My first build - Seeking confirmation

[dyerseve726]

Hey there. I see this board is flooded with a lot of first timers like myself, so I must apologize. I've been meaning to replace my Mac Mini for my home studio but don't feel like paying $4000 for a Mac Pro, so I pretty much followed the advice for the high end ATX build, with a few modifications. I've already ordered these products from Amazon, but it's the weekend, so I can cancel if necessary. A few of these things (HD and PSU) were chosen mostly for their quiet operation, as this will be in a room with pro mics. I also ordered a few super quiet case fans.

Basically, I'd just like to know if anything I've purchased has any potential bugs I should be aware of, or any special requirements for installing OSX. Also, I'm curious on your thoughts for noise levels with this specific GPU and also the stock heatsink for my processor. Thanks in advance and thank you again for this tremendous wealth of knowledge here on this forum.

Here is my build.

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD4
Intel Core i7-2700K 3.5 GHz
Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM
Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Blue SATA III 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache
GIGABYTE ATI Radeon HD6870 1GB DDR5 2DVI/HDMI/2x Mini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video
Corsair Professional Series Gold 750-Watt 80 Plus Gold Certified High-Performance Power Supply
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case

After shipping, fans, and other accessories, I spent a little over $1200. A similar (yet still inferior) Mac pro would run well over $3500. I'm sincerely impressed and excited to get this project moving

 

[alex_tzardea]

All looks good there,the only thing i would buy for such a build would be an SSD as boot drive,that WD will slow you down ...also,it's a 512B or 4k sector size?

 

[wfj]

All looks good there,the only thing i would buy for such a build would be an SSD as boot drive,that WD will slow you down ...also,it's a 512B or 4k sector size?

Pretty sure all the non-green wd drives are still 512. The newer seagates are 4k...

 

[dyerseve726]

All looks good there,the only thing i would buy for such a build would be an SSD as boot drive,that WD will slow you down ...also,it's a 512B or 4k sector size?

Yes, the SSD will have to be in the future. Luckily, it's a 6 GB/S drive, which should help, no?

Also, I really have no idea how to find out the sector size of that drive. Amazon doesn't include that info. Thanks for your confirmation. I did some tinkering with PC building in my younger years, but it's been a while, so I'm not quite as confident as I once was. Hoping to get that back

 

[wfj]

All looks good there,the only thing i would buy for such a build would be an SSD as boot drive,that WD will slow you down ...also,it's a 512B or 4k sector size?

Yes, the SSD will have to be in the future. Luckily, it's a 6 GB/S drive, which should help, no?

Also, I really have no idea how to find out the sector size of that drive. Amazon doesn't include that info. Thanks for your confirmation. I did some tinkering with PC building in my younger years, but it's been a while, so I'm not quite as confident as I once was. Hoping to get that back

Even it if is a 4k drive, the fix is relatively easy. Search the forum.

 

[alex_tzardea]

I think u're right wfj,Caviar Blue are 512B sector size.
I never had a 6Gb/s mechanical drive,from what i read this forum,people advise buying one only if you get a good deal,if much more expensive as SATA2 doesn't worth the extra cost,as they will never reach top speeds supported by Sata2(even if sata3).But,as i said, i can't confirm it.Anyways,you'll have a nice build,have fun!

 

[wfj]

I think u're right wfj,Caviar Blue are 512B sector size.
I never had a 6Gb/s mechanical drive,from what i read this forum,people advise buying one only if you get a good deal,if much more expensive as SATA2 doesn't worth the extra cost,as they will never reach top speeds supported by Sata2(even if sata3).But,as i said, i can't confirm it.Anyways,you'll have a nice build,have fun!

Exactly...I wouldn't bother with a SATA III hdd unless the price is about equal. Essentially, no mechanical disk can saturate a SATA III interface.

 

[dyerseve726]

I think u're right wfj,Caviar Blue are 512B sector size.
I never had a 6Gb/s mechanical drive,from what i read this forum,people advise buying one only if you get a good deal,if much more expensive as SATA2 doesn't worth the extra cost,as they will never reach top speeds supported by Sata2(even if sata3).But,as i said, i can't confirm it.Anyways,you'll have a nice build,have fun!

Well, at $99 and free shipping, I would consider it a pretty decent deal. I figured I might as well take advantage of my motherboards capabilities there for a few extra dollars. Also, I've heard the Caviar Blues are pretty quiet. I realize I probably can't drop this machine down to the db level of my Mac Mini, but I want to get it as close as possible.

 

[wfj]

I think u're right wfj,Caviar Blue are 512B sector size.
I never had a 6Gb/s mechanical drive,from what i read this forum,people advise buying one only if you get a good deal,if much more expensive as SATA2 doesn't worth the extra cost,as they will never reach top speeds supported by Sata2(even if sata3).But,as i said, i can't confirm it.Anyways,you'll have a nice build,have fun!

Well, at $99 and free shipping, I would consider it a pretty decent deal. I figured I might as well take advantage of my motherboards capabilities there for a few extra dollars. Also, I've heard the Caviar Blues are pretty quiet. I realize I probably can't drop this machine down to the db level of my Mac Mini, but I want to get it as close as possible.

It will work great for you and yes they are pretty quiet. I doubt WD is even making most of the sata II models anymore.

 

[dyerseve726]

After some consideration, I decided to switch my case to the Corsair Obsidian Series 550D to further dampen the sound. It only had a few reviews on Amazon, but it looks pretty killer for just a few extra dollars. I will let you guys know what I think.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006L6ZSWC/ref=gno_cart_title_2