[Fernando Tella]

I have to add taxes to those prices (x1,18). I would like to take a couple of good Xeons with a dual Mobo but it gets too pricey for me. Only the two Xeons I would like to take would be more expensive than this whole rig.

You should try to build yours Herve. If you take a few things into account it is quite easy. It takes a bit of time though.

[Fernando Tella]

I thought I had included a cooler too; where did it go?

It could be this one:

[polynurb]

Hi Fernando

looks like good choice to me,.. not sure though if the 580 is still the thing to go for.
I'd guess the 6xx series should be ok with directX and Max. maybe doublecheck on this one!

i think the cooler is fine, good price!

concerning mobo&ram, not that i dislike msi, but i have been happy with this:



i build one node and tested it for a few weeks, then another 3 identical machines like this.. rendering @ 4.2ghz 24/7 and they are all doing fine, so i can give a careful HW-recommendation



cheers,
daniel

[dmeyer]

I think I'm going to build something like this for my new workstation:



Still have to check compatibilities but this is more or less the picture.

What do you hardware gurus think?



(I hope you don't mind Blazer if I post this here)

Looks good overall. I'd probably go with a Corsair AX850 PSU myself though.

Don't forget an aftermarket air cooler for CPU and some decent thermal paste.

[Fernando Tella]

Thanks for your advice Daniel and dmeyer.

I have almost always bought asus mobos but had problems with at least two of them. I feel like trying other brands now.

Regarding the graphic card... I prefer a higher and older than lower and newer for the same money; the 680's are ~100€ more expensive. I was doubting with the graphic card between two versions; there is one of 1500MB of memory and another one of 3000MB. As I'm not rendering with the GPU (yet) I chose the 1500MB version. The other one is 50€ more.

I'll get back to you if I dare with overclocking.

[polynurb]

just a little tip:

make sure the ram you buy is on this list, these are modules already tested with the board you are about to get:
doesn't mean others wont work, but especially with 8x4/32GB i'd stay on the safe side.
in fact.. there are not many modules with 4gb tested in all 8 slots.. have a look

http://www.msi.com/file/test_report/TR10_2496.pdf

[Fernando Tella]

Thanks Daniel, I had that check pending. Maybe I go with 8 dimms of 4GB instead of 4 of 8GB. I wanted to keep some room for upgrade if needed but there are not much 8GB dimms tested.

[Fernando Tella]

I think I'm finally getting 4 8GB GSkill 1333 modules (F3-10666 CL9D) I found some smaller modules with the same code in the tested list. I hope those won't be a problem.

Also changed my mind about the graphic card in favor of this one:



Got really nice reviews:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/ha ... iew-5.html