# how would you spend $2600 on a new rig



## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

so i am building a new computer, it's going to be used for gaming and graphics programs(photoshop, after effects and probably Avid for editing) 
how would you spend $2600

this is what i got setup so far

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=6871174


thanks for any advice


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## modder (Sep 23, 2008)

first change psu ,better choise any CORSAIR


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

not 280 on Vista lol


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

DOM said:


> not 280 on Vista lol



its for both 32 and 64 bit


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

I run 64bit and it runs 32 apps

i would also got intel


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## GLD (Sep 23, 2008)

I wouldn't. That is WAT to much money to spend on a computer, IMO.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Sep 23, 2008)

So you own nothing and need new everything?

I wouldnt go with AMD...and I am a AMD (old skool fanboy).

Powersupply is a great brand, but overkill, go with a lower watt.

Check Lian Li for some great cases.


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

change hd to one of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16822152100,N82E16822148298


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## mullered07 (Sep 23, 2008)

first off id being going intel if i had that kind of money and would maybe opt for a q9450/q9650 if your not going to wait for nehalem, also id get an oem copy of vista rather than waste $270 on the retail version 

maybe go with a better pus as someone has stated, although im not too familiar with the one in your basket (edit: you changed it while i was typing this so nm), i can vouch for corsair's. but you dont need 1kw to run that rig, the 750w would easily be more than enough, id maybe get a blu ray player to go with that nice 24" monitor aswell


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## Urbklr (Sep 23, 2008)

I say drop to a cheaper version of Vista(Home Premium) and grab a Blu-ray/HD-DVD drive instead...then you get HD movies too.

This will do everything you need it to do


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

ZenZimZaliben said:


> So you own nothing and need new everything?
> Powersupply is a great brand, but overkill, go with a lower watt.
> .



yes i need everything, i've been using a laptop.

like what kind of wattage do you think i need, i am unsure about that


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261025


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## Urbklr (Sep 23, 2008)

Dano4600 said:


> yes i need everything, i've been using a laptop.
> 
> like what kind of wattage do you think i need, i am unsure about that



Grab the TX750 or whatever the 750Watt Corsair is called.


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## mullered07 (Sep 23, 2008)

DOM said:


> change hd to one of these
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16822152100,N82E16822148298



why ? are the significantly faster than the wd? cant speak for the 750gb one he has chose but mine beats all single drive samsung f1's for avg transfer speed at 97.1mb/s second only to raided drives (LINK)


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## DonInKansas (Sep 23, 2008)

I'm in a computer class where my professor gave us this exact assignment last week except we got 2700 bucks to spend.  It was funny watching all of the kids going to Dell and HP websites while I went to Newegg.

Sorry for the hijack; +1 on the Corsair PSU.  They be monsters!


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## Urbklr (Sep 23, 2008)

mullered07 said:


> why ? are the significantly faster than the wd? cant speak for the 750gb one he has chose but mine beats all single drive samsung f1's for avg transfer speed at 97.1mb/s second only to raided drives (LINK)



I have the same drive and I get 9xMB's, it is a crazy wicked drive


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## freaksavior (Sep 23, 2008)

psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256044
Speakers http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836119008 (the logitechs are directional, as in you have to be infront of them to sound good)
mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284
proc http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115130
os http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
hdd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102

everything else is good total is 2700


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

mullered07 said:


> why ? are the significantly faster than the wd? cant speak for the 750gb one he has chose but mine beats all single drive samsung f1's for avg transfer speed at 97.1mb/s second only to raided drives (LINK)



price


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## niko084 (Sep 23, 2008)

Not a Phenom and not 8gb of ram, 4gb is pretty solid if you are going to run 64bit.

Also I would definitely run smaller hard drives in a stripe with a large one for data.

Lastly, vista ultimate... What a waste of hard drive space and $$ unless you are going to use all of its crap.


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## Urbklr (Sep 23, 2008)

DOM said:


> price



Of the 640GB? $78CDN


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## mullered07 (Sep 23, 2008)

DOM said:


> price



screw price hes paying $2600 i say go for the best. 

also if its going to last a few years and you photoshop a fair bit, the 8gb wont do you any harm, if you can afford it, may aswell go for it


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## mullered07 (Sep 23, 2008)

niko084 said:


> Not a Phenom and not 8gb of ram, 4gb is pretty solid if you are going to run 64bit.
> 
> Also I would definitely run smaller hard drives in a stripe with a large one for data.
> 
> Lastly, vista ultimate... What a waste of hard drive space and $$ unless you are going to use all of its crap.



+1 phenom and on vista ultimate, home premium x64 is just fine


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

Urbklr said:


> Of the 640GB? $78CDN





mullered07 said:


> screw price hes paying $2600 i say go for the best.
> 
> also if its going to last a few years and you photoshop a fair bit, the 8gb wont do you any harm, if you can afford it, may aswell go for it



well just for some more Average Transfer Rate and less space I wouldnt cuz if he just got 2600 for everything I would save where I cant and put more in mobo cpu etc 

as for speed you see the hd i run vista on


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

How do you make a saved wishlist public?


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

btarunr said:


> How do you make a saved wishlist public?




save a wish list and there should be a place to click share


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

Oh. Alright, here's my $2430 selection that outperforms your $2600 selection. Hope it helps.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=10727728

edit. why does it ask you to log on to view it? Thought it was a public list  (I logged out)


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Oh. Alright, here's my $2430 selection that outperforms your $2600 selection. Hope it helps.
> 
> https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=10727728



link not working


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

DOM said:


> link not working



worked for me


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

Dano4600 said:


> worked for me



I had to log in 


also is 2600 max ?


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

Dano4600 said:


> worked for me



Are you able to see it now? (after logging in)

Here's what I did:

Dumped the $550 HD4870 X2, used two GTX 260 cards for $449 instead. Replaced the HX1000W with a TX750W. Used the money saved on a much stronger CPU: Q9550 and a required mobo XFX 780i SLI ($219). 8 GB RAM was useless, replaced with 4GB Corsair. Retail Win Vista Ult was useless, replaced with OEI of the same OS, saved $100+ .  Replaced the HDDs with 2x Samsung 750GB w/32M cache. (saved $100 here).  Added a $99 SB X-Fi which will insert into the second PCI-E slot.  = $2400 of win. This will outperform that $2600 list.


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

DOM said:


> I had to log in
> 
> 
> also is 2600 max ?



well the max i am willing to drop is about $3000


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## 3870x2 (Sep 23, 2008)

Easy: Raid0x4 SSDs, 2x4850x2, i7 3.2GHZ, 4gb ddr3 ram, 24" 1200p monitor


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## DOM (Sep 23, 2008)

3870x2 said:


> Easy: Raid0x4 SSDs, 2x4850x2, i7 3.2GHZ, 4gb ddr3 ram, 24" 1200p monitor



yeah thats what i was thinking to wait for the new stuff 

if he gots that much to spend

Dano whats your current rig ?


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

3870x2 said:


> Easy: Raid0x4 SSDs, 2x4850x2, i7 3.2GHZ, 4gb ddr3 ram, 24" 1200p monitor



the DDR3 i've heard is just not worth it at this point, right now i am going to stay away from 2 x2's(i'd get the 4870 as well) the way i've heard two preform is not worth it at the moment


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## niko084 (Sep 23, 2008)

XFX 780i board is crap 

I picked one up and my P5K-E pissed all over it.


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

DOM said:


> yeah thats what i was thinking to wait for the new stuff
> 
> if he gots that much to spend
> 
> Dano whats your current rig ?



my current rig is something i got through school

Dell Latitude d820
intel core 2 duo 2gig
2 gigs of ram
Nvidia Quadro 120m


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

niko084 said:


> XFX 780i board is crap
> 
> I picked one up and my P5K-E pissed all over it.



Maybe, but here I'm using it solely for being able to run 2x GTX 260. Even without any OC, the Q9550 will own a OC'ed X4 9950, the 2x GTX 260 will outperform a HD4870 X2 that's priced higher than two GTX 260's combined.


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## niko084 (Sep 23, 2008)

btarunr said:


> Maybe, but here I'm using it solely for being able to run 2x GTX 260. Even without any OC, the Q9550 will own a OC'ed X4 9950, the 2x GTX 260 will outperform a HD4870 X2 that's priced higher than two GTX 260's combined.



Fair enough... SLI boards are pretty expensive at a base level.... Kinda sucks 

I should take that back, its not a "bad" board, its just not a "great" board.


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

niko084 said:


> Fair enough... SLI boards are pretty expensive at a base level.... Kinda sucks
> 
> I should take that back, its not a "bad" board, its just not a "great" board.



That's the cheapest retail 780i board I could find. if you add $40, you should be able to get a retail Asus P5N-T Deluxe for the very same price.


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## niko084 (Sep 23, 2008)

btarunr said:


> That's the cheapest retail 780i board I could find. If you add $40, you should be able to get a retail Asus P5N-T



Which one of the new sli boards has all the trouble with sound or something? I thought that maybe the 780i but I might be wrong.


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## hat (Sep 23, 2008)

Intel E8400, 2x2GB high performance DDR2, GTX 260 with 216 shader units, 256mb 8600GT (strictly for physx), Silverstone ST1200, two 640GB drives in RAID 1 (redundancy), And the Biostar Tforce mobo famous for taking an E8400 to 6GHz, RocketFish case. Pretty hardcore build there.


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

niko084 said:


> Which one of the new sli boards has all the trouble with sound or something? I thought that maybe the 780i but I might be wrong.



There's a X-Fi Titanium in my list to handle sound.


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## 3870x2 (Sep 23, 2008)

Dano4600 said:


> the DDR3 i've heard is just not worth it at this point, right now i am going to stay away from 2 x2's(i'd get the 4870 as well) the way i've heard two preform is not worth it at the moment



i couldnt agree with you more on that point.
however, you arent looking for right now.  If you are looking at right now, you are into the wrong hobby.  ask anyone here, ddr3 is a bit overpriced, but it is futureproof.


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## 3870x2 (Sep 23, 2008)

I know D820s, and 30s, like the back of my hand.  Ive deployed 450 of them to group, about 200 or so in iraq, and another ~350 when i got back, repaired about 50 of them, RMAd about 10, fried a few.  They have many options, some only come with 1200x800 screens, some come with 1920x1200, big differences.


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

3870x2 said:


> I know D820s, and 30s, like the back of my hand.  Ive deployed 450 of them to group, about 200 or so in iraq, and another ~350 when i got back, repaired about 50 of them, RMAd about 10, fried a few.  They have many options, some only come with 1200x800 screens, some come with 1920x1200, big differences.



mine has 1920x1200

its been a decent computer, but i can afford and want a desktop now


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## niko084 (Sep 23, 2008)

I'll toss together a few ideas this evening for ya.

What are your dead must haves?


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

niko084 said:


> I'll toss together a few ideas this evening for ya.
> 
> What are your dead must haves?




well i like what i've been seeing about the 4870x2 

but nothing really that i HAVE to have, but i am starting with nothing so i need everything


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## niko084 (Sep 23, 2008)

Particular to ATI or Nvidia, AMD or Intel?

Or just want something that will fly?


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## Dano4600 (Sep 23, 2008)

niko084 said:


> Particular to ATI or Nvidia, AMD or Intel?
> 
> Or just want something that will fly?



fly baby fly


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## btarunr (Sep 23, 2008)

Dano4600 said:


> fly baby fly



Then use two GTX 260s in the place of a single 4870 X2. It saves you a 100 bucks and performs better, since you want to "fly baby fly".


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## niko084 (Sep 24, 2008)

Buh I saved a list but don't know where to get the share link from...


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## Konceptz (Sep 26, 2008)

a quad core chip. personally a QX9650 for the unlocked multi, that can be found for decent prices on ebay
4gb of DDR3
790i
SLI something I was personally thinking of 9800GTXs
1200watt PSU
Raptor raid 0 for OS
extra 750gb of 1TB for storage
and a decent sound card.


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## FatForester (Sep 26, 2008)

I'd go with Intel and an X48. A lot of that is overkill, as you don't need to spend over $1100 on the CPU and video card to work on Photoshop. A 4870 (~$280) and Q9550 ($325) with some extra cooling (for overclocking if you feel you need the extra power) will do just as well, and save you a ton of cash to make everything else better. 

Depending on your skill level on Photoshop I would think your money would be better spent for classes or books to make you better. You can easily spend $1500 - $2000 for the same general performance and then either save the rest or use the money to get better at what you do. Just my .02.


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## Konceptz (Sep 26, 2008)

FatForester said:


> I'd go with Intel and an X48. A lot of that is overkill, as you don't need to spend over $1100 on the CPU and video card to work on Photoshop. A 4870 (~$280) and Q9550 ($325) with some extra cooling (for overclocking if you feel you need the extra power) will do just as well, and save you a ton of cash to make everything else better.
> 
> Depending on your skill level on Photoshop I would think your money would be better spent for classes or books to make you better. You can easily spend $1500 - $2000 for the same general performance and then either save the rest or use the money to get better at what you do. Just my .02.



Don't forget, the new version of adobe supports GPU acceleration. Thats why I was suggesting a Nvidia based system.


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