unit. Intel SSDs are not really competitive with Sandforce drives at the moment.

What monitor(s) are you using? I'll have an alternative AMD build up within the hour.

Here's the CS4 benchmarkfor the 1055t vs. i7-950. It's about 25% faster in CS4 at applying loads of filters/effects, around 15% faster in CS5. However, in normal usage rarely does a person apply loads of filters, so take that bench with a grain of salt.

Litescribe DVD burner18$
Antec 200v235$
AMD 1055t180$
Samsung F42TB 100$
2*G.skill 8GB 1.5 volt kit180$
Asrock 880Gextreme3 110$
Corsair 430 watt PSU20$
OCZ Vertex2 120GB SSD215$
Windows HP 64 100$
Rosewill card reader 10$

968$ vs. 1448 (480$, or 33% cheaper). I'd probably take the money saved and put it towards a nice/large IPS monitor, extra SSDs for scrap, or more storage (or lenses). You could also pocket it.

The video card is overkill. You could step down to a GT2xx and be fine or an ATI5450.

PSU is overkill too. My i7 at full load is around 200W according to my Kill-a-Watt EZ. Check out the Corsair 650TX or if you prefer modular than look at the 620HX or this one from OCZ http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6817341022

Cases are very personal items. I have CoolerMaster cases and love them. My RC590 is similar to the one you have picked out.

If you want Skip, you can have the parts sent to me and I'll build it for you guys!

I built 5 PC's this year for friends/family using this case:
http://www.newegg.com …se-_-11-129-042-_-Product

and LOVE it. Great venting for circulation.. keeps internal components cool and running fast

As far as HDDs, I had only heard a lot of speculation about putting your OS on a drive larger than 500GB due to failure rates. So I did just that, put my OS on a 500GB HDD, and added additional HDDs for storage. I have found 2TB WD (WD20EARS - w/ 64MB Cache) for as little as $89 with free shipping from Newegg.

I have the Core2Quad version of that processor (Q9650), 3.0 GHz and havent seen it go over 20% for anything I do.

BTW, a -1 for you not building it yourself ... haha. What, if anything, is different if something goes wrong when this local shop builds and something goes wrong vs. you doing it? Particularly if you are providing them with the parts?? Won't they just point the finger at you anyway, and tell you that you gave them stuff that doesn't work?

Don't want to wait and try out the new Sandy Bridge? Higher clock speed, lower power consumption and reportedly similar price points.

Graphics is overkill.

The Caviar Black I think is a poor choice for a data drive, the F3 is faster as a data drive, is cheaper, requires less power, makes less noise, and makes less heat. Tradeoff is a 3 year warranty, instead of 5.

Do you really need 120GB for a system drive? I think 60-90GB is a better choice, unless you really do have 60GB+ of software...

Get two data drives, or at least a small second drive to clone the SSD to. Clones or RAIDs are invaluable for minimizing downtime and troubleshooting (in the case of a bootable clone).

You sure you want a 950? The 870 Turbos higher, uses less power, and uses socket 1156, which means a cheaper motherboard...and even for multi-threaded applications, the difference between 2.93 and 3.06 is a measly 4.4%.

themadman wrote in post #11499509
... I'd double check the RAM is on the recommended RAM list for the motherboard and thats about it, however I don't think I have ever had issues with Mushkin ram.

Good call, I downloaded the ASUS manual and that memory (998770) is not listed in the qualified vendor list in Chaper 2.4.2.

http://dlcdnet.asus.co​m …/e5995_sabertoo​th_X58.pdf

My personal bad experience with ASUS mother boards is not to use memory that not on their list. You might want to rethink that one. BTW, if you buy from Newegg, make sure you have the right products the first time.

I have to agree with most of what's above, PS of 400W is plenty, smaller graphics card, compatible ram, and a Sandforce based SSD (check out OtherWordComputing).

You can get away with a 40-60GB SSD if it's just for OS, and I always suggest just the OS and programs on the main disk so backing up (eg with DriveImageXML) is quicker, easier, and gives you smaller images. You'd be better off with two small SSDs than one larger one. Put your LR Cache on the 2nd SSD. Get an external disk as back for the images.

Re WD vs Samsung I trust WD and Seagate more than Samsung, for no good reason. Mabye because they're specialists and don't make toasters. I have Samsung TVs, microwave, etc, that work well. Bigger disks tend to be faster, as they have more dense platters, though within a generation often they just add platters to go say from 500GB on one platter to 2TB on four. But from an older 120GB hdd the 2TB drive is much more dense so data comes back faster.

themadman wrote in post #11499509
Everything looks alright to me, I'd double check the RAM is on the recommended RAM list for the motherboard and thats about it, however I don't think I have ever had issues with Mushkin ram.

I would maybe personally get more HD space, 2TB drives are pretty cheap now. Also, I know people are going to say something about my next comment, I would RAID your drives. I had a 2TB fail on me recently and I lost no data because my drives are raided. If you don't like raid, I would still get a second drive (maybe external) and get some good backup software. Western Digital Caviar Black is a good line, I have never had issues with those drives.

I may get a larger case. I am a big fan of super sized cases because they have improved air flow and easy to mess with the internals when you need to. Last two computers I have recommended to my friends both have sported huge Cooler Master cases, the case on my primary computer us a large xClio case.

Also you graphics card link does not work.

Thank you, Will. Fixed the link.
I will check the ram compatibility, that is why I am paying someone else to build it.
I have chosen not to mess with raid. I do have an excellent backup system REBIT, These guys are fantastic.

I have decided on an NZXT Trinitycase. Maureen and I each have one and I love them. I just ordered two of them from Revolution PC.net.

Sp1207 wrote in post #11499556
Are you buying the parts online from Newegg, or purchasing in shop? I assume from the Newegg links it's the prior, just checking.

Specific parts: Samsung F3 is both faster and less expensive than the Caviar Black, there's no way you need an expensive 1000 watt PSU for a ~400 watt system. Get a smaller, more efficient unit. Intel SSDs are not really competitive with Sandforce drives at the moment.

What monitor(s) are you using? I'll have an alternative AMD build up within the hour.

Here's the CS4 benchmarkfor the 1055t vs. i7-950. It's about 25% faster in CS4 at applying loads of filters/effects, around 15% faster in CS5. However, in normal usage rarely does a person apply loads of filters, so take that bench with a grain of salt.

Litescribe DVD burner18$
Antec 200v235$
AMD 1055t180$
Samsung F42TB 100$
2*G.skill 8GB 1.5 volt kit180$
Asrock 880Gextreme3 110$
Corsair 430 watt PSU20$
OCZ Vertex2 120GB SSD215$
Windows HP 64 100$
Rosewill card reader 10$

968$ vs. 1448 (480$, or 33% cheaper). I'd probably take the money saved and put it towards a nice/large IPS monitor, extra SSDs for scrap, or more storage (or lenses). You could also pocket it.

Thank you Sp1207.
I have been a big fan of AMD for some time. I owned two of the fastest 32 bit computers made, Barton 3200+. One of them is still cooking right along for my grandson at my elbow as we speak. It is now time to move to the Intel. for my wife's needs (remember that caveat?) I think it is the best way to go. let me klnow how your build works out.

The wife uses a 23 inch Samsung wide screen monitor and like it. I will not argue. I use twin HP 19 inch 4x3 monitors and love the set up.

When it comes to expense, she has all the cool toys. 5DMkII, 50D, 70-200L f/2.8 IS, 135L f/2 , 85L f/1.2, 50 f/1.4, 24-70 f/2.8, 580II X2, and she lets me use the 100-400L IS. I have the 40D, 5D, Ef-s 17-85 IS, 70-300DO (my baby) and 24-105L IS. We are not hurting.

Skip Souza wrote in post #11500592
Thank you Sp1207.
I have been a big fan of AMD for some time. I owned two of the fastest 32 bit computers made, Barton 3200+. One of them is still cooking right along for my grandson at my elbow as we speak. It is now time to move to the Intel. for my wife's needs (remember that caveat?) I think it is the best way to go. let me klnow how your build works out.

The wife uses a 23 inch Samsung wide screen monitor and like it. I will not argue. I use twin HP 19 inch 4x3 monitors and love the set up.

Just make sure that 23in Samsung is an IPS. Nothing like photoediting on a TN monitor.

My build? :P I have two separate 980x machines for photo/video work. I just think an AMD makes more sense in this price range (33% cheaper, 15% slower, better HD/SSD/Ram). It's especially relevant as I have a sneaking suspicions you'll need to purchase an IPS monitor to replace that Samsung.

Even if you go with the Intel build, the 400 watt PSU and SSD (along with the Samsung F4) are all better options than the parts in your initial build.

Edit: Depending on when you're building, you may want to wait for Sandy Bridge if you're going for absolute performance. It'll be ~20% faster than current i7s (and have a TON more features) at the same price. Jan 9th launch date.

In2Photos wrote in post #11499890
The video card is overkill. You could step down to a GT2xx and be fine or an ATI5450.

PSU is overkill too. My i7 at full load is around 200W according to my Kill-a-Watt EZ. Check out the Corsair 650TX or if you prefer modular than look at the 620HX or this one from OCZ http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6817341022

Cases are very personal items. I have CoolerMaster cases and love them. My RC590 is similar to the one you have picked out.

If you want Skip, you can have the parts sent to me and I'll build it for you guys!

Totally agree... anything with the obnoxious name of ... "KINGWIN Lazer LZ-1000 1000W Modular 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC W/ 3-Way LED Switch and Universal Modular Connector Power Supply" is overkill on more than one level Jeez, it's enough to choke an Army Supply Sergeant. Sorry, I guess you'd have to have served in the military to understand that joke.

Maybe I'm missing something and it's just the sales person in me...

...but HOW THE H*** CAN ANYONE GIVE ANY ADVICE without first asking what OP is going to do with the machine??????

Well I guess it's easy to give ANY advice, but not relevant advice...sorry but it just "frosts my soul" (as my cousin in Chicago likes to say), that people don't ask/just tell...

If the machine is limited to single photo processing of RAW still images the whole machine is over the top...a simple out of the box/over the counter $600 i7-860 PC will comfortably handle such tasks...

If batch processing and video editing is in use then I can understand the need for such high end gear...
just sayin'

kitacanon wrote in post #11500807
If the machine is limited to single photo processing of RAW still images the whole machine is over the top...a simple out of the box/over the counter $600 i7-860 PC will comfortably handle such tasks...

If batch processing and video editing is in use then I can understand the need for such high end gear...
just sayin'

I built mine with very similar hardware for around the $800 range.

drvnbysound wrote in post #11499972
I built 5 PC's this year for friends/family using this case:
http://www.newegg.com …se-_-11-129-042-_-Product

and LOVE it. Great venting for circulation.. keeps internal components cool and running fast

As far as HDDs, I had only heard a lot of speculation about putting your OS on a drive larger than 500GB due to failure rates. So I did just that, put my OS on a 500GB HDD, and added additional HDDs for storage. I have found 2TB WD (WD20EARS - w/ 64MB Cache) for as little as $89 with free shipping from Newegg.

I have the Core2Quad version of that processor (Q9650), 3.0 GHz and havent seen it go over 20% for anything I do.

BTW, a -1 for you not building it yourself ... haha. What, if anything, is different if something goes wrong when this local shop builds and something goes wrong vs. you doing it? Particularly if you are providing them with the parts?? Won't they just point the finger at you anyway, and tell you that you gave them stuff that doesn't work?

The OS and all programs will go on the SSD. A little overkill will not hurt.
I am not giving the builder the parts (except for the hard to get case), I just supply the general specs and buy the parts from the builder. It will his job to get them and put them to gether properly.

solara wrote in post #11500031
Don't want to wait and try out the new Sandy Bridge? Higher clock speed, lower power consumption and reportedly similar price points.

No, I had the fastest 32 bit computer made, that lasted 3 months before it was surpassed. i will not chase that dragon again.

toxic wrote in post #11500066
Graphics is overkill.

The Caviar Black I think is a poor choice for a data drive, the F3 is faster as a data drive, is cheaper, requires less power, makes less noise, and makes less heat. Tradeoff is a 3 year warranty, instead of 5.

Do you really need 120GB for a system drive? I think 60-90GB is a better choice, unless you really do have 60GB+ of software...

Get two data drives, or at least a small second drive to clone the SSD to. Clones or RAIDs are invaluable for minimizing downtime and troubleshooting (in the case of a bootable clone).

You sure you want a 950? The 870 Turbos higher, uses less power, and uses socket 1156, which means a cheaper motherboard...and even for multi-threaded applications, the difference between 2.93 and 3.06 is a measly 4.4%.

I am looking again at video cards but yes, I'm sure about the 950 and the Asus Saber mobo.