Check my performance "budget" build

[roaming_builder]

Hello everyone,

It has been a long time since I have posted here. I am going to build a computer for my father and just wanted a little validation on the build. He is kind of a jack of all trades on the computer, but he does a lot of video editing and graphical rendering. We are trying to put together something that is quality per performance. The budget is not the main deciding factor, but no point trying to get ahead of the performance vs cost curve. He has had really bad luck with the computers he has bought in the past, HP's mostly, and has always bought the pre-fabbed budget builds at walmart and best buy, so I want to build him a quality one that he will not have to worry about.

This is what I have so far:

Case: LIAN LI PC-A70F Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case


Mobo: ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard


Processor: Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80605I5760


GPU: XFX GX260XADJC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


RAM: "Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3B1K2/4GX
"


HDD (X2 in RAID 1): Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive


PSU: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 Modular Active PFC Power Supply


OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM


JUSTIFICATION OF PARTS:
so you know where I am coming from.

We want to get him a good case that will be easy to upgrade and work with. He likes to tinker, so I wanted to get him one that is well built and is easy to get in and will not fall apart from being tinkered with.

The processor and mobo seemed like good choices. Performance vs cost. I would like to stick with an ASUS board. I have had great luck with them in the past. The i5 Proc seemed plenty fast. I wanted a true quad core, not a HT dual core (gimmick, mostly)

The RAM will start out at 4GB. That can be upgraded to 8 at a future time by adding another 2X2GB set (we will decide that after the build). I dont see him needing over 8 in the near future.

The GPU seemed like a good choice, but I do not kow much about any of them after the 9000 series. I like XFX and the lifetime warranty. I would like to stay with NVIDIA. Any suggestions here? He does not play too many games. He does play Civ V, but that is more processing intensive. I still want him to have more than he needs here.

The HDD's will be installed as a RAID 1 (mirroring). WE have both lost data on drives before. I know backup the important stuff. He wants RAID 1 since it is a little more passive. And, I have never lost a WD Black.

I also have other stuff on the build like floppy drive, card reader, optical....., but they are all pretty good now.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Or see any compatibility issues? The final price comes to around 1250 after adding all the extras.

Thanks in advance for any advice, I know there are alot of posts in here.

[roaming_builder]

Another thing that I was thinking about doing was installing a SSD for the OS and keeping the RAID 1 for the data-only.

I am just not sure that the reliability is there yet. Doe we know how long they will really last? I know that these drives are supposed to have a limited lifetime? Does anyone have any experience with them?

I was also thinking about putting one in my personal machine and dropping my OS's in there.

[David M]

Case: LIAN LI PC-A70F Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Nice case

Mobo: ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Perfect

Processor:Intel Core i5-760
For his purposes, I would go with a faster 1-7 870 processor. Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I7870
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GPU: XFX GX260XADJC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
XFX does not have a good reputation with the professional builders on this forum. Look at HIS, Evga, Diamond or Asus for graphics card brands. Video Card Rating

RAM: "Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3B1K2/4GX
"For his purposes, get 8 gigs of RAM. 1333, 1.5 volts would be better. Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M4A1333C9

HDD (X2 in RAID 1): Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Perfect

PSU: Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Good one. Corsair also makes good PSU's with 5 year warranties. A 650 watt PSU will allow you to run whichever single graphics card you choose, if you want a more powerful card now or in the future.

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Good choice, with 8 gigs of RAM you will need a 64 bit OS

[glc]

Don't even think about a GTX260. A GTX460 is a much better card and is the same price or even cheaper.

[roaming_builder]

Ok, thanks for the input. I have that spreadsheet at work so I will have to update it in the morning.

For the new GPU, I am looking at ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card. This brings my price up, which I am trying to avoid, but it looks like it will be worth it.

For the Processor. Is there any other benefit of upgrading to the second one over the .13 Ghz speed increase? If not I am not sure that it is worth an extra 80 bucks at this point. From the research that I have done, I cannot find any other differences. Feel free to correct me.

On the RAM, nice find. I like that set you recommended.

Tomorrow, I will repost my list and see if we need to make any more changes.

Again, thanks for the help!

[glc]

The i7 has hyperthreading, the i5 does not.

For your use, the 768mb version of the GTX460 would be plenty good.

Newegg.com - EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

[roaming_builder]

I will have to research the Hyperthreading a little more.

As far as I have been concerned, hyperthreading is a gimmick. That is also what I was taught in college. I will have to do a little more research into how that functions now. If it is still the same as the first Pentium 4's, I would turn it off anyway. Making the computer think that it has 8 is not going to make a diference, when it only has 4. I know that technology changes, so I could be speaking out of my hind end.

I am going to try to find some benchmarks for comparison.

[David M]

Because not all software is written to benefit from hyperthreading, does not make it a gimmick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading

[roaming_builder]

I was not referring to the lack of multi-threaded support in most applications. I am a programmer, and I understand that already.

My thoughts were more along the lines of how it is being handled internally. Imagine a fair, and you are waiting to get on a ride. Instead of having one line, they decide to split into 2 and people can get into either line. A true multi core system would have one ticket collector per line. This would allow as many people to enter (per whatever you want to call it ... "cycle"?), as there are ticket collectors. People can get on the ride faster.

What I have understood is that hyperthreading would be like having two lines with one ticket collector. The collector would have to alternate from line to line, collecting tickets when the next person is ready. Now this could be beneficial if one customer (thread) is trying to find their tickets (waiting on IO perhaps?), the next person could go from the other line. But it still remains that only one thread is executing on the processor at a time.

All that I have had experience with is that when I got my first Pentium 4, turning on HT had a noticably large negative impact, no matter what I was doing.

For example, the new P4 shares its on-board cache as needed, but it splits its write buffer resources in half--so a single-threaded application that once had access to all eight write buffers can now only use four, he explains. Two CPUs in One? - PCWorld

I am not hating on the technology by any means. I am just trying to understand whether or not it has gotten better. I should have probably worded that better and not called it a gimmick. When hyperthreading was first released, it seemed more market-hype than actual use for the average user.

[roaming_builder]

I have been reading up a little more on the HT including the link that you gave me David M. I will talk to my father and let him decide which proc he wants. I do appreciate the help.

[roaming_builder]

Ok I have new list for parts. I made a few changes to try to bring it as close to (or under) $1200. It is currently at 1217 including shipping. This is not ideal, but acceptable.

*edit*I just realized the formatting of this is crappy, i tried to copy the wish list from newegg. I will try to edit this later to make it look better. I wanted to show the items stats and prices, all of that.*edit*

[roaming_builder]

So that is my list.

The parts that I changed are the

1) Case -- I moved down to a lower priced Lian li case

2) Memory -- I wanted to get 8GB RAM if at all possible. This G.Skill is highly rated. Should I go with PC1600 since that is the highest on my Mobo? I know that David reccomended some good stuff above, but will this bring me down in performance? It does have a lifetime warranty, which I like.

3) GPU -- I went with the ASUS version of the card.

4) Processor -- I upgraded to the i7 that David recommended.

5) I added other misc items, floppy drive, memory card reader, brackets to mount them (since this case is all 5.25" ), ...


Do you think that this will perform well? the only thing that I am really concerned with is the memory. SInce I am already above the 1200 mark, I am trying not to increase it any more, and this is cheaper than the Corsair that David recommended. I think the rest should be fine.

[glc]

I removed the wish list. Please find a different way to post it. You can make it a public wish list and post a link to it. The preferred method is simply post links to each item.

This G.Skill is highly rated

I don't care HOW highly rated it is, we have had MULTIPLE members here who have had nothing but problems with it recently, ESPECIALLY with P55 chipsets. Stick with Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, or A-Data, they have had consistently good track records.

[roaming_builder]

Ok, I will look into other RAM.

I noticed above that David recommended PC1333 ram. Is there a benefit to buying that over PC1600?

LOL, a lot of the good things I am finding are out of stock...

[roaming_builder]

Ok, I might have actually found some good RAM. What do you guys think about this?

A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD3U1333B2G9-DRH


I have absolutely no experience with A-Data. And from what I have been reading, the difference between 1333 and 1600 is negligible unless you are overclocking, and we are not.

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by roaming_builder This G.Skill is highly rated. Should I go with PC1600 since that is the highest on my Mobo? I know that David reccomended some good stuff above, but will this bring me down in performance? It does have a lifetime warranty, which I like.

Not from this person. It was highly thought of here when I got mine, but wasn't right after. The computer in my sig had G Skill memory first. It cost me expense, time, trouble, aggravation etc. Do some searches online. I imagine you will find others. I know you will here and at Newegg.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Famous last words: Gee!.Scheisse!.kill!

[glc]

The A-Data ram will serve you very well. No point in 1600 speed unless you will be overclocking.

[roaming_builder]

Awesome. I am buying the parts now then.

As always, thank you for your help with this guys. Having that second set of eyes looking at this stuff makes me much more confident about making such a large purchase. Especially when it is someone elses money =)

[roaming_builder]

For any of you that care, here is a link to my public wish list containing all of the items that I will use in this build.

[quartet-man]

Lol @ Nuke.

[roaming_builder]

Aye, and he was right to do it. once i saw it, I did not have time to fix it, and I did not want to remove it. Meh.

The wishlist above has now been ordered, so I hope everything will turn out well. I will post more information on it after I finish it up.

[glc]

There's no floppy controller on the motherboard - if you need a floppy, you have to use external USB.

[roaming_builder]

Opps, guess that floppy drive will sit on the shelf.

[roaming_builder]

I know it is a month later, but I just wanted everyone to know that this computer was a blast to build, and it was impressively fast. We had to order an aftermarket cpu cooler, because the intel one was obviously taken off a jet engine.

I am actually building another one of these (not exactly, but very similar), for a friend. Thanks again for everyones help. My father is in love with his new computer.

Best Wishes, and a safe New Year,

-Michael a.k.a. "Roaming Builder".