The (new) Official PC building thread!

Jassmanuk,
Are you going to use a RAID controller card?

The reason I ask is because you have six SATA HDDs and two SATA BR burners listed. The X48 board has six internal SATA connectors according to the specs here:

http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/Asus_Maximus_Extreme_and_P5E3Premium/

It does have a pair of external SATA connectors so I guess you could route those back into the case.
You could probably save yourself a lot of trouble by loosing two of the HDDs.

 

You know the raptors probably aren't that much faster than the Seagate drives.

 

Hey everybody, Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a good holiday, I sure did! I got the rest of the parts for my build, and I'm pretty sure I have everything now.

He_man, I have the same processor and motherboard combo for my build, when you're ready to build let me know we can match up trouble shooting and stuff.

So far, heres the build.

Intel QX6600
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
Tuniq Tower 120
2 x 35gb WD Raptors for os/programs
500gb WD 5000AAKS for storage
VisionTek ATI Radeon X1300-XGE 512mb (Already had it)
2 x 2gb Corsair XMS2 1066
2 x 512mb Corsair XMS2 800 (Already had it)
Corsair HX520 Modular PSU
Arctic Silver 5

Havent ordered the optical drive yet, I'm still doing some more research about the whole Plextor thing, I really would prefer a Plextor, but its hard to know if the Plextor firmware is worth the extra $50.

Any thoughts, questions, comments are appreciated.

Now all I have to do is try and build this thing, I've done tons of upgrades on various things including bios chips, processors, which is some of the "harder" upgrades I guess you could say. But its my first time building an entire computer from the ground up.

Any thoughts or tips for first time builders would be appreciated too.

Thanks for the help.

 

Think i may up my ram to 1066 like yours. I was seriously considering crossfire for future(which meant i needed a 620w corsair and a 680i/x38 mobo) but thought otherwise.

 

Jazman,
I hope you have completed builds before. These parts are all expensive and won't be fun to replace if you mess up something.

Building a PC with this many components, it might be best built in stages.

I'd do it something like this:

Start with a single Raptor(You don't need them!!) if you must, for your OS.
Install a single 1 TB HDD.(I'd actually forget the Raptor and put my OS in a relatively small partition here.)

If you do plan on running two Raptors in RAID 0, Then bear that in mind before you install the OS. (Again, these are not going to do much for you.)

Install 1 Blu-Ray burner/DVD-ROM and get your OS installed.

Plan on lots of bios updates, so bear that in mind when you do or do not install a floppy drive. Floppy disc is the only way I've gotten it to work. I'm sure others can do it with thumb drives, CDs etc, I can't.

Install two gigs of your DDR3 RAM.
Install one video card.

Now get the thing up and running. Install the OS then the drivers; mobo, sound card, etc. (Don't use the video drivers on the CD!) Enable Windows firewall.
Install your virus protection and download the current ATI Catalyst drivers, install.
Get all the OS updates downloaded and installed.

At this point I like to do a CPU stress test, with Prime95 x4 for quad cores and make sure my temps were good and everything is stable. I use Everest Ultimate for monitoring and it also has a few benchmarks you can run.

Once everything is running smoothly, you can add the second video card and enable crossfire. I'd benchmark it for a non OCed single card 3DMark06 score, for reference.

Add a second 1 TB HDD.

Once you get past this point, add the second burner. Why you would want two Blu-Ray burners is a mystery to me.

Running Vista? If so you could add the rest of that godawful expensive RAM at this point.

Now because your X48 Bios is immature, expect all kinds of odd problems to crop up. Be prepared to explore the wonderful ASUS website and learn how to download and install Bios.

 

@hydro_x86

I hope you were not planning on running these together?..

Don't buy the Raptors...they are a complete waste of money...you will get no real noticeable difference in performance...and the noise is unbearable...plus 35GB for O/S...Games...and Programs is No where near enough...

 

fasfrank,

It's funny, a couple of folks have needled me that my GigaByte has 6 Intel Sata 3.0 Gb/s ports and 2 GigaByte Sata 3.0 Gb/s ports, Yet I see Asus does virtually the same thing with their 6 Intel internals and 2 JMicron externals on their top Intel MB. Mine can be either internal or external if you use the supplied breakout panel for the two externals. Since it also supplies power, I don't even need a powered case for an external Sata! All I have to do is mount the breakout panel and plug it into a spare molex plug, and plug the two Sata data plugs into the purple ports! Best of both worlds and the power is supplied directly from the PSU! Sweet!!

Best Regards,
Russ {:<}

 

Gigabyte looks after the details very well. Your SATA adapter is a good example. I notice that even the back I/O shield clicks into place well and the motherboard I/O ports line up perfectly. Not so well with the EVGA 650i and MSI boards I've used.

I don't know why a PC would need that many HDDs. I can't fill up a single 250 GB, much less a Terabyte. I just don't want my PC cluttered with that much stuff. Some folks probably do need the room I suppose.

 

Fastfrank

I only listed the main components, I purchaed a raid controller card a couple of weeks ago for the 4TB of Seagate storage (Adaptec AAR-2420SA 4-Port).

I am not planning on using 2 of the mobo SATA's or the eSATA's at the moment but who knows I may need a HD-DVD writer if they win the battle or add an extra storage drive.

As for the Raptors, I have 150gb raptor drive in my current system and it boots my os up faster than any of my other pcs.

 

@jazmanuk

How important is the boot-up speed of your O/S?..is it really worth the extra $$$...with all the associated drawbacks...most people I know who have one...felt they were not worth it...for the minimal performance gain...

@hydro
You would be better off with (2) 250GB or 320GB H/D in raid...None of the draw back's...with very similar performance...
I would spent the money on a good Video Card...If you just feel you need to spend more $$$...

 

fasfrank,

I would love to rip all my DVDs and store them on a hard drive, totally un-compressed. I process all mine down to around 4.4 GB by processing the rip with DVD ReBuilder and encode them with CCE, two pass. They come out "almost" as good as the original, but...... Nothing quite matches the originals in quality!

Part of the charm of having a very fast computer to do this with is the time element. When I first started doing rips, about 4 years ago, it would take over three hours to encode with an Intel P4 3.0/800 (OC'd to 3.71GHz) Prescot in an Asus P4P800 SE motherboard with 1GB of Cas2 Corsair XMS DDR memory. I graduated to an Intel D-940/800 Presler Dual Core 3.4GHz, (OC'd to 3.84GHz) in an Asus P5P800 SE motherboard with the same memory, and shortened that by about an hour. Advancing from there to an E4300 at 3.2GHz in a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 with 2GB of Cas4 G.Skill 800 memory, shortened the time down to about an hour and a half Today with an Intel E6750 (OC'd to 3.52GHz) in my GigaByte GA-P35-DS3R motherboard using the same memory, it takes about an hour to do everything. Some take longer and some are under 45 minutes, depending on the number of frames processed. I can't wait to see how much the time drops when I get the Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1066 memory installed and up the speed to a nice safe 3.8GHz at a reasonable voltage, I suspect it will take about 30-40 minutes for an average processing and encode.

To store all the DVDs I legitimately own would take up close to 2TB of hard drive space! It would take another 2TB of hard drive space just to back up all the data, so that's 4x1TB drives right there! I don't know if I could do a Raid Mirror on both drives separately , but if I can I won't have to do a backup at all, as the mirrors would preserve the integrity of the data. As you can see, it's easy to fill up that much drive space! LOL!! All it takes is enough video!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

@frank
For a business PC...250GB is more then enough...
Me...I can easily fill...1TB of New Movies every year...
I have over 5,000 DVD's with I eventually want all on H/D's...I have over 2,500 CD's...I do not listen to MP3's...I want all of them on H/D's as well...so...for me 12TB's just ain't gonna be enough...right now...I have to delete stuff every day...just to fit the new stuff on...

 

Lp531,

I agree with you 100%! It takes my computer about 1 min 30 sec to completely boot up, what with all the processes and some hardware I have I have running. It only takes up 22% of my 2GB of memory. I usually do a restart before I encode so I go and throw a cup of coffee in the microwave and by the time that's done the computer is ready. It's not like I reboot every 5 minutes! LOL!! I would spend the money on a faster CPU before I spent it on a couple of noisy drives that aren't going to do enough for my boot-up to warrant the expense.

At present I have a single Seagate 160GB Sata 3.0GB/s. It's fast and quiet. Files like large PDF's, Photoshop CS3 and even my Autocad 2004 all open very quickly What more could I ask for!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

There are still some very odd component choices in that list Jazman:
Firstly, are you actually going to be gaming with this PC? Because crossfire, SLI or any high end graphics solution is a complete waste of time for any other scenario.
Also, the 1KW PSU is totally over the top. Get a Corsair HX620W. Since that PC will only draw about 450W at full load, you'll do fine with it.
As for the raptor, there is a marked decrease in boot time compared to a fast regular drive. The peak data transfer rate isn't much different (c. 90MB/s versus 75) but it's the lower access time that helps (4.5ms versus 8.5). My PC currently boots in about 40 seconds, but with a raptor before it could be up and running and ready to go in under 30. This of course is with a clean install of windows. As time went by, the boot time rose steadily. It was about 1 minute 10 when I last reformatted I think.
I personally think Raptors are a great idea, offering superb OS performance, and leaving normal drives to handle the bulk of the data storage. In their 150GB variety you're not short on space to put some needed applications in either (the stuff you use often like MS office). The noise level of Raptors, provided they're properly mounted is no higher than any other drive (My 37GB Raptor was quieter at seeking than a 250GB Barracuda 7200.9, and the bigger raptors are quieter). It's only the spindle vibration that causes issues. 166.6Hz is more easily audible than the 120Hz most drives produce, so has the potential to annoy you more.

 

@sam

That was my feeling as well...a lot of money spent for?..

 

Well exactly. All I've heard about this system so far is that it's going to be a media center. If it's a PC that'll play HD films and then be used as a gaming PC as well, that's fine. If all it's doing is displaying multimedia then it's a colossal waste of money.

 

@sam
I got a Corsair 450VX for my HTCP...I am Completely Impressed with it...Dead Quiet...
I kind of Wish I got the 550VX...but...I do not think I will actually need the extra juice...
If it really is a Media Server...then the Raptors are a waste...Raptors are for OCing...and Gaming Only Machines...Not for Media Servers...

 

On that one I agree. About the VX, the fan speed rises far earlier than the HX units. If it's still dead silent, then you must be drawing less than 250W, in which case I wouldn't worry about having the lower-end model!

 

The noise level looks pretty flat to me till almost 400wts...
http://www.corsairmemory.com/_images/charts/vx450w_noise.jpg

 

Because of companies like Thermaltake, I trust independent reviews far more than company specifications. As it turns out, the HX series produce 22dB of noise from any load up to 350W, where it then sharply increased to reach around 45dB at 500W. The VX series starts ramping up above around 200-250W, and reaches the same 45dB noise level at around the 400W mark.