I configured a custom build based on AMD on a budget of around £1k, as follows:
Processor (CPU): AMD FX-6300 Six Core CPU (3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Case: CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ AIR 540 GAMING CASE
Motherboard: ASUS® M5A97 LE R2.0 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM): 8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: 2GB AMD RADEON™ R9 270X - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
1st Hard Disk: 500GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD5000HHTZ, SATA 6-Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 8x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)
Processor Cooling: Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£59)
Thermal Paste: ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card: ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking: 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options: MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Price: exactly £1,000!
But there are warning messages in relation to three things:
1. They want to know if I want OS installed on primary disk or on an internal PCI SSD. I had not even selected a PCI SSD device!
2. The motherboard I have chosen does not have a USB3.0 header... the front ports on my case will be inactive.
3. Suggested power supply rating of 450W...
Points 2 and 3 are moot, as long as I have USB3.0 somewhere, and the PSU is the quietest I can buy. I chose this case simply because of it's physical proportions allows it to fit on my desk without protruding into the space I need for keyboard, mouse, notebook PC, food drink etc..
But on point 1: I'm new to this technology, although I use a notebook pc that uses a SATA SSD and I had noticed significant speed advantages on start-up, I am concerned about the lifetime prospect of multiple writes to Flash.
Apparently the PCI-e speed is significantly higher again, so for fast resets, I guess it's worth investing the extra money, but I was not expecting this at all.
Price: now £1,290 for the ASUS RAIDR
So... is it back to the drawing board to back down to quad-core CPU and cheaper cooling solutions?
Or is this really worth the extra expense, considering I stayed clear of the 8-core CPU and R9-290x Radeon for budget reasons?
Processor (CPU): AMD FX-6300 Six Core CPU (3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Case: CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ AIR 540 GAMING CASE
Motherboard: ASUS® M5A97 LE R2.0 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM): 8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: 2GB AMD RADEON™ R9 270X - DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
1st Hard Disk: 500GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD5000HHTZ, SATA 6-Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 8x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)
Processor Cooling: Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£59)
Thermal Paste: ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card: ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking: 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options: MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Price: exactly £1,000!
But there are warning messages in relation to three things:
1. They want to know if I want OS installed on primary disk or on an internal PCI SSD. I had not even selected a PCI SSD device!
2. The motherboard I have chosen does not have a USB3.0 header... the front ports on my case will be inactive.
3. Suggested power supply rating of 450W...
Points 2 and 3 are moot, as long as I have USB3.0 somewhere, and the PSU is the quietest I can buy. I chose this case simply because of it's physical proportions allows it to fit on my desk without protruding into the space I need for keyboard, mouse, notebook PC, food drink etc..
But on point 1: I'm new to this technology, although I use a notebook pc that uses a SATA SSD and I had noticed significant speed advantages on start-up, I am concerned about the lifetime prospect of multiple writes to Flash.
Apparently the PCI-e speed is significantly higher again, so for fast resets, I guess it's worth investing the extra money, but I was not expecting this at all.
Price: now £1,290 for the ASUS RAIDR
So... is it back to the drawing board to back down to quad-core CPU and cheaper cooling solutions?
Or is this really worth the extra expense, considering I stayed clear of the 8-core CPU and R9-290x Radeon for budget reasons?