7 replies to this topic

[Tabrin]

Long story short, I'm moving from the states to Europe and need to put together a machine to use for the next four months while my computer is in a cargo container on a ship somewhere.

In order for me to justify the cost of another machine I want to cannibalize the two boxes and have two repurposed systems once I finish the move in January: One strictly for gaming and one as a video capture/fulltime fileserver.

I'd like to keep the price at around $500-600 USD but it's begining to look like that's not going to be possible.

Current (unavailable) do-everything box is a Gigabyte GA-Z68A, i5-2400, 8gb DDR, a MSI GTX-680, Corsair MX-1000 PSU, Avermedia HD DVR capture card, a RR-3530 controller card and 18 2TB Hitachis in a Norco RPC-4224case.

I'd like to get a low power system, since a mere 20w difference in a 24/7 online system will save $50.00 in electricity a year (unless I suck at math, then it'll be more... 30 cents/KwH)

It seems like another, newer i5 would be better than an Phenom II X4 for this (since it appears that Phenoms are power hogs) but at the price point I can't really get a box together with one.
The motherboard needs to either be able to run PCI-e 16x8x4 (16xVideo card, x8 RAID controller card, x4 capture card.) or be an equal/better CPU/Mobo combination from what I have with fewer slots.

I've done a bunch of Newegg-fu (and cruised through slickdeals, techbargains and Vulpe's threads) but I can't seem to figure out a combination that suits my needs in the price bracket.

I'm willing to fiddle around a little on price, since I can pull the CPU/Mobo from my other box to use for the server if that enables me to get a cheaper 1xPCI-e board for the gaming system or something.
A Phenom though would be a dowgrade if I swapped mobos.

Any thoughts? I'm going to keep digging through the internet but figured I'd toss a post here to see if there is glaringly obvious solution that I'm not seeing.

Thanks in advance,


Tabs.

[vonkleist]

I suggest you use a green ***** as opposed to the standard color you use at this time.

[Tabrin]

vonkleist, on 23 August 2012 - 08:32 PM, said:

I suggest you use a green ***** as opposed to the standard color you use at this time.

...what? Oh, green drives? They cause problems with my array when they go into energy saving mode or whatever. Or at least used to on my old machine, maybe that problem's been fixed by now.

[Tabrin]

So I think I've got a decent solution.

Mobo: ASRock H77 Pro4-M LGA 1155 Intel H77 $89.00
CPU: Intel G860 Sandy Bridge 3.0GHz - $89.99
RAM: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 - $21.99
Case: Combo - Rosewill HIVE-650W PSU - $0.00
PSU: Combo - Rosewill Challenger U3 - $104.00
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 6.0Gb/s $69.99
---------$376.94
Alternatively I can shave off another 60 bucks by swapping the case to a Rosewill R101-P-BK-450W w/PSU, bringing the total down to $316.00 (**** PSU, but it only has to last three months before I can use my other one)
but I do kind of like the Rosewill R5 case. Anyway.

GPU: That's the debate. For about 210 bucks I can get either a 560TI or a Radeon 7850. Anandtech bench seems to favor the Radeon (http://www.anandtech...duct/549?vs=547) but various forums seem to really like the 560ti.

Thoughts?

[Vulpesveritas]

Tabrin, on 28 August 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:

So I think I've got a decent solution.

Mobo: ASRock H77 Pro4-M LGA 1155 Intel H77 $89.00
CPU: Intel G860 Sandy Bridge 3.0GHz - $89.99
RAM: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 - $21.99
Case: Combo - Rosewill HIVE-650W PSU - $0.00
PSU: Combo - Rosewill Challenger U3 - $104.00
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 6.0Gb/s $69.99
---------$376.94
Alternatively I can shave off another 60 bucks by swapping the case to a Rosewill R101-P-BK-450W w/PSU, bringing the total down to $316.00 (**** PSU, but it only has to last three months before I can use my other one)
but I do kind of like the Rosewill R5 case. Anyway.

GPU: That's the debate. For about 210 bucks I can get either a 560TI or a Radeon 7850. Anandtech bench seems to favor the Radeon (http://www.anandtech...duct/549?vs=547) but various forums seem to really like the 560ti.

Thoughts?

A phenom II X4 will be faster both for general multitasking and for MWO, as MWO is horrible with dual core CPUs. Even a FX-4100 (95w) is preferable to this game. And you've got your energy figures wrong to some extent. Say we're looking at the difference between the Pentium and an FX-4100 is ~30w. at $0.30/kw-hr, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, that CPU will cost you... $2.63 more / year. And you get a more upgradable socket (you would probably enjoy upgrading to an 8 core 95w Vishera for your home server down the line) so at least in my opinion, I would see it as a decent option.


As far as GPUs go, a Radeon HD 7850 is on average ~10% faster than a Geforce GTX 560ti while using nearly 100w less doing so, so if energy efficiency is of any concern for you, this is where you will really save energy, while being faster. One of the main reasons for the support of the Nvidia card is.... that it's a nvidia card and they have superior marketing. That's about it really.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 28 August 2012 - 02:52 PM.

[Tabrin]

Swapped the CPU/Mobo for a Phenom II x4 965 BE and MSI 970A-G46 AM3+ Mobo (I need at least x16/x8 PCI-e's with onboard optical)
Combo bundle with the processor is the XFX FX-785A-CNFC Radeon HD 7850... I haven't had any experience with XFX. Reviews seem decent but I'm sort of wondering if the 20$ combo deal is worth it. Might just drop the card and combo and go MSI.

Also switched to the Rosewill R5 tower and 550w PSU combo.

Total price is 630 including shipping. A little higher than I had wanted, but within margins I guess.

[Vulpesveritas]

which 550w PSU, may I ask?

For GPU, XFX is good, although they tend to run hotter than a lot of other brands, they have a lifetime warranty. Powercolor has come out with a very strong PCS+ lineup this year, offering high factory overclocks and good power regulation. HIS has the best from-the-factory heatsinks this year with the IceQ series, although their warranty is on the lacking side. MSI's Twin Frozer IV line are great, although generally more expensive than anyone else, and don't cool quite as well as the IceQ line, although you get a better warranty.

Best four brands this year for Radeons. (in my opinion)

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 28 August 2012 - 05:56 PM.

[Tabrin]

http://www.newegg.co...t=Combo.1046108

Hive 550. 119 for the case and PSU.

This was the Phenom/radeon combo
http://www.newegg.co...t=Combo.1024896

Mobo: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130637