OK X2 (and others if you want to try) - Try My Computer Build

Bluevoodu

Bluevoodu

Site Founder
My case is pretty much set in stone, unless you have a better recommendation:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119139

I want an Intel Quad Core (good one, but not the most expensive... try to keep it reasonable in quad core pricing)
Asus board that can run SLI (with the least of 2 graphics card ports)
4 gig of good ram
1 80 gig 10,000 RPM drive (for my main OS drive)
1 - 1 TB drive

and I'll let you make up the rest. need good brands and reliable equipment. Don't spend "too much" :lol

I am curious to see how cheap you can do this for.

If you don't have time, that's cool... Others, if you wish to try, please submit your own builds meeting the specs (in the thread)!

Thanks,
†B†V† :hat
 
Bluevoodu said:
I want an intel Quad Core (good one)
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This is the only one I'm knowledgeable enough to tackle I think. :lol

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

This is probably your best bet for a quad core that is affordable.
 
Okay, BV, I will do this for you. So far, though, I am having trouble finding a good Asus board under $300. I know you love Asus but I think they have been having some real quality control issues these days. So, I am going to skip that part for now and come back to it. I'll have the list up in a while.
 
x2 said:
Okay, BV, I will do this for you. So far, though, I am having trouble finding a good Asus board under $300. I know you love Asus but I think they have been having some real quality control issues these days. So, I am going to skip that part for now and come back to it. I'll have the list up in a while.
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If you find something that is just as good (in your opinion), I will be open to it. It has to be high quality and good rep. It needs no less than 2 graphics slots... I just need it to work SLI or Crossfire. 3 graphics cards would be great as well. I need a few PCI slots for expansionl ATX to fit the case I posted. Mobo, processor, graphics card, and ram are the areas I tend not to skimp on. If you want, you can do a cheaper, medium, and expensive (not over $2,700-3,000 - even that might be high, but I want this system to be a little higher end) builds... you don't have to. If you enjoy doing this stuff, go for it.

I read about a couple quality control issues... what's up with that and what have you heard?

I appreciate it :) I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I am stumped on what to do in a couple areas of this build.

again... if you do not feel like it and don't have time, don't worry about it :)

†B†V† :hat
 
CPU $240- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117129
Power supply $120- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005
Ram- about $200- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145043
74Gb Raptor hard drive $140- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033
1Terabyte hard drive $209- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136151
Sound card $80- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010360057+50011613&name=HT+Omega
Video {Nvidia} $150- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082
Video {ATI} $160- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719
Motherboard- $150- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131196
Optional case $160 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133021

Ok, whew...that should be a good idea of what this will cost! I remember you said you wanted to stick with ATI, so I found a good Asus board that supports ATI crossfire. That way, you can stick with Asus and ATI. I also listed a Nvidia card just in case you find a SLI board to get. I honestly could not find a suitable SLI board from Asus! If it was my build and my money I'd skip the raptor and just get a smaller 7,200 rpm harddrive. I mean, if this was strictly a gaming machine it might be beneficial, but just remember that you sacrifice reliability for speed with a raptor. The sound card is also pretty much optional, as well. And that case you picked is super nice...but ...$400 just for the case!?! That seems a bit extreme to me, but than again the case is something you will always have, so it wouldn't be too crazy, lol. I can tweak this list a bunch, too, so just tell me what looks good and what doesn't :)
 
I'd have to recommend spending less on the RAM. Unless BV's doing some hardcore overclocking, he doesn't really need RAM that fast.

I definitely agree with avoiding the Raptor hard drive series, as the new 7200.11 drives with perpendicular recording are almost identical in performance, but absolutely dominate in the price/gigabyte aspect. More reliable, quieter and cooler.

Though case selection is completely personal preference, I'd like to recommend the Antec P182. My friend has the P180, and his computer is both near-silent and void of bright, annoying LEDs and such. Great case for any application.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025&Tpk=p182
 
trkorecky said:
I'd have to recommend spending less on the RAM. Unless BV's doing some hardcore overclocking, he doesn't really need RAM that fast.

I definitely agree with avoiding the Raptor hard drive series, as the new 7200.11 drives with perpendicular recording are almost identical in performance, but absolutely dominate in the price/gigabyte aspect. More reliable, quieter and cooler.

Though case selection is completely personal preference, I'd like to recommend the Antec P182. My friend has the P180, and his computer is both near-silent and void of bright, annoying LEDs and such. Great case for any application.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025&Tpk=p182
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Which 7200 RPM drives are like that?

And that is a SWEEET case. I built an office computer for the account firm I used to work for... and I used that case. Well constructed case, nice design, and the inside was intuitive for running the wires. I just wish more cases had cable management features.

†B†V† :hat
 
trkorecky said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145167

Apparently the Hitachi 7K1000 line is even faster than the 7200.11 line, and performs better than the 150GB Raptor in games.

Here's benchmarks:
http://www.storagereview.com/1000.sr?page=0%2C4

If you look through the other pages, it seems as though all of them are pretty similar though, so you might as well just find a terabyte hard drive you're happy with for the enhanced storage capacity over the Raptor.
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I have seen some other reviews on the Hitachi drive from newegg... and some other sites, the drive has been seeing more faliures lately.

Is this a result of bad quality? bad batch? or something else?

†B†V† :hat
 
It could just be a bad batch. Hitachi's usually good with quality control and all that stuff. You could always check into other manufacturers, such as Western Digital or Seagate.

WD7500AAKS drives from Western Digital are supposed to be pretty intense as well, and scored quite high on the benchmarks I linked to.
 
Honestly I wouldn't buy anything but Seagate. They are reliable and they have a five year warranty. I've had two go bad on my after using them for years. Not just on my computers but on clients computers. One was DOA the other had a bearing go out. They replaced the one with the bearing with a new drive that was using a single platter. Western Digital makes crap drives and they don't back them up. I used them at one time and has two fail. They wouldn't replace the drives which were under warranty. Hitachi doesn't make the best drives either though they do have good customer service, remember the IBM Deathstars? Those were Hitachi drives. Maxtor drives are so so, I still wouldn't buy them. Fujitsu and Toshiba drives are very iffy and I would avoid them as well.
 
I've used 5 WD hard drives and never had one fail. But that is pretty weak if they don't back up the warranty!
 
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