A geeky post by Maynard
Merry Christmas, boys and girls. Today I’m dreaming of the present I want to give myself.
Back in the days of the Wild West before PCs became a commodity, I used to build a new computer from components every couple of years. In the recent era, Dell has been so good at offering me exactly what I wanted that I ordered off the shelf. For some reason, maybe a seven-year-itch-type need to reclaim my manhood, I’ve got an odd urge to build my next PC.
Some boys (sorry, girls; this is mostly a boy thing, but you’re welcome to play along) chase the bleeding edge. They seek the fastest PC in the world. I salute these ambitious souls, but for some odd reason I’m more interested in a machine that’s as fast as can be without becoming unreliable or noisy or an energy hog. The quickest machines are cranked to run faster than they were built to do, and they consume more energy and require more cooling…which means either more fan noise or a complicated heat pump. (The key chips in a PC get hot enough to fry an egg; that heat must be constantly dissipated or the chip will burn.)
Here are some components that catch my eye:
CPU: The Intel Core-i7, of course. I’d get the 920, which is the only affordable variant; it can be had for under $300 (which isn’t exactly cheap). There are two higher-end models, which cost a lot more.
Motherboard: Only the new X58 motherboards support Core-i7. I’d probably choose the Intel DX58SO. Motherboards from other manufacturers offer more features, but there’s a sense of security in sticking with Intel. The Intel board is less ambitious but perhaps more stable. The theory is you may lament it a little, but you won’t regret it a lot.
RAM: I’d choose a reputable source; probably Crucial.
Case: I’m looking at the Antec Solo mid-tower. It’s got adequate space, and it’s cooled by a single large (120mm) fan (a large fan can move more air more quietly than a small fan). This case also claims to have good sound-deadening properties.
Power supply: The Seasonic brand has a reputation for high quality and low noise. Some other favored names are in fact Seasonic units. I might select the M12II-430 or the slightly-cheaper S12II-380. These offer modest but adequate power (that is, they’re fine for all but the monster machines). The M-line is slightly more upscale than the S-line, although the difference may not matter much for my purposes.
Hard disk: Seagate makes the biggest disk you can buy these days, a 1.5 terabyte monster. But I’m instead drawn to the 1-terabyte Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS. It’s not the fastest disk, but it’s fast enough. Also, the “green” aspect is that it draws less power than comparable drives…which means less noise and less cooling. It is well reviewed. (Of course, in the coming year, we’ll likely see 2-terabyte drives. There are rumors of an upcoming WD20EADS.)
Radeon 4350 graphics chip (the low end of the new R700 series). The various 4350 video cards are all pretty much alike, and can be had for $30 to $50.
Fans and coolers: This is a tricky business, because greater airflow (good!) tends to imply more noise (bad!). A bit of web research leads me to the Noctua brand of fans, which seem to offer very good airflow combined with very low noise, and a long life as well. Noctua offers fans (to expel heat from the case) and this CPU cooler (the CPU requires its own heat sink and fan).
Discussing components is like discussing beers or sports teams. I’m not saying these are the *only* components; they’re just the ones I’ve contemplated.
I’d be crazy to build a machine when I could let Dell do it for me. But is crazy really so bad?
With all due respect, and I mean this in the nicest way, reading someone write about building a PC seems no more a part of the real world than reading about some pre-WWI one-off handmade car. Like building a ship in a bottle, “quaint” and “eccentric” fail to describe it. Of course, my dad used to assemble computers, but then my dad was at MIT in the mid-60’s. Having moved three times in two years, I can’t even imagine having anything but a laptop anymore.
Good luck with your build Maynard.
My current gaming rig is a little dated:
Intel Pent D (Smithfield) dual core at 2.66GHz
3GB RAM from G.Skill
ABIT Aw8D motherboard
2x 120GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 in RAID 0 config
MSI nVidia 7600 GT Video Card
Thermaltake Tsunami Wave case
Thermaltake 400w PSU
Maynard,
I can relate although I’m a bit behind you. Back in August I bought my first pre-built computer.
I’m still convinced DIY is the way to go in two situations 1) you want the highest performance available or 2) a reasonably high-end machine for less money than a Dell, for example.
I just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of installing the O.S. and updating firmware and drivers for a slew of hardware this time. Money is less an issue these days and I’ve gotten lazy.
I finally tossed my last 21″ CRT monitor for LCD. Until recently none of the LCD’s had been up to the task of surpassing the image quality. I got the 30″ Dell 3008WFP and have been stunned. It took a bit of calibration to get the colors to reference standard but it’s well worth it. Dell has a cheaper 30″ – you don’t want it.
Finally, I’ve built tons of RAID. My old machine had 8 1TB drives on a RAIDCore (now Broadcom) adaptor. Lately I prefer a standalone RAID system. My current preference is the 5 bay SR6600 which you can get at firewiredirect.com (manufactured by http://www.raidon.com.tw) and a couple other places. About $1,200 without drives (install your own SATA drives like the GP you mentioned). Gives a nice portable 7.5 TB RAID box. There are volume/partition/size limitations if you use the firewire or USB connections but not with eSATA or SCSI. I use the latter.
Maynard good luck with your build. A couple years back I went back to rolling my own systems. My primary reason was that the costs of a new current tech system had gotten too high for me with my mortgage and other family type expenses. I wouldn’t have it any other way now. The fact is the systems I build are put together with quality off the shelf parts which makes the system hardware able to be repaired or replaced easily. I have also found that putting a little cash into some of the more mundane portions of the system such as the power supply the systems I’ve built (4 in the past 3 years 2 for me and 2 for my wife) have been vastly more reliable and updatable. The older pair of systems have gotten new graphics cards and more memory and other such improvements as technology allowed. When those systems could no longer support the MMORPG habits that both my wife and I managed to develop then we upgrade. The old systems haven’t gone away they’ve become adjuncts to our gaming by allowing us to surf websites to research missions and quests (depending on the game) or in my wife’s case running multiple games at the same time. Which is more than my poor male brain can handle.
I’ve gone over to Mac, but if I ever return to the PC side of things, I will build my own. My main reasons are picking my own, non-proprietary components, and if I load Windows, I load Windows. Not Windows and eleventy-two craplications and phone-home-to-[insert computer brand name here] spyware.
I’m not a gamer so all the whizbang stuff does nothing for me. But I AM a lighting designer and having fast graphics for renderings is a real joy.
I love my system with two dual core Opterons and 2G of RAM for each processor. My Asus MB has onboard RAID but I bought a PCIE RAID controller instead. I’m still stuck on SCSI. I don’t do computer gaming so the video card was only required to support my Samsung MasterSync 305 monitor… which actually is not an insignificant requirement!
I am an IT Consultant. I don’t do tech anymore. I now do large System Projects but several years ago I became frustrated with my Dell. I migrated to a MAC and have never regretted the decision! I especially love the idea of the RISC operating system vs. CISC! I’m sure you want to build your own but if you decide upon a pre-build, I’d encourage you to try one! By the way, are you aware of Dell’s new strategy? For only $13 per month they will guarantee you that when you call for support, the person that answers the phone will speak understandable english! WOW!
RISC and CISC are CPU design strategies not specifics of an operating system. Microsoft Windows has run on several RISC CPUs – earlier AMD CPUs being the most notable. In modern CPUs the line between the two is blurred. For the most part there is no pure RISC or CISC anymore.
In any case, Apple switched to Intel processors nearly 3 years ago. Dell and Apple use the same CPUs although Dell offers many more Intel models at higher and lower price and performance levels.
You may prefer a MAC and there are legitimate reasons to do so. However, RISC vs CISC isn’t a valid reason.
I’m not sure Dell’s $13 a month for US telephone support is worse than Apple’s. The $2,800 Mac Pro gives free tech support for only 90 days. To get AppleCare you have to pony up an additional $249. A similar harware performace desktop from Dell comes with free 2 year in-home serice (parts+labor). For an extra $100 you can get 4 years of free in-home service. Even the lowly $299 Dell Inspiron 530 desktop comes with 1 year free in-home service…or 4 years for an additional $150.