BittenReaper

I'm too excited to wait until tomorrow when the shipment arrives, so I'm going to throw this thread up just for the heck of it, pics are to follow tomorrow.

All these parts listed will be going into my sig rig, either via replacement of older parts or in addition to existing parts.
Anyway, here's the list!

• Diamond Viper Radeon HD 3870 512MB GPU @775MHz (Replacing nVidia 7600GT @590MHz)

• Enermax Galaxy 1000W PSU

• A-Data 4GB (2x2GB, adding to existing 2x2GB)

• WD Raptor X 150GB @10,000RPM

• x3 Seagate Barracuda 750GB @7200.11 (2 are replacing existing 320GB and 160GB IDE drives)

• Lite-On SATA DVD Burner

• Asus Silent Knight Heatsink

• CyberPower 1500VA UPS

Andd of course I had to throw in a few little toys as well...
MP3 player, Seinheiser headphones... Gigabit N Router.. A Few N adapters.. Webcam.. 20.1" Secondary Monitor, etc.

I'll be taking pics of the entire event, expect a sizable update later today

Oh, and I know the PSU is overkill. But after being cramped with a 350W for all this time, expecting it to explode whenever I open Photoshop, I want the breathing room.

Chozart

The only bone I have to pick is actually the PSU. I would have gotten a Corsair CMPSU-1000HX, which is just about the best 1000W unit on the market (and also modular).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139007

The Enermax is ok, but an older design that starts to show its age (esp. with the split between 12V1 and 12V2 and the other three 12V rails, which makes load balancing a tad annoying).

Otherwise, good picks.

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kazakia

Cool only that it seems you didnt ask the OCn community if the parts you chose were good or not. e.g 1800 can get you a completely new Intel rig with Sli and including a 22inch monitor....Also the raptors arent that good anymore the new flagships are the new raptors that were jut realeased.

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BittenReaper

Hmm.. yeah, PSU's really aren't in my area of expertise.
I've honestly just gone off of what others have said.
I've seen the Galaxy in several build videos, and only heard good things about it from friends and the like, so I figured that I'd be safe enough in purchasing it.
Also I'm not even running a quad core or SLI setup, so I figured that under such a light load it'd be ever safer still.

Thanks though, I appreciate the support on the other parts, it's encouraging

Chozart

Well, I think the upgrades make sense. He has a capable rig, and a very good chunk of the budget goes to that UPS (a good decision, even though it costs like $300 or so.... assuming you got one matching that PSU )

The 3870 will be a good match with his current CPU (no, don't give me the CPU bottleneck crap...), and 8GB or RAM sure is nice (even though I am a little concerned about the stress it causes on the memory controller, esp. with an AMD rig). Furthermore, he choose for massive amounts of storage (I just hope he isn't thinking to go RAID5 with those three new drives, since in that case he'll have to be a patient man ). Top it of with a 1000W PSU (my only complaint), and $1,800 is easily spent. I think these are smarter updates than replacing stuff that works just fine.

Oh, and don't get me wrong. The Galaxy isn't a *bad* PSU... it's just that the Corsair is better. Let's say the Corsair is a 100. In that case, the Galaxy is say... a 90. If you have it, no reason to replace it at all. If you still are in the process of buying and you can change your mind, get the corsair. Either will be keeping you very happy with your rig

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BittenReaper

Thanks for the backup on that one, Chozart.

I do plan on overclocking my CPU so that it doesn't wind up being a possible bottleneck, but I'm waiting until I get the new PSU etc until I do that. A happy system is a stable system

As for the RAM and Storage, well, Video Editing and CAD Drafting can be quite demanding, and I have a few contract deals coming up that I want to be ready for. And call me crazy, but I'm sticking with good ol' RAID 0 on these pups, I've got backups taken care of separately.
Though I am concerned about the memory controller, would you mind elaborating on your thoughts?

Mind you, I really shouldn't of listed it as a 1.8k upgrade, as a good sized chunk of that went to external peripherals ($180 Router, $100 headphones, $40 webcam, $80 notebook N adapter, $30 USB N adapter, and so on.), though I did mention that in my original post.

As far as changing my mind is concerned, well, the shipment will arrive at my doorstep within the next 4 to 10 hours, so it's a tad late for that
It's good to hear that the Galaxy is indeed a good PSU though, it eases my worries for the moment.

Yes well, even so, I doubt I'm going to be disappointed in the Raptor X after upgrading from 2 IDE drives and a 7200RPM SATA.

Chozart

BittenReaper: you made the right choices. My RAID5 comment just popped up in my brain because of the purchase of three identical drives. I am actually glad you have RAID0 with an external backup, since that's a much better solution (RAID5 with an onboard controller is bad... very bad... writing performance is painfully slow.)

Good luck with this stuff... It's good


The comment about the memory controller rests in the fact that the AMD memory controller traditionally doesn't perform at it's best with all four slots on the mobo filled. Now, this doesn't mean that 8GB is a bad decision... when you use applications that need FAST memory (gaming), the 8GB might hold you back a bit. However, if you use applications that need a LOT of memory, you'll be just fine.

Given your explanation, I believe you made the right decisions for the money you spent. Again, good luck with it. Enjoy!

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BittenReaper

Ah I see, well that puts my mind at ease about the memory, I only play an occasional game here and there, nothing that should throw too much of a fit.

My purchase was made with pure workhouse power in mind, I'd rather have this beast chew through a rendering sequence for 6 hours and get paid for it than stay up until 5AM playing WOW.

Thank you once again

kazakia

then wouldn't you benefit more from a switch to a quad core? Im not saying your choices are bad just that the money spent on each parts do not seem right e.g. $600 on Hard drives and a $240 PSU does not seem right paired up with a 5200+ and a M2N-SLI which cost around $200.

Getting a smaller PSU like a Corsair TX750 which would be plenty and not buying the raptor/ one less HDD would save you some money. After selling your current mothebroard and CPU im sure you would have enough money for a decent motherboard and Intel Quad core. Im sure this will speed up your work wouldn't it? or is processing power not important?

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BittenReaper

Eh, I'd been debating on going Quad, but I just bought this new motherboard maybe a week ago, at which point I wasn't banking on the fact that I might get a bit of disposable income to spend on all these upgrades.
If it comes to the point to where I do need to go quad, then I will. But for now I'll just get the best performance out of what I've got, as RAM and storage space are a bit more important at the moment.
And also, if I'm able to clock my processor up to 3.xGHz, then switching to quad won't be as urgent.