Building my own work/gaming desktop

senatorwolf

New Member
First off let me explain what all I do. I am first off a programmer, so it is nothing unusual for me to have Visual Studio(or another IDE up) along with Photoshop CS4 and Maya 2008 all at the same time. Usually I am constantly tabbing around these, as I do video game design, and am testing/making a shader, particle emitter, texture, etc. That aside I also plan by Christmas to have a Cintiq 21ux, so I'll have Corel Painter up and running along with the other programs(I am an artist second :)).

When I am not doing the above, I am usually playing a computer game, Heroes of Newerth for instance.

I live in the United States, have around 1,000$ to spend. I already have an extra copy of windows 7. I also have an external Raid drive that I keep most of my work on, so the hard drive for the desktop should be no more than 300-500gb's.

I am not concerned with a loud machine/fan. However I would prefer a slightly over-cooled machine than one that isn't cooled enough. I know gpu's when under a heavy load can put off some intense heat.

I do not have personal experience with liquid cooled systems, but I was under the impression the cooling agent had to be replaced so often? If this is true I would prefer to stay away from it.

For the case, I don't care about cosmetics, so much, as long as everything fits, I am satisfied.

I would like at least 6 usb slots, 1 hdmi slot(see edit), 1 dvd reader/writer (no blue ray please), 1 headphone/speaker jack, 1 mic jack, 1 ethernet jack.

I think that about covers everything, if what I am asking/wanting doesn't seem reasonable for 1,000$, I can possibly wait until I get ahold of another 300-400$.

*edit, actually I may need 2 hdmi slots. One for my highdef monitor and the other for the cintiq 21ux.
 
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The Cintiq 21ux does'nt have HDMI(1080p), only DVI - which can go higher than 1080p. The native resolution for the Cintiq is 1600 x 1200.
http://www.wacom.com/en/CustomerCare/~/media/Files/Manuals/Cintiq21UX_Manual.ashx
(page 8 & 15. page 35)

Others can help with the video card more than I. May need a workstation card llike a Quadro.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/workstation-solutions.html

With something like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.764338

About 90-120GB SSD for programs only would be nice if you can do it. Just be sure to map all storage to hdd.
 
The k version has unlocked multipliers, so you can overclock much easier, which would benefit the performance of the programs you are using.

$1000 isn't much for a Maya machine. You can always upgrade the GPU to a workstation card in the future. I would go with the 2600k and probably 16GB of RAM.
 
say I bump max $ to 1,400. What graphics card would work best for me? The quadro's seem fairly costy, at least for the nicer ones. The mobo I am looking at has 2 PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots. I have never owned a computer with more than 1 graphics card, do I need two for my circumstances? If so, cards need 2 gb each? Sorry for strange questions, I haven't bought and built a desktop in probably 5-6 years.
 
I've never heard of dual workstation cards, since they're so expensive. You could get away with a regular gaming GPU, but the performance of a workstation card is really high. My knowledge of Workstation cards is limited, so I'll leave that to someone else.

For 1920x1080 resolution and above, go for a 2GB card.
 
Thank you everyone for the input so far =). This really helps me out, a lot.


Here is what I am looking at so far, again with a 1400$ budget(I hope, lol).


SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-222AB - OEM - $15.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL - $85.98 (note I have 2 of these items, so 16gb's total)

ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - $179.99

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ... - $319.99

COMBO DEAL
COOLER MASTER HAF X Blue Edition RC-942-KKN3 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case with Black Interior and Four ...
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RS850-AMBAJ3-US 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active ...
- $314.98 (mail in rebate for an additional 20$)

Total so far:$916.63 -+ 20$ with rebate

Please critique and give suggestions, as I wont have my money together until the 10th of December, so no rush on this build. I am still in need of graphics card suggestions. With the above that leaves 500$ left to spend on g-card(s).

*edit, errr left out the hard-drive will fix that asap!

*edit2, forgot about Thailand flooding causing such increased costs for HD's. I have a spare 1tb one sitting around I'll use instead.
 
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start with 1 and see how it goes. multiple GPUs just add hassle to the equation.
I would suggest a GTX570 or GTX580, maybe HD6970. Workstation cards have very few advantages to warrant the cost. EEC memory, higher bandwidth (sometimes), and more stabilized and efficient drivers.
 
580 hands down. It is the fastest single core GPU in existence in the consumer market.

Assuming AMD uses the same tech. in the business cards that they use in consumer cards, that card has ~102 cores when comparing it to Nvidia cards. So the 580 will kick its arse easily.
 
I think I'll go with that one then =). I'll re-update my shopping list(later today), for a final review/critique, while I wait for Dec 10th
 
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