New Workstation, need advice for my first build

[meleseDESIGN]

Yes a 550 Watts PSU will be just fine.

You don´t miss anythiing, you did a good job in researching! ;)

It´s probably not the best deal for the bang/buck. Because performance-linked the Quadro FX 1800 is based on the Geforce 8800GT and an i7 920 can be easily overclocked to an i7 975.

[Gaso]

I'd also take a Core i7 920. You should be able to overclock it to around 3.5 GHz, thus saving money.

Yesterday I measured the power usage of my system (i7 @ 3,6 GHz, 12 GB RAM, QFX 1800, Intel X-25M SSD, 4x1 TB Samsung Spinpoint) and got the following results:
- startup: 244W
- idle: 168W
- load (gpu 100%): 263W
- load: (cpu 100%): 370W

Combined theoretical maximum power usage is around 470W, so 550W should be enough for your intended system. I'd also consider another PSU from some high quality brand, such as Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax etc. Saving couple extra bucks on a PSU might become very expensive in the long run: if the PSU breaks, it might take your whole system with it...

Also, buying two HDDs and putting them in RAID1 might be worth thinking about. Nothing is more annoying than loosing 1TB of data due broken down harddrive and inadequate backups (who here keeps their backups up to date? I'm too lazy...) Buying one extra disk costs double now, but you'll appreciate the RAID if one happens to fail on you.

And the Quadro? Not for home setups, especially if you intend to play modern games... It's based on ancient hardware (G94 chip). Performance ain't that sweet either; take all SPECviewperf results you see with a grain of salt. Here's a pretty interesting real life performance test on Autodesk forums I recommend you to read: GeForce vs Quadro Actual Tests (http://area.autodesk.com/forum/autodesk-3ds-max/installation---hardware---os/geforce-vs-quadro-benchmarks-40actual-tests41/)

[vlad]

Yeah, ditch the Quadro and get a 260gtx instead. Getting a 920 and oc'ing it will also save you a bit of dough that you could in turn invest in something IMHO no less important that you obviously seem to have overlooked : a monitor. That 20" Acer is not a very good choice. Add to the fact that it's 16:9, you'll end up with an unbearably cramped up workspace, especially in 3D apps. Do yourself a favor a get a decent monitor, or even better a pair monitors. If you dont want to lay down the money for an expensive IPS screen, you might want to check out 24" Dells or HPs. I have a pair of those at work http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176103&cm_re=l2245wg-_-24-176-103-_-Product and I'm quite happy with them so far. And they're 16:10 which I find much nicer to work with than 16:9. And they're definitely better than that Acer you chose.

[meleseDESIGN]

I measured the power usage of my system (i7 @ 3,6 GHz, 12 GB RAM, QFX 1800, Intel X-25M SSD, 4x1 TB Samsung Spinpoint) and got the following results:
- startup: 244W
- idle: 168W
- load (gpu 100%): 263W
- load: (cpu 100%): 370W


Nice, so I guess you have a solid PSU.
I advocate 80+ ECO certified PSU´s.
;)

[psdtalk]

Drop the i7 950 and go for a 920. You can just give the 920 a mild overclock and save so much money. Also drop the quadro and go for gtx 260 or if you can wait, for the new 3-- series cards. Also drop the Western Digital Black and go for a Samsung F3. The Samsung is unbelievably fast.

[gawl126]

Also suggesting to go with the 920 instead and to drop the quadro for a gtx 260.

For hard drives, I think either the WD Caviar Black or Samsung F3 would be okay. If you plan on running Raid 1, go with the Samsung.

[TheRed]

Ya, I had been looking at the i7 920 until just a few minutes before I posted. If I can OC it to near the 950's stats or better I think I'll be going with that.
I know I was skimping on the monitor, so if I'm saving some pretty serious $$ on the processor it'll go straight to that.

What about the ATI Firepro series graphics cards? I hear good things. And I thought I heard that GeForce cards aren't really best for Maya work?

Is 6GB RAM sufficient? I can always pick up more later, I guess.

Nice, so I guess you have a solid PSU.
I advocate 80+ ECO certified PSU´s.
;)

Have any favorites you'd recommend? I'll be returning the 550W I got anyway (paid too much at a local computer store) so I might as well get something nice.

[psdtalk]

Ya, I had been looking at the i7 920 until just a few minutes before I posted. If I can OC it to near the 950's stats or better I think I'll be going with that.
I know I was skimping on the monitor, so if I'm saving some pretty serious $$ on the processor it'll go straight to that.

What about the ATI Firepro series graphics cards? I hear good things. And I thought I heard that GeForce cards aren't really best for Maya work?

Is 6GB RAM sufficient? I can always pick up more later, I guess.



Have any favorites you'd recommend? I'll be returning the 550W I got anyway (paid too much at a local computer store) so I might as well get something nice.

Good choice. You will be getting the 950 at the 920's price after an overclock which leaves you more money for the monitor.

They are good, but the ratio between performance/price isn't justified. I really do recommend going for a GTX 260.

6GB Ram is sufficient, but having 12GB isn't bad. It depends all on how serious and how big your renders will be.

As in for a PSU. I recommend any of these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

[gawl126]

Good choice. You will be getting the 950 at the 920's price after an overclock which leaves you more money for the monitor.

They are good, but the ratio between performance/price isn't justified. I really do recommend going for a GTX 260.

6GB Ram is sufficient, but having 12GB isn't bad. It depends all on how serious and how big your renders will be.

As in for a PSU. I recommend any of these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

The Seasonic PSU gets my vote.

[TheRed]

If NVIDIA manufactures the gtx 260 chipset does it really matter what brand of card I buy? Unless it REALLY doesn't matter I'm not going to scrape the bottom of the barrel or anything, I'm just curious.

SeaSonic X650 Gold 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088&cm_re=80_plus_gold-_-17-151-088-_-Product)
I'd love to go for an efficient PSU. Any thoughts on Gold certified units?

[psdtalk]

If NVIDIA manufactures the gtx 260 chipset does it really matter what brand of card I buy? Unless it REALLY doesn't matter I'm not going to scrape the bottom of the barrel or anything, I'm just curious.

SeaSonic X650 Gold 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088&cm_re=80_plus_gold-_-17-151-088-_-Product)
I'd love to go for an efficient PSU. Any thoughts on Gold certified units?



Any brand is fine. Usually only difference is the bundles and warranty. Some come with games and other stuff etc. Try to go for xfx if you can, but other ones are fine too.

Wow, that PSU is a beast. If you can get it, then go for it. I've built a computer using that PSU. It's an absolute beast and if you like quite pc's, then definitely go for the Season X. That will be able to handle anything you throw at it.

[TheRed]

Thanks everyone! This has been a lot of help.

Any thoughts on cooling? Will the fan that comes with the i7 920 perform well enough? I'm planning to overclock it to about 3.6ghz.

[psdtalk]

I don't think you will get that high with stock cooler. If you buy an aftermarket cooler, you will easily get to 3.6 and there is good chance you can reach 3.8-4GHZ. Below are few of the very best coolers out there!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

[TheRed]

Value is something of a priority. Is the CPU fan something I can't afford to skimp on?
Someone recommended this: Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plus 775/1156/1366/AMD/AM2/AM3 Universal Direct Contact Heat-Pipe 120mm Fan CPU Cooler (http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Universal-Heat-Pipe/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1266579769&sr=8-1%3Cfont%20size=%223%22%3E)

[psdtalk]

The one your friend showed you, will give similar performance to stock cooler, but will be much more quiet. With the Noctua D14, the results are amazing.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/noctua_nhd14/images/prime_for_dh-n14.htm

Check out that. Using the D14, he got the 920 to 4.2GHZ and was still getting awesome temps. So 3.6GHZ will be a breeze. Really recommend the D14.

[TheRed]

Thanks. I'll put it at the top of my list. I know it's going to be a pretty hot machine.

I like the HP monitor suggested earlier, but newegg is sold out and I've got some $$ floating around in my budget after changing up my predictions. Suggestions? Does anyone have a monitor that they'd replace immediately with the same model if it broke down, no consideration needed?

[meleseDESIGN]

Does anyone have a monitor that they'd replace immediately with the same model if it broke down, no consideration needed?

Got a Hanns-G 28", I would buy everytime again if it should break.

[Gaso]

The one your friend showed you, will give similar performance to stock cooler, but will be much more quiet. With the Noctua D14, the results are amazing.
I second this. NH-D14 is one of the best coolers around. I have an i7 920 @ 3.6 GHz and only one cooler installed on Noctua, running at 600 rpm. Temperatures are around 65 under full load. It's very silent.

The only downside of the D14 is the size: it's absolutely HUGE! I had to hammer one end of the cooler a bit to be able to fit it into a P6T Deluxe V2 board with six memory modules installed (Kingston Hyper-Xs with some ridiculous heatsinks). I also had to drill some holes into Antec P193's side cooler to be able to close the case.

Here's a picture I stole from some site with Noctua NH-D14, Intel's stock cooler and Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme (which is also a pretty good cooler):

http://gaso.1g.fi/noctua_stock_tuniq.jpg

Humongous.

[dmeyer]

Running a Thermalright IFX-14 here and it is amazing, albeit a bit hard to find. It too is huge though so make sure your case can support it.

[gawl126]

I'm using a Prolimatech Megahalem (another awesome cooler) with 2 S-Flex F fans. One of the fans currently blocks a ddr3 slot so I either need to take out the fan or raise the fan up a bit to make room for it.

[trgTyson]

I second the D14, I have yet to install mine (still waiting for the i7-980XE to be released to go socket 1366),.but I picked up a D14 on-sale a couple months ago. After reading a ton of reviews it seemed like the choice for me. It is huge as stated, but if you have the room it should work great.

[meleseDESIGN]

I use two Alphacool NexXxos XP Bold Watercooler because my X5570 Xeons get really hot with some passive Thermaltake CL-P0484 heatsinks when all cores are loaded.

Watercooling systems I can recommend. ;)

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