New PC

[wonder.]

Ok guys, im thinking of building a new Comp, and i have saved up some cash from working during the summer and just over time.  I kinda of want one that works really well and will last me through college.  ( another 5 1/2 years.  Only a jun in highschool).  So here is what I was thinking of. 

Case: Coolermaster Cosmos
Mobo: Evga nforce 680i T1 edition
CPU: Intel QX6850 (not sure about this)
Power Supply: Silencer 750 watt quad
Ram: Corsair DHX XMs2 Dominator (4GB)
Hard Drive: 2 Western Digital Raptors (74GB each) (not sure about this either)
Liquid Cooling: Coolermaster Aquagate
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme fatality pro
Video Card: XFX Geforce 8800 GTX 768mb PCI Express (comes with a free gaming headset)
Op Drive 1: Lite-on Super multi LH2A1H 20x DVD Burner
Op Drive 2: HP 20x DVD Burner
Mouse: Razer Death Adder
Keyboard: Razer Tarantula

I was thinking about getting a Bigfoot Killer M1 network card, but that is $250, so i think that is out of the question.  So any suggestions?  Prob could make alot of improvements to help the price, but im not great with this stuff.  So any input is helpful.  Thanks. 

~Wonder.

[MR|337]

If youre going with vista, forget about the sound card. I had to yank mine (same one). Lots of complaints on the creative forum too. Card is great in xp though. The evga board should have built in nvidia sound which is good stuff, save your money.

Get a core 2 quad 6600. Save a few bucks, it really is a great cpu which I have found nothing that slows it down.

I would also get all sata drives including the dvd ones, the cables are thin and it makes things much tidier inside, not to mention improving speed and air flow.

Vid card; switch brands to evga, forget the cheap 20 dollar freebie headphones. evga = life time warranty, and you can trade up.

I also dont suggest that dominator ram. Unless your rig is going to be an overclocker, just get some of their better memory that has epp.

The aquagate is shit. I had one, lasted about two months and the pump quit working. Also the resevoir plug threads are cheap and easy to cross thread. If you insist on water cooling dont get one of those cheap all in one kits. A good aftermarket heatsink should really be all you need.

The hard drives; If you want your maps to load faster, get the 10k rpm raptors. Unless a raid set up is planned, just get a small 10k rpm drive (less than 80gb) for your os and games. Add a 300gb WD for storage.

The razor stuff; I dont like it, but to each their own. I would suggest Logitech.

The power supply is the single most important part of your rig. Dont skimp on it, get a name brand and not some 50 dollar unit that claims to have a jillion watts. Buy the biggest one possible, 1kw so when you decide to add that second 8800 and sli, the power is there and would be no need to buy a new psu. 750 watts wont cut the mustard with dual 8800's I dont care what they say, as it's barely enough for a single 8800..

[wonder.]

Thanks for the advice leet.  About the power supply though, i decided to go with that one, I saw it in a magazine i was  reading, Maximum PC and it was used in the Dream Machine '07.  The power supply got great reviews and they used it with dual XFX Geforce 8800 ultra XXX editions.  So i think it will work pretty well. Here is what it is listed as: PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 quad.  Also, yea i think im gonna go with XP.  I just like how the system runs.  About the video Card, I really didn't know the difference between XFX and Evga.  And yes, I plan to run raid with the Raptors. Thanks for the help.

Also, what RAM would you suggest?

~Wonder. 

[WidowMaker]

What kind of budget we looking at here???

Can look here to see what I was looking to get

http://theelders.net/forum/index.php?topic=5283.15

I have changed my mind about a coupls of things, like the memory and the processor. Like LEET said I would go with that quad core he suggested.

[wonder.]

Yea, i decided to go with some changes, such as the CPU.  Prob gonna go with the Q6600 now.  Budget is about 2500 maybe 3000.  I want something that will last me through college.  So, with the money i would have saved with the Q6600, I decided to go with an evga 8800 ultra.  And i changed the ram.  Seemed like a good deal, and got some good reviews.  For $50, you get 2GB of OCZ SLI ready Dual Chan ram.  So 4GB for $100, with a product that got pretty good consumer reviews. 

[Video_Master]

I did alot of digging before I bought all my current stuff and this was the best combo I found out there.

CPU - E6850
Mobo - ASUS P5NE-32 SLI
RAM - 4GB of OCZ Reaper PC2-8500
VC - EVGA 8800 Ultra
Hard Drives - Currently have 2 Raptor 73GB drives in Raid 0 but going to switch to single 320GB drive
Case - Antec Nine Hundred
Power Supply - OCZ GameXStream 850W
CPU Cooler - Tunic Tower 120 - 120mm Fan in the middle of the 5 pound heatsink
Northbridge and Southbridge Coolers - Thermal Take Spirit II each has a 40mm fan on the cooling fins which also have heat pipe.


I will be getting a 2nd 8800 Ultra cause Crysis KILLS my machine when running in 2560x1600 on even medium settings.  I get about 25 - 35 frames per second.

[MR|337]

PCP&C are great psu's..The OCZ ram; check on evga site to see if it is tested to work with the mobo before buying it.

This is your board, right?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2945261&CatId=1533

I'd get this for memory, it will work with the mobo and the vid card as it is designed to using epp.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2206874&CatId=2368

[MR|337]

I agree about crysis, unless I turn down a bunch of stuff, it runs like shit for me at 1680x1050 on an 8800 Ultra. I bet that tuniq was a bitch to mount to the mobo, eh?

[wonder.]

Yea thats the board leet.  Thanks for the advice. 

[fraggle 79]

Just a bit of info for your Vid card...

The 8800GT's are very good and much cheaper, about $300 and dropping.  Specs and performance are very good.
Each has 512Mb Ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130306

hell if you're up for it get 2.


And I don't think you'll actually use it 5 yrs. Between parts dying, getting slow, and drunken college parties
it's very unlikely. I give it maybe up to 3 1/2yrs.

[MR|337]

Fraggle has a good point. For the price of one Ultra, could have two GT and sli. Wish they had those when I got my card some time back...

[WidowMaker]

might want to keep an eye on that mother board. Reading reviews they seem to have alot of DOA's with them.

[hammertime]

why not just spend ~$1.5k and build a computer that will work well for 2 years, then spend another 1k 2 years down the line and upgrade your shit? To me that makes more sense than dumping (what I assume to be) close to $2.5k on a computer that will be outdated in 3-4 years

[Elite_Prophet]

 

[thefunk]

Definitely get a Q6600 instead of the QX6850. You can EASILY overclock the Q6600 up to (or way past) the QX6850 on air cooling while saving a big chunk of change. Same performance, huge price difference.

Stick with the 8800GTX but go with EVGA or BFG for lifetime warranty. Ultra doesn't really give you enough real-world performance gain to warrant the extra price premium. Or get 2 of the new 8800GT's like many have said.

You won't be able to use 4gb of RAM if you run a 32-bit OS. A 32-bit OS can only address 4gb of memory for the WHOLE system. With the video card ram (i.e. 8800GTX with 768mb) and the other components, you'll really only have about 3gb of memory left to use.

I would've gone for Vista 64-bit if not for driver and application compatibility issues so I stuck with Win XP Pro 32-bit which is rock stable. If you want to go 64-bit do research first and make sure all the drivers and programs you'll be using don't have issues.

MR|337 mentioned this but Creative driver support on Vista and especially 64-bit is PISS POOR and there have not been any signs of improvement for a long time.

This is the memory I got for my recent build:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820146565

$50 after rebate!! They used to be more than double that price just 2-3 months ago; memory prices are in the gutter right now. These are Micron D9 memory modules which are very reliable and overclockable. They're used in the premium lines of several memory brands. Crucial is the retail arm of Micron so it's straight from the source.

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