Buidling a Windows PC for DAM

[danaltick]

Based on this http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8451, we will probably see the desktop version first quarter of next year; earlier than I expected.

Dan

[danaltick]

Here's the latest on the Penryn http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3069.

It's come to my attention that some people may have gotten frightened away from building their own PC's based on the fact that I am watercooling my new PC and have photos of that in this thread.  I want to make it clear that watercooling is certainly not necessary to obtain a good overclocked PC.  As a matter of fact I purchased a new heatpipe-based air heatsink for my old PC when I removed the watercooling from it.  I was able to obtain the same overclock on that PC with air cooling.  This is the heatsink I used http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2906&p=2.  This article even discusses the very CPU I'm using.  Here is another really good one that is much smaller and lighter http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3068.
I delved into watercooling about 3 or 4 years ago and have just kept using the same kit.  It has served me well and has allowed me to achieve a higher overclock on my new PC.  I'm now stable at 3.42Ghz.  I'm screaming through DNG conversions at about one every 3 seconds.  I'm sure I could still get a 3.1Ghz overclock using one of those air coolers though.  That's still about a 70% overclock.... not bad for air cooling.  I have two other PC's currently on my LAN that are both overclocked using good heatsinks and fans.

Dan

[danaltick]

Penryn is officially launched and will enter the market in a few weeks http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3138&p=1.  However, if you're an overclocker like me, it will probably be next year before we see a good overclocking chip in the sub $200 range.

Dan

[danaltick]

Here's just about everything you could want to know about Penryn http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3137&p=1.
Dan

[danaltick]

Technology just keeps marching on http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9628.  This was a record-breaking year for both Intel and nVidia.  Let's hope AMD/ATI can make a come back next year.  We as consumers need the competition.

Dan

[danaltick]

For anybody who even has the "inkling" to overclock, now is the time http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3184.  Something to really look forward to early next year when the midstream chips come out.  If history repeats itself, we should see a good overclocking chip under $200 that should compare to what we see in this article by March '08.  The Penryn core introduces significant changes in the transistor technology, making overclocking even more rewarding.

Dan

[danaltick]

Well, I decided to do my upgrade to Penryn.  The price was finally right.  It's been just over a year since I built the new computer.  I purchased a 3.0Ghz dual core Penryn for $175.  Just popped it in tonight and after about 30 minutes of overclocking, I'm running stable at 4.2Ghz.  I can literally feel the difference... very responsive.  And here's the kicker, Windows XP didn't even ask me to re-activate.  I'm lovin' it ;-).

Dan

[johnbeardy]

And I've still not found the courage to have a go building a machine....     

John

[danaltick]

John,

Just like anything else, it takes some time up front along with a few iterations of doing it to become comfortable with it, but the cost savings can be significant.  Photographers have so much on their plates to begin with, it can be difficult making this leap.  My computer background has really helped me here.

Dan

[Dan Zemke]

danaltick,

I too have decided to push the button and selected the same processor you did (E8400) based on price/performance.  I've been waiting for the new Intel G43/G45 integrated graphics motherboards because I wanted a system that sucks very little power (I'm selling my house and going to travel/live in an RV).   

It's a very good time to upgrade or build a new system for photographers.

Dan

[danaltick]

Yes it is.  Both memory and hard drives are literally dirt cheap; and these multi-core CPU's overclock like a dream.

Dan

[danaltick]

Well, after bringing myself somewhat up to date on current PC technology, I've decided to hold off until next year before performing a major upgrade.  Here are a few articles I've read (or rather studied) to help me make my decision:

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3531&p=1

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=641

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=642

If you take a look at this page http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634&p=10, I'm actually currently running with a Penryn Core 2 Duo at 3.8 Ghz (overclocked of course).  If you do the extrapolation you will see that I'm outperforming the Core i7 920 (before overclocking) in the Overall Sysmark 2007.  In the CS4 test after extrapolation http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634&p=11, I'm also holding my own probably about 10% slower than the Core i7 920.  The higher Core i7's are not even a consideration because I can outperform them with the 920 after overclocking for about $700 less.  In otherwords, this little $170 E8400 Core 2 Duo (after overclocking) has held its own for over 2 years now and can still hang with the big guys.  Now that's what I call getting your money's worth out of technology.  I will take another look at this in the Spring of next year when the sockets are once again getting ready to change.  I looked long and hard at the new Lynnfield 1156 socket CPU's.  If you have no intention of overclocking then I highly recommend the Lynnfield.  It's Turbo mode is much improved over the socket 1366 Bloomfield's, and you can expect the motherboards to be somewhat cheaper.  Of course if you are overclocking, Turbo mode is better left disabled and the longevity of the 1366 server socket will pay dividends once the 1366 6-core hyper-threaded Gulftowns arrive on the scene in the middle of next year.  The only real drawback I see to the 1156 Lynnfield's is the short lifespan of the socket, which will be replaced by the 1156B in the middle of next year.  You gotta love Intel, they really know how to rake in the dough right in the middle of a deep dark recession.  Glad to know somebody's immune ;-).  And one more thing about Intel (I'm on a roll here) - they just recently introduced their second generation X-25M G2 SSD's with full TRIM support for Windows 7, a significant enhancement to the older G1's which cost ~ $600 for the smaller 80GB drive when introduced.  Intel has decided it's just not worth their time to provide a firmware upgrade to the G1's that would give them TRIM support even though it's obvious they used this drive for TRIM validation in their labs.  Those poor G1 customers I'm afraid are SOL thanks to their beloved Intel who just unfotunately doesn't have time for them; afterall, they now have a monopoly to run ;-).

In lieu of alll this, the biggest boost I can give my PC right now is without question a solid state drive.  After reviewing them closely I really believe the one with the best bang for the buck is the OCZ Agility http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=23, http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=16, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227461. Looks like you have until Sept. 16th to get the rebate.  This is a pretty darn good deal, and you don't have to worry about its performance degrading thanks to the Wiper tool.  Intel is once again being greedy with its new X-25M's... simply not worth the money in real world testing; especially with the advent of TRIM or the Wiper tool.  On a side note if you're thinking of purchasing a Macbook Pro or Lenevo 300, beware because they are absolutely ripping you off with the included Samsung SSD's  http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=19.

If you still need convincing about SSD's, here's the proof http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=20.

Rather than investing in two SSD's, one for the O/S and one for the Working Files, I've decided to do this stepwise and try an Agility just for the O/S initially.  Later once prices drop and I upgrade to Windows7 with TRIM support http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3531&p=10, I will probaby move the Agiility down to the Working Files folders and purchase a new TRIM SSD for the O/S.  If you're like Peter with over 500GB of Working Files, this might be a time to think about splitting that up.

And there you have it.  Can't wait to try the Agility.  By the way, if you're planning on putting one of these in your desktop, workstation, or server PC, you will need one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16811993005.

Dan

[danaltick]

I just cloned my new OCZ Agility drive this weekend and am now using it for my O/S and apps.  All I can say is wow!  I have over a dozen apps that run in my system tray.  They all start in less than 5 seconds now.  Photoshop CS4 takes mere seconds to launch as does iView and IDimager.  My catalogs are on the SSD as well.  Applications literally launch almost instantaneously.  If you only do one improvement to your computer this year, put in a good SSD.  You will feel the difference.  I'm lovin' it.

Dan

[danaltick]

Just had a pretty frightening experience with my new SSD.  I went to reboot my computer to safe mode to debug a problem I was having with an applicaiton only to find that safe mode got stuck and wouldn't boot.  This is all to common with Windows safe mode.  It seems to very seldom work.  I think it may be incompatible with some newer hardware like maybe my new SSD.  I don't know for sure.  I reset my computer only to find that I had completely lost my O/S.  My SSD had actually erased itself somehow.  It was now just an unpartitioned and unformatted drive on my SATA bus.  All partitions were gone.  Wow!  Here's another good reason to make sure you do those backups.  Fortunately I do automated TrueImage backups to a second internal drive nightly and was able to recover the drive to the previous night in just a few minutes.  I can't even begin to tell you how many times backups have saved my a#%$s.  Do them!

Dan

[johnbeardy]

Dan

What do you reckon to basing a machine on these:

Processor: Intel Nehalem i7 920 S1366 2.66GHz
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R X58
Graphics: Gigabyte ATI Radeon 4670 HD 1GB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 DVI

I'm thinking of Vista 64 (as I have it available), 12Gb of RAM, but leaving overclocking to another day! The hard drives would be from the various SATA drives I've been buying recently. I'm kind-of using this as a guide, but you seem to have your finger on the pulse!

Any thoughts?

John