Build needs review.

[Aesthier]

What would be the most prevalent issues with this build? (other than cost)

Just supplying this as a starting point and was wondering if anyone had any experiences (pros/cons) or suggestions or parts to swap for better performance and why.

Yeah its the edge of my spending limit (please note) but my computer is the heart and sole of my free time. (Seeing some of your set ups I don't think I'm in lack of company on that part.)

I was also wondering what the "real" handicaps are with using the new Eye infinity Cards and multiple monitors that any of you might know about.


SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV02-BW Matte black 0.8mm Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811163154)

KINGWIN LZG-1000 GOLD 1000W ATX 12V v2.2 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817121075)

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131646)

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819103849)

2 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231311)

Corsair Force CSSD-F80GBP2-BRKT 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820233131)

2 (Raid) Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KSRTL 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136039)

SAPPHIRE 100290SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Eyefinity 6 Edition Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814102888)



(bits and spare pieces)

6 StarTech GCMDP2DPMF Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adapter Converter - M/F (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16812200753)

6 SAPPHIRE Active DisplayPort Adapter 100924 DisplayPort to DVI Interface (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814999030)

6 Acer V243HAJbd Black 24" 2ms(GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16824009245)

2 ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16827135204)

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16832116758)

[burningforce]

seems like an expensive build O_o

only things I see that you might want to change is

1 - the western digital hard drives you listed only have 16MB on cache, you may notice a slowdown when copying large amounts of "small" files or if your operating system is on the raid, the ramdom writes may bog the drive down.
Might want to get two other drives with higher cache like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

2 - you can get the amd Phenom II x6 1055T for cheaper and just unlock and overclock it to your hearts content (or whatever you can get out of it). if you do not want to overclock or are not comfortable doing it, then the processor you listed is good. But a intel i7 930 overclocked does better in games then a amd chip. So I would go amd if you plan on doing processor intensive task such as video/audio encoding, photoshop and other editing programs, etc.

3 - with all that power comes a lot of heat, so cooling should be on your list as well. I would invest in a 3rd party aftermarket cooler that works with your processor and motherboard. do not forget the arctic silver 5 and maybe a few more case fans to cool the memory might be a good idea.

4 - the computer case. the one you listed is neat and all, but it does not seem too functional what your potential hardware. I always love the cooler master cases, they are made to move a lot of air around. Look into the "cooler master haf 932" or the newer "cooler master haf x" and see if it is something you might like better. I have the cooler master cm690 mid-tower and it is great although I have outgrown it.

[Sajuuk]

Why 320s in raid? Storage on platter-based drives is cheap.

[Aesthier]

Thank you for the nice find on the Hard drives.
I am still not completely sold on which type of raid to use if any, backup or speed. ...just dunno. (I tend to fill my HD's to capacity fairly quick.)

I was wondering about the AMD/Intel chipset debate for a while now.
As you probably guessed I really don't like messing with overclocking much.
Just a personal preference is all I can really say.

I would like to go intel chip but yes.... I will be using this computer for other things than just wow.
My current software focus is Zbrush, Shade, Photoshop, creating flash animations and FLstudio.

How bad of a drop in performance do you think I will be taking by keeping the AMD chip as far as the game goes?


Do you think this set up "could possibly" run 10 accounts?

I am only running 5 at the moment just curious how much upgrading it would take if I decided to go for 10?

[Sajuuk]

Thank you for the nice find on the Hard drives.
I am still not completely sold on which type of raid to use if any, backup or speed. ...just dunno. (I tend to fill my HD's to capacity fairly quick.)

...again, if you're worried about storage why are you doing 320gb drives? Get a couple of 2tb drives for storage and you're golden. If you're worried about backing up or speed, put them in the corresponding raid array. But it's stupid to put them in a raid array for speed since you'll already be using the SSD.

[Catamer]

i love this Antec 900 case myself
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&cm_re=antec_900-_-11-129-021-_-Product

Power supply on the bottom and huge fan on top. unlimited cooling if you ask me.

[Ualaa]

I'm using the Antec 900, and love it.

[Aesthier]

The SSD is for the OS only.

Which brings me to another question.

Currently (due to old systems) I am using a separate "full" copy of wow for each "account" or toon that I have up.

3 computers, Keyclone is set to open from two different wow folders on on each of my slave systems, while opening a single copy on the main.


What are the pros/cons of using one copy of wow opened multiple times vrs using 5 separate copies of wow each opened once if using a single machine? (Using two full copies was the only way I could multiples to run on my old machines.)


BTW that case looks very good. Any idea what the normal running temp is on it?

[Ualaa]

The pro/con of multiple installs... is a monumental waste of space.

If your software does not virtualize the configuration file (to my knowledge only IS Boxer and PB do that), and you want varying levels of audio/video options in warcraft your best option is symbolic links.

Have a single parent install of the game.
A full install, with everything there.

Then create one copy of the game, per set of varying settings you'd like.
Quite commonly, this is three versions.
- A high settings, for when you run a single account.
- A medium settings, for your master/leader account.
- A low settings, for your slave/follower accounts.

Then you delete the Cache, Data and Interface folders from each of the copies.
And symlink them to the parent install.
Which gets you 15-50MB per copy of the game.
And the single full install of 20GB or so.

If you go with SymLinks, break the links before a patch.
Patch the parent copy of the game.
Redo the links.
And copy the new wow.exe from the parent folder to each copy.




I'd take a hard look at IS Boxer.
It has a ton of features which cannot be found elsewhere.

Automatic FTL, which is the strongest form of assist (no need for Focus, or Target or Leader).
Mapped Keys, which are incredibly flexible (Steps, Advance/Reset options, Variable targets, etc).
Click Bars, which are like hotkeys (mapped keys) that can be clicked from any window.
Repeater Region healing, heal from any window via mouse clicks.
Virtualized files, the configuration file is the obvious example but you could virtualize an addon if you wanted.
Instant swap from one region to another.
Very accurate mouse broadcasting, click portals/target ground spells/pick talents, etc.
Great support, regular updates/fixes, and a continually evolving software.

[RobinGBrown]

Only things I noticed are already mentioned:

Steel cases are HEAVY,you could try going for an aluminium one of you can find it within budget

Cooling will add quite a bit to your total cost and it's not worth skimping on

What about a mount for all those monitors? Or do you have one already?

[Aesthier]

Thank you Ualaa for brining some light on the subject.

Due to the transition of of this into a more software related issue, which brings up many questions, I will move my queries into the software forum.

I do want to thank you all for taking the time to help explain things to me from a more knowledgeable perspective.

./sigh sometimes things get a bit frustrating for me as I am pretty clueless about what hardware/software I need to be able to pull off the things I so desperately desire.

Thank you for your patience guys, and gals.

~Aes

[jstanthr]

check out the antec lanboy air case, it is a good air cooled case