New Media / Gaming Rig

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AmooMan

307 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#58969 24-Mar-2010 03:39

I need a little guidance with my new Desktop build.

My Goal...

To have a Mid sized tower that can be connected to my 42" TV via HDMI running at 1080P.
Will be used to play games ( Dirt2, C&C4 ect..) watch movies, surf net , facebook, email ect...
I already have a PS3 hooked upto TV so don't need a blu-ray Rom.. But I might put a TV Tuner card in PC later on..

A few things to keep in mind.. I'm into saving energy so low watt gear is great. Im also trying to keep the cost down but I know I will be looking at $1500 - $2000

What I have in mind:

Case: - Thermaltake V3 Black Edition with 450W PSU ( I have already bought this )
CPU: - Intel i5 - 750
RAM: - G.Skill ECO F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO (2x2GB) DDR3
Mobo: - ASUS P7P55D-E Motherboard
Graphics: PowerColor Radeon HD5850 PCS+ 1GB
HDD 1: - ** ( Not sure... I would like to try a 40 - 64 GB SSD drive.. but dont know what is good )
HDD 2: - Seagate 1TB 3.5" ( Already own )
HDD 3: - Seagate 1TB 3.5" ( Already own )
Optical: Lite-On IHAS324 24x DVDRW Black
CPU Fan: - CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 (cheap but sounds like it will do the job)
Case Fans: 3 x 120mm low rpm case fans
OS: Windows 7 64bit Pro OEM

Really interest in what people think about my choices and if any one has any recommendations on a good SSD that would be great.

nziced

23 posts

Geek

#310509 24-Mar-2010 07:52

Just thought I would add, you will be putting the 450w PSU under a lot of stress. With 3 HDD, 3 fans, a power consuming MOBO and a decent graphics card, you may want to increase that to 550w

I had a:
ASUS P5N-E Sli MOBO
E8400 C2D CPU
2 x 2GB Crucial Ballistix RAM
8800GTS XXX 640mb Video Card
250 GB Seagate Barracuda
500 GB Seagate Barracuda
DVD Drive
etc,etc...

and this was running on a Silverstone 500w and that only lasted 8 months before that shot itself. This was about 3 years ago though and hardware has only become more power consuming since then.

AmooMan

307 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#310682 24-Mar-2010 12:30

Thanks for reply

Think Ill drop off one of the 1 TB Hard Drives for the time being.. and also leave out one of the fans. Ill give it ago with the 450w... it came free with the case.. dont really want to buy another PSU just yet... but if it blows up then Ill have to :)

nziced

23 posts

Geek

#310761 24-Mar-2010 14:35

I'll try to find the PSU guide that I used a while ago, basically it gave a pretty fair estimation of the power requirements of the selected components if you can't be bothered gathering all the info yourself (yours are all quite modern so will be in the lists) and recommends a PSU wattage for your hardware.

AmooMan

307 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#310773 24-Mar-2010 14:56

I found this website a few weeks ago...

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

I have filled it all out and here is the read out.. at peak 100% load

Recommended Minimum
PSU Wattage: *
Power Supply Wattage Results

If that website is correct I should be fine with 450w PSU that came with my case..

nziced

23 posts

Geek

#310775 24-Mar-2010 14:58

That's good :)

I just hope it took into consideration cpu load, GPU load, RAM fans etc :-) All going full boar when playing games like crysis.

That's if you play games that will push ya GPU

AmooMan

307 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#310779 24-Mar-2010 15:04

Yup :) Ill sure be playing all thos games :) I have ALOT to catch up on.. as havnt had a good PC for 12months...

I think its fairly accurate as I have been looking at a few reviews on video cards ect.. and all the reviewers test system total peak watt useage are about 310 - 340 watts.. The It seems the Intel i5 750 and ATI 5850 are energy efficient.

So any ideas on what SSD I should get ???

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Ragnor

8279 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 585

Trusted

#310785 24-Mar-2010 15:22

Page 3 of this article gives a good guide, check out the earlier pages (1 & 3) via the dropdown at the bottom of the page for specs and details most notably what controller chipset various models are using.
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=736&type=expert&pid=3

Basically you want avoid anything with a JMicron controller or 1st generation samsung controller. Indilinix, Intel and Sandforce controller chipsets perform well.

samwooff

219 posts

Master Geek

#311442 25-Mar-2010 21:01

That looks like a pretty sweet rig.

When it comes to SSDs intels SLC line is the best but unfortunately a tad pricey... try $2,000 for 64GB...
Corsair, kingston and intel all make more affordable MLC drives but they won't quite have the same performance that the best SSDs have been famous for.
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=9857
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=11799

That power supply though... Although at peak that graphics card won't use more than about 300w that is probably without the CPU at full load. With a power supply you never want to be running close to it's peak as it gives overhead for capacitor aging, overclocking etc and a nice safety factor (ati reccommends 500w fyi).

The other issues are; does it have enough connectors for all those hard drives and can it supply enough current to run that graphics card I'm not sure what the 5850 needs but it'd probably be over 30A.

Heres ati's list of power supplies that are certified for certain cards if you wanna go for the sure thing.

Desktop: i7 920, GTX 275, asus P6T, antec 1200, 6gb ram, 1tb spinpoint f1, 1tb spinpoint f3, Logitech Z2300, Zero DAC, Shure SRH440
Laptop: Toshiba satellite, T5300, Go 7300
Home Theatre: 32" loewe CRT, Harmon kardon amp, dvd player, image 418 speakers, rega planar 25 turntable :)

AmooMan

307 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#313287 31-Mar-2010 00:51

Thanks for everyones reply.. I have reviewed my options and had change my system to:

Case: - Thermaltake V3 Black Edition with 450W PSU ( I have already bought this )
PSU: - *new* Thermaltake ToughPower XT 675w PSU
CPU: - Intel i5 - 750
RAM: - G.Skill ECO F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO (2x2GB) DDR3
Mobo: - ASUS P7P55D-E Motherboard
Graphics: Sapphire Radeon HD5850 Vapor-X 1GB or Gigabyte Radeon HD5850 Overclocked Edition 1GB ( not sure what one to get... lol )
HDD 1: - Seagate 1TB 3.5" ( Already own )what is good )
HDD 2: - ** Future upgrade... Looks like things are starting to heat up in the SSD market with the new Sandforce controller just coming out... so will wait 6months then get one..
Optical: Lite-On IHAS324 24x DVDRW Black
CPU Fan: - Thermaltake SpinQ VT CPU Cooler... looks really cool..
Case Fans: 3 x 120mm low rpm case fans
OS: Windows 7 64bit Pro OEM

I was going to return my case.. but after having another good look at it.. I think its a really good case... only 2 downs sides that I can note.. 1- no cable management.. 2- only 1x120mm front intake fan.

Again any ideas on my build please feel free to post :) thanks