Complete Future System Setup

[JugStafe]

This is a future setup I'm considering purchasing, I've been able to do a decent amount of research as of late but I'm not completely sure if the parts selected are compatible. Looking for a system that is overclockable and also has the ability to be upgraded in the future. I believe SLI will offer me that so I've decided on the following...

Please list below if there are any suggested hardware changes or compatibility issues. I want to make sure that the PS/MOBO/Vid Card compatibility works.

MOBO - MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD
P/S - OCZ ModStream OCZ52012U ATX 520W - UPDATED
CASE - Lian Li PC-65B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
CASE FAN - ZALMAN ZM-OP1 80mm 2 Ball - ADDED
PROCESSOR - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice Socket 939 Model ADA3200DAA4BP
RAM - OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel
VIDEO CARD - eVGA 256-P2-N376-AX Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16
DVD BURNER - NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A Black
DVD/CD READER - LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-16P9S Black
FLOPPY - NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5"
HARD DRIVE - Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3200822AS 200GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150
HARD DRIVE - Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ ST3120827AS 120GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150
HSF - Thermalright XP-90 w/ Panflo L1BX - UPDATED
THERMAL GREASE - Arctic Silver 5
SPEAKERS - Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1
MOUSE - Logitech MX510 Blue 8 Buttons 1x Wheel USB + PS/2 Optical Mouse
MOUSE PAD - X-RAYPAD Aqua3 A315L Aqua3
KEYBOARD - LITE-ON SK-1688A/B Black PS/2 Wired Standard
DVI-2-VGA - ATI DVI-2-VGA DVI to VGA adapter for Twin-View video cards (For future dual monitor setup).

Thanks in advance...

 

[slash196]

Everything looks OK...except if the PSU is a Blue Storm. As I understand it, the Blue Storm doesn't have a -5V line, as it was dropped from the ATX spec. However, the NEO4 uses that to power the onboard sound. What I'd do:

Keep the PSU, get a DFI SLI board instead. Drop the expensive RAM, not only is it not worth it, but it has had some compatablility issues with DFI boards. Get some OCZ premier value ram instead. You'll never notice the difference. I like your Hard Drives, but, 250GB is really the sweet spot for storage. Grab a pair of those suckers (Seagate 7200.8) and you'll be set for almost anything. If a tad more money isn't a big deal, grab an XP-90 and panaflo L1BX over at Jab-tech, you'll thank me later (trust me, you don't want an 80mm HSF). Also, if you're buying the video card in a retail box, it probably comes with DVI-VGA adapters (my Leadtek did). Everything else looks pretty solid.

 

[shud]

Why an MX510? The 518's are out.

 

[knothead34]

since you got an sli board i would go with more juice. if your planning on getting the new nvidia cards they are going to be power hungry. i would go with a little more then 500 watts. maybe even the ocz power stream 600watts.

 

[JugStafe]

Thanks to all of those who left comments. Especially to slash... Thanks for bringing to my attention the -5 rail issue. After further research I've now come to the following. *Check above for updated setup.

As you can see, I switched the former FSP Group (Fortron Source) ATX12v 500w with the above mentioned OCZ Modstream. Slash, you were right, the Fortron is the Bluestorm version and does not include a -5 rail. I chose the OCZ due to it's power and also because it supports 24 pin and also includes a -5 rail for the onboard sound, something sort of rare these days. Eventually I will be upgrading the sound but for now the onboard will do. Also, it runs at the following +3.3V@28A, +5V@52A, +12V@28A, -12V@1.0A, -5V@0.8A, +5VSB@2.5A. Which brings me to a question, from what I read there have been no power issues, but would this run the MSI mobo fine? I checked and couldn't find the recommended amps for the mobo, as far as I know it will work. If anyone has any information regarding this, it would be greatly appreciated.

While also doing my homework for the PSU and the case, I found that the PSU's connections (ie; the sata etc) don't like the Lian-Li PC65-B case. More specific, it doesn't like the top mounted case fan. So in order to fix that, I added a ZALMAN ZM-OP1 80mm fan that measures at 80x80x15, width-wise it makes a perfect fit for all OCZ modstream cables to fit when replacing the stock Lian-Li top mounted case fan.

Also, I've changed the THERMALTAKE VENUS12 and replaced it with a Thermalright XP-90 +Panflo L1BX combo. Price-wise, it's virtually the same.

Let me know please if there are any conflicts, problems or compatibility issues... Or even comments.

Thanks...

And yes, I'm doing my homework on this rig. 😉