Im looking at building a new PC, its for lots of photo editing and a bit of video editing, aswell as general use. The specs im looking at getting are: Gigabyte EX58-UD3R motherboard (the SLI support model) 8gb DDR3 OCZ Gold RAM 1.5tb Samsung HDD Intel quad i7 2.66 896mb nVidia GTX260 LG HD DVD/Blu Ray Drive Vista 64bit Just wondering what people think of it, im on a rather tight budget, will the GTX260 be fine for everything? Im considering getting a 2nd one for SLI, but that will be a few months after due to money. So opinions please? Anything I should change?
All Gigabyte i7 boards support SLI. Motherboard: 8/10 - good brand, the cheapest model, but fine for most systems. RAM: 2/10 - firstly, OCZ RAM has a tendency to be unreliable, and you're also using the wrong set. 8GB will work in an i7, but you should be using a set of three, i.e. 6GB. If you want more, you will need to buy a six slot board like the EX58-UD4 and use 12GB. HDD: 8/10 - So far no problems reported with the big Ecogreen drives, but early days yet. CPU: 10/10 - the only i7 to have DVD: 10/10 - LG drives have never caused me any issues GPU: As singular, 6/10, As SLI 3/10. I would recommend a single HD4870, or for dual performance, an HD4870X2 instead. If you must have an nvidia card, forget about the GTX260 and get a GTX275 instead. if you want a middle-ground card to buy one of then add another later, use the HD4890. OS: Make sure you get one with a free upgrade to windows 7.
"OS: Make sure you get one with a free upgrade to windows 7." -Better yet, get a technet subscription, then you get all versions of vista, XP, and Win7 plus all office suites for just $250. As for the HDD: I have three of them that are working great in RAID5, but they have not been there very long. I would never trust ANY hard drive to hold important data without RAID. I don't recomend you use them in RAID5 except for storage.
Thanks for the comments. Yes, I have purchased a copy of Vista Home Premium that came with the offer for a free copy of Windows 7 =] Also, I was looking at the 4870 you recommended, I could only afford the 512mb one, so I have narrowed it down to the 4870 512mb or the GTX260 896mb....thinking ill just stick with the nVidia. One more thing, whats the advantage of running 6gb triple channel RAM over 8gb dual channel RAM?
Ive been looking at the nVidia Quadro series and would like to know what people think. I can get a Quadro FX 1700 512mb (DDR2), or maybe a Quadro FX 3400 256mb (DDR3). I was leaning away from the second one due to only 256mb and it being an older model. But what do everyone think of the FX 1700 512mb? Would this display perfectly at 1920x1080 and be fine for lots of photo and video editing, compared to the 896mb GTX260 (DDR3) Thanks =]
The HD4870 1GB is cheaper than the GTX260 though, so that doesn't make much sense. If you've got an older 192 core GTX260, the HD4870 512MB is actually still the more powerful card. i7s respond much better to triple channel RAM in terms of arithmetic performance. As for the quadro cards, depends if the programs you use will work for them. If you have a program that works with a QuadroFX card, they'll obliterate the GTX260. Just obviously be aware that these workstation cards can't play games. Also, check whether the program you use works best with nvidia quadro cards or ATi FireGL cards. There is likely to be a substantial difference with some applications.
Looking at the supported/tested graphics cards. Photoshop CS4 is fine for the FX1700, but premiere pro doesnt list the FX1700, but the FX1500, it also says it supports the 8800. Am I right in believing the FX1700 will run fine with premiere pro aswell, due to I think it uses the same technology as the 8800, and it also supports an inferior card, the FX1500.
I think the FX1500 is 7600 based, and the FX1700 is 8600 based. The 8800 based ones fetch a lot more money than $400. Have you checked what the fireGL support is like for these programs?
I havnt checked out any of the ATI's no, I dont really know much about them. I have found a rather good deal on an FX 1700 hence me leaning more towards that. The main purpose is photo editing, with only a bit of video editing.
A good deal is largely irrelevant if it turns out the fireGL works better with that program, you should at least give it a look. I see too many people go "I found a good deal on" when actually they still got ripped off.
Listen to sam and get the HD4870X2 imo. I personally wouldnt get a Samsung HDD just yet. Once we get a better idea of there reliability, then I will consider it. Depends on how valuable your data is to you.
