First time builder, Build @ x58a-ud5

[whenyournex2me]

I have decided to buy this mother board as soon as possible as my families budget allows, and I have a list of the items I want to use, built around the motherboard. Since I am new to building computers I am looking for support and hope to build a relationship within the community.

do please comment:
corsair obsidian 700
corsair 750hx
x58a-ud5
i7 930
corsair 1600 Dominator 6gb 3x2gb ddr3
2 x gigabyte gtx 460 fermi
2 x 6 gb/s 1 tb hd
M-Audio Delta 1010 LT PCI Digital Audio Computer Interface or newer...
dark knight air cooler, till I get koolance or danger den liq cooling.
cd/dvd writer
blueray
and some minor customizations... ?

Id love to overclock this machine, and I'm aware of the risks. But it would be nice though to turn on the power once and a while, while playing battlefield or eve or mirrors edge. This build will become the families source of entertainment as we don't use a tv or have a tv for that matter. I'm looking at monitors and possibly a hdtv. at least at 1900x1200 or 1980 x 1080. Id like full hdmi for dvd or blueray and video games, or anything graphic on the computer ie pictures or art work. Also, alot of music will be made on this machine as well. Id like to take care of this and customize a bit of it and show it to the world. thanks for reading. please comment@!  

[absic]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

As I tend to go for the AMD platform I will leave others with more experience to comment on your choice of PC components.

What caught my eye however was the choice of a Delta 1010 LT. I actually use the Delta1010 and although it is a really solid sound card the support from M-Audio with regard to drivers is appalling. If you are planning on using this sound card for multi-track recording then I would throw a note of caution into the idea of Overclocking as the two don't really go together that well.

ATB

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome, As far as the muisic side of things goes absic is the forum god around here and so I would take notice of his suggestions and I would agree with his point on overclocking. Your machine is going to be very fast anyway and you have a good set of specs for it. TYhe only one i would query is the PSU. Corsair I can't fault but the size  for waht you are planning to run is a little on the conservative side. I would sufggest going up to the HX850W. Excellent PSU and a 7 year warranty thrown in. Should be a good machine when you have built it and later as you commented you can add a bit of bling and liquid cool it to boot

[whenyournex2me]

Thank you very much, I have updated the list, please comment again, I changed the memory, the power supply, the cpu, case, and the graphics card.

And thank you, for looking into this thread! I have a budget of 1600$ atm for a computer. I have an Asus vw266 monitor and would like to use three, of the same model, eventually soon I hope. Also I plan on using two of the same graphics cards in SLI. (but plan to use one for now)

With that said, Ill state the purpose for the computer:
Music production, gaming, some minor graphic art/work and drafting, watching movies, surfing web, and basically serves as a home entertainment computer.

So, my list of parts is as follows, please comment on any and all thoughts relating to anything really, just let it out. I value all opinions here.
(Prices are from new-egg and they are rounded just for simplicity)

The case will be purchased last, and the benchmark will be purchased first.

160.00
LIAN LI PC-A70F Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

--------------------

100.00
LIAN LI PC-T60B Black Aluminum ATX / Micro-ATX test benchmark


410.00 (combo)
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System

329.00 (combo)
Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366
XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight

free:
XIGMATEK PTI-G3606 thermal grease

250.00
CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model CMT6GX3M3A2000

^will this be compatible with my mobo?

170.00
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

260.00
EVGA 01G-P3-1377-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) FTW 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Grand total is $1720.00
With out case and benchmark
total is $1430.00
with the benchmark only
total is $1520.00

This I can afford in one shot. Whatcha think?

Any thoughts to what kind of hard drive system I should use? I am new to computer building, and lack experience, all help is welcome, thank you again! I cant wait to show you all pics!!!

As for the audio card, I really dont need it. I use Reason, Ableton live and a few other audio programs... And I have yet to need to record anything live in house. Till then I dont need any interface in/out of my computer other than whats supplied by the motherboard.

[Fatman]

Nice!

[Dark Mantis]

Well firstly you memory won't work with your motherboard. For a list of compatible memory see here:

http://www.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?id=1498847#other_modules

The heatsink is ok but I would recommend ARCTIC SILVER 5 for the thermal compound.

Personally I liked your Corsair Obsidian choice for the case but that is purely personal.

I would also recommend the Radeon 58xx series of cards they are more stable and have less problems than the nVidia cards. Also you have the added benefit of the Eyefinity technology allowing you to use three monitors in a surround view configuration.

[whenyournex2me]

Interesting,

I found this article and the second review has Dominator GT 2000 mhz memory modules in a x58-ud5 mobo....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145318
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128422&cm_re=ud5-_-13-128-422-_-Product
maybe I need the original x58-ud5 mobo?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210641

I see the compatibility page shows only the dominator modules 1866, 1600 or 1333 mhz.; How can I get Dominator GT memory?
I have my reasons to stick with nvidia, I feel stability comes to settings and Ive have Nvidia for like ever, The gtx 460 hits the spot perfect.
The antec case has much better air flow and isnt too much case, Where the Obsidian is too much case for me. Lian li cases are professional imo and They get my vote this time around.

So the rest is ok then, I have to get to the bottom of this memory issue it seems. Id like to overclock the snot out of this, and I do plan on mputting mostly everything under liquid as well, including n bridge and s bridge, mosfets, gpu's, and cpu.

[Dark Mantis]

Well when you have built it make sure you post some nice pics in our Pictures of Members Computers section.
The page shows two lots of Dominator GT modules that fit your criterior CMG6GX3M3A2000C7 and   CMG6GX3M3A2000C8
If you can get hold of the GA-X58A-UD5 rev 1.0 motherboard I would do so as in  my opinion it is a better board. The rev 2.0 is a slightly cut down version.
I have all my system under water as well and it cerainly makes a difference. I tend not ot overclock mine but have a play around sometimes.
Anyway good luck with the build.

[whenyournex2me]

thank you for your help. see there is a c7 and c8 for the 2000 mhz modules, and one c7 for the 1866 mhz modules. I wasnt meaning to be snappy and I am fully aware that you folks are much much more experience and educated than I when it comes to computers.... I take all of your advice to heart

I just really want dominator gt memory for the extra performance. Which I hope is a good ammount over the regular modules (dominator).

I am at a loss here though, now searching for different rev of the x58 ud5 platform. Idk what to get, whats the differences are, and  can I even still buy any of the variations of the ud5 motherboard? if so where? I simply, want a rock solid computer, not from best buy....

I am also considering the gtx460 from Gigabyte... 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333

[Dark Mantis]

thank you for your help. see there is a c7 and c8 for the 2000 mhz modules, and one c7 for the 1866 mhz modules. I wasnt meaning to be snappy and I am fully aware that you folks are much much more experience and educated than I when it comes to computers.... I take all of your advice to heart

Hey, no problem here! Just trying to be accurate.

I just really want dominator gt memory for the extra performance. Which I hope is a good ammount over the regular modules (dominator).

All the Dominator memory is excellent. Personally I have never used the GTs but I think they do have tighter timings.

I am at a loss here though, now searching for different rev of the x58 ud5 platform. Idk what to get, whats the differences are, and  can I even still buy any of the variations of the ud5 motherboard? if so where? I simply, want a rock solid computer

Don't worry about trying to get hold of the X58 board as the X58A is just the updated version. I think what you are getting confused about is hte different revisions of the motherboard. It came out as the rev 1.0 and was later "improved" to the rev 2.0. Obviously where you can get the various boards depends on what they have in stock but at least you can ask the question now. I would recommend rev 1.0 if possible although there is nothing wrong with the later version.

I am also considering the gtx460 from Gigabyte...

We see a lot of problems on hte forum and from experience I would advise you to go for the ATI Radeon based cards over the nVidia ones. There are quite a few issues at the present time with them.

[whenyournex2me]

Thank you for the re assurance Dark Mantis, You are very helpful. Thanks for the heads up on the Nvidia cards. I see a lot of problems in the forums too, relating to these cards. I will once more compare. One thing is for certain though, I am excited and sold on the Gigabyte mobo and the corsair power supply and memory.

[Dark Mantis]

As you can see from my signature I am running the X58A-UD7 motherboard and it is a very stable and overclockable board not dissimilar to the UD5. I am sure that you would be happy with that choice and the Corsair PSU and memory should all play well together. If I can help any more you know where to come. 

[whenyournex2me]

If I may comment on the gigabyte gtx 460, Im aware of the heat issues and the causes. And I will be liquid cooling everything, maybe within a full year of buying the computer. Anyways, I am planning to keep the computer on a benchmark table while I adjust any settings and such, testing, and adjusting, basically while I learn about the computer.

 

I do not want to air cool in a case letting the top card get hot, on avg 15 degrees more than the bottom card. that makes me uneasy, Id like to have them both at the same low temp of cool, liquid cool that is. when I get a liquid cooling setup I think Ill buy the case and enclose the package. maybe do some mods on the case itself as well.

But changing the radiator heat sink from the open dual fan design, to an enclosed design, so the cool air in the case coming from outside, gets pulled and sucked into the gpu, and brushes against the heat sink and carries the heat waves away out the back of the case. Like the gtx 480 design or the evga 460 design I posted. The fans are in different location, One design I seen takes up three slots, I think it was a galaxy gtx 480 special OC edition... but I believe that was an open enclosure design...

"Enter the new refined ‘Tank’, the Galaxy GTX 480 SuperOverclock, which Galaxy calls “the fastest GTX 480 card in the world” which is already the “fastest single GPU video card” in the slower-clocked reference version. Best of all, the new Galaxy GTX 480 SOC is not just super-fast, but it is also 30 dBA quieter than the reference version and also 30C cooler thanks to its impressive and well-engineered 3-slot design and Arctic-Cooling VGA cooler.


The Galaxy GTX 480 SOC is a massive 3-slot design:


Now check the heavy backplate of the Galaxy GTX 480 SOC version:


The Galaxy GTX 480 SOC comes with a MSRP of $489. So we need to answer the question: Is it worth the $30 premium over the $450 or so dollars that one would currently spend for AMD’s top single-GPU video card – an overclocked HD 5870?"

Full article here: http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=20800&all=1

However it claims, " it is also 30 dBA quieter than the reference version and also 30C cooler" than the reference version...

So idk, Im no engineer by any means of paper.....

[Dark Mantis]

Sorry. No weapons of torture allowed on this forum! 
Seriously though the temperstures are not the only problems with these cards. There has been a lot of driver problems and various hardware faults also. I just feel that they are not stable enough wheras the Radeons are much better. Liquid cooling is definitely a better bet for multiple GPU setups. I am only running one GPU but I tried stress testing it the other day and couldn't get it above 50 degrees no matter what I threw at it and practically silent too.

[F5BJR]

*
I have this configuration with 2 * HD5770 Single Slot XFX for the 2 in CrossFire PCI-e X16 and use only 2 * Slots  !!
+ one PCI HD4350 for HDTV

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