New PC Build

[Serradifalco]

Originally posted by: anishannayya
Wow! I have been out of hardware for way to long! They have separate VGA coolers? Holy shit, I remember the days when the only fan you had in the case was one lousy fan over the processor. No thermal paste, just the fan, or sometimes a graphite pad and a huge warranty sticker over the proc, so that even less heat gets transfered. Anyway, with that knowledge in mind. Man, still can't wrap my mind around that. And you didn't worry about the noise the fan made, but instead worried about the machine-gun fire noise that came from your hard drive. Anyway, is it possible to get better cooling for the EVGA 8800 GT 512 MB? How would you go about installing this new cooling device? If it is possible to install an aftermarket cooler, would the Arctic Cooling S1 fit in my case? If not what would you recommend?

Thanks. I know I am full of questions, but with all this damn cooling modern hardware needs, I am really confused.

-- Anish

BTW I forgot to add the reason why I want aftermarket cooling is for less noise while overclocking.

Also need to add to the will the S1 fit in my case question that I also have the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 which isn't the smallest thing in the world either.

I have the OCZ Vendetta 2 cooler in my 690 case, which is the twin to your cooler, and it fits fine. I installed 3 additional fans in my case and it made a difference. I puchased 3 140mm, medium speed yate loon fans. I placed 2 on top as exaust fans and 1 on the bottom as an intake fan. The case comes with 1 120mm front intake, 1 120mm side exaust, and 1 rear 120mm exaust. I think the 80mm fan on the right panel is a waste of an upgrade. It will get in the way of cable management and not offer much in the way of cooling.
You will like the cm 690 case. It is easy to work with. The OCZ Vendetta 2 cooler can be had at Amazon.com for $38 with FS. You may want to look at that over the XIGMATEK. I think they are around the same price but the OCZ has better ratings.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: anishannayya
Wow! I have been out of hardware for way to long! They have separate VGA coolers? Holy shit, I remember the days when the only fan you had in the case was one lousy fan over the processor. No thermal paste, just the fan, or sometimes a graphite pad and a huge warranty sticker over the proc, so that even less heat gets transfered. Anyway, with that knowledge in mind. Man, still can't wrap my mind around that. And you didn't worry about the noise the fan made, but instead worried about the machine-gun fire noise that came from your hard drive. Anyway, is it possible to get better cooling for the EVGA 8800 GT 512 MB? How would you go about installing this new cooling device? If it is possible to install an aftermarket cooler, would the Arctic Cooling S1 fit in my case? If not what would you recommend?

Thanks. I know I am full of questions, but with all this damn cooling modern hardware needs, I am really confused.

-- Anish

BTW I forgot to add the reason why I want aftermarket cooling is for less noise while overclocking.

Also need to add to the will the S1 fit in my case question that I also have the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 which isn't the smallest thing in the world either.

If you're interested, 8800GTs are now being sold by many of the major graphics card companies with upgraded cooling so you wouldn't have to install it yourself, and it would be covered by the warranty. With most of the VGA companies, installing an aftermarket cooler yourself would void the warranty. XFX is one company whose warranty covers cooling mods, and EVGA may be another.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Wow! I love these kind of threads. So many come here for advise and don't listen.
You boiled out the best advice, knocked $1000 off your build and wound up with a good looking rig.

:thumbsup:
Kudo's to you

 

[anishannayya]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Wow! I love these kind of threads. So many come here for advise and don't listen.
You boiled out the best advice, knocked $1000 off your build and wound up with a good looking rig.

:thumbsup:
Kudo's to you

Thanks, I figured 5-6 people know a whole lot more than one of me.

 

[anishannayya]

Fiddled with the list again. This is how the list looks:


GPU: ECS GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
TV Tuner: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1000
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16
Case: COOLER MASTER 690
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5
HSF: OCZ OCZTVEND2
Dual DVD Drives: SAMSUNG SATA Combo
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate - OEM
120mm Fans: Scythe SY1225SL12M (3)
PSU: Antec EA650 650W ATX12V

TOTAL with shipping: $1,301.59

 

[DSF]

You don't really need DDR2-1000 with a Q6600, but since the price is the same as the equivalent DDR2-800, I don't suppose it matters. You also don't need 650W.

 

[anishannayya]

Originally posted by: DSF
You don't really need DDR2-1000 with a Q6600, but since the price is the same as the equivalent DDR2-800, I don't suppose it matters. You also don't need 650W.

I chose the DDR2-1000 so I couldn't harm anything when overclocking, and like you said it was the same price. I choose the 650W PSU so that I can drop in something like a GX2 2-3 years down the line when the price is reasonable. Then I will use the PC for another 2-3 years before I salvage what I can and move on. Is 650W still overkill if I were to use the same configuration I have right now, but instead of a 8800 GT, have a GX2? Overall this is great. I am going to have a high-mid range gaming rig for 5 years for the total cost of $1,500 (factoring the cost of the GX2 2-3 years down the line). Also, I remember reading something in Maximum PC about making sure that you get a B3 quad if you are planning on overclocking. Is that still the case? Where would I be able to find these B3 designed quads? Or maybe they called it GO Stepping? Both names come to mind.

Thanks, Anish

Oh yeah, the ECS card that I chose is just like the EVGA, but is $25 cheaper, is factory overclocked, and has the S1 cooler built into it. This is great. Reviews of the thing seem to be good, and though ECS is not known for quality products, based on the reviews, what can go wrong? I mean they are just buying a great chip form Nvidia, slapping on a highly praised S1, and then putting their name on it. I get a cheaper price overall, and don't have to mess with overclocking or voiding/disassembling a video card.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: DSF
You don't really need DDR2-1000 with a Q6600, but since the price is the same as the equivalent DDR2-800, I don't suppose it matters. You also don't need 650W.

They're probably the exact same chips anyway too; the DDR2-800 is rated at 1.8v and the DDR2-1000 at 2.0v, they've probably just upped the voltage a little to push it up to DDR2-1000. I think if the DDR2-1000 goes back up in price we should just keep recommending the DDR2-800 and tell people to put a little more voltage into it if they're overclocking.

 

[anishannayya]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: DSF
You don't really need DDR2-1000 with a Q6600, but since the price is the same as the equivalent DDR2-800, I don't suppose it matters. You also don't need 650W.

They're probably the exact same chips anyway too; the DDR2-800 is rated at 1.8v and the DDR2-1000 at 2.0v, they've probably just upped the voltage a little to push it up to DDR2-1000. I think if the DDR2-1000 goes back up in price we should just keep recommending the DDR2-800 and tell people to put a little more voltage into it if they're overclocking.

Probably right.

 

[DSF]

From everything I've heard, that's the case.

You don't need 650W for the GX2, but it won't hurt anything.

As far as the quad core chips, G0 steppings are known to overclock slightly better. At this point the only chips people are selling are G0 anyway, so it doesn't really matter.