Jez(UK) Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 (edited) Hi Guys, I'm putting together some bits and pieces to bring my current machine into the 21st century ! I have a trusty Supermicro X6DA8-G2 board with Dual Xeon 3.8ghz and 8gb Ram running XP 32bit (yes I know!). I do have with it currently some nice parts, including a PNY FX4600, a MSI SAS controller with a Fugitsu 300gb SAS hard drive. So, I've plumped for a i7 940 with a Noctua NH-U12P Heatsink. What board ?? And how much Ram ?? I've always rated SuperMicro products (mobos) and am attracted to them on this occasion as well. My dealer suggested keeping away from ASUS type boards for 3DS work and quoted me a machine specced around a X8SAX Supermicro. So, question is if others out there have these boards themselves and if they are happy with them, and how much ram to go for ?? This board can take upto 24gb, but will I need that much ?? I've been out of 3DS world for a good few years and will be using XP Pro 64bit, so should I go for; 6gb (half of all slots), 12gb (all slots or half), 24gb (all slots) ?? I believe I should go for 12gb. Thanks, Jez Edited April 18, 2009 by Jez(UK) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Bah! You're beating me to the new machine I see Nice choice of board, and I believe that 12 gig would be a perfect combo for the 940 cpu. Lucky..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 Hi Glynn, I've actually bought the Processor and Heatsink, just shopping on the net for a X8SAX and then it'll just be 12gb of RAM (which I prefer to speak to someone on Monday for, reckon on 6 x 2gb sticks, just not sure whether to get high speed ram or not). Can't wait to get this bit of kit (I'll sell the Xeon Board/procs/ram which will bring the total overall cost of upgrading to around £650 to the 12gb high speed ram). Have you gone for anything yet ?? Will you be going for a Supermicro or ASUS or Gigabyte ?? Jez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Just getting my end of year accounts out of the way and then I'll hopefully have a clearer picture on the size of budget I will have. I will probably opt for a Gigabyte board, but deffo 12GB RAM. Good luck with the new machine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 I think I'd have probably gone for the Gigabyte myself if I hadn't heard those famous words from my Dealer - I did ask him for recommendations even though I told him that I'll be building it for myself and probably won't buy the bits off him and he said "don't go for anything silly like ASUS....". Thing is I'm a bit like this with cars, my last 4 cars have all been the same make.....so I'm a bit reluctant to veer off of SuperMicro (though I've read some stories re the SM is a bit finnicky regarding RAM). I'll let you know how it all goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 Just to wrap this up here's the spec of my machine; Supermicro X8SAX, 2.93ghz Core i7 940 processor (stock, unclocked), 12Gb ram (DDR3-10666) 300gb SAS Fujitsu (15K) - LSI SAS controller 888ELP 2 x Western Digital 1TB RE3 drives (in non-raid) 1 x Sony Optiarc Lightscribe DVD writer PNY FX4600 768mb graphics card, Enermax 1000w Galaxy PSU Lian-Li Full Tower in Black (can't remember the model 70B I think) Aego-m 2.1 Speakers (can't be doing with all those cables in 5.1 !!) Samsung 25.5" monitor Logitech MX Revolution Mouse and Wave Keyboard. In render tests, this machine is 4 times faster than my previous 3 year old Dual Xeon. Also note that I bought the standard ram because for the moment I don't intend to overclock so that decision saved me £200. Finally, the temperature on this thing is so damn cool (compared to my always hot Xeon). Runs around 22-25degs (using the big Noctua heatsink) compared to around 55degs for my old Xeon !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Looks like a nice machine Was the FX4600 a card out of an existing machine? If not, any reason you went for this rather than a 'cheaper' card like a 280/295? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 Thanks Glynn, I'm well chuffed with it. And really pleased I went the SuperMicro route - anything else, and being the worrying sort I am, I'd be constantly praying for nothing to go pop ! Yes, the FX4600 was a card that I bought a while ago. I tend to look out for 'bargains' and believed that to be one of them at the time. I paid £300 for it brand new (usually around £800+). Proc I paid £299 for brand new. Again, another nice saving. PSU, brand new I paid £110 I think. Same for the SAS controller etc etc. How's your upgrade coming along ?? Made any decisions / purchases ?? Jez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Prob going for same kind of spec as you, but going for a Gigabyte board. I'll also use my existing card (a 280 GTX) until the new direct X11 cards hit later this year... Still waiting to hear back from accountant before I go spending on the new machine, but dying to get it sorted now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 Hi Glynn, If I went for the Gigabyte, I'd be tempted to by the faster ram, as then it'd give me the flexibility to OC if I fancied it. The SuperMicro doesn't have any fancy Windows Software to allow any OCing so it'd mean tampering with the BIOS and right now all I want/need is a stable machine. I'm not too up on Graphics cards, though I do believe that PNY have a card with 4gb on board so that'd fly no doubt !! Jez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOXXLABS Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 I like Supermicro boards alot. But be forewarned... the X8-D series Xeon 5520-based mainboards seem to have an engineering flaw that can cause problems with the onboard audio. stay away from those like swine flu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hi Glynn, If I went for the Gigabyte, I'd be tempted to by the faster ram, as then it'd give me the flexibility to OC if I fancied it. Yes I'll be going for the faster RAM cos even though I promised myself I wouldnt I will probably end up OC it at some point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Jez, I finally got all my new parts on Wednesday (yes, another self build!) and spent all day yesterday building it from the ground up. Spec: i7 920 (got it oc'd to 3.8ghz with no problems at the moment, will prob go higher when I have more time to tweak) Gigabyte EX58-UD5 board 12GB Corsair PC3-12800 dominator RAM (1600mhz) Geoforce 280 (reused from old machine) 5x1TB WD cavier green storage space. Got some rendering to do this afternoon so really looking forward to seeing the performance gains over my old system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Hi Glynn, Nice spec - and you've started OCing already !!!!! Try some of the Benchmarks on 3dSpeedmachine.com (you'll see I've posted some of my results) - it'd be interesting to see where your machine comes in. Self building was a breeze on my machine and I've currently got it set up as a dual boot (Windows 7 64bit and XP Pro 64bit). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Jez, I'll give the benchmarks a shot later this evening. i couldnt resist the overclock, I'd only had it up and running a few hours and I started messing How are you finding Windows 7? Ive avoided it so far even though Ive been dying to test it - I might install it on my old machine to give it a trial run. I could spend all day messing, but work keeps getting in the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 I love W7. Coming late to XP from W2K and avoiding Vista, it's nice to get onto a new OS IMO. I like the eye candy (Aero etc) - and it was so damn quick (and easy) installing the OS, never seen anything like it before. Found all my drivers, all software works on it fine except Photoshop CS4, but I'm using XP mostly. My Mobo can be OCd but it doesn't come with easy software to do this, so I'm happy keeping all things stock (plus went with stock ram which was dirt cheap). What Heatsink have you put on the proc ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 I might give W7 a try then! The cooler is the massive Thermalrights Ultra 120 Extreme 1366 which is pretty much the best non-watercooled system. It runs a 120mm fan on a massive heatsink! I thought my last Zalman cpu fan was big till I saw this thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Erm, excuse me, but the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 Dual 120mm Fan is the king of all i7 Heatsinks !!! http://www.legitreviews.com/article/880/11/ But hey, only 1/2 - 1 degree in it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 *sigh* just when you think you've got the best I have to admit that is one sick cooler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez(UK) Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 I've just noticed all my 3DSpeedmachine benchmarks have disappeared !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 there are plenty of others to try. Some serious enthuiasts out there squeezing every extra mhz out of their machines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadmunkey Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Had windows 7 running now as a dual boot for a couple of weeks and man I cant believe how much better and faster it is that Vista. I just hope they manage not to bloat it too much before the final release! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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