Building a Gaming Beast

[wiredvibes]

Ok ... so i have been looking into building my first comp in 4 years and I will be using this to render and model 3D stuff, edit videos, use photoshop etc and most of all GAMING.... here are the parts I have decided on or sort of looked at.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (Processor)
XFX 7950GX2 (Video card)
Creative X-fi Platinum (sound card)
Kingston 2GB 240pin DDR2 SDRAM 667 FB DIMM PC2 5300 w/ Heat Sinks (Ram ) X 2 = 4GB
Dell 2407WFP (monitor)
Thermaltake Thoughpower 750W (PSU)
Thermaltake Armour Series VA8000BWS ATX (Case)
Segate Barracuda 7200RPM 750GB SATA 3.0 (HDD)
Logitech G15 (keyboard)
Logitech G5 (mouse)
Logitech Z -5450 w/ wireless rear speakers ( Speakers)
a basic DVD writer (will be secondary as my Laptop has my primary one)

the only thing I cannot decide is the MOBO... because I want 4 240pin Ram (for vista as Xp32bit only supports 4 GB of ram as of now) slots, 2 PCI express 16x that work in SLI (incase I upgrade to 2 7950's in the future), supports the Core 2 Duo. I have abt 250 - 400 left for the mobo and anything else anyone can think of.

I was thinking of gettting the PhysX card but it seems useless as of now ... maybe in the future. any ideas?

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas or revisions to my Specs please feel free.... also are all these parts compatible..

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

WTF. Get a real PSU. Seasonic S-12 600W. Thermaltake is as good as a Rosewill. You're talking 700W, and you think that makes you have one crazy@$$ PSU? No way. It's quality is like cheapo Chinese imitation Japanese cars.

CPU looks good, but honestly why spend $4500?

I think a lot of people want to go all out, but I highly recommend settling for hte 6600. Save your money for a car, a house, something better.

As for your monitor, I suggest getting the Asus or Gigabyte boards. The Gigabyte DS3 has some issues with OCZ ram I heard, but I recommend you get some uber RAM too, not that crap.

OCZ VX2 if you're willing to dish out that much.

NEC 3550 for aDVD writer definitely.

I would recommend a different case, but I'm in the process of shopping for one for my $2000 Conroe build. I currently run an Antec P-160 on my Opteron system, but I only settled fo rit cuz P180s are insanely hard to build.

 

[Slammy1]

With a $4500 budget, I'd go up to the 30" monitor and a > TB storage solution.

 

[Kaldire]

lemme know what your 3mark scores are when its done being built!

 

[wiredvibes]

Slammy 1:

Storage isnt a problem for me ..... I have a TB right now... 2 externals of 500 each .... ill probably put one of those HDD's into this machine. and as for a 30" monitor... its way too much space for me .... ive used a 17, 21, 24, 30 and a 42..... i prefer a 24 sizewise... but thats just my preferance. I have a 17inch laptop right now (the Dell XPS) and ill be using this at the same time.. so dual screen wont help either. plus i intend to use most of the inputs on the monitor the dell is offering. My PS2 my DVR my CPU secondry for my laptop, and well the list can go on.... so for me i think this is probably the best choice right now.... but the upcoming BenQ24inch seems to be good as well and it has all the inputs i need... its ships in september so i can wait and see...

DLeRium:

I went onto the AVS forums and found a power consumption calculator and if i go 8 gigs of ram and 2 x 7950's in the future it said 641W's and so i was just thinking of having 50W as extra just incase.. I read the reviews on newegg for the PSU and its got very good reviews... but thanks for the Seasonic advise... ill look into what they have.... as for the case ... i just searched for something with alot of cooling.. this case has 4 fans ... 2 x 120 and 2 x 80 .... so i figured it would keep it cool and i wouldnt haveto install anything extra for cooling... the DVD writer i saw was infact the NEC 3550A. I havent built a comp in 4 years so i was reading up on different Ram types etc. and this seemed good but ill lookinto the OCZ VX2 ram as well ... but i was talking on other forums and people are saying to stick with either kingston or corsair. the ASUS P5W Deluxe board seems good but I cant find anything online to suggest that the 2 PCIx16 ports run in SLI.... I would like to hear abt what ure building as well..

Currently my laptop has a P4 3.4 extreme , 2 gigs or ram and the ATI 9800 mobility 256mb and i already reach its limits spacewise for rendering. so i need 4 gigs for work as well as atleast 1GB or Vram...

Thanks for all the input... keep it coming

 

[wiredvibes]

Will do Kaldire

 

[myocardia]

That Kingston RAM will not work in a "normal" gaming motherboard. It's a different type of RAM, called FB-DIMM. The only motherboards that can use it are server motherboards, and there's only one that supports Core 2 Duo's: Asus P5WDG2-WS, and it doesn't have SLI. Of course, SLI works horribly on Intel platforms right now, anyway, so don't let that sway you.

Why in the world would you want 8GB of RAM, anyway? 4 GB of RAM is overkill, really. And 4GB is plenty for the type of software you're planning on running with that system.

 

[wiredvibes]

myocardia:

Thanks for the FB-DIMM thing... I was unaware of that. thank you. When rendering I need ALOT of RAM ... I have one machine with 2 gigs and one with 4. the one with 2 cant be used for Hi-end 3D work. the 4 is good .... and I am only saying that I will upgrade to 8 in the future if I need it, I am building a machine that is upgradeable for the future. I am getting a PSU with higher wattage than I need right now so that in the future if I upgrade I wont need to buy a new PSU and same with the Ram ... im buying 2 sticks of 2 gigs each so that in the future I can upgrade to 8 without buying 4 new sticks.

 

[Slammy1]

Don't take the lack of response personally, Conroe's are still pretty new and there are very few "experts" on the matter. I understand that surfing on the big screen is eye strain, but my monitor weighng in at 37" you can see which side of the debate I'm on . Dell monitors are bang-for-the-buck, not the highest quality but who argues at the price. I'd argue that with the money you're putting in, I'd focus a big share on the items that will survive an upgrade (monitor, etc.).

Delerium in his morning fogged response does have a solid point about the PSU recommendation. I thought Fortron made TT psus, but maybe I'm mis-remembering. I would've suggested the same PSU he did, actually (a lot of those wattage calculators make assumptions about efficiency and rail distribution, which is why you'll see people here suggest lower wattage on a higher quality unit. Less heat, less noise, etc.

A lot of gamers take an appraoch of more frequent upgrades of cheaper video cards, and on a value basis they get better quality overall (no doubt). I do a similar thing, except the frequent upgrades part (I'm considering upgrading my 9700 to an x850 or a 6600GT). I hate to see big investment in cards like that as it will lose value quicker than any other component.

Memory depends on how much you want to o/c. I run Kingston, but if I were wanting to heavily o/c I'd choose otherwise (and there are some good options). Here's my advice. You're investing a lot in the rig, check out the combos others are running in the MoBo and o/c'ers boards. Plan on pulling the trigger in a couple of weeks once the first revision MoBos that were "rushed" to the market get their updated BIOS/hardware, , then buy. Being first in new tech is a lot of fruitless troubleshooting all too often.

 

[Lonyo]

Don't bother with a 750GB drive. Get 2x400GB for less.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Don't bother with a 750GB drive. Get 2x400GB for less.

Some people prefer larger drives. I myself use 500GB models and will begin upgrading to the 750's when prices recede a bit.

Not everyone wants 10 hard drives for all their storage

 

[killr Kadoogan]

the 2407 is awesome. I've had mine for a few weeks and its performing well. I do have a few problems with backlight uniformity (left side little brighter than the right), but really only when there is a lot of white on the screen. There is some banding on vertical gradients, but its much better than the A01 or A00 revisions of the monitor (i've got the A02). If you can get past the banding, which isn't too bad, then you'll love the monitor.

PS: didn't see that you were a big photoshop/3d modeler. The banding may be an issue for you. I do a lot of photoshop/illustrator and i see the banding in gradients, but it doesnt bother me that much.

 

[Talcite]

wiredvibes, there is more to a PSU than just it's overall wattage. Each individual rail will be rated for a certain amperage and wattage. Trust me on this one, go for the 600w seasonic. That's already overkill for the system. Thermaltakes really arn't great for PSUs, and well the PSU is the only part that can REALLY leave your computer royally screwed. Don't trust newegg reviews btw, anyone can write them.

Don't forget an online/line-interactive UPS solution. It'll set you back $150-300, but you'll be glad when your system doesn't fail due to dirty power.

For the mobo, I'd suggest the D975XBX. It's not really for overclocking, although it still can do it. It's rock solid for stability, and well when you buy a $4500 machine, it better be harder to bring down than everest or you're wasting your money. It has crossfire, so I'd suggest waiting for either the X1950, or the new DX10 series of vid cards. If you're getting the XBX, make sure it's revision 303 or later, since the earlier ones don't support conroe.

I'd actually suggest a raid configuration, maybe 1 terrabyte in raid 0+1? That way, you can have enough speed for video editing, and also have reliable data. Also look into getting enterprise drives like the WD RE2 series, or the maxtor maxline IVs. They don't cost that much more, and they are rated for 24x7 use, plus have double the MTBF of normal desktop drives. If you're concerned about noise, you shouldn't be getting a system with 4 fans anyways then.

The physx card is useless, just like killerNIC. Don't bother.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

I would replace the ram with faster DDR2 at least 6400 cas 3 or 8000 cas 4.
I would replace the PSU with Corsair 620Watt or GameXstream 700watt.
With a big case, I would rather look into Gigabyte Aurora or Antec P180B, but ultimately it's up to your personal taste.
I would rather get the Z-5500 speakers, less power wires. Since you're buying X-fi soundcard, I would think that soundcard will really shine with Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1.

Since you want to go SLI down the road, you will have to wait until the conroe-supporting nvidia chipsets come out since Intel 975X and ATI RD600 are crossfire platforms.

 

[Slammy1]

Tackle, on my next build expect many pm's from me.

 

[wiredvibes]

THANKS FOR all the help!!!! Ill def change the RAM and the PSU and the case... also I already have a UPS im going to hook it up to. banding in the 2407 doesnt bother me so much becoz ill probably do my color corrections on the university computers so that prints come out ok. any ideas on when the new range of DX10 cards are coming out? like this quarter or next year? and any ideas on the timeframe of the conroe-supporting nvidia chipsets?? i was hoping to assemble this in the first week of september. all advise is appreciated.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Think if that 750 Gig hard drive fails, that would suck. I'd rather have to 2 smaller drives.

 

[wiredvibes]

Just a quick note ... i was on the nVidia website and they had this page... have a look .... it says that It has the Core2Duo as well as SLI ... the asus mobo supports this....

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_conroe.html

maybe my inexperience is showing.... but wont this work for me?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

1. budget is set way too high, your system will be outdated in about 5 months, spend about 2k for a damn fast pc now, and spend another 2k on an even bigger upgrade later
2. TT makes crap PSU's. they are loud and unstable and they lie about their specs. i recommend the seasonic 600watt psu, FSP 600 or 700 watt psu, or PCPC 510
3. TT case's have very sharp edges on the inside that WILL cut your hands when you build or upgrade your system. the exterior panels also can't take too many hits before they scratch up. with a high budget, look into LIAN LI case's or Silverstone
4. i'd get 2 x seagate 320gb 7200.10's (or 3) and put them all into raid. its a better idea than to lose all your data when 1 hdd fails (which a lot of hdd's do within a year or 2)
5. NEC makes good DVD writers as does SONY and Samsung

 

[Running]

if your still worried about the psu, you can always go for teh c power and cooling one, 850w they are one of the most reliable psu companies. i think you should just get 4 gigs of ram now, and then when vista comes out you can upgrade to 8 gigs, oh an diwth your budget i'd look into I-RAM.

 

[Pixle]

You could get the following:

Get a 3007wfp
6600 Core Duo (oc 3.4ghz)
2x1gb gskill ddr2
p5w dh deluxe motherboard
Enermax Liberty 600w or 500w
XFi Xtreme Music
X1900xtx or xt


For 1000's less and less than 5% speed difference on what your getting.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

According to a Thermaltake PSU Roundup on Xbitlabs (like 14 of them), their PSUs have very unpredictable behavior (depends on what batch/series they come from) and their Model Numbering makes it very difficult to tell the good ones apart from the bad ones. I would stay clear since there ARE better options at the same ~$200 price range. Never heard anything bad about a Silverstone PSU. PCP&C is expensive and I really, really doubt it's worth ~$500 (for the wattage you are seeking). There's a Silverstone 850W at ~$300 and the brand has as much cred as the best of them.

The Armor is a fine beast of a case. I don't understand the hype about Lian Lis coz for me, a case is just a case and once a system is set up, I rarely go back in unless I'm adding new hardware or the fans are clogged and making some noise. And most of the good Lian Lis have that inverted-layout which strikes me a little odd (and that perennial debate: do motherboard heatpipes work in a BTX-style case?) That Cooler Master Stacker 810 looks kinda neat with the PSU on the bottom.

I believe most post-production/processing & content-creation artists use two seperate HDDs at the bare minimum - a System Boot drive for installed applications and the OS...and another one for the scratch file, saved projects and stuff like that. Consider getting a small Primary Drive and a large Storage Drive. Seagate gets a whole lot of love from all over the world and I recommend them - I've been using them for quite some time now.

Those Wireless speakers require an AC outlet nearby for all five satellites (plus the subwoofer). Keep that in mind. Speaker wires might be easier to route/conceal than thick AC plugs. Keep this in mind.

Have you considered the possibility of dropping Core 2 Duo and going for a Woodcrest Xeon (same Core Micro-Architecture) that uses FB-DIMMs? I'm no expert but if was running Eight Gigs of RAM, I would want it in a premium workstation-class motherboard with nothing less than a Xeon/Opteron. Unfortunately, I have a very poor knowledge of Xeon Motherboards (especially when you add SLI into the mix) so I can't steer you in any appropriate direction.

Some display color purists frown upon the Dell 2407 because it uses 6-bit panels - if you don't care, it's a great, great monitor. Otherwise, look into the Samsung 244T which is a little pricier ($850ish) but has exceptional performance. And yeah, it's HDCP-compliant too.

And yeah, I have tremendous respect for you because you have a $4500 budget and are NOT considering any Raptors

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

The 750GB is a definitely NO-NO. Unless you are planning to have 4 of those in your case and max out on storage, I say NO. Go with the 320gb drives and put 4 of them together and you have over 1.2TB of data. You can waste so much money on the 750s, or you could get the 320s which is the best bang for your buck. If you want real storage, grab a storage server. Spend 2k on a good rig.

Someone mentioned Raptors. If you relaly want to spend $4500, I recommend getting Raptors. A Raptor 74GB (ADFD new 16mb one) as your boot drive will the THE FASTEST SATA drive out there (once again, please read carefully.. I'm talking about the ADFD 74gb whcih is FASTER than the 150GB). I currently use it as solely an OS drive to run Vista Beta 2 and XP. Nothing else goes on nit other than OS and some apps that yo uinstall onto your OS drive. All my other downloads, games, media is on a Seagate 7200.9.

Raptors are rated for 1.2 million hours which is 136 years I believe? Basically, it's damn good. Plus, it's better to have multiple drives anyways.

Display pourists frown down on the Dell 2407? Yup. That's me right there. However remember the Viewsonic VP191b/VP930b/Samsung P193? Those are 6-bit also, but it took us long enough to figure that out. They're just as good as 8-bits in almost every aspect, but we could only tell by using a gradient.

Bottom line is I think you should spend roughly 2k, maybe 2.5k tops because you want a 24". Save your 2K for an upgrade later. You can bust out 4.5k today and have a crappy@$$ system in 2 years, or you could bust out 2.5k today and have a kick@$$ system today that's almost as good as a 4.5k system esp when you overclock, and still have a kick@$$ system 2 years later....

 

[wiredvibes]

Regarding my budget:

The way things have been going for me... this budget is recquired. My job is in Game Design and in college I haveto do ALOT of computer intensive work (3D video and 2D design) and if have to wait 1 hour each time for a frame to render I woont be able to do the kind of quality work I want to do. Ill have to sacrifice quality beacuse my hardware cant keep up with me. spending over 150,000 dollars on education, if my grades are low it does not seem worth it.. i think to me its worth the 4.5K so that I can cope with all my work better. sorry if this is kinda BLAH but alot of people have commented on my budget.

for the PSU: the Seasonic seems good :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151025 I hope this is the one.

as for the HDD's i could go smaller but when I need to integrate my 3D and my video clips in like after effects sometimes the uncompressed HD videos can take upto 350GB and I have a cpl of small drvies and they didnt cut it. I just need that space. If you loook at my pervious posts I say that I have a 500GB im going to use as my primary and this will be my secondary for work. but the Raptor 74GB might be a good idea... as an OS only.

Im still looking into cases. ... any ideas about the ASUS mobo i posted abt earlier

 

[wiredvibes]

Another question .... does the 7950 recquire a SLI board?? and if so does 2 7950's recquire a Quad SLI board? because if it does ... then will a board that is SLI ready and has 2 PCI16 slots that work in sli work??