Discussion Forums > Technology
Help with building a tower
datora:
.
Thanks for the quick numbers on the GPUs. Looks like I really want the 460 if I can swing it somehow. Pretty much what I expected.
--- Quote from: kitamesume on July 11, 2011, 08:20:33 AM --- (click to show/hide)the GA-990FXA-UD3's heatsink wont block the PCI-e 1x, but the PCI-e 16x slots would block those in red circles when using 2slotted cards.
--- End quote ---
There is another PCIe 1x slot to the left of the first GPU/16x slot. I've seen several comments that indicate some PCIe cards won't seat due to the location of the heatsinks on the mobo. It's kind of a random thing. You won't know until after you buy and try to fit a specific card into that slot. So, if your GPU is blocking the circled slot and you want to place, say, a sound card into the other one & it doesn't seat ...
--- Quote from: kitamesume on July 11, 2011, 08:20:33 AM ---Edit: a hard drive on a local shop near my place just went on sale, the sale will last for a week.
[40$]500gb Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C (HDS721050CLA362) sata hdd
[45$](Newegg) 500gb Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C (HDS721050CLA362) sata hdd
i`m planning to buy two of these so i could finally make some room on my external hdd, the good part about the shop i`m going to buy on is that if the sum of the pricing is above 75$ worth i`d get a 10% discount.
is it reliable? i mean, newegg... too many dead after # days and DOA...
--- End quote ---
Yah. That's why I'm avoiding the Hitachi drives right now. Every time I've seen them go on a special I reflexively want to buy one, but then I start reading reviews and they just seem to have a higher failure rate than Samsung & Western Digital right now. Been like that for nearly two years. I could care less what warranty is on them if I lose unique and critical data. That's just a soul-crushing experience. Last month I lost over 5,000 photos I took while in Latvia ... gone forever, and some of them were spectacular. :'(
[ EDIT: @kitamesume -- Yeah, you're right about the UD5 board (not the UD3) having heat sink issues. Been reading too many descriptions and am starting to get them confused now. :-\ ]
kitamesume:
about the mobo, i meant the far left pci-e 1x isnt really that blocked, you could see the heatsink being designed quite nicely, part of the heatsink is lowered enough, pretty much as high as the slot.
i think the reviews you were talking about that the mobo heatsink is blocking a pci-e 1x was at the UD5.
datora:
.
So, new newegg E-Blast out this morning, 72-hour deals for the weekend.
I am looking into the following:
- ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X - $145 delivered
- ZOTAC ZT-50701-10M GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 - $170 delivered, $150 after rebate
These prices are on the upper limits of my budget, even going over slightly. However, I shaved enough off elsewhere that I can still come in under $800 total, assuming all rebates come through. It means no sound card and no SSD ... at least for some time. But, given the (potential) power of the rest of the system, those could be acceptable compromises.
I'm open to any comments or advice on these two items. If they don't get Sold Out (which is fairly rare), then I have until Sunday afternoon to decide on buying or passing on either of these.
The ZOTAC looks really impressive for raw power. In fact, quite over-powered for my needs ... but, IF I can rely on it, it should serve for at least three years, if not five or more. Any anecdotes about ZOTAC reliability &/or customer service ..?
The ASUS mobo has a near-optimum compromise for expansion slots ... I'll lose one 1x PCIe slot to the video card. Since I don't intend to add a second, I should have the remainder for my other needs. If I put anything in the second 16x slot, then both will drop to 8x, 8x. Not happy, but the system would still remain quite robust for a non-gamer such as myself.
I had been hoping the ASUS Sabertooth 990FX mobo might go on a special for ~$140-150 ... but that's probably hoping for too much. Haven't seen it for anything less than ~$165 anywhere, plus shipping. It just seems too new to go on significant special for a while yet.
Freedom Kira:
Too new? I thought you were around to see that 256GB WD SSD for $200.
datora:
.
--- Quote from: Freedom Kira on July 15, 2011, 06:14:22 PM ---Too new? I thought you were around to see that 256GB WD SSD for $200.
--- End quote ---
;D
Ahh ... you taunt me with a Great Desire that I cannot have! :'( $200 is off-the-charts out of budget. I also don't realistically expect a deal like that to happen again this year.
With luck, there might be something like a 64 GB SSD go for ~$60, or possibly an 80 or 90 GB for ~$1/GB. For example, if a SATA III 90 GB went for under $95 in the next couple weeks, I'd probably grab it. However, anything $100 or over is out of budget ... there just isn't $110 even if a 128 GB SATA III showed up tonight. Even spending the $95 right now is quite a luxury, $60 for a 64 GB would be vastly less painful; I'm borrowing money as it is to make this build ... there are other Real Life expenses plus a broken rig that I've got to fix up.
If I drop $300 for mobo + video card, the SSD is off the build until probably Christmas or after ... that's why my last post. It's a pretty serious decision right now. The mobo has all the features I really want for the backbone of this build, so I may very well get it, even though my cap had been $140 with a desire to be much closer to $120. Given the robustness of the board, it's rep & overclock stability, future expandability, etc. ... it's about worth it.
The video card is more difficult to justify since it really exceeds my needs ... for now. The justification would be that, if it lives for 4-5 years, it will be lower cost over the lifetime of the rig by not having to replace it or get a second.
The base philosophy is that I'd have a pretty mad powerful rig for next ~2 years, then it would start showing its age a bit, but could still be upgraded with whatever 6- or 8- core CPU is available then & be extended out to five-ish or so. Then retirement as a solid linux box for another 3-ish.
Anyway. The SSD is only on the table if I reserve enough money in the budget and a Really Good Deal comes along. If my mobo + GPU exceeds ~$280 (and that means, I will be waiting for my rebate(s) before buying the SSD), then it is a decision on my part to live without that bit of sweetness. But, frankly, the 750 GB WD running at SATA III is a whole lotta plenty of performance given the rest of the system. An SSD can wait until next January or next June, if need be.
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