Building a lightning fast pc for client, Need experienced recommendations?

arrow_runner said:
Is coolermaster really a good brand for the power supply? I've always thought that they were a 'cheaper' brand.

And if I had to build a really fast workstation for MYSELF and had $2k to spend (minus labor I suppose), this or similar would be high up on my list. If it works here for you, well, is up to you.
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I use OCZ for gaming(high end). ALWAYS GET MODULAR. just hook up the needed rails and get rid of the rest. nothing like a "neat" finished build.
 
What about a RAID 1 Array with SSD for his OS/programs drive? Find the fasts SSD drives (or at lest in the o 80%) and run 2, 3,4 etc together to get much faster speeds. I would then make use of the extremely cheap 2TB drives and provide full backup of the array.

Take a look at these SATAIII drives:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008120%20600038519&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=636%7C20-148-361%5E20-148-361-TS%2C20-148-357%5E20-148-357-02%23%2C20-148-358%5E20-148-358-TS
Buying 3-4 of them would be INASAELY fast in a RAID1 array and you would have 192-254GB of storage for OS and Program files, MORE than enough. Add-in a 2TD drive that backs up the used portion of the array and you could fit anywhere from from 8-50 FULL backups on the 2TB drive.

If he wants the FERRARI of PC's you can't do it with only one main drive unless you opt for a SCSI drive such as one of these :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007603%20600003485&IsNodeId=1&name=SAS%206Gb%2fs

With the system you are giving him, you could say he is getting a souped up Mustand (and not even a Saleen stang, but just a motor head job)
 
Okay, so you say your client has a $2,100 budget (plus tax) to spend on a brand new, ultra fast computer and has no need for gaming hardware but wouldn't mind a decent GPU. Obviously only cutting edge parts should go into a build like this then, so we will want an SSD, not only that but a PCIe based SSD instead of a mere SATA based SSD. Then to top it off, your client will also want a brand trusted by most of the world for the CPU, not a brand trusted by us geeks, intel is a requirement for a build this expensive- and not no ordinary intel CPU will do either. Who wants to give over $2k on a pc that doesn't have at least 6 cores? the i7 980x is a requirement. To top it off, he will require high frequency, low latency memory and a lot of it. I'm thinking CAS6, 1600MHz and 12GB of it.

So, with the $2,100 budget and the clients requirements, I'm looking to keep the SSD, CPU and Memory budget high and sacrifice the gaming and media (blu-ray) capabilities of the PC, but I will put it in an extremely stylish, low-profile and expensive PC case with a reliable energy saving power supply.

Grand Total: $2,062.91

If your client wishes to spend an extra $100 you can make this into a very attractive gaming PC by getting a better GPU as well. If you're going to spend $2,100...why not $2,200? Another thing to note, look at how small the case is. 14 inches tall, 8 inches wide, and 12 inches deep. This thing is tiny- but was designed by Silverstone so you know that it's safe to put all those nice and juicy parts in there without worrying.
 
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CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116368
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188057
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145316
Disk Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106300
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146067
Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817116012
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingItem.aspx?ItemList=N82E16820148348
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130591
CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055
Front Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835146002
Side Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835146003
Top Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835146003

Total: $1,657.88
 
TopLevelComp said:
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116368
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188057
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145316
Disk Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106300
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146067
Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817116012
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingItem.aspx?ItemList=N82E16820148348
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130591
CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055
Front Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835146002
Side Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835146003
Top Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835146003

Total: $1,657.88
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Why did you go with the $250 EVGA motherboard when they have a $140 version instead? You're basically paying $110 extra for SLI (something he doesn't need) and two Ethernet ports (something he doesn't need) for no reason.

Other than that though, it's a pretty solid build. Although there is no need for such a beefy video card in this kind of build...it sure has my mouth watering though.
 
JosephLeo said:
Why did you go with the $250 EVGA motherboard when they have a $140 version instead? You're basically paying $110 extra for SLI (something he doesn't need) and two Ethernet ports (something he doesn't need) for no reason.

Other than that though, it's a pretty solid build. Although there is no need for such a beefy video card in this kind of build...it sure has my mouth watering though.
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He wanted Ferrari, I gave him Ferrari :p

The 140 would be a great alternative.

The video card was chosen for the great value. Gives him PLENTY of room if he decides he wants to start gaming, or use any type of heavy GPU usage.
 
JosephLeo said:
Why did you go with the $250 EVGA motherboard when they have a $140 version instead? You're basically paying $110 extra for SLI (something he doesn't need) and two Ethernet ports (something he doesn't need) for no reason.

Other than that though, it's a pretty solid build. Although there is no need for such a beefy video card in this kind of build...it sure has my mouth watering though.
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I was thinking why would you want to use an evga motherboard to begin with, lol.
 
use a bigger SSD like the 120GB OCZ revo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... revodrive x2&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

by the CPU choice I am guessing you are heading to microcenter for the parts?

the motherboard should be GA-X58A-UD3R. It is a solid board.

Give him a midrange GPU, sometime in the future web browers will be using it.
I am currently rolling a ATI 5770, if you like to stick to new ones use a 6870. Plenty of GPU power, or use a size lower like 6850.

I don't know how it pans out in terms of costs, if you shuffle things around you should be able to get things less than 2300. (after looking at things again, I think i can do it for 1.8k before adding my build profit, unless you have to include screens, etc.)

with an i7 I don't recall there is a mATX board with integrated GPU, so you have to get something.
 
arrow_runner said:
Is coolermaster really a good brand for the power supply? I've always thought that they were a 'cheaper' brand.

And if I had to build a really fast workstation for MYSELF and had $2k to spend (minus labor I suppose), this or similar would be high up on my list. If it works here for you, well, is up to you.
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I've always found coolermaster to be good quality and having a sleek design. I really like them. Also, the 3 year warranty on most of their products is nice.

Majestic
 
meanderer said:
use a bigger SSD like the 120GB OCZ revo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... revodrive x2&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

by the CPU choice I am guessing you are heading to microcenter for the parts?

the motherboard should be GA-X58A-UD3R. It is a solid board.

Give him a midrange GPU, sometime in the future web browers will be using it.
I am currently rolling a ATI 5770, if you like to stick to new ones use a 6870. Plenty of GPU power, or use a size lower like 6850.

I don't know how it pans out in terms of costs, if you shuffle things around you should be able to get things less than 2300. (after looking at things again, I think i can do it for 1.8k before adding my build profit, unless you have to include screens, etc.)

with an i7 I don't recall there is a mATX board with integrated GPU, so you have to get something.
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The board is fantastic. Very good choice.

Hmmm... Well I don't think he needs the power of a 5770 but seeing at how the prices are dropping I think it may be a good choice (price/performance).

One thing I just realized as I'm writing this, His price may be $2,100 canadian but I need to put my profit in there too :P

Majestic
 
Majestic said:
One thing I just realized as I'm writing this, His price may be $2,100 canadian but I need to put my profit in there toc
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Ahh, the all important dollar.

Well, what exactly is your markup scheme? Does it go by percentage of the cost of the computer, or a flat-rate markup. For example, if the computer cost $500 do you play a standard $nnn profit on top, or do you charge nn% on top of the cost of the computer.
 
vdub12 said:
I just built a quad core AMD a while ago and loaded OpenSUSE on it before i loaded the customers Windows 7 and I was blown away at how fast it ran. Intel may be faster but its also 4 times the cost. I honestly don't think its worth it.
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"Ferrari"

...filler dots....
 
16k_zx81 said:
3 years is not a long warranty on a power supply.
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That's actually a good point to bring up. I've seen some power supplies with a 5-year warranty, and then a long time ago I remember seeing Antec releasing some with lifetime warranties. I guess they stopped offering those products after a while though ;)
 
One thing about PSU, for such a build you really really want a good reputable PSU. I had a PC power & cooling silencer 400W and this beast was juicing my i7 + 5770 rig perfectly fine for weeks until I get a 620W replacement (just because I want one with more rated power, the PSU was still fine). I paid a solid $100 for it back 5 years ago and my colleges called me crazy XD

Thermaltake TR2 is currently offering 5 years. Just sold one of those for someone's security DVR box.

Another "opinion" about building mid-high end boxes, I would print out some pictures of different cases to show my prospects. People may not know much about the innards but they probably want to know how it looks at least. The quickest way to do it.... copy and paste a webstore's listing (I copied microcenter's since I use them), and edit out all prices and store info... instead of the actual cost of the case, I edited it out to say +20 if the case is above the base cost, etc. Since you are working on a upper cap budget, you can edit out cases that are outside your budget, or just absorb the cost.
 
Biggest speed upgrade you can do to a modern machine is a SSD as a OS drive. I run a 60gb OCZ Vertex 2 and I'd never go back to mechanical as a boot drive (even though my last boot drive was a 10,000rpm Velociraptor). The OCZ's are pretty well priced now.
 
I am sorry, I just read the very first post, but I chuckled, and thought I should chime in.

Your building him a Ferrari of a PC, that he will just drive up and down his neighborhood street.

Client prerogative, I guess; I will build a Client whatever they want, but I always feel it is my responsibility to ask them what they will do with the hardware, and build accordingly.

I guess this client is building a machine to brag over, but it seems to be a waste of potential.
 
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