New Build

[stephen]

This is the new build I'm considering, any input would be appreciated.

Case
COOLERMASTER COSMOS 1000 SILVER SILENT CASE
Overclocked CPU
OverClocked Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz @ max 3.8GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® RAMPAGE III EXTREME: 3-Way SLI & CrossFireX, SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
6GB KINGSTON HYPER-X T1 TRI-DDR3 2000MHz, X.M.P (3 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
3rd Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
RAID
RAID 0 (STRIPED VOLUME - 2 x same size & model HDD / SSD) (£9)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£90)
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W PRO SERIES (HX1000) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£175)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£105)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Gamer (£59)
Network Facilities
Bigfoot Killer 2100 PCI-E Gigabit LAN Card - Max Performance Online Gaming (£69)
USB Options
NZXT INTERNAL USB HEADER (4 Additional Powered Internal USB Ports) (£18)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,457.00 including VAT and delivery.

Thank you

 

[PCS]

Welcome to our forums

Great spec. A couple of points however:

1. You should select the 120GB SSD as your primary drive, and the RAID configuration as your second and third drives. The SSD drive will out-perform the RAID configuration.

2. We don't recommend RAID 0, because is increases the risk of data loss should the RAID array become corrupt or a single hard drive fail.

3. The 12x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW can do everything, including copying from disc to disc, and therefore you don't need the second optical drive.

4. Consider configuring a PC with Intel's new 2nd generation Sandy Bridge processors, because they are faster than the i7-950 configuration you have put together here. You can configure this here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/ or the overclocked version here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-1155-overclocked/

 

[stephen]

Thank you for your input.

I only set the RAID as primary drive as I could not get the two WD blacks otherwise, the site would not show WD Black as a option.
I put two optical drives in so I can write on the fly and so I don't have to keep swaping discs out (lazy, lol).
I will look at the Sandy Bridge Processors,

Thanks

 

[PCS]

Thank you for your input.

I only set the RAID as primary drive as I could not get the two WD blacks otherwise, the site would not show WD Black as a option.
I put two optical drives in so I can write on the fly and so I don't have to keep swaping discs out (lazy, lol).
I will look at the Sandy Bridge Processors, Thanks

Fair enough about the RAID and ODD's. FYI you can order up to 4 x Black WD drives on the Sandy Bridge systems, as they support up for 4 SATA 6GB/s drives.

 

[stephen]

I have had a quick look at the Sandy Bridge Processors.
Just a couple of questions.
1. Is it worth having this chip if you are not going to use the GPU on it?
2. How much difference would using this chip have on performance?

 

[PCS]

1. Yes, as the CPU performance is still much better than the i7-950.

2. Here's a link to some CPU benchmarks: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html - as you can see both the i5-2500 and i7-2600 out-perform the i7-950.

 

[stephen]

Thank you for your help.

Can you see anything else that might need tinkering with?

 

[PCS]

Other than my points above, the rest tooks good to go.

 

[stephen]

This is the new version of this build any comments would be very welcome.

COOLERMASTER COSMOS 1000 SILVER SILENT CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH P67: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR!
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X T1 DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz, X.M.P (4 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
3rd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
RAID
RAID 0 (STRIPED VOLUME - 2 x same size & model HDD / SSD) (£9)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£90)
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W PRO SERIES (HX1000) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£175)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£105)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Gamer (£59)
Network Facilities
Bigfoot Killer 2100 PCI-E Gigabit LAN Card - Max Performance Online Gaming (£69)
USB Options
NZXT INTERNAL USB HEADER (4 Additional Powered Internal USB Ports) (£18)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,438.00 including VAT and delivery.

Thanks

 

[Meds]

The final comment I'd make is on the RAM. You haven't selected an overclocked CPU, so you probably won't need the 2133MHz RAM, you'd be better off with Samsung 1333Mhz or Kingston 1600MHz.