Recommendations for a new high-end PC?

[Chacal]

After my brush-in with Fraps convinced me I need to upgrade my PC bought in 2001 (P4 2GHz with 1 GB RAM and ATI 9800 Pro), I'm looking into building a new high-end PC for graphical work and maybe gaming (if I ever get time for that). I've been browsing around sites like tomshardware.com because I haven't kept up-to-date on hardware.

This could be a useful thread for everyone thinking about upgrading. Please add your recommendation and comments.

So far I'm thinking of these specs (money not being a concern):

CPU: Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad or Q6850
MB: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 ATX LGA775 P35 1333FSB 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
RAM: 2GB DDR2 1066
Graphic: Nvidia 8800 GT
Sound: Hercules Digifire 7.1 PCI card
Disk: 1TB SATA2 with as little noise as possible
Monitor: 22 inches wide-format LCD at 1980 x 1050
Case: some beige box with the biggest power supply money can buy. As little noise as possible. Liquid cooling a possibility.

Discussion:
- After reading around, I'll avoid AMD because at the time I'm writing this, they seem to have missed the boat on a quad-core CPU.
- DDR3 isn't ready and there's little performance gain over DDR2 right now. I'll just buy a DDR3-ready Mobo, overclock the DDR2 and maybe upgrade the RAM later.
- I already have the Hercules sound card.
- I want the SATA speed so I'll get a disk, and I'll add my existing IDE drives.
- I already have the monitors. I'm hoping someday more games will support multiple monitors. <sarcasm>... and maybe even Blender someday </sarcasm>.
- I'll need a 2nd video card for my 3rd monitor. Anything will do, as this is mostly for text.

This is my current monitor setup:

Now THIS is a progress bar Show Spoiler

progbar.jpg (36.66 KiB) Viewed 6201 times

Left to right: 19" NEC 1940CX, 22" Samsung 225BW, 19" NEC 1940CX

[Kato]

Just some basic personal suggestions (er, oops, forgot to read the "Discussion" before I wrote this XD):

You'll need more RAM (I thought DDR2 and DDR3 weren't physically compatible?). I suggest an AMD processor, it's cheaper for what you get, although I haven't looked at the prices on Phenoms (which is what I'd get). Wait for the 9 series, as far as video cards go. I think mid-range ones comparable to the 8800GT should be out in two months or so, but that's an estimate

And a 1GB hard drive?! Must be a typo

Also, beige boxes are boring. I suggest an Ultra MicroFly--I've used them and their kind for years.

-Kato

[andylegate]

Yah, as far as cases go..........


You vant I should pimp your box???

[Chacal]

And a 1GB hard drive?! Must be a typo

Oops. Hey, bear with me, my first hard drive was 20MB! 1GB still sounds big to me.

I tried and tried, but I still can't understand the idea of case esthetics. It is just beyond me I guess. A case is used to hold the parts together, help with airflow and keep the cat out. It lives under the desk with the cables and the dust bunnies.

Or, it goes in the server room. This is the kind of computers I'm more familiar with:

computers Show Spoiler

servroom.jpg (69.18 KiB) Viewed 6150 times

[teedyo]

And a 1GB hard drive?! Must be a typo

Oops. Hey, bear with me, my first hard drive was 20MB! 1GB still sounds big to me.

LOl. I was late to the party. My first hard drive was a 124MB Maxtor that I paid about $379 for. Ran 24/7/365 for about 8 years. Still have it; still works. Uh, no. I don't use it anymore.

[Grogyan]

I finally building my computer they way I wanted after 1 and a half years.

Lian-Li PC-V100 VCool Black case
Enermax 600W powersupply
Asus 680i Striker Extreme motherboard
INTEL Q6600 LGA 775 CPU
2 x 1024MB 6400C4 800MHz DDR2 Corsair matched memory
8800GTS 512 G92 video card
SupremeFX audio 7.1 Ch
A total of 7 fans
Logitech G7 wireless mouse (lifesaver!)
Logitech G15 keyboard (the one with an LCD on it and keys light up orange)
ADSL modem
2 x SATA 7200 Seagate Barracuda hard drives for a total of 360GB
Logitech Z5500 5.1 ch surround sound
Samsung 931BW monitor
And a DVD reader/writer

Blender runs sweeeeeet!

[andylegate]

hehehehe, my first case after an upgrade was a wooden box I built!! Seriously! My first computer as an adult was a custom made 286, I upgraded to a 386, bought all the parts, and then found out after spending all my money that none of it would fit in the old 286's case!
So I stepped outside and used my hammer and saw, and built a case for it. Had that thing for, oh wow, like 6 years.

My case is plain black, just has a lot of spots built in it for cooling fans, which I've filled. Got to have proper air flow for electronics, so that the heat is carried away.

[T_S_Kimball]

I just underwent my own upgrade over Q3 (with the intent of being able to keep up in MOUL no less, argh). Given I was getting away from the SFF/Shuttle scene, I had to start from scratch:

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos 1000
Mainboard: Gigabyte P38-DS4 Rev2
Mem: OCZ 2 x 2gig DDR2
CPU: Q6600 Quad-Core (overclocked to 2.66 Ghz), OCZ Vendetta cooler /w replacement fan.
Video: nVidia 7800 GT, 256 meg ram, PCI-e. Stock cooler replaced /w a Zalman flower-style.
Primary Monitor - Dell 20″ widescreen 1680×1024, using the DVI port.
Secondary Monitor - Dell 19″ 1280×1024, using the 2nd DVI port, ‘right’ monitor.

Pics (via a weblog post): http://sungak.net/weblog/archives/136
--> That also contains info about overclocking a Q6600
Listing of all current PCs: http://sungak.net/weblog/computer_specs/

My roommate has basically the same system. However, he got a Republic of Gamers X48 (?) mainboard - the one with 2 x16 busses, and a built-in northbridge waterblock (he has an existing watersystem). He also sprung for an 8800 GTX (currently UNDERclocked) and a Zalman water block for that.

As for disks: He has about 3 TB spread amongst 8 disks (most of it holding DVR downloads from a ReplayTV). I have about 1.5 TB over four, which I will probably fill up fast the weekend of the St Pats Parade.

We each spent about $1000 or so; I may spring for an 8800 GTS at some point, but I'm fine atm.

--TSK

[Chacal]

Thanks for the tips!

Oh, and since we're sharing desk pics...

my brother is a cabinet maker Show Spoiler

ofc_small.jpg (64.58 KiB) Viewed 6055 times

[ghaelen]

This is a very informative thread. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to add to it. Most of the terms and numbers are above my head. Some I understand. Build a computer from scratch? /me shivers

hehehehe, my first case after an upgrade was a wooden box I built!! Seriously! My first computer as an adult was a custom made 286, I upgraded to a 386, bought all the parts, and then found out after spending all my money that none of it would fit in the old 286's case!
So I stepped outside and used my hammer and saw, and built a case for it. Had that thing for, oh wow, like 6 years.

This, though, I understood in a second. Build a box? LOL, now that I can do!