Let's say there is this gamer / video editor / etc with near unlimited funds. He or she wishes to construct a rig of the most behemoth proportions. Their current system and all peripherals are out of date, and thus it is deemed vital for a completely new, revitalised computer and set of instruments on which to operate this computer.
Below I post a specification.. I would greatly appreciate comments, ideas, suggestions and opinions on this theoretical super-system. Opinions such as whether it's better to wait for X amount of time for a certain new processor, whether one brand of hard drive is better than another, or whether 2 graphics cards will generally perform just as well as three for most applications.
I fell out of "the loop" quite some time ago so I am a little lost as to the new standards. When I last was seriously involved in "hardcore" computing and OCing, processor quality and speed was generally measured in the MHz and GHz rather than how many cores it has. Basically everything in computing has moved on since then, and I'm appreciative of any suggestions, comments and opinions that you might have on this super rig
A few caveats:
1) All suggested components must be from the same site, www.overclockers.co.uk - unless they're fairly cheap.
2) It's a theoretical system with a theoretically unlimited budget, so you don't need to feel held down by cost WITHIN REASON. So, whilst there's no need to suggest a lower component purely because it's cheaper, please don't go suggesting those £2,000-per-card super-special-dedicated-CAD type graphics cards
3) No watercooling. Air only.
Thank you all!
Specification:
Let's see that graphically:
(Click images to see them in full size)
My main concerns (and subsequently questions) are:
1) Each graphics card will take up two slots, I assume, so with the sound card in the last slot, I'd have no spare PCIE slots remaining (as there are 7 in total. 2 spaces taken up by each card times 3 cards = 6, plus sound).
2) Ideally I want to put the two SSD drives in RAID 0 for the speed/space as a system (C) drive for the OS and programs, and put the two rust drives in RAID1 mirroring for data safety. Can this RAID configuration be done on the motherboard? Which is supposed to support RAID. More importantly, can the mobo have two different RAID schemes going on at the same time?
3) Obviously if the above is "no", I'll need a RAID/SATA adaptor card.. Which means the loss of one graphics card.
4) There should be enough SATA slots, IIRC this mobo has like 9 ports. But are some treated differently / at slower speeds than others? Is there a disadvantage to having 6 drives simultaniously? (4HDs plus 2 optical) (This may seem a very noobish question.. But the last time I built a rid it was using IDE)
5) Is there really an advantage of having THREE of those graphics cards rather than just two? Is there likely to be much performance game in the highest end games at the highest settings? Will it even work properly using 3 cards or is this one of those cases, like multiple processors, where apps have to be written specifically for SLI.. especially beyond 2 cards (this mobo actually supports up to 4! Sheesh...)
6) Are there known quality / data safety issues with these SSDs, or RAID 0, beyond the obvious? (if one drive breaks, all data is lost)
7) Generally, is there anything in this system that is incompatible / may cause problems?
8) The OS would be 64-bit obviously. Do all of these components have 64 bit drivers?
9) The Heatsink is very big.. Would it fit ok in the case? Would it get in the way of anything on the motherboard?
10) The graphics cards are very big - will the SATA cables be able to fit into the mobo with enough clearance? Or would I need to use right-angle cables on the mobo? In the case of right-angles, if the slots are in banks with one in front of another, will the cables block access to the next SATA port along? And if so, will I still be able to access enough slots to plut in all 6 of the devices? (I recently had this problem on a computer that I had to fix).
Anything else you can think to mention.. I appreciate it
Thanks!
Edit:
Links to all of the components for reference:
Processor
SSD Hard Drives
Monitor
Motherboard
Graphics Cards
Case
RAM
Speakers
Sound Card
SATA Hard Drives (rust)
Power Supply
Optical Drives
NOTE: It seems there is a problem with those optical drives at the moment, so also see these:
Other Optical Drives
OS
Keyboard & Mouse
Heatsink & Fan
SATA cables
I didn't bother linking the TIM as everyone knows Arctic Silver, or the CCs as they're just cosmetic.
So, that's it! Any opinions/suggestions/warnings/etc?
Thanks again
Below I post a specification.. I would greatly appreciate comments, ideas, suggestions and opinions on this theoretical super-system. Opinions such as whether it's better to wait for X amount of time for a certain new processor, whether one brand of hard drive is better than another, or whether 2 graphics cards will generally perform just as well as three for most applications.
I fell out of "the loop" quite some time ago so I am a little lost as to the new standards. When I last was seriously involved in "hardcore" computing and OCing, processor quality and speed was generally measured in the MHz and GHz rather than how many cores it has. Basically everything in computing has moved on since then, and I'm appreciative of any suggestions, comments and opinions that you might have on this super rig
A few caveats:
1) All suggested components must be from the same site, www.overclockers.co.uk - unless they're fairly cheap.
2) It's a theoretical system with a theoretically unlimited budget, so you don't need to feel held down by cost WITHIN REASON. So, whilst there's no need to suggest a lower component purely because it's cheaper, please don't go suggesting those £2,000-per-card super-special-dedicated-CAD type graphics cards
3) No watercooling. Air only.
Thank you all!
Specification:
Let's see that graphically:
(Click images to see them in full size)
My main concerns (and subsequently questions) are:
1) Each graphics card will take up two slots, I assume, so with the sound card in the last slot, I'd have no spare PCIE slots remaining (as there are 7 in total. 2 spaces taken up by each card times 3 cards = 6, plus sound).
2) Ideally I want to put the two SSD drives in RAID 0 for the speed/space as a system (C) drive for the OS and programs, and put the two rust drives in RAID1 mirroring for data safety. Can this RAID configuration be done on the motherboard? Which is supposed to support RAID. More importantly, can the mobo have two different RAID schemes going on at the same time?
3) Obviously if the above is "no", I'll need a RAID/SATA adaptor card.. Which means the loss of one graphics card.
4) There should be enough SATA slots, IIRC this mobo has like 9 ports. But are some treated differently / at slower speeds than others? Is there a disadvantage to having 6 drives simultaniously? (4HDs plus 2 optical) (This may seem a very noobish question.. But the last time I built a rid it was using IDE
)5) Is there really an advantage of having THREE of those graphics cards rather than just two? Is there likely to be much performance game in the highest end games at the highest settings? Will it even work properly using 3 cards or is this one of those cases, like multiple processors, where apps have to be written specifically for SLI.. especially beyond 2 cards (this mobo actually supports up to 4! Sheesh...)
6) Are there known quality / data safety issues with these SSDs, or RAID 0, beyond the obvious? (if one drive breaks, all data is lost)
7) Generally, is there anything in this system that is incompatible / may cause problems?
8) The OS would be 64-bit obviously. Do all of these components have 64 bit drivers?
9) The Heatsink is very big.. Would it fit ok in the case? Would it get in the way of anything on the motherboard?
10) The graphics cards are very big - will the SATA cables be able to fit into the mobo with enough clearance? Or would I need to use right-angle cables on the mobo? In the case of right-angles, if the slots are in banks with one in front of another, will the cables block access to the next SATA port along? And if so, will I still be able to access enough slots to plut in all 6 of the devices? (I recently had this problem on a computer that I had to fix).
Anything else you can think to mention.. I appreciate it
Thanks!
Edit:
Links to all of the components for reference:
Processor
SSD Hard Drives
Monitor
Motherboard
Graphics Cards
Case
RAM
Speakers
Sound Card
SATA Hard Drives (rust)
Power Supply
Optical Drives
NOTE: It seems there is a problem with those optical drives at the moment, so also see these:
Other Optical Drives
OS
Keyboard & Mouse
Heatsink & Fan
SATA cables
I didn't bother linking the TIM as everyone knows Arctic Silver, or the CCs as they're just cosmetic.
So, that's it! Any opinions/suggestions/warnings/etc?
Thanks again
