I have just been offered to build a $1400 computer for a client and he is going to pay me half to build my own (I am going to put $700 in myself - thus I will be building two of the same computers). I need everything except for the monitor as this is separate. I want as spec'ed out as possible but needs to beyond sufficient for data capacity and the computer will be used primarily in a business/data processing environment and for mapping geological formations in minesites and used with a 25"+ monitor. So it needs to produce high quality resolution and graphics for the mapping process. Debating between the core i7 and the Q6600. Suggestions anyone?
I'd go with the I7; that will allow you to upgrade cheap & easy later. Came up with this on newegg, just under $1400 shipped: DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136147 CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233039 HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337 Video: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130480 Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 Thermal Compound: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007 RAM: two sets of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227287 Mainboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128386 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 Case Fans: two sets of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835220013 CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118046
Can I ask what the difference or need between one 12V rail and 3. From reading the board it appears that Corsair is the way to go on power supply and I was comparing the following three. The 750W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 The 620W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002 The 520W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001 I know how many connectors is one and the 750 has 8 SATA which is good because I will most likely have 3 hard drives, 2 opticals drives so which really only leaves me the 620W and the 750W Differences is the 620W has 3 12V rails and is certified for SLI whereas the 750W has 1 12V rail and is sli/crossfire ready? Any help is appreciated
I think that is a good build except for the fact that for 1400$ you should just get a Great quality (not even good) case. The i7 is a really good processor but Im not sure if you'll need it. The q6600 wouldnt be a good choice for the amount of money your spending, I would go with a q9550 and that will allow you to use a lga775 motherboard which is better and cheaper (just wont support i7) If your not going to be using your graphics card for high end gaming then the gtx285 is too much, but if not thats a card that will last for a while. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 As for as your PSU question, this should answer your question http://www.overclock.net/faqs/88626-info-do-you-need-multiple-12v.html Basically you only need 1 12v rail, but with corsair you shouldnt even bother thinking about it, every PSU they make is HIGH quality. your best bet is to just get the 750W Hope this helps..
The reason I recomend the I7 is that the 775 socket is outdated. Going with a low-end I7 now will allow you to upgrade cheap & easy later. If the system does not need blinding 3D power, you might consider http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810 - The card is a bit old, but it is still very nice. That would give you enough reserve money for another 1.5TB hard drive and a second DVD drive. If you don't go with the Power-Sucker 285, you can get by easily with the corsair 620W. Then again, corsair is efficient enough that going with a 750W won't use any more power, and it will give you reserve. "for 1400$ you should just get a Great quality (not even good) case" - I think you should get a lot more than a great case for $1400. That case will do everything he needs, has no case doors, holds 7 hard drives with a 120mm fan pointed right at them, and has 4 external 5.25" bays. It is a basic case; no windows or cold cathodes; but it still looks nice.
If I read the first post correctly, he's saying that he's building two separate computers, but with the same specs. You guys are just showing him one build
Wow.. I think you may be right... I just wait on madbone to comment on that one. If it is only 700, i7 and 285 are both out of the question. He could still get away with something like a q6600 and a 4770 for around that price. He might have to convert to an AMD..
Ok let me clarify - I have a budget of $1400 to spend for each computer ($2800 total between both machines) from my client (I am a CPA but I build my own computers and this client wants me to build him one and he shares an office space with us.) The deal is that he is going to pay for half of my build ($700) and then I am going to come up with the other $700 myself. But while he is in the office I am going to help him with all the technical stuff and get him more up-to-date on his computer literacy. So it is $1400 on each build separately. After some of the recommendations I have begun reviewing newegg and I want to have the drives in mirror format for data security and backup protection so I will probably either get 2 or 3 drives. What do you guys think of getting 1 drive for software and OS and 2 drives in mirror where all the data resides?
Ok that helps some of the confusion... If your getting three drives then go for a raptor or velociraptor for your primary os and software drive and 1 or 2 250GB-1TB drives for your data storage. Be sure to get western digital drives.
Ok after some review I am debating between two boards Any help would be appreciated - Both are gigabyte http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128386 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374 Plus after I am close enough I will post the specs that I will be using for your guys review.
I would go for the second more expensive one. especially if you want to overclock. The second one has waaay better reviews too. its just more reliable.
Ok after some review and discussion with you guys here is what I tentatively have: Let me know thoughts, compatibility issues I might have - I have done and checked everything to make sure they were right fits but a second pair of eyes never hurts. Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146050 Board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374 Videocard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130480 PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365 OS Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033 Data HD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 DVD (2): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153 Compound: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007 CPU Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118046 Case Fans (3): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835220014 That puts me a total of $1500. But there is something like $120 or $130 in mail-in rebates. I know rebates are not an exact science but I should be good on at least $100 of the total which puts me right in the price range. Plus that is using all newegg. I haven't even begun to price shop just to make sure those are the best overall prices. Tell me what do you think? Plus I am trying to figure out how to get the rebates twice (i.e. once for the other guy and once for me - my thought is order them separately and pay different names and probably ship to locations with rebates returning to different addresses? You think that would work?
That build to me is solid.. The ONLY thing I would change is the case. Its not 100% neccissary but for that price I would go for a full ATX tower with excellent airflow. Thatll keep everything your hard earned money payed for nice and cool. The case you chose is a good case and looks better than most cases ive ever seen but check out the HAF 932 or the Antec Twelve hundred first, you wont need that extra case fan either. Thats just what I would do but overall nothing is really wrong with your specs. Thats a good build.
I might do that for mine. But my problem comes in to that those two cases are about $100 more than the original (including the rebate) so it was a trade off of price and trying to maximize the benefits of each item.
I see what you mean. Like I said before its not 100% neccissary but it would help in the long run. all I can think of is getting a gtx280 instead of the 285 and save about 50$ or just get a gtx275.. The price differences are pretty big and performance wise you probably wont be able to tell the difference between the 280 and 285. Its up to you. What you have now is good.
I had a thought a few minutes ago - how are the case fans in the Antec and the Coolermaster? Are they sufficient that I could drop the other case fans. Those case fans are going to run me $50 total (for 3 of them) so that might get me a bit closer and still keep the vid card as is. Let me know what you think?
Well Im not sure about the antec, but they make high quality fans. I have the HAF 932 and all the fans are HUGE. the exhaust is 140mm bigger than the fans you were going to buy and the other 3 are 230mm!! HUGE fans... and with bigger fans comes more airflow at lower speeds so its almost silent. there one one the side for your motherboard and graphics card, one in the front for your harddrives and one on the top just adding extra airflow throughout the case. Both are great cases though, you wont need any extra fans at all, maybe just a fan controller.
The NZXT Guardian 921 CS-NT-GD921 has a big issue for you...hard disk cooling. There is a small fan pointed at the hard drives, but it is pointed at the side of the drive case, so it provides almost no cooling. Also, there is only room for 3 drives there, so you will have to stack them close. These problems combined with a 10,000RPM drive will lead to ruin. If you are going to have three drives; and one is 10,000RPM; you will want a fan pointed at them, with the airflow passing between the drives. Idealy, you would have room for at least 5 drives as this will allow you to space the drives out. Newegg has about 300 cases that will fit your needs, some of them very affordable...it's just a matter of finding one that looks good to you (and your customer) and has a good design. There are also drive coolers that can be mounted in 5.25" bays, but you might as well buy a case with good drive cooling to begin with. BTW...RAID-1 is great; why not use it to protect windows as well? A pair of 1.5TB drives will cost less than your 3-drive setup while protecting everything...but it will be a bit slower.
Thanks everyone for the responses - hopefully i can get a few more. Work has been crazy busy and I am now finally get to the ordering point this weekend. I need one last help - I am looking over a few cases on newegg that are Full Towers and I am having a hard time deciding First question - is putting the power supply on the bottom of the case bad? i.e. heat rises right over your CPU making it even hotter? So the cases I am debating between right now are as follows: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194 (it says mid but the specs on the size are the same as the full tower specs plus 5 HD bays) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103011 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043 (antec 1200) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 Any ideas - let me know.
First question: It can be bad, but not terrible. The biggest concern is heat on the GPU, or any other hot-running cards. Most power supplies suck air in through the fan inside, so this is not a huge problem. I still prefer cases where the power supply is to the side of or above the mainboard. The Cooler Master cases you listed have the same problem as the NZXT guardian...but not as bad (there are a few holes in the side of the drive cages) I like the Xcilo, I would have bought that same case if not for the case door (personal preferance). The antech is great, but expensive.
