Ralph_Machio

Hi everyone,

I'm a gamer who does relatively small to medium amounts of video editing and audio mixing/mastering.

I'm doing my first build shortly and would like some advice before I purchase all my components and start away.

To begin with, here are some products I'm currently looking at.

Case: Corsair Obsidian 800D Full Tower

Motherboard: G1 Sniper

Processor: Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition

Cooling: Corsair H80

SSD: Crucial SSD2 m4 256 GB, SATA 6Gb/s

HHDs: 2 Barracuda XT 2TB 7200 rpm, SATA 6Gb/s

Power Source: ?

Optical Drive: ? (would like a blu ray reader/burner)

Video Card: I own a, not so old, PNY GTS 250 1024mb XLR8 (not sure will be adequate)

Also: Anything I'm forgetting ... ?

I'd like to run my drives in a RAID 1 configuration with the SSD as a boot. I've gained a little advice on this already-
New to RAID

I picked the large case because I wanted room for future mod/upgrading. Plus, I wanted to add a more intricate liquid cooling system when I had more $ saved up.

I would love for you guys to give me any advise from hardware to whatever. I feel like I can trust the info from HH because you guys are geniuses ... well compared to me that is.

Judas

Your video card should be good for what your doing for some time..... while an upgrade may be to your advantage sometime in the future.... personally it's fair enough.. you can always change it up down the road anyways... so no need to spend money on a newer video card until you think it's lacking since the other components will basically be well above the curve.

As for your power source... i still recommend Coolermaster as a good manufacturer.... for you machine though, don't settle for anything less than a really good 750watt IMO.

Corsair is a great for higherend stuff generally..

And never leave out PC Power & Cooling as a rock solid contender in that area...

anything that has 4x 12v rails riding at 16amps each or higher will be excellent.
Alternatively a twin 12v rail with 32amps on each or a single 64amp PSU should should be your approximate zone (i would suggest)... course at that would mean the psu is just a tad bit above 750watts just on the 12v rail alone..

But it's just something to keep in mind pertaining to that.

Considering your work.... i would pick up Windows 7 Proffesional x64, this will MAKE SURE you don't hit the current home premium or lesser ram cap (16gb currently)... because obviously you have a board with triple channel support.. and you don't want to stick 12gb of ram in there and then leave yourself hanging at the point of adding only another 3x1gb sticks because your OS won't recognize anymore.

BTW you didn't mention ram so i would suggest something from patriot/g.skill/corsair... although my luck with corsair's Ram has been utterly horendous. I recently picked up the Patriot Viper district 2 ram kits (dual channel).. picked up 3 of them. they were 8gb kits so slapping all 6 sticks in gives you a nice round 24gb of ram and top it off.. was cheaper then buying the triple channel kits and the timings and frequencies are rock solid.... works beautifully.

When you get the board.. make sure you update the bios to the latest official NON-BETA version..... then disable some of the boards additional features that aren't necessary ... like the additional sata ports and such that aren't really going to help anything. Namely a bunch of manufacturers using marvels SATA or esata.... just plug everything into the ICH10R chipsets... it's better imo.

But yeah.... set the ich10R to RAID mode.... plug the SDD in into Port 0, the 2 other drives in port 1 and 2 and i'd recommend the DVD/CD/BR drive in the final port typically port 5, boot up, CTRL+I and setup the 2 drives as raid 1 mirror .... split it into 2 partitions if you like because hey.... 2TB as one big honking partition for me is excessive.. but who knows .. maybe you prefer it that way../

Oh and on the BR drive deally..... i've been using the Asus Combo drives recently with excellent results.... Cheap too. Actually using them in all my new computer builds..... even the elcheapo ones... it's my standard now...

think i covered most of it.

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Takaharu

I'd recommend:

• A Core i7 2600k
• A Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
• G-Skill Ripjaws 1600MHz for the brutal price vs performance. I'm thinking 8-16GB.
• EVGA GTX 570 as it supports Adobe CS5.5 GPU acceleration. You'd notice a LOT of difference with GPU acceleration.
• Consider the Corsair Carbide 400R for a case. Not XL but I, for one, love the design. Plenty of room plus decent WC areas.
• 750W PSU for expandability. Take your pick from OCZ, Thermaltake, Corsair, Coolermaster, Antec or any reputable power supply that anyone can suggest in the posts below.
• SSD... Well, if you've got your heart set on one then have a gander at the OCZ Agility 3. Unless you've got your editing applications on there or you want a reallyfast boot up, don't bother.
• If you're after Blu-Ray, pick a Blu-Ray drive. I'd recommend LG, personally.
• Do you need a monitor? The LG E2360V-PN is super-sexy at a high spec (without 3D).
• HDDs... your idea was fine.

The Socket 1366 is end of line as of this year. Alternatively, if you can hold out, you may want to consider socket 2011.

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Judas

yeah i forgot to mention the socket 2011 ..... i'm really looking forward to it.. reason i haven't moved to a newer board or anything .. still sticking to a SATA 2 controller slowing down my Vertex 3 SSD...

Course i'd really like to see a serious innovation from intel .. reason the 2011 socket looks promissing... *sigh*

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Ralph_Machio

Thanks a lot for the advise guys, it's going to help me out greatly.

Yeah, I guess I did forget about the RAM. I'm glad you told me about the Windows cap. I'll definitely invest in Pro x64.

I checked out the Carbide 400R, and I really like it. I don't like most flashy gaming cases that are oddly shaped and have extensive lighting. I aslo don't like cases that look like large bricks. So, cases like the the one you suggested are about just right. However, my vanity in showing off the innards of my future system have pushed me towards wanting a transparent portion. I was looking at the Corsair 600T (SE White) which was reviewed here.
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...roduction.html
I just wasn't sure it would be large enough for future modifications and so forth (taking into account a future liquid cooling system). I worried that everything might be bunched in tightly.

I was checking out the $ of the G1 Sniper and the recently released Sniper 2 not too long ago on Newegg Canada - Computer Products, Laptops, Electronics, HDTVs, Digital Cameras, Cellphones and More!, and the Sniper 2 is only about $10 more. That surprised me, I expected it to be priced much more. The reason I'd like a Sniper/2 is because a friend of mine has one and he really loves it. Says it performs greater than any board he's ever owned.

I'm glad to hear advise on power supplies. I had no idea what I would need. It sounds like 750 is the right route. Do think it will still handle multiple upgrades (say video cards, drives, etc.)?

Takaharu

A 750W will keep you going but, come to think of it, if you're going down the route of watercooling and want to get something butch like twin 570s (or something of the sort) then perhaps something with a little more junk in the trunk. An 850W should cover any plausible upgrade, including overclocking.
Mid-tower cases support watercooling just fine. The biggest benefit of a full-tower case is the amount of components that you can shove inside; tonnes of harddrives, more optical drives than you could ever need and support for eATX and HPTX motherboards. Air flow is, of course, a-plenty as is room but if that's the only thing you're after in a case, along with the room to fit your components, a mid-tower should do you just fine.

As for the Sniper, it's a board with pretty much everything in it; it's got a high-end soundcard, sup-standard network card and... it's a motherboard that is compatible with all of your gubbings.

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