Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[InnerGoat]

AVG? Problem found lol. The hardware's aged a bit by now so you might need some extra voltage to run what was once stable. What are you using to stress test? Maybe it's too light of a load to bring out any problems? LinX is quite rough on the CPU and memory, and furmark would point out any GPU cooling or power issues (by frying a card, usually) ...

SB loves fast ram. It doesn't care too much for tight timings, just high clockspeed. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/s...he-best-ddr3/1 Also your motherboard is expensive as fuck. Guess you're stuck with it if you want to SLI though...

[Cortexian]

AVG? Problem found lol. The hardware's aged a bit by now so you might need some extra voltage to run what was once stable. What are you using to stress test? Maybe it's too light of a load to bring out any problems? LinX is quite rough on the CPU and memory, and furmark would point out any GPU cooling or power issues (by frying a card, usually) ...

SB loves fast ram. It doesn't care too much for tight timings, just high clockspeed. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/s...he-best-ddr3/1 Also your motherboard is expensive as fuck. Guess you're stuck with it if you want to SLI though...

I was using Intel Burn Test (based on LinX or something I think, I remember reading something like that), Prime95, and many runs of Heaven 2.5 to test the GPU's. I used to use Furmark to test the GPU's but I find that running a benchmark like Heaven gets you better "real world" results.

I'll look into some 1866MHz memory then. The Sniper Series has some of the same style stuff that I had selected in 1866MHz for $30 more, maybe I can cheapen it out a little by bargaining.

You can't believe how pissed off I was when I realized that a Gigabyte P67A-UD4 wouldn't do what I needed, I was pumped to get a motherboard for $129.99!! Fuck PCI-E requirements.

[Cortexian]

Update!

So I ended up going with the following:
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7-B3 - $239.99
and
GSKILL Sniper Series 8GB PC3-14900 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (2 x 4GB) - $84.99

I got the motherboard for $239.99 instead of $319.99 because apparently Gigabyte discontinued their P67 line already in favor of Z68... So The UD7 was on clearance and they even had it in-stock! Unfortunately the memory I ordered is special order, and they were out of the i5 2500k's but have more coming in next week sometime. The memory should come in around the same time as the processor.

Memory Express offers a free "quick mount" service where they install your memory and processor onto a motherboard and do a quick test to make sure everything is running, but only if you purchase a motherboard/memory/processor within 7 days of each other. So to take advantage of this I just left the motherboard with them after putting a deposit on it.

I done good?

[Warsaw]

No point in building an Ivy Bridge system when it comes out; the performance gain over that build will be negligible in any practical application.

[Cortexian]

I was going to go with the unannounced Octocore Ivy Bridge Extreme processor when that happens, and dedicate it to gaming (none of this hybrid server/gaming system I have now) by going with Triple or Quadruple SLI/Crossfire depending on what gets the best performance. I was also going to go with 2133MHz or faster memory on the Ivy Bridge build, depending on what's available of course.

I still think I'll sell off my 470's when Ivy Bridge comes out, get a $20 graphics card for this system, and retire it to the home server role.

EDIT: Big question, can someone please confirm if the following means what I think it means?

1. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2)
   * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16_1 slot; if you are installing two PCI Express graphics cards, it is recommended that you install them in the PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_2 slots.
2. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x8 (PCIEX8_1, PCIEX8_2)
   * The PCIEX8_1 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16_1 slot and the PCIEX8_2 slot with PCIEX16_2. The PCIEX16_1/PCIEX16_2 slot will operate at up to x8 mode when the PCIEX8_1/PCIEX8_2 is populated.
3. 1 x PCI Express x1 slot
   (All PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
4. 2 x PCI slots

Based on the above image you get:
PCI-E X1_1
PCI-E X16_1
PCI-E X8_1
PCI-E X16_2
PCI
PCI-E X8_2
PCI

It means that if I put my graphics cards in PCI-E X16_1 and PCI-E X16_2 and my RAID card in PCI-E X8_2 then the graphics cards will both run at x16 and the RAID card at x8? Or will the graphics cards be reduced to x8 speed regardless because I install my RAID card in the x8 slot?

If the graphics cards are going to be reduced to x8 speeds because I plug in the RAID card then I'll put my first GPU in PCI-E X16_1, the RAID card in PCI-E X16_2, and the second GPU in PCI-E X8_2. That will give me better cooling potential on the GTX 470's since they aren't mashed together.

[InnerGoat]

Sounds like you'll get a full 16x on 16x_1, but 16x_2 will share it's bandwidth with the bottom 8x_2 slot. Fuck computers!

[Cortexian]

But if x16_2 gets knocked down to x8 and x16_2 is in SLI with x16_1, won't both cards run at x8?

[InnerGoat]

No one should stay at 16x and the other at 8x afaik

[Zeph]

LED:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...4&sku=320-2676

LCD:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...4&sku=320-8277

Is there any particular reason why I'd want an LCD ultrasharp over an LED one other than the LED having 25% less maximum brightness? We're talking basement dwelling usage here.

[Cortexian]

LED will give you better contrast ratio and better color in general, at least that's the case with the two LED's I have.