Six-core calculations computer

[enhorning]

Hi,

I am wanting to buy a new computer to replace my old one which is rather slow and worn out. It will mainly be used for calculations, along with some occasional gaming (though I don't mind if I have to turn the graphics settings down a bit).

I am looking at the following specification. If possible, I would replace the case with the HAF-X, as discussed in the Case subforum. Any comments?

Here is your chosen specification...
Case COOLERMASTER CM STORM SNIPER - NEXT GEN GAMING CASE (£119)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-970 (3.20GHz) 6.4GTs/12MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM) 6GB CORSAIR XMS3 TRI-DDR3 1600MHz (3 X 2GB)
Graphics Card 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5770 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader NONE
Power Supply & Case Cooling CORSAIR 750W PSU (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET (£92)
Processor Cooling TITAN FENRIR EXTREME DIRECT TOUCH COPPER CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive NONE
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£110)
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Surge Protection Belkin 8-Socket 2M SurgeMaster with £175,000 Protection Warranty! (£18)
Home Installation NONE
Warranty 3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, Lifetime Tech Support) (£135)
Data Recovery NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity 1

[Meds]

Hi Enhorning,

The specification looks great! A couple things I have picked up on;

1. You have chosen two Bluray Drives - unless you plan to write from bluray disc to bluray disc I doubt you would ever need two bluray drives so you could perhaps switch one to a normal DVD Drive and save a little cash?
2. The HAF-X may be slightly more expensive than the CM Sniper so expect the final price to be a tad higher when you come to purchase it in the HAF-X.]

Apart from that, all looks good to me!

[enhorning]

No, it's two DVD-drives, no blue-ray drive at all. Didn't come across very clear when I copied and pasted it.

Yes, the Haf-X seems to be around £40 or so more than the Sniper, so I have taken that into account.

[Meds]

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

See where I went wrong, easy mistake!

[LDUK]

See where I went wrong, easy mistake!

Ha ha, I nearly made that mistake on someone elses Specs lol. Looks pretty good though! I wanted the Haf-X and would have got it if it was in the "Build" list. Ah well. I'll be alright with the 932.

[enhorning]

So... have been tinkering with my desired specification while (eagerly) waiting to get around to order the computer, and have adjusted it a bit as new products have been added to pcspecialist. (I also upped the powersupply to 850W, as it doesn't cost much more, and having a bit of margin for future upgrades never hurts.)

Some questions:

• Is there any reason to consider a more expensive motherboard? As far as I can tell, I would not have any benefits from one, as I am not planning on doing overclocking.
• I haven't heard of the Kingston HyperX memory before - are they a good and reliable brand?
• Reviews I've read say that the Nvidia GTX460 runs very cool and quiet - is this correct for whatever manufacturer pcspecialist is using? Or would I be better of sticking with the ATI HD 5770?
• Is the upgrade to the Coolit Eco 240 worth it? Is the Coolit much more quiet / cooler than the Titan Fenrir? I assume the HAF-X should have no problems fitting it.

Here is how my build looks now:
Case - COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE (£149)
Processor (CPU) - Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-970 (3.20GHz) 6.4GTs/12MB Cache
Motherboard - ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM) - 12GB KINGSTON HYPERX TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, INTEL X.M.P (6 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card - 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Free Item - FREE Just Cause 2 Game (RRP: £34.99) with any GTX 4xx Series GPU!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk - 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive - 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive - 10x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£59)
Power Supply & Case Cooling - CORSAIR 850W PSU (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET (£100)
Processor Cooling - COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£95)
Operating System - Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£108)
Surge Protection - Belkin 8-Socket 2M SurgeMaster with £175,000 Protection Warranty! (£18)
Warranty - 3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, Lifetime Tech Support) (£135)
Delivery - STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time - Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days

Price for this PC System: £2123 inc VAT and Delivery.

[steveuk87]

firstly kingston is a very reliabe RAM stick manufacturer and probebly one of the most stable! as for a motherboard theres no real need tbh!!

the 460 does run amazingly so yeah your sound, and when paired with the eco240 its going to be super cool and quiet for you! well worth the etxra costs!!

Awsome build tho!!

Steve

[PCS]

Hello enhorning

As steveuk87 has mentioned, Kingston is a huge player in the memory market, has 4,000 employees worldwide and 40.3% of the third-party worldwide DRAM module market share. Many more interesting facsts here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Technology - overall a very good quality memory and on the ASUS QVL (Qualified Vendor List).

There is no reason to consider a different, more expensive motherboard, unless you feel that the more expensive offering has features that would be a significant benefit to you. The P6X58D-E has many state-of-the-art benefits, such as USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0, so I would say this motherboard is a good choice.

The GTX460 is fast becoming the most popular graphics card that we sell and our models will run as per the Nvidia reference design with a better fan. I would recommend this card over the HD5770.

The HAF-X will accommodate the ECO 240, and the CoolIT coolers are a worthy investment over the Fenrir coolers for CPU temperature. As for the ECO 240 or standard version, the 240 has a larger radiator so will dissipate the heat better, keeping your computer cooler. However, if we fit this we will need to remove any fitted roof fans in the HAF-X.

[enhorning]

Thanks for your response.

The HAF-X will accommodate the ECO 240, and the CoolIT coolers are a worthy investment over the Fenrir coolers for CPU temperature. As for the ECO 240 or standard version, the 240 has a larger radiator so will dissipate the heat better, keeping your computer cooler. However, if we fit this we will need to remove any fitted roof fans in the HAF-X.

So, which would you recommend, both from a cooling and from a noise point of view? Go with the smaller model and keep the top fan (and save a bit of money)? Or get the larger Coolit, but lose the top fan?

My gut feeling would be to go for the larger cpu cooler, even if that means losing a case fan, as I will be running the cpu under full load a lot...

[PCS]

If you lose the top fan, you will get to keep the rear exhaust fan, so there should be minimal difference in terms of noise, but your CPU should be cooler. Either solution will be more than adequate, so it's your choice...

We've not benchmarked the two yet, perhaps if we get time Meds and Gorman will try this one day this week and post their results here.