New Computer System Specs…Any Suggestions

[scuba_steveo]

The last time I bought a computer I went down to Best Buy and bought what I though at the time (about two years ago) was a good computer. Now that I know the tinniest bit about computers I realize that it is horrible and I need a new setup. In the past year I started a new engineering firm and handed the task of computer/network setup to a computer nerd and I have been blown away with the performance of the computers that he has built for us. I have asked him to spec out a computer for my home needs and the list below is what we have put together. A little bit about me so you know what I am looking for. I am not a gamer. I do work in AutoCAD. I want two screens. I do not need it on my computer but I want 5.1 or better sound. I have to have a backup system (right now I am using a Western Digital My Book 500GB Premium at home). I want speed and more speed for surfing the net, working in AutoCAD, and running many applications at the same time on multiple screens. Ok, so here is what I am about to buy. I am set on the processor (QX6700) but I am clueless on the mother board. Do you see anything that may not work together, or may work better with something else, or that needs to be changed?

Processor:
QX6700 Intel Core 2 Quad Core 2 Extreme Processor

Mother board:
I like ASUS, but which one?
ASUS Striker Extreme (Is this just for gamers or is it the best for me too?)
ASUS P5B Premium Vista Edition
ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i (leaning this way)
Or one of the other P5N32 (Premium or Plus)

Memory: Need help here too…should I get more GB or performance? Do I need it?
4 GBs (2 orders of)
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4

Case:
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V V2.0
This is what we use at work and I like the fact that I can lock the front because I have a few kids crawling around.

Hard Drive:
(2) Western Digital WD2500KS Caviar SE16 250GB 16MB SATA2

Mass Storage:
Western Digital WD5000KS 500GB 7200RPM SATA2 16MB

Video Card:
eVGA 256-P2-N636-AR GeForce 7950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP

DVD Burner:
LITE-ON Black 20X Double Layer DVD+/-RW Burner with LightScribe

Card Reader:
Atech PRO-28U 28-in-1 Internal Card Reader Black

That’s about it for the case; the rest is just Keyboard, mouse, battery backup, and speakers.

So…what do you think?

[erikharrison]

Your graphics card should be able to do directx 10. Everything is moving toward DX 10 with Vista. Are you going to run the hard drives in a mirror? You DEFINITELY should, even if it means doing to mirrors with 4 hard drives. Most PC motherboards (ASUS) come with 5.1 The memory is awesome, you could get the ocz low latency, with multiple screens and many apps open you will see a difference with more ram.

Save all of your software, before you install any third party programs, update all your windows updates and then all of your drivers. Save all of your drivers on your mass storage, that way if your main drive crashes, you will have everything backed up. Seriously do at least ONE mirror. Don't live on the edge.

Make sure your power supply is more than adequate as many accesories/peripherals are now taking advantage of using the power of the pc.

PM me with any questions, please provide links because I am LAZY!