Tech Pros *ONLY* - Future Proof Computer

Plain and simple. I am building a "future proof" computer. In other words, the components will be very good, enough to run most DX10 games on max, but they will not cross into the "overkill" territory such as Quad-Core and Dual-SLI or CrossFire. Below is what I have so far. All products have been taken from newegg.com. Simply enter the name below into the search engine and it should pop up. The only things I think I am missing is a case and PSU. Also I estimate that the system will require a minimum of 350W, but I may be wrong so keep that in mind when choosing a PSU. Thanks!

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Oh and when you change or add a component please provide a logical reason such as better transfer rate or cheaper for example.

-SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM

-Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

-SAPPHIRE 100242-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

-DFI LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

-Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

-Model BX80570E8400 - Retail

-Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM

-A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1B16K - Retail

 

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And all of the above costs around $800. Try and stay below $1000 if not lower.

 

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Sounds like a good plan...although, I personally, am a "2 hard drive man". I've been bit so many times by drive failure, I don't like having just one drive. To me, it's like having all your eggs in one basket.

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As for power supplies, I'd go with a 500W, just to give that vid card a little extra 12v ampacity, if it needs it. Much more is overkill. If in a couple of years the vid card starts showing its age, your probably more likely just to go get a new card, rather than drop a second one in, and wouldn't need the huge 12v rails of a kilowatt PSU.

Overall, looks pretty good...about what I'm looking for....eventually. As for a case...I would suggest "duct taping" everything together in a nice neat pile. Better yet, use an old milk crate, and just zip-tie everything to the sides...real nice airflow. (I'm not too big on cases...mine has holes cut in it, with extra fans "macgyvered" everywhere. Pretty pitiful looking.

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looks good except for the harddrive. as macgyver said there is the risk of data loss, but also, as you will notice after you install 5 or so new games, 250gb is painfully small, i wouldnt build anything with less than 1tb.

 

Oh yeah...full length porn movies will burn through a 250 pretty quick.

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I'd go with 2 500's.

 

By the way...my desk is in the middle of "parts testing" where they test used hard drives for re-use....and Seagate drives have the best test rate. FYI..good choice.

 

Thanks both of you. I've already got two of the same drive listed above, therefore totaling to 750GB. And anyways I have a separate laptop with all work sensitive stuff, this is more of a dedicated system.

Boy if I had some cash to splurge I'd get some VelociRaptor or Solid State drives. Or maybe just get the Voodoo Omen check it out

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http://www.voodoopc.com/

 

oooh...I'd go raid then. I think it's RAID 2 or 3 that does mirroring and speed...but you need 3 drives.

 

Everyone here should send money to my PayPal so I could get an Omen

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Oh and I'm going RAID 0... Lol jk jk, RAID 2 should be fine.

 

and send me money for a Ferrari full of hookers.

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We get the old school Raptors where I work sometime...there still pretty damn fast. I put one in the plant managers personal computer, and it smoked.

 

Which PSU on newegg would you recommend? Cheap $70 buck ones are nice lol

 

cheap is nice for now but running them under load for too long(ie, gaming) causes them to burn out and possibly damage other components. go with a good quality name brand one, it'll cost 4x as much, but think of it as an extended warranty of sorts.

 

Unfortunately there's no such thing as a future proof desktop PC...already the 250GB hard drive and the DVD burner are outdated. Terabyte hard drives are here as are blu ray burners.

Trust me...250GB is not enough. Without counting a backup drive.

I've already accepted that at least one of my machines will change completely every 2 or 3 years.

 

I don't think a future proof PC for under $1000 is very practical. You'll get a good machine no doubt, but not something future proof. Here's the changes I'd make:

Motherboard: That DFI Lanparty board is a P35 chipset (already 'old') which runs PCI-E 1.0. The newest ATI and Nvidia cards (4800s/GT200s) run PCI-E 2.0 and will bottleneck the PCI-E 1.0 interface in select games right now (and more as newer games are released). Look for a motherboard with an Intel X38/X48 chipset instead, as these are all PCI-E 2.0.

CPU: Is good, though I wouldn't call Quad Core overkill anymore. It's not necessary, but there's plenty of games that will make use of the extra cores and that list is only going to get bigger. Still I'd rather have a dual core with a higher clock.

Graphics card: The 4850 is definately a good buy, but if you can spare a little more cash I'd spring for a 4870 or even a 4870X2. Not only do you get a performance increase and GDDR5 memory (vs GDDR3 in the 4850) but also a dual slot cooler, which the 4800's could really use. They all pump out a lot of heat (most will run at 90C load if you don't change the fan settings), and it's not nice when it builds up inside the case because the cooler is blowing it against the back wall rather than out the slot. These cards also overclock like nobody's business. My 4870 will run rock solid at 790/1100 (the max the CCC will allow) simply by changing the fan speed from the default (under 20%) to 40% during games.

Don't skimp on the power supply, especially with 3 hard drives and a 4800 series card. I'd recommend the Silverstone Zeus 650W (or 750W if you ever plan to crossfire later). It's not the most expensive PSU out there but it scores really well in the reviews I've seen.

 

Oh yes...I didn't comment on the PS either, 350W is way underpowered. I'd say 650W is a minimum spec.

 

Thanks for that info. I didn't know about PCI-E 2.0. Thats good to know.

 

@ Xelios and Enterprise-D

Thanks for your input. Just got a few things in response.

HD: Don't worry about the HD space, I already said in my previous post I am going RAID with 2 other ones, which will total to 750GB, not to mention my external back up drive that is another 250GB so it will really be 1TB which is plenty for what I am doing.

Mobo: I will research a little bit more and look for a replacement. I thought it was 2.0 but upon further research at the DFI website is did not say Gen 2 so I guess not.

CPU: Quad is overkill. I am not Pixar or some big movie editor and games have not used Dual to the max and wont for a good number of years. And if you search on tomshardware.com I believe for an article comparing Dual and Quad for gaming, almost 90% of the time there was a substantial decrease.

Graphics: The 4870 X2 is very nice but this is where price comes into play. It is nearly 66% of the total price of the computer. I'm not exactly buying this computer right now so prices may go down a bit but for the now the 4850 is the best most bang for your buck card.

PSU: Thanks for the Silverstone. And I never plan on going SLI or Crossfire. The cost versus performance does not even out. I've used SLI for the past couple years on my computer at home and I must say that one card can do the job. Also same thing as the Quad core, SLI and Crossfire has not been used to the fullest extent. Oh and 350W was the bare minimum to run everything.

RAM: Noticed no one said anything about it

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Oh and concerning heat the Antec 900 will take care of all that but I am looking for something smaller

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Here are the mobo choices:
MSI P7N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

or

ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Here are the PSU choices:
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX12V v2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA,UL,TUV, FCC - Retail

or

Rosewill RP550V2-D-SL L 550W SLI Ready-ATX12V V2.01 Dual Fans Power Supply 115/230 V CSA,UL,TUV,FCC - Retail