I am simplifying my desktop operations, having recently moved to an ATOM-based rig for my 24x7 needs. My earlier desktop had two systems, one relatively light on power (integrated graphics) for 24x7 use but quick enough for browsing and the occasional heavier desktop task (say - recording music, transcoding music collections, watching HD and non-HD video etc) - and the other a gaming machine with relatively higher power and power usage. The general-use machine has an Athlon II 620 with a wheezing 880G board (it audibly wheezes) and the gaming machine has a 550BE unlocked to quad and overclocked, and a 4870x2. It roars. Quite literally, and not always in a nice way
Now with the Atom, I think I can go back to a one-system approach as the newer breed of hardware is relatively better on idle power usage and anyway I have a separate 24x7 download setup. Also my 4870x2 is showing signs of age - it works beautifully with everything I play currently, but on newer games I need to back off some eye candy, resolution or both. Note my monitor is a 30" 2560x1600, so graphics horsepower is critical. I have tentatively decided on a step-by-step approach so the first set of upgrades will be graphics, followed by ancillaries (power + case), and then platform.
Hopefully by then Bulldozer will launch and I can start deciding between Sandy/Ivy Bridge and it. The 990X is already a more feature-rich chipset than Z68, I guess it'll come down to performance versus price on the CPUs. Typically at my resolution most games (GTA4 - not!) are GPU-limited, not CPU-limited and my current CPUs seem to be doing OK. Not dying for a CPU upgrade just yet, what I need is lots of eye candy and a CPU that does not hold the setup back when I do make the move to better graphics.
Very quickly, I have two reasons for waiting for AMD. One is cooler compatibility, as either of my existing coolers is a direct fit with AM3+. The second is a richer feature set of which full 2 x16 PCIe slot is the most important given the extremely high graphics bandwidth required for my setup.
So the template below is basically attempting to merge two PCs into one. The third is an HTPC, which will remain as is. For now.
Q: What is your budget?
70-90K over a two-month period
Q: What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model) (Rig 1/Rig2)
CPU - AMD AthII x4 620/AMD PhenomII 550BE
Motherboard - Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/Gigabyte GA790X-UD4
GPU - Onboard/Palit Revolution R700
RAM - Corsair DDR3 1600 4G x 2/Crucial DDR2 800 2G x 2
Monitor - Dell 3008WFP
SMPS - Corsair VX450/Corsair TX750
Case - Antec Solo/NZXT Zero
Cooler - Coolermaster Gemini S/Sunbeam CCF
Networking - Belkin N USB dongle/Linksys G USB dongle
Lots of HDDs - about 12TB, plus 2 SSDs in RAID 0 plus a bunch of WD black single-platter drives
About fourteen keyboards and mice. Sure to keep one + one backup.
Nice sound setup(s). No help needed there
Q: Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
Monitor - Dell 3008WFP
SMPS - Corsair TX750 (Step 2 upgrade)
Case - NZXT Zero (Step 2 upgrade)
CPU - AMD Phenom II 550BE (Step 3 upgrade)
Board - GA790X-UD4 (Step 3 upgrade)
RAM - Corsair DDR3 1600 4G x 2 (as Step 3 upgrade), G.Skill Pi Black DDR2 800 (discarded at step 3 upgrade)
All my hard disks and SSDs
Q: Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
Step 1 upgrade: Graphics - 30k max (now!)
GPU - AMD 6950 2GB x 2, Crossfire, OC to 6970 speeds. Problem is no one seems to have these in stock and those who do are charging the earth).
Networking - PCi-E network adapter, 300mbps (ordered and on the way).
Step 2 upgrade: Ancillaries - 20-25k (end-Sep)
Case - Corsair 600T, Antec P193 or similar - around 10-12K. Really looking for good suggestions, need to have a relatively quiet case so the macho-aggro Coolermaster HAFs are out of contention.
Power supply - Seasonic X-850 or similar. Don't want a CWT-built supply like HX750/850. AX is slightly expensive for what you get, and the X850 is basically the same supply with lesser warranty.
Step 3 upgrade: Core platform - 25-28k (mid-Oct)
CPU - i5 2500k/AMD equivalent
Board - P67/Z68 board/Gigabyte 990X-UD5.
I have a wishlist for the board. It needs to have:
At least one free PCI slot for a soundcard after fitting two 2-slot cards, and one that doesn't run too hot.
At least one PCI-e slot for my wireless card.
At least one more free slot after all of the above, for future peripheral expansion (say, a Revodrive).
Firewire. Compulsory.
E-Sata. Optional.
Digital output with Dolby Encoding or DTS encoding for surround gaming in legacy, non-dolby games. Currently only supported on Gigabyte boards with the ALC889 chip, so kind of limited to that brand for now.
Already have 8GB of DDR3 memory.
Q: Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
As above
Q: Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
Wherever I can find it - specific components seem hard to get
Open to online purchase - Yes! Maybe not for the heavier ancillaries but everything else is OK.
Q: Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
Yes. It would depend on who was selling and the reasons for sale.
Q: What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
Gaming
Browsing
Desktop Processing
Sound editing, mixing and transcoding
Watching HD movies
Q: Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
Do not want to buy Asus product as I heard the after sales service in India is pathetic - this is the first time a template has been clairvoyant
I wouldn't mind buying Asus though if the service in North India is better than what I experienced in Calcutta. Not sure. What does the public feel?
Q: If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
All driving/racing games ever released and to be released, mostly.
Sometimes I also play shooters and RPGs, specifically:
Oblivion
GTA3, VC and 4
Deus EX: HR
+ lots of legacy games, I'm 40 and I play a lot of games from when some people here weren't born
Q: What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
Gaming - 2560x1600, may back resolution off to 1920x1200 but never lower than that
Desktop - 2560x1600
Q: Are you looking to overclock?
Yes. Looking for advice on cooler as well, if I have to migrate to Intel will need a new cooler. Air/Water is OK.
Q: Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
Windows 7 64 bit
Right. Now let me have it.
Also, watch out for the mother of all sales (not counting Udit's) coming soon.
Now with the Atom, I think I can go back to a one-system approach as the newer breed of hardware is relatively better on idle power usage and anyway I have a separate 24x7 download setup. Also my 4870x2 is showing signs of age - it works beautifully with everything I play currently, but on newer games I need to back off some eye candy, resolution or both. Note my monitor is a 30" 2560x1600, so graphics horsepower is critical. I have tentatively decided on a step-by-step approach so the first set of upgrades will be graphics, followed by ancillaries (power + case), and then platform.
Hopefully by then Bulldozer will launch and I can start deciding between Sandy/Ivy Bridge and it. The 990X is already a more feature-rich chipset than Z68, I guess it'll come down to performance versus price on the CPUs. Typically at my resolution most games (GTA4 - not!) are GPU-limited, not CPU-limited and my current CPUs seem to be doing OK. Not dying for a CPU upgrade just yet, what I need is lots of eye candy and a CPU that does not hold the setup back when I do make the move to better graphics.
Very quickly, I have two reasons for waiting for AMD. One is cooler compatibility, as either of my existing coolers is a direct fit with AM3+. The second is a richer feature set of which full 2 x16 PCIe slot is the most important given the extremely high graphics bandwidth required for my setup.
So the template below is basically attempting to merge two PCs into one. The third is an HTPC, which will remain as is. For now.
Q: What is your budget?
70-90K over a two-month period
Q: What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model) (Rig 1/Rig2)
CPU - AMD AthII x4 620/AMD PhenomII 550BE
Motherboard - Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/Gigabyte GA790X-UD4
GPU - Onboard/Palit Revolution R700
RAM - Corsair DDR3 1600 4G x 2/Crucial DDR2 800 2G x 2
Monitor - Dell 3008WFP
SMPS - Corsair VX450/Corsair TX750
Case - Antec Solo/NZXT Zero
Cooler - Coolermaster Gemini S/Sunbeam CCF
Networking - Belkin N USB dongle/Linksys G USB dongle
Lots of HDDs - about 12TB, plus 2 SSDs in RAID 0 plus a bunch of WD black single-platter drives
About fourteen keyboards and mice. Sure to keep one + one backup.
Nice sound setup(s). No help needed there
Q: Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
Monitor - Dell 3008WFP
SMPS - Corsair TX750 (Step 2 upgrade)
Case - NZXT Zero (Step 2 upgrade)
CPU - AMD Phenom II 550BE (Step 3 upgrade)
Board - GA790X-UD4 (Step 3 upgrade)
RAM - Corsair DDR3 1600 4G x 2 (as Step 3 upgrade), G.Skill Pi Black DDR2 800 (discarded at step 3 upgrade)
All my hard disks and SSDs
Q: Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
Step 1 upgrade: Graphics - 30k max (now!)
GPU - AMD 6950 2GB x 2, Crossfire, OC to 6970 speeds. Problem is no one seems to have these in stock and those who do are charging the earth).
Networking - PCi-E network adapter, 300mbps (ordered and on the way).
Step 2 upgrade: Ancillaries - 20-25k (end-Sep)
Case - Corsair 600T, Antec P193 or similar - around 10-12K. Really looking for good suggestions, need to have a relatively quiet case so the macho-aggro Coolermaster HAFs are out of contention.
Power supply - Seasonic X-850 or similar. Don't want a CWT-built supply like HX750/850. AX is slightly expensive for what you get, and the X850 is basically the same supply with lesser warranty.
Step 3 upgrade: Core platform - 25-28k (mid-Oct)
CPU - i5 2500k/AMD equivalent
Board - P67/Z68 board/Gigabyte 990X-UD5.
I have a wishlist for the board. It needs to have:
At least one free PCI slot for a soundcard after fitting two 2-slot cards, and one that doesn't run too hot.
At least one PCI-e slot for my wireless card.
At least one more free slot after all of the above, for future peripheral expansion (say, a Revodrive).
Firewire. Compulsory.
E-Sata. Optional.
Digital output with Dolby Encoding or DTS encoding for surround gaming in legacy, non-dolby games. Currently only supported on Gigabyte boards with the ALC889 chip, so kind of limited to that brand for now.
Already have 8GB of DDR3 memory.
Q: Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
As above
Q: Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
Wherever I can find it - specific components seem hard to get
Open to online purchase - Yes! Maybe not for the heavier ancillaries but everything else is OK.
Q: Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
Yes. It would depend on who was selling and the reasons for sale.
Q: What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
Gaming
Browsing
Desktop Processing
Sound editing, mixing and transcoding
Watching HD movies
Q: Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
Do not want to buy Asus product as I heard the after sales service in India is pathetic - this is the first time a template has been clairvoyant
I wouldn't mind buying Asus though if the service in North India is better than what I experienced in Calcutta. Not sure. What does the public feel?
Q: If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
All driving/racing games ever released and to be released, mostly.
Sometimes I also play shooters and RPGs, specifically:
Oblivion
GTA3, VC and 4
Deus EX: HR
+ lots of legacy games, I'm 40 and I play a lot of games from when some people here weren't born
Q: What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
Gaming - 2560x1600, may back resolution off to 1920x1200 but never lower than that
Desktop - 2560x1600
Q: Are you looking to overclock?
Yes. Looking for advice on cooler as well, if I have to migrate to Intel will need a new cooler. Air/Water is OK.
Q: Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
Windows 7 64 bit
Right. Now let me have it.
Also, watch out for the mother of all sales (not counting Udit's) coming soon.