Buying Guidance

[ohnnyj]

Hello all:

I am in the process of getting all of the components together to make a really awesome system and need help choosing the best of the best:

Sure of:

CPU: AthlonFX 55 - no brainer, will buy
Case: Lian Li V-2100A - will buy
MB: ASUS A8N-SLI - already own
VC: 2xBFG 6800GT PCIe - already own
HD: 2xWD Raptor

Unsure of:

Memory: Corsair XMS XL (low latency) X 4? Muskin? OCZ? G.Skill?
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling? OCZ? Antec? Enermax?
HD: For storage a 400GB Seagate w/NCQ (better than Hitachi or Maxtor?)
DVD: Plextor 12 or 16x?
Sound: Audigy 4 Pro?
Headphones: A good set of headphones for gaming/movies/music.
Cooling: Koolance?

In regards to the cooling, is it a good idea to water cool the whole thing? Is it safe? I don't want to destroy the stuff. Is it difficult? Can I water cool the CPU and both GPUs?

Anything I am missing?

Price is not a huge factor, although I have some limits .

Thanks all.

 

[Omizzle]

If you want the best of the best, two 6800 Ultras. Also, whered you get your mobo?

 

[meltdown75]

You probably shouldn't worry about water cooling unless you are going to be doing some serious overclocking. With air cooling, you will be able to overclock to a pretty good extent anyway so I would rule that out unless you have a big woody for it and you just gotta have it. All the memory you listed is great; the power supply manufacturers you listed are all good; your HD is huge, maybe a little overkill; Plextor - good choice, I'd go with the 16x if you can afford it... good choice for sound is the Audigy ZS... Sennheiser makes great headphones ($). Other than that looks like you have it nailed down.

 

[Anubis08]

Too bad your system will be spanked in about a half a year to a year. Wait for dual core my friend. IMHO

 

[Edward Lee]

SLI is a just a fad....

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Corsair xms LL@512MB so go 2x or 4x

enermax 600watt, dual +12v

definitely go with seagate, sata w/ ncq is a plus

dvd nec 3500a

i would still stick with audizy 2zs

any 5.1 headphones from sennheiser, sony, or even kinyo

 

[Tostada]

Why would you get a $950 CPU and an SLI board (who knows how much you had to pay to actually get ahold of that), but then you go and get cheap with your video cards? A 6800 Ultra is only $100 more than a GDDR3 6800 GT.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: Tostada
Why would you get a $950 CPU and an SLI board (who knows how much you had to pay to actually get ahold of that), but then you go and get cheap with your video cards? A 6800 Ultra is only $100 more than a GDDR3 6800 GT.

Find me $500 6800 Ultra PCIe.

 

[ohnnyj]

To Omizzle:

Well I didn't want to get Ultras for a couple of reasons:

1. Already hot enough w/two GTs and an FX-55
2. They take up too much room.
3. They require more power.
4. I like BFG and they don't offer PCIe Ultras yet, and won't probably for a long while.

And I got the mb (2 actually) from two e-tailers right when they came out.

I paid too much but its worth it.

 

[ohnnyj]

To meltdown:

What about the noise issue. Its probably going to be pretty loud with two GTs and an FX-55.

 

[ohnnyj]

To Anubis:

I can't wait any longer, I have been waiting for 2-3 years. You have any idea how long that is in gamers years?

Right now I'm running off a T-bird 1.4Ghz w/GeForce3 and 256MB of RAM.

 

[ohnnyj]

To Naustica:

Amen to that!

 

[jterrell]

Originally posted by: Tostada
Why would you get a $950 CPU and an SLI board (who knows how much you had to pay to actually get ahold of that), but then you go and get cheap with your video cards? A 6800 Ultra is only $100 more than a GDDR3 6800 GT.

YOU CAN NOT RUN 2 Ultras folks!!!!!

They take up 2 slots and are not SLI compatible.

He bought the best SLI boards he could.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: ohnnyj
To meltdown:

What about the noise issue. Its probably going to be pretty loud with two GTs and an FX-55.

I guess that's where your headphones come in

The old addage "if you wanna play, you gotta pay" might apply here. ie. if you want the 2 loud cards, you will pay the price in noise levels as well as $. You could look into sound-dampening material for your case although almost any computer setup is going to make at least some ambient noise, it's just something you gotta live with. do i hear a dustbuster?

 

[Astu222]

Originally posted by: jterrell

Originally posted by: Tostada
Why would you get a $950 CPU and an SLI board (who knows how much you had to pay to actually get ahold of that), but then you go and get cheap with your video cards? A 6800 Ultra is only $100 more than a GDDR3 6800 GT.

YOU CAN NOT RUN 2 Ultras folks!!!!!

They take up 2 slots and are not SLI compatible.

He bought the best SLI boards he could.

RRRRRNT you CAN run 2 ultras.

 

[ohnnyj]

Thanks for information guys, please keep the recommendations coming.

Is Corsair XMS just as good as the others (i.e. G.Skill, OCZ, etc.)?
Anyone tried the PC Power and Cooling PSU?
And is the Audigy 4 really a waste?

Thanks.

 

[meltdown75]

once you get into a certain quality of ram, there are a few companies that have pretty much dominated the opinions and prefs of hardcore users... corsair is one of them... imho unless you are about performance differences that only a benchmarking program can differentiate, go with whatever's cheaper between those companies!
PC Power & Cooling is another reputable company. You will be minimizing your risk factor should you decide to go with one of thier PSUs.
Lastly, imho Creative is one of the most release-happy companies out there... how many different versions of the Audigy are there already? My Audigy Gamer might already be yesterday's soundcard, but it does perform admirably I must say. Is there much difference between my sound card and the Audigy ZS line of cards? Maybe, probably... but between the Audigy 4 and 2? go with whatever's cheaper. Again, only one opinion, and a budget-minded one.