| Windows 7: New Build..Look OK? |
25 May 2010
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#1 | | |
New Build..Look OK? I am running Win XP on a home-built machine that was put together ~ '02 or '03. It has served me well over the years, but I am now ready to move on to Windows 7. I have selected the following components and would like any suggestions on what should be changed, if anything. This will be my home/office PC. I do no gaming, but do some image editing in Photoshop and occasionally a video edit. Most of the usage of this PC will be Internet based apps that I use for work, MS Office, general internet surfing, and music storage. Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield ASUS P6X58D Premium OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 Intel X25-M Mainstream SSD (For System Drive) XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA (For Storage Drive) CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX Power Supply
Your thoughts? Anything you recommend should be changed?
Thanks All!! | My System Specs |
| System Manufacturer/Model Number bh4mr1ck System 2.20 OS Win XP SP3 CPU AMD Athlon XP Motherboard Abit NF7-S Memory 1Gig Kingston Graphics Card ATI Radeon 9600 Sound Card Creative Soundblaster Audigy2 ZS Monitor(s) Displays Cheapo Dell 17" LCD Other Info Built this PC in 2003, and it has served me very well since then. I feel its time to build a new system, so that is what brought me here. |
25 May 2010
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#2 | | Win 8 Release candidate 8400 |
Sensible choices, bit of overkill for what you are going to use it. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number HP Pavillion dv-7 1005 Tx OS Win 8 Release candidate 8400 CPU 2@2.4 Memory 4 gigs Graphics Card Nvidia 9600M Sound Card HD built-in Monitor(s) Displays 17" Wxga Screen Resolution 1440x900 Cooling none Internet Speed 45Mb down 5Mb up |
25 May 2010
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#3 | | Windows 8 Professional x64 Morecambe, Lancashire, England |
It's a nice build, but like what zigzag said, it's a bit much for what you're planning on using it for.
However, if you're happy to buy it, then go for it. | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Built OS Windows 8 Professional x64 CPU Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition 3.2GHz Motherboard ASUS Sabertooth x58 Memory 12GB Corsair Dominator 1600MHz Graphics Card Zotac Nvidia Geforce GTX470 Sound Card ASUS Xonar DX/XD 7.1 Monitor(s) Displays Dell 24" S2409W + Dell 20" E207WFP Screen Resolution 1920x1080 + 1680x1050 Keyboard Logitech G11 Keyboard Mouse Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (2007 edition) PSU Corsair HX850 modular Case Coolermaster 690II Advanced Nvidia Edition Cooling Corsair H60 Hard Drives 1x 120GB OCZ Agility 3, 1x 750GB Western Digital Caviar Black, 1x 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue Internet Speed 20Mbps Antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials Browser Google Chrome Other Info LG Blu-Ray player |
25 May 2010
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#4 | | |
I'll agree with both of you, but I want solid performance no matter what I am using it for. Same with my current build; when I built it, it was probably overkill. I also look at a systems longevity factor as well as performance. My current build has lasted me 7 years, and still performs considerably better than most "factory" built PC's just a few years old, at least those I have had first hand experience with.
Thank you both for the input. I'm sure I will have more questions once the build actually begins! | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number bh4mr1ck System 2.20 OS Win XP SP3 CPU AMD Athlon XP Motherboard Abit NF7-S Memory 1Gig Kingston Graphics Card ATI Radeon 9600 Sound Card Creative Soundblaster Audigy2 ZS Monitor(s) Displays Cheapo Dell 17" LCD Other Info Built this PC in 2003, and it has served me very well since then. I feel its time to build a new system, so that is what brought me here. |
26 May 2010
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#5 | | Dual boot XP Pro SP3x86 and Win7 Pro x64 New Mexico |
Obviously a tongue in cheek post since the capability of the components far exceed the need. But hey, build what you want for your reasons: who cares what "they" (including me) think. Obviously you don't because your response to sound observations was thanks but no thanks. Enjoy your build.
Monk
P.S. A seven year-old machine was outdated 6 years ago. Fact is, you did not need the upgrades. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Dual boot XP Pro SP3x86 and Win7 Pro x64 CPU AMD Phenom II x3 720 BE OCed to 3.3 GHz Motherboard Asus M3A79T Deluxe Memory 2x2GB OCZ OCZ2RPR10664GK PC2-8500 DDR2 Graphics Card Sapphire ATi Radeon 4830 HD x2 (XFire) Sound Card Integrated (SoundMax) Monitor(s) Displays Dual: LG L227WTG/LG M237WD Screen Resolution 1680 x 1050; 1920 x1280 Keyboard Black with lots of keys Mouse Razer Lachesis, Logitech RumbePad2, Logitech Marble PSU Zalman 750HD Modular Case Antec 900 Cooling 4 120mm, 1 200mm fans Hard Drives 3 WDC WD7501AALS-00J7B0 Internet Speed Who counts Other Info 7:1 SS |
26 May 2010
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#6 | | |

Quote: Originally Posted by HMonk Obviously a tongue in cheek post since the capability of the components far exceed the need. But hey, build what you want for your reasons: who cares what "they" (including me) think. Obviously you don't because your response to sound observations was thanks but no thanks. Enjoy your build.
Monk
P.S. A seven year-old machine was outdated 6 years ago. Fact is, you did not need the upgrades. Not tongue-in-cheek at all. I probably should have been more clear. What I was actually looking for was any hardware incompatibilities, or if anyone had any experience with any of the components that I may should steer clear of.
I agree with the very sound observations, that this build, for what I use it for, will be more than necessary. I could get by with much less. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number bh4mr1ck System 2.20 OS Win XP SP3 CPU AMD Athlon XP Motherboard Abit NF7-S Memory 1Gig Kingston Graphics Card ATI Radeon 9600 Sound Card Creative Soundblaster Audigy2 ZS Monitor(s) Displays Cheapo Dell 17" LCD Other Info Built this PC in 2003, and it has served me very well since then. I feel its time to build a new system, so that is what brought me here. |
26 May 2010
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#7 | | |
Whole build looks fine except for 2 things,
Drop the 4890 and take a 5770 (Almost as fast+less power consumption+cheaper+directx 11 for maybe a newer windows)
Drop the 640 gb hdd and take a 1TB instead, never can go wrong with more hdd space.
Last edited by SuperSonicz; 26 May 2010 at 05:17 PM..
| My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Me OS Win7 Ultimate 64bit CPU Intel 5 750 @ 4,4ghz 24/7 Motherboard Asus P7P55d Memory Corsair Dominator 1600 Graphics Card Asus 5850 @ 950/1200 Case Cooler Master Stacker 830 Cooling 8x 120mm Case-fans | Cpu cooled by Corsair H50 WC Hard Drives Intel X25-V Boot-Disk
3x 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 Internet Speed 120mbit |
26 May 2010
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#8 | | Windows Se7en Ultimate x64 Bremerton, WA |
Far as compatibility goes, you're fine. I'd add an x-fi sound card though.. but that's me not being a fan of on-board audio. Also, you can buy the i7-920, bump it up to 2.8ghz even with the stock heatsink and save like $10 or so. Btw, I have that very same SSD, and it's amazing. Thinking about buying a second to raid 0 it. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom rig OS Windows Se7en Ultimate x64 CPU i7-920 2.66ghz @ 4.4ghz Motherboard Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Memory Corsair Vengeance 12gb@1600 (3x4gb) DDR3 PC3 12800 Graphics Card BFG GTX 295 (stock speed for now) Sound Card Creative SB Titanium Fatal1ty 7.1 w/IO Drive Bay Monitor(s) Displays 2x Hanns-G 28'' HDMI Screen Resolution 1920x1200 Keyboard Logitech G15 Mouse Razer Lachesis PSU BFG 1200w Case Antec Lanboy (Red) Cooling Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Heatsink, 6x120mm case fans Hard Drives 1x80gb X25-M G2 SSD Kingston (OS)
2x300gb VelociRaptors (Raid 0)
1x1TB WD Caviar Black (Data)
Misc Ext USB HDD's.. total 1TB'ish Internet Speed 18mb/2mb Other Info Z-5500 5.1 Logitech Speakers |
26 May 2010
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#9 | | Dual boot XP Pro SP3x86 and Win7 Pro x64 New Mexico |

Quote: Originally Posted by bh4mr1ck 
Quote: Originally Posted by HMonk Obviously a tongue in cheek post since the capability of the components far exceed the need. But hey, build what you want for your reasons: who cares what "they" (including me) think. Obviously you don't because your response to sound observations was thanks but no thanks. Enjoy your build.
Monk
P.S. A seven year-old machine was outdated 6 years ago. Fact is, you did not need the upgrades. Not tongue-in-cheek at all. I probably should have been more clear. What I was actually looking for was any hardware incompatibilities, or if anyone had any experience with any of the components that I may should steer clear of.
I agree with the very sound observations, that this build, for what I use it for, will be more than necessary. I could get by with much less. My apologies: I missed the thrust of your original post. All looks very good to me but I would carry Supersonicz suggestion one step further. An SATA HDD costs $0.10 per GB: that's cheap storage. For example, at Amazon, a WD 640GB Black is $70 (the 750 at Amazon is only $4 more than the 640 by the way - don't know what Newegg wants); the 1TB black $100. If it were me, however, I would get two 640s (or spend an extra $8 and get two 750s).
Why? Depending on your apps, your 80GB SSD is not going to have a lot of extra storage space. If you notice my specs, I have three WD 7501AALS Black HDDs. On each HDD I created a partition for image backups only. Image backups for HDD 0 are placed on HDD 1; HDD 1 backups are placed on HDD 2; HDD 2 backups are placed on HDD 0. By so doing, I always have two copies of my data (working + backup) on different HDDs. So if one HDD bricks, I have instant access to my data. If the HDD bricks and my working and backup files are on the same HDD, I lose everything.
As an alternative, you could place backups on optical media but beware: it degrades in time. Moreover, you can get read-write errors even if your burning app verifies the burn. Regardless, even with a dual-layer ODD, you are burning forever over many discs. A good alternative is an external HDD or flash memory, although if you have a lot of data to backup an external HDD would be far better than flash mem. (I use a 30GB flash stick to store supercritical docs away from my machine in case of fire.)
So, with the one 80GB SSD and the other 640GB HDD, I was wondering where you would place image backups which are going to run approximately 25-35GB/100GB partition?
Re gfx card: the 4890 v. 5770 argument rages on the Net for various reasons. The 5770 requires less power thus produces less heat, is DX11 capable, and a smaller card. But, it is about 20% slower than the 4890 and, from a gaming gfx standpoint, the 4890 yields better gfx (to many of us). It appears that the 5770 is a hurry-and-get-a-DX11-card to market product, i.e., very low-end DX11, sort to speak. Forecasts anticipate greater strides later this year so I would wait - OR - consider creating a hummer with two 4890s in an XFire array. (I run two 4830s in XFire: nice) In any event, if DX11 is a must then the 4890 is not a consideration. If you are not familiar with the differences between DX 9,10, and 11, I would suggest you do a little research and decide what's best for your needs, mindful of what's forecast to come in the immediate future. If you are one to build a machine and be content with it for many years, waiting a bit on up-coming gfx improvements might be worthwhile.
Hope this helps.
Monk | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Dual boot XP Pro SP3x86 and Win7 Pro x64 CPU AMD Phenom II x3 720 BE OCed to 3.3 GHz Motherboard Asus M3A79T Deluxe Memory 2x2GB OCZ OCZ2RPR10664GK PC2-8500 DDR2 Graphics Card Sapphire ATi Radeon 4830 HD x2 (XFire) Sound Card Integrated (SoundMax) Monitor(s) Displays Dual: LG L227WTG/LG M237WD Screen Resolution 1680 x 1050; 1920 x1280 Keyboard Black with lots of keys Mouse Razer Lachesis, Logitech RumbePad2, Logitech Marble PSU Zalman 750HD Modular Case Antec 900 Cooling 4 120mm, 1 200mm fans Hard Drives 3 WDC WD7501AALS-00J7B0 Internet Speed Who counts Other Info 7:1 SS |
27 May 2010
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#10 | | |
In his first post, he said he doesn't play games. For that reason I stated he's better of going with the 5770 instead of 4890.
When not gaming, the small performance difference between those two gpu's is not important, while the 5770 having DirectX 11(longevity), being cheaper, runs cooler and consumes less power is.
For gaming though I prefer a 4890 as well, still have my old 4890 lying around. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Me OS Win7 Ultimate 64bit CPU Intel 5 750 @ 4,4ghz 24/7 Motherboard Asus P7P55d Memory Corsair Dominator 1600 Graphics Card Asus 5850 @ 950/1200 Case Cooler Master Stacker 830 Cooling 8x 120mm Case-fans | Cpu cooled by Corsair H50 WC Hard Drives Intel X25-V Boot-Disk
3x 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 Internet Speed 120mbit New Build..Look OK? problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:57 PM. | |