How's this look for a high-performance overhaul?

Revivalist · Sep 11, 2009

Hi everyone . . . I thought I would pop in for some advice before doing a system overhaul.

Here’s what I’ve been running. (I know, it’s really outdated.

). . .

• Motherboard: DFI LanParty SLI-DR Expert (socket 939)
• CPU: Opteron 185 (2.6GHz dual core)
• RAM: 2x1GB OCZ EL Gold XTC DDR500
• Storage: 74GB Raptor (for system drive), 4x160GB Raptors in RAID 0 (data drive), 750GB WD (backup drive)
• Video Cards: 2 x EVGA 8800GTS 640MB
• PSU: PCPn'P 1000W
• TEC-cooling: 245W-320W TEC in Maze4-1 CPU block
• Water-cooling: Maze4 NB block, MCP655 pump, 1/2" tubes, BIX III radiator, 6 Panaflo 114CFM fans
• Monitor: Hanns-G 25" LCD 1080P

A few days ago I managed to burn up the CPU while encoding some high-def videos. So now I’m in the market for a new setup. . . .

I would like to still run my 8800GTS cards in SLI and preferable switch to DDR3 since that seems to be the wave of the future. I'm very impressed reading about the ASUS Rampage II Extreme and the Intel i7 920. So here’s the setup I’m thinking about . . .

ASUS Rampage II Extreme (LGA 1366)
Intel Core i7 920
OCZ XMP 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

This comes out to a lot more than I was planning to spend. (I was initially hoping to stay within $500. Now I'm close to the $800 mark!) But it seems like this would be the best way to try to "future-proof" as much as possible. I don't like to overhaul the system often!

)

I also need a lot more storage. So I was thinking about pairing my current 750GB WD with another 750GB WD in RAID 0 to make a 1.5TB Data drive. For backup purposes, I would like an additional 1.5TB drive that I can use for data redundancy. So I was looking at including these two drives in my order . . . .

Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AADS 750GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EADS 1.5TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

So that’s my plan. . . . . Please offer any comments you may have concerning any part of it. I really appreciate the feedback!

Cuiiey · Sep 12, 2009

Well, that would seem like a good setup but is the Rampage II extreme really worth that much money?? but yeah, maybe get the i5 750 as it is cheaper than the 920 but clocked the same, and maybe get like a nice gigabyte mobo or something

Evilsizer · Sep 12, 2009

the thought of using a Green drive as a redundant drive scares me... maybe its the reading i have been doing on the RE2/RE3 drives, that has me sold on them. plus the green drives have a RPM speed between 5400 and 7200. if you are not worried about the speed of the drive then i guess why not. the largest RE3 drive is 1TB and $169. the key feature i like is when the HD is not needed/used the heads are not parked on the platter.

if you can find it for sale at ewiz or ZZF get the GB X58-UD4P, just as good ocing and much cheaper....

Revivalist · Sep 17, 2009

Cuiiey said:
Well, that would seem like a good setup but is the Rampage II extreme really worth that much money?? but yeah, maybe get the i5 750 as it is cheaper than the 920 but clocked the same, and maybe get like a nice gigabyte mobo or something

I think going socket 1366 is the best choice for me because I don’t like to upgrade the motherboard often. So I want to make sure to keep it compatible with whatever is yet to come. Right now triple channel DDR3 seems the way to go, and the future may hold 6-core CPUs on the 1366 socket. . . .

I’m still leaning heavily toward the ASUS Extreme II Rampage for the motherboard. I personally have more experience working with ASUS boards than with Gigabyte. I also really like all the bells and whistles that come on this board:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=637&type=expert&pid=2

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=637&type=expert&pid=3

Not to mention it seems like it has the most amount of overclocking features in the BIOS and on the board itself compared to any other motherboard I have ever seen:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=637&type=expert&pid=5

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=637&type=expert&pid=6

I also like how cool it runs compared to other boards:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/x58-motherboard-i7,2164-19.html

The only thing I am a little disappointed about is the number of SATA ports. The Rampage has 7 which is a slight step down from my current DFI Expert with 8. The Gigabyte EX58-UD5 has 10 which would be a nice little step up. But that’s ok, I have already planned out how to use the 7 ports on the ASUS and it seems they will meet my needs at this time.

Zonnza · Sep 17, 2009

The Asus rampage II extreme was the first mobo I was looking at when I put together my new rig to purchase.

I noticed that you plan to put a lot of hard drives into that system with the additional purchases, will there be enough sata ports for all of that?

And alternative you can grab is the mobo I decided to go with, it costs about 40-50 bucks more but may be worth the investment since it looks like a promising board for the future: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...re=evga_x58_classified-_-13-188-048-_-Product

Hope this helps, since you mentioned you were looking for a board thats "future-proof."

EDIT: One thing to mention is that I noticed that the Evga mobo I ordered came in very well packaged and in great condition! This is definitely a plus for something that came from california to florida, across the US.

Revivalist · Sep 17, 2009

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, the Rampage only has 7 SATA ports. That was the main drawback for me. But 7 is exactly enough for me to do what I am planning for storage. So I'm ok with it.

Do you happen to have any links to reviews that caused you to choose the Classified over the Rampage II?

How's this look for a high-performance overhaul?

Revivalist

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Cuiiey

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Evilsizer

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Revivalist

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Zonnza

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Revivalist

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