any suggestions

[avalantek]

so ive been charged with building a computer to run some sign software...

they pretty much told me not to hold back... so i think 1500$ or so...

pretty much i dont think this thing will have to do more than photo editing.

it does have to work well though.

its going to run windows xp. because some of the software we need it to run only runs in xp.

and since i only have 32 bit xp... 3 gigs is the most ram i could put in. and i think somthing about dual channel blah blah... so im only getting 2 gigs... but maybe you can get 2 512 or somthing to at up.. some advice there would be cool i suppose.

im getting 2 7200 rpm drives... they seems reasonably fast. and i figure i can raid 0 thems and the computer should load pretty quick >.>

LG DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH24NS50 - OEM


Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

EVGA 512-P3-N973-TR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail

ZALMAN ZM600-HP 600W Continuous @ 45°C ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Modular ... - Retail


SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader w/ USB 2.0 Port supports SDHC/VISTA - Retail



G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-2GBHK - Retail



GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail


ZALMAN CNPS9900ALED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler - Retail



so if there are any glaring incompatibilitys... or if we think the whole i7 thing is overpriced trash... would be good to know.

thx

-joe-

[glc]

I think you are going about this in the wrong way. I'd be more than happy to help you do it right, but could you please post the exact software this is going to run? That is going to dictate component choice. I've speced out sign cutting machines before.

[avalantek]

ive been putting off building this thing because we still dont know what the software is going to be like.

its called Proline... it puts really mild transitions in between slides. i think photoshop puts more strain on the computer.

but my uncle just wants the fastest computer i can put together...

lately ive been using intel's chips.. so i figure i7... because that new fsb thing... or lack of fsb... sounds cool...

but when i say running sign software.. i mean for a led message center.. so the pictures it would be editing are like... 176x80 px...

im pretty sure my netbook could handle it. but like i said my uncle wants our tenants to see a big impressive and really fast computer when they come over to buy ad space.

so the specs will have little to do with what the software demands and more to do with being really fast and really reliable.

so im pretty sure what i have there would work fine... but im wondering if there is somthing im missing... because i have a tendancy to overlook obvious problems.

so i suppose... if somone were to tell you that money is no real object... (while keeping in mind this is not a gaming rig) what would you suggest i buy?

-joe-

[glc]

1. A case to your liking. If you like it, the Antec Sonata 3 500 comes with an excellent power supply.
2. Motherboard - Asus P7P55D-E
3. CPU - i7-860
4. RAM: Corsair, Kingston, Crucial, or G.skill 2x2gb dual channel kit of DDR3-1333 or DDR3-1600. Yes, you can install 4gb on XP 32 bit. Make sure the ram is on the Asus QVL for that board.
5. Radeon HD4670 from Asus, Diamond, or HIS. That 9800GT is a gaming card, ATI's are better for graphics, and you don't need an expensive card.
6. SATA DVD burner from LG, Lite-On, Asus, or Sony
7. Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive. FORGET RAID 0, use standalone drives. Simpler and less hazardous to your data, and the Black is considerably faster than the Blue. Maybe one drive for OS and apps and another drive for data, this can be a WD Green. If you get Photoshop, you will then want a 3rd drive for a scratch drive, a Blue is fine for that.
8. Antec Earthwatts EA-500D power supply (same as what comes in the Sonata case).

[avalantek]

why not get the new socket?

take advantage of the bloomfield 4.8 QT/s?.
or whatever...

[glc]

The performance difference is so slight you wouldn't notice, and the P55 platform is a lot more stable and build-friendly. The X58 actually came first and is oriented towards enthusiasts and tweakers - the 1156 is actually a "newer" socket and it's Intel's new mainstream platform.