Old member need help building custom Intel Core i-7 system with a reputable Company

[agenda2005]

Hello Xtreme members,


I am an old timer that lost touch with the enthusiast community in the last few years.
I am rusty and know little about the computing market right now.

I need your direction and help building a custom computer for my work. My Boss will pay and the budget is $1800:00

I do science computing and plan to use the system for NVIDIA GPU + CPU programming (CUDA).

I went to ibuypower.com and got the following configuration for $1780:00. ( with NO monitor and NO operating system)
Just the barebone PC. (See Spec below)

My Boss want to know if the company is reputable and whether the price is competitive enough.

These are my questions:

I need suggestion of reputable companies in the United States
building this type of system at competitive pricing.
I cannot build it myself due to funding bureaucracy as we need to show purchase receipt
of the system from a US company.

Secondly, I would prefer a company that Install Linux free even at a slightly higher price.

Thirdly, Any configuration that sacrifice something for a better processor power and graphics card
would be welcome. Memory should remain at 16 GB and faster hard drives in Raid 0 would be a welcome addition

Lastly, the graphics card must be NVIDIA.


System Configuration
1 x Case ( Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Gaming Case - Black)
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7 3820 Processor (4x 3.60GHz/10MB L3 Cache) - Intel Core i7 3820 )
[SOCKET-2011] - Standard 120mm Fan )
1 x Memory ( 16 GB [2 GB X8] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand )
1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 - 2GB - EVGA Superclocked - Core: 1046MHz - Single Card )
1 x Free Stuff ( [FREE] Creative Labs Fatal1ty Gaming Headset - Free with Purchase of any system over $999 )
1 x Motherboard ( ASUS P9X79 -- 4x USB 3.0 )
1 x Power Supply ( 650 Watt - Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 - Free Upgrade to 750 Watt Corsair CMPSU-750TXV2 ($20 Savings) )
- Dual 1TB Drives (2TB Capacity) - RAID 0 High Performance )
1 x Optical Drive ( 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black )
1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
1 x Network Card ( Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card )
1 x Keyboard ( Logitech Deluxe Keyboard )
1 x Mouse ( Logitech Internet Mouse )
1 x Warranty ( 3 Year Standard Warranty Service )
Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )


Your suggestions would be appreciated.

[Ket]

You can buy better / smarter for less, assuming you are willing to build the system yourself. For example: Why buy a socket 2011 system when you can buy a socket 1155 system with a i7 3770k which will give you equally good performance, it'll just cost less. I won't go into anymore details than that until I know if building a system is a option, theres not any point me listing this and that otherwise.

[agenda2005]

Thanks Ket,

I wish I can build it myself, but as I mentioned above, we have to buy it from a company. Thanks for pointing out the Socket differentiation.

Any suggestion of an OEM that build Core i7 3770K?

[Ket]

Thats unfortunate. Mass build companies can't put together a balanced system to save their life theres always something compromised and something over specced. Using the system you listed as the example; why use a Obsidian 550D when theres any number of just as well built no-name cases a company could use. The money saved on that aspect could go toward a better quad channel memory kit, or upgrade that GTX670 to a 680. As for companies that build and deliver systems to the door, it pains me to even name one as such companies are a insult and I spit at them, but alienware or dell. I think such places as newegg also offer a selection of pre-built systems.

[agenda2005]

I know I can't get something that suit all my needs. But processor and GPU power is what matters here.

I check Dell and the pricing is outrageous when I just configured a mediocre system.

Alienware is usually expensive, but back in the days, they build serious systems.

I don't know how they are doing now. I will check them out.

[Donnie27]

I agree with Ket about the processor. A 3770 or 2600 and if it is an office model don't bother with the K versions.

[agenda2005]

Yes! It's for work, but the processor would be used for number crunching for some developmental work, so I need the best processor for the money.

I am on HP now and they offer 3770 K but with lousy graphics card along with DDR3 -1333 instead of DDR3- 1600.

I will be using the graphics card to run animation of gigabytes of data, so speed and power is important there too.

HP pricing seems cheap, so is most of their parts. Very frustrating.

[OS-Wiz]

1 x Case ( Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Gaming Case - Black)

Cooler Master HAF 922

1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7 3820 Processor (4x 3.60GHz/10MB L3 Cache) - Intel Core i7 3820 )
[SOCKET-2011] - Standard 120mm Fan )

i7-3770 socket 1155

1 x Motherboard ( ASUS P9X79 -- 4x USB 3.0 )

ASUS P8Z77-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

- Dual 1TB Drives (2TB Capacity) - RAID 0 High Performance )

And a 2TB HDD for backup

1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )

Use onboard sound

1 x Network Card ( Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card )

Use onboard LAN

[Ket]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883229342 equally as good, perhaps a bit better even, and its cheaper. With what you are doing it sounds like amount of RAM is more important that the actual speed of the RAM, so thats moot really.

[5pot]

One thing you should keep in mind, is that if the app you will be running on the GPU uses a lot of the CPU for the CUDA app, you will want PCIe 3.0. which the 2011 socket is currently not supported by NVIDIA (and will not be with the current SB-E chips).

The SB-E chips do not run at PCIe 3.0 natively, and there is a workaround but it is a gamble due to there being problems with the timings on the controller on Intel's part.

For this reason IF your CUDA app is heavily CPU dependent, I would STRONGLY suggest you use a i7 3770. This will make a big difference. One CUDA project that I crunch for saw an improvement in 30% performance when using PCIe 3.0 vs 2.0 since their app relied on so much of the CPU.

Food for thought.

[Ket]

^ Very true, I forgot about that.