Part list for high performance gaming rig

[Juice Box]

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: CAC-T05-UW

EVGA 320-P2-N815-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Model #: 320-P2-N815-AR

Asus P5K Deluxe / WiFi-AP Intel P35 Core 2 QUAD 1333MHz FSB Dual Channel DDR2 1066 LGA775 Socket 775/T ATX Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6600

2 x AENEON 2GB (2048MB) PC2-5300 667MHZ CL4 DDR2 240-PIN DDR2 DIMM

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3320620AS

Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner, OEM Version Black SATA Model AWG170S-B2 - OEM
Model #: AWG170S-B2

ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T - Retail
Model #: DVD-E616A3T

bluegears b-Enspirer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Model #: b-Enspirer

Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler - Retail
Model #: Tower 120

SILVERSTONE SST-ST56F ATX12V / EPS12V 560W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: SST-ST56F

Saitek PZ30AUR Red USB Wired Slim Eclipse Keyboard - Retail
Model #: PZ30AUR

Logitech G5 2-Tone 6 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Laser Mouse - Retail
Model #: 931376-0403


I think that about does it. My plans for this machine include installing Vista 64bit, along with just about any game I can get my hands on. I don't game nearly as much as I used to, but I am building this to be a nice, fast gaming computer that I can put in public, for myself and friends to use. I mainly watch stuff on my media center these days (HTPC w/ Vista Ultimate, 100+" Projector). For the time being, I'll be using a 19" Dell LCD, soon to be dualies

I just want to build a rig that will last quite awhile, and keep up with the latest games. I hope to play Stalker, UT2k7, all the source games, etc.

Any hints, suggestions, recommendations, bad stories about certain products, etc? I'm open to opinions here! Thanks in advance!

 

[Trevante]

Do you really need that DVD-ROM drive? If you need a second optical drive, why not spend the extra $10 and get a second DVD burner?

 

[Zardnok]

Do you need an Sli board? If not, you could use one of the new P35 Bearlake boards. They are outperforming other boards now. If you do need SLi, wait for the P38 chipset with SLi support.

I recommend going with a nicer cooler, especially since you are spending so much on everything else. Tuniq Tower would be nice.

Also, what PowerSupply are you using??

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: Zardnok
Do you need an Sli board? If not, you could use one of the new P35 Bearlake boards. They are outperforming other boards now. If you do need SLi, wait for the P38 chipset with SLi support.

I recommend going with a nicer cooler, especially since you are spending so much on everything else. Tuniq Tower would be nice.

Also, what PowerSupply are you using??

Well, I kinda figured I'd get the ability to do sli for now. I figure that video card will be good enough for the time being, and then maybe when I get more money together, I can toss in a 2nd one for SLI. Correct me if this is a dumb idea.

Regarding the PSU, I have to look into that, thanks for reminding me.

Anyone know of any major problems with that mobo? I thought I remember reading the 680i chipset was very very good these days *shrug*

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Juice Box
Well, I kinda figured I'd get the ability to do sli for now. I figure that video card will be good enough for the time being, and then maybe when I get more money together, I can toss in a 2nd one for SLI. Correct me if this is a dumb idea.

Buying one card then adding another later for SLI rarely works out well. By the time you get around to buying the second card there is usually a single card solution that blows your SLI away. Also, I have seen many people recently going to buy a second 7900GTX (for example) and finding them substantially more expensive than an 8800GTS 640MB, assuming they can even find one.

So in short, if you are not planning on doing SLI right away or grabbing two new cards when 8900s come out or whatever, then I would not bother.

Looks like a great rig though!

Cheers,
KT

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Juice Box
Well, I kinda figured I'd get the ability to do sli for now. I figure that video card will be good enough for the time being, and then maybe when I get more money together, I can toss in a 2nd one for SLI. Correct me if this is a dumb idea.

Buying one card then adding another later for SLI rarely works out well. By the time you get around to buying the second card there is usually a single card solution that blows your SLI away. Also, I have seen many people recently going to buy a second 7900GTX (for example) and finding them substantially more expensive than an 8800GTS 640MB, assuming they can even find one.

So in short, if you are not planning on doing SLI right away or grabbing two new cards when 8900s come out or whatever, then I would not bother.

Looks like a great rig though!

Cheers,
KT

I know exactly what you're saying. I mean, I figure that the rest of the hardware will be decent enough for a few years, and when the time comes that my video card can't handle games, I will assess the situation then. I really would rather not spend an extra few hundred on a 2nd video card, when I think the system as is will blow anything I've ever worked on out of the water. I just figure I'll deal with that problem when I come to it.

Do you really need that DVD-ROM drive? If you need a second optical drive, why not spend the extra $10 and get a second DVD burner?

Well, I do want 2 optical drives, as I often do on-the-fly copies of CDs. I just figured that I would never have a need for 2 burners, and I've always built my machines with one dvd and one burner *shrug*

Kinda excited that I can run an entirely SATA system this time around...no more stupid IDE cables!


I am considering adding another one of those Hard Drives to the order so I can just RAID 0 it. I was thinking about getting a 2nd drive for storage, but I recently bought a 500gig external hard drive for my media center, which will act as my primary media storage...so this computer I think can be fine with just a big system drive for the massive number of games I plan to put on it

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Juice Box
I am considering adding another one of those Hard Drives to the order so I can just RAID 0 it.

Make sure you know what you're doing and why you need RAID-0. Make sure you have a file backup strategy; don't just say you'll back up once in a blue moon - do it before you get the RAID running and just after, and regularly after that. Too many things can go to take down both drives in a RAID (controller, first drive, second drive. More points of failure isn't very failsafe) and we've seen too many "my raid-0 died how do I get my files back" threads. Consider just getting 2x 500GB drives for storage and a 140GB raptor for OS.

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: Juice Box
I am considering adding another one of those Hard Drives to the order so I can just RAID 0 it.

Make sure you know what you're doing and why you need RAID-0. Make sure you have a file backup strategy; don't just say you'll back up once in a blue moon - do it before you get the RAID running and just after, and regularly after that. Too many things can go to take down both drives in a RAID (controller, first drive, second drive. More points of failure isn't very failsafe) and we've seen too many "my raid-0 died how do I get my files back" threads. Consider just getting 2x 500GB drives for storage and a 140GB raptor for OS.

You know, that is my mistake...I meant to say RAID 1 (mirroring). I really think that 320gig is going to be plenty for my OS and games...and I really don't plan to store anything else on this. I actually don't even think I need RAID, but I figure it can't hurt to have a backup of everything (that and I really don't enjoy the format/re-install process )

 

[Roguestar]

RAID-1 is good if you need to be able to immediately use the other drive if one fails, but I wouldn't consider it a proper long-term backup solution; if the RAID controller fails or both drives fail, you're stuck. Consider getting an external drive and occasionally backing up important documents (or if it's big enough) imaging your main drive to it.

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
RAID-1 is good if you need to be able to immediately use the other drive if one fails, but I wouldn't consider it a proper long-term backup solution; if the RAID controller fails or both drives fail, you're stuck. Consider getting an external drive and occasionally backing up important documents (or if it's big enough) imaging your main drive to it.

Yeah, like I said I recently got a 500gig WD MyBook for all my media (aka, the things I want to keep)...but now that you say it like that, I guess I see no reason to spend the extra cash to RAID my system drive

Btw, any recommendations on a good Power Supply that'd take care of this rig overall?

 

[tcG]

Spending the extra $20 on a Tuniq Tower over what you have chosen now regarding cooling is going to be the difference between an overclock of 3.2GHz and an overclock of 3.6GHz+. Choosing the correct components for overclocking is really all about price/performance percentages/ratios; the whole point of overclocking is to save money and get above-stock performance, right? $20 for a 400MHz increase in stock speed is most definitely worth it, in my opinion.

Any SLi not on the highest-end spectrum (8800GTX) is a broken horse. The whole 'I'll just buy another card later when they get cheaper' is flawed since by the time the 8800GTS is as cheap as it needs to be, you'll be better off selling your current 8800GTS and buying the equally expensive single-card solution that would outperform the dual-card setup in performance, thermals, and noise ratings. That being said, if you're still absolutely set on getting an SLi motherboard (a shiny new Asus P5K3-Deluxe with 45nm/DDR3/DDR2 support and an unparalleled overclocking capability would fit the bill nicely), the ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus (based on the 650i Ultra chipset) beats the 680i on almost every single benchmark, as evidenced by the Anandtech review. It should be on you're short list if you're going to make the mistake of going the broken SLi upgrade route.

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: tcG
Spending the extra $20 on a Tuniq Tower over what you have chosen now regarding cooling is going to be the difference between an overclock of 3.2GHz and an overclock of 3.6GHz+. Choosing the correct components for overclocking is really all about price/performance percentages/ratios; the whole point of overclocking is to save money and get above-stock performance, right? $20 for a 400MHz increase in stock speed is most definitely worth it, in my opinion.

Any SLi not on the highest-end spectrum (8800GTX) is a broken horse. The whole 'I'll just buy another card later when they get cheaper' is flawed since by the time the 8800GTS is as cheap as it needs to be, you'll be better off selling your current 8800GTS and buying the equally expensive single-card solution that would outperform the dual-card setup in performance, thermals, and noise ratings. That being said, if you're still absolutely set on getting an SLi motherboard (a shiny new Asus P5K3-Deluxe with 45nm/DDR3/DDR2 support and an unparalleled overclocking capability would fit the bill nicely), the ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus (based on the 650i Ultra chipset) beats the 680i on almost every single benchmark, as evidenced by the Anandtech review. It should be on you're short list if you're going to make the mistake of going the broken SLi upgrade route.

I definitely see what you are saying, I was just more after that chipset. Is there a motherboard you can recommend that would support the other hardware I have chosen that might be a better choice for me in the long run? I'm open to suggestions!!

 

[Juice Box]

Also, I know you all will probably think I'm an idiot, but I really don't plan on Overclocking this thing right away. I've never gotten into the "how many mhz can I squeeze out of this hardware" mindset, to be honest. I might get that cooler you recommended, and possibly bump the CPU clock up a tad, but other than that, I think that this machine should be good enough as is.

I was checking out that Asus P5K3-Deluxe, and now I am wondering if it only takes DDR3 ram. I have my heart set on getting 4 gigs of decent ram, and I think that 4 gigs of DDR3 is going to be rather pricey, no? I mean, I guess it could be backward compatible, I'm not too sure. Any info on this?

 

[tcG]

Here's one PSU suggestion...

When I choose PSU's the one resource I find myself going back to is the "Official XS Tiered PSU Manufacturer Brand Listing Phase III", courtesy of XtremeSystems forums (for those of you who don't know, this is a place in which a lot of the best overclockers in the world post).

Tier 1 can handle 4Ghz Conroe or 3Ghz AMD along with Oced Quad Crossfire/SLI With Ease.
Tier Z offers quality and power unequalled in its wattage range and is second only to other Zippy units.
Tier 2 offers almost as much power and stability as Tier 1 at Comparable Wattage levels with lower price/better availability.
Tier T offers the high quality components of Tier 2 with slightly less Rail stability due to Topower internals.
Tier 3 is ONLY Recommended if Price difference is present between Tier 3 and Tier 2 or due to availability issues with Tier 1/2 PSUs.
Tier 4 is recommended for stock or low power systems if Tier 3's are more expensive or are not available.
Tier 5 are NOT RECOMMENDED, but some brands have high/medium quality components in Tiers 2 through 4.

-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----

Tier 1 Brands - The Most Powerful And Stable Components On The Market
Enermax Galaxy
PCP&C TurboCool
PCP&C Silencer >610
Zippy/Emacs SSL
Zippy/Emacs GSM
Zippy/Emacs PSL
Silverstone ZF (Etasis 85/75/56)
Seventeam ST >600 (SSI, V2.91)
Silverstone OP/DA >700W

Tier Z - Less Powerful Than Tier 1 Zippy Units...but they're still Zippys
Zippy/Emacs HG2
Zippy/Emacs HP2

Tier 2 Brands - Top Quality components With Top Notch Stability - For Those With Price/Availability Issues With Tier 1
Antec Neo HE
Akasa PowerGreen 80+
CoolMax CTG-750W/850W/1KW
Cooltek CT
Corsair HX
Enermax Liberty
Enermax Infiniti
Enhance ENP-GH
Fortron (FSP) GLN
Hiper Type-M >650W
Hiper Type-R >650W
iStarUSA PD2
iStarUSA PD3
OCZ GameXStream
OCZ EvoStream
PCP&C Silencer <610
Seasonic S12
Seasonic M12
Seasonic Energy Plus
SevenTeam ST <600
Silverstone EF
Silverstone OP/DA <700W
Supermicro/AbleCom
Thermaltake Toughpower >600W
Xclio GreatPower
Zalman ZM
Ultra X3
Ultra X-Pro

Tier T - High Quality PSUs Made With Topower Internals - Less Rail Stability Compared To Tier 2 But Still Better than Tier 3
Mushkin Enhanced
Tagan U95
Tagan U25
Tagan U15
Tagan U22
OCZ PowerStream

Tier 3 Brands - High Quality and Stability, Second Only To Tier 2 Brands
Acbel Polycom
AMS Mercury
Akasa PaxPower
Akasa PowerPlus (>500W Models)
Antec Phantom
Antec TruePower III
Antec True Power II
Antec True Control II
Antec Neopower 480W (Old Model)
Antec Smart Power 2.0
Athena Power Space Shuttle Series
Be Quiet Dark Power Pro
Channel Well
Enermax Maximum Plus
Enermax Noistaker II
Enermax Noisetaker
Enermax Whisper II
Enermax CoolerGiant
Enhance ENS-G
Epower Xscale
Fortron (FSP) GLC
Fortron (FSP) THN
Fortron AX
Fortron HLN
Fortron PFN/PN/PA
Seasonic Super Versatile
Silverstone F
Sparkle FSP
Spire Rocketeer V/VI
Sunbeam Nuuo
Thermaltake Purepower
Thermaltake Toughpower <600W

Tier 4 - Not Recommend With Tier 3 In same Price/Wattage Range
Aerocool
Asus Atlas
BFG
Coolermaster Real Power
Coolermaster iGreen
Delta
Enlight
E-Power
Futurepower
Hiper
HIPRO
Lite-On
Masscool
MGE XG
Mushkin HP
NorthQ 4775-500S/BU
OCZ Modstream
Scythe Kamariki
Sintek
Thermaltake TR2
TTGI/Superflower
Ultra Xfinity/X2

Tier 5 - Other than the units listed above for any of these brands, NOT RECOMMENDED
A-TOP Technology
APEX (SUPERCASE/ALLIED)
Aspire(Turbo Case)
ATADC
Athena Power
ATRIX
Broadway Com Corp
Cooler Master
Coolmax
Deer
Diablotek
Dynapower USA
EagleTech
FOXCONN
I-Star Computer Co. Ltd
In Win
JPAC COMPUTER
Just PC
Kingwin Inc.
Linkworld Electronics
Logisys Computer
MGE
MSI
NMEDIAPC
Norwood Micro/ CompUSA
NorthQ
NZXT
Powmax
Q-Tec
Raidmax
Rosewill
SFC
Shuttle
Skyhawk
Spire Coolers
Star Micro
STARTECH
TOPOWER TOP
Ultra X-Connect
Wintech
XClio
XION
YoungYear
Zebronics

-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----

Phase III compensates for overcrowded Tier 1, while clumping together previously Tier 2 and 3 PSUs if only because no definite way to categorize then as good enough for Tier 2 or bad enough for Tier 3.

I recommend the SILVERSTONE SST-ST56F. This 560W, $105 PSU is in Tier 1 and it's big brother checks out with Jonny:

Performance (weight of 40%) gets a 9.5 because of it's excellent voltage regulation, it's resistance to the hot box, it's resistance to a crossload and it's power factor correction. The ONLY reason the ST75ZF doesn't get a perfect 10 here is because of the efficiency.

If my memory serves me correctly, the month XS had this PSU as PSU of the month was the same month they proved that this thing could actually run dual 8800GTX's. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't let the low wattage rating scare you away - remember it's only a rating.

 

[tcG]

Originally posted by: Juice BoxI was checking out that Asus P5K3-Deluxe, and now I am wondering if it only takes DDR3 ram. I have my heart set on getting 4 gigs of decent ram, and I think that 4 gigs of DDR3 is going to be rather pricey, no? I mean, I guess it could be backward compatible, I'm not too sure. Any info on this?

It has two DDR2 slots and two DDR3 slots, both of which pairs cannot be used simultaneously. If you're purchasing now, forget the prospect of getting 4GB of DDR3 RAM unless you're looking to pay $1000+ for RAM only. The reason I suggested the P5K3 was because it's the pinnacle of the high performing, high overclocking, future-proofed motherboard. The P5K3 is one of two motherboards on the market right now that supports both DDR3 and 45nm CPU's; the Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 is the other.

The advent of 650i Ultra/P35 has effectively stamped out any valid reason as to why anybody would purchase 680i, IMO.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

If your going with 4gb of ram get a couple of these
Text
They will save you some money, plus give you expandability in the future
And they easily clock to DDR2-800 with cas4 timings (see lopri's 8gb thread in the CPU forum)

And I would drop the GPU to the 8800GTS 320mb, more than enough for a 19" monitor. The extra memory only helps at higher resolutions

 

[tcG]

Great suggestions GuitarDaddy...

Asus P5K3
4GB (2GB * 2) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
8800GTS 320MB
Tuniq Tower T-120

vs.

eVGA 680i
2GB G.Skill NQ DDR2 900 (theoretical overclock)
8800GTS 640MB
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro

Option 1 is around $60 more expensive than option 2, but option 1 offers twice as much RAM, much better overclockability, a better performing motherboard, and the best upgrade path money can buy.

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: tcG
Great suggestions GuitarDaddy...

Asus P5K3
4GB (2GB * 2) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
8800GTS 320MB
Tuniq Tower T-120

vs.

eVGA 680i
2GB G.Skill NQ DDR2 900 (theoretical overclock)
8800GTS 640MB
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro

Option 1 is around $60 more expensive than option 2, but option 1 offers twice as much RAM, much better overclockability, a better performing motherboard, and the best upgrade path money can buy.

Well, I do plan on upgrading to a 20-22" widescreen LCD not too long after I build this, so do you think the downgrade in video card will be worth it? I don't mind paying the extra for the extra mhz.

Also, any reason why newegg doesnt sell that ASUS motherboard?

 

[tcG]

Originally posted by: Juice Box

Originally posted by: tcG
Great suggestions GuitarDaddy...

Asus P5K3
4GB (2GB * 2) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
8800GTS 320MB
Tuniq Tower T-120

vs.

eVGA 680i
2GB G.Skill NQ DDR2 900 (theoretical overclock)
8800GTS 640MB
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro

Option 1 is around $60 more expensive than option 2, but option 1 offers twice as much RAM, much better overclockability, a better performing motherboard, and the best upgrade path money can buy.

Well, I do plan on upgrading to a 20-22" widescreen LCD not too long after I build this, so do you think the downgrade in video card will be worth it? I don't mind paying the extra for the extra mhz.

Also, any reason why newegg doesnt sell that ASUS motherboard?

You're not paying extra money for extra MHz, you're paying extra money for extra memory, which only makes a noticeable difference on very high resolutions. As long as you're staying under 1680 x 1050, I think the 320mb version will be fine.

Newegg isn't selling any of the P35 motherboards right now - I have no idea as to why.

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: tcG

Originally posted by: Juice Box

Originally posted by: tcG
Great suggestions GuitarDaddy...

Asus P5K3
4GB (2GB * 2) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
8800GTS 320MB
Tuniq Tower T-120

vs.

eVGA 680i
2GB G.Skill NQ DDR2 900 (theoretical overclock)
8800GTS 640MB
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro

Option 1 is around $60 more expensive than option 2, but option 1 offers twice as much RAM, much better overclockability, a better performing motherboard, and the best upgrade path money can buy.

Well, I do plan on upgrading to a 20-22" widescreen LCD not too long after I build this, so do you think the downgrade in video card will be worth it? I don't mind paying the extra for the extra mhz.

Also, any reason why newegg doesnt sell that ASUS motherboard?

You're not paying extra money for extra MHz, you're paying extra money for extra memory, which only makes a noticeable difference on very high resolutions. As long as you're staying under 1680 x 1050, I think the 320mb version will be fine.

Newegg isn't selling any of the P35 motherboards right now - I have no idea as to why.

Gotcha. Is there any particular brand of video card you'd reccomend that would work well with that motherboard? Not sure if ASUS vid cards tend to work better with matched mobos or not (havent built a rig in awhile if you can't tell )

 

[tcG]

Gotcha. Is there any particular brand of video card you'd reccomend that would work well with that motherboard? Not sure if ASUS vid cards tend to work better with matched mobos or not (havent built a rig in awhile if you can't tell )

Definitely not. Intentional crippling of competitors products sounds like it would be illegal.

Get this.

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: tcG

Gotcha. Is there any particular brand of video card you'd reccomend that would work well with that motherboard? Not sure if ASUS vid cards tend to work better with matched mobos or not (havent built a rig in awhile if you can't tell )

Definitely not. Intentional crippling of competitors products sounds like it would be illegal.

Get this.

Cool, that was the one I was looking at anyways. Looks like I got this one in the bag now. I guess I should maybe take the time to shop around for all these parts and possibly try and get a good deal on everything now

 

[Juice Box]

List has been updated! Everything look alright?

 

[tcG]

Hit that order button!

 

[Crittias]

Originally posted by: tcG

Gotcha. Is there any particular brand of video card you'd reccomend that would work well with that motherboard? Not sure if ASUS vid cards tend to work better with matched mobos or not (havent built a rig in awhile if you can't tell )

Definitely not. Intentional crippling of competitors products sounds like it would be illegal.

Get this.

I think this is the same vidcard (I see no difference at all in the description) for a bit cheaper at Newegg.