yet another system build

[concernedsophist]

A friend of mine was recently promoted at work and will receive a big pay raise. So, he has asked me to put together an awesome, no holds barred gaming system for him. These are the components that I like, but your input would be helpful. Here are the main components:

-DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR
-AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+
-Two eVGA 256-P2-N563-AX Geforce 7900GTs
-SeaSonic S12-600 ATX12V 600W Power Supply
-Two CORSAIR XMS 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 DIMMs
-Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum
-Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB
-Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JD 320GB
-Thermaltake matrix VD2000BNS Black/Silver SECC Japanese steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A
-ASUS Black ATAPI DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616AG
-SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive

Everything will be purchased from newegg, for simplicity?s sake. No over-clocking will be done on this system. He does not want a RAID setup, the Raptor would be his boot/gaming app drive, while the other hdd would be for storing mp3s and video. Both drives are SATA. Price is a consideration, but not the main one, which is performance. He will be upgrading his display and speakers as well. What do you think?

 

[Bobthelost]

First ditch the DFI if he's not overclocking, those things are more trouble than they are worth otherwise.

If he wants top end gaming then two 7900GTXs are the way to go. If he does stick with GTs then drop down to a 500W PSU.

The BenQ 1640 and 1655 are better DVDRWs out the box.

Otherwise it's a good build.

 

[concernedsophist]

What would a good SLI MB be for a non-overclocker?

 

[kitkat22]

Why not a WD 150GB Raptor?

 

[concernedsophist]

I chose the GTs because, as I mentioned, price is a consideration. I figured that the GTs would do the trick and save a few pesos.

 

[concernedsophist]

I figured the 74 GB would hold his OS and games with room to spare. That would be the only real world benefits of a Raptor, right? It lowers loading times for these apps.

 

[concernedsophist]

He does not want to spend money needlessly. However, he is willing to spend the money to get the best high-end value.

 

[Bobthelost]

Fair enough, it's still going to be a stunning machine even with a mere (hah!) SLI 7900GT graphics system.

Any of the Asus motherboards will do you/your mate nicely, i don't think that there is any real advantage to the A8N32 if you're not overclocking over the non 32 version. There may well be slight performance increases but i'd wait on other's advice.

So if we're sticking with the 7900GTs, drop down to the 500W PSU maybe the A8N SLI (deluxe?) i'm an asus fanboy so i'd look for other options here.

I'm not a great fan of Thermaltake for the most part, but they do do farily good cases. It's up to your mate as to what styling he wants out of it.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

1. nice mb, but i hope you've done your research and made a smart decision for your needs over the asus a8n32 sli with dual x16's. asus boards are much easier to stablize and more reliable in general
2.dont go for 7800gt in sli. this was probably what you're been waiting for due to the price drops. get a single card like 1900xt(x) or 7900gtx if you're a nvidia fan. please do your research and pick the card that plays YOUR games better.
3. Seasonics and DFI are no good. so if u want DFI MB get another power supply besides seasonic (and plus, that psu isn't sleeved). if yuo're willing to get the top of the line asus mb the seasonic should be fine but he'll have a hard time hiding this thick wires.
i've heard x-fi card/drivers have some problems with games, but if again, if you're done your research on this and there hasn't been anything witht he games u play then fine
4. thermaltake cases are for noobs. spend your $100+ on a lian li or silverstone. or if u wanna be like 90% of everyone else here get an antec p180. i can vouch for my lian li v1000 case, i used to own a thermaltake v5000D mid tower Steel and it weighted about 30-40lbs empty and with all the parts in about 50+. u dont want that. trust me. and make sure your case has no 80or 92mm fans. only settle for 120mm fans now. oh btw i got 0 cuts on my hands when installing in my lian li but got at least 3 cuts while owning the thermaltake case for n00bs
5. optional... if you dnot think you need a floppy then dont use it, as long as you have ONE in another computer or lying around somewhere you can just install that one when u absolutely need a floppy, i wasted $10 + shipping on a floppy drive that i never used once.

please review your build..

 

[bob4432]

i agree with all of bobthelost's recommendations and here are some of my own:

personally, i would first figure out what display he is going to use, no sense in using sli if all he uses is 1280x1024...

next, i would go with some flavor of valueram unless that is the 2GB kit that newegg has on sale for ~$120AR

why does he need a x-fi soundcard? what speakers? why won't onboard work? that area to me is important as onboard sound it ok for most speakers setups, or just a lower in the creative line, no reason to spend that much $$$ unless he really needs it as there is really no performance advantage when going with a off board sound card (unlike what creative would like you to believe)

any reason for just not getting 2x dvd-rs? the necs are good, benqs, etc.

as far as a good m/b, the epox are highly recommended around here, just about any brand will do good since o/cing is not an issue. asus, epox, abit, gigabyte, msi, even foxconn (one of the most reliable boards i have owned) using either the nf4 or the newer uli chipsets.

 

[concernedsophist]

Thanks for the input so far. Bob, I too am not usually a fan of Thermaltake either (especially their PSUs), however, we liked the look and apparent quality of the case in question. It seems high quality and has a conservative yet stylish look. That PSU looks like a winner, I am a fan of ASUS as well. Any other opinions on the PSU? I did not want to skimp on this component. That is why I initially choose the Seasonic.

 

[concernedsophist]

His display will be a nice one, but we haven?t picked one out yet. If it will be an LCD then it will have 1600x1200 resolution. Personally, I would rather he buy a nice big CRT, as this is what I prefer for gaming and movies. Speakers are not selected yet either, but he did state he wanted a nice sound card/speaker system. He wants a 5.1 system (at least) that would be good enough to watch movies in good quality surround sound. I am not an audio-phile, so I wouldn't mind suggestions along these lines.

 

[Bobthelost]

I use a seasonic myself, it's primary strength is very low noise. At the moment it looks like it could be a rather quiet system (not silent, but not jet engine either) so it may be worth sticking with rather than going for the much more user friendly Enermax liberty range (modular cables are nice to have). Or one of the other big reliable brands (fortron, silverstone, antec [only some ranges], OCZ, PCP&C etc.)

I've got a TT Xaser II, it's a nice solid case, the build quality is excellent, but the fans are shite, may well be worth swapping them out if noise is a factor (then again you can just run it with the stock fans and see from there).

For 1600x1200 you're looking at a 20" LCD 4:3. For which GTXs would really be overkill.

 

[concernedsophist]

I realize that "good quality surround sound" is ambiguous, but that's what I have to go on so far. I imagine that he does not want the speakers to be the primary expense in his new computer purchase. So, I doubt that he will want to spend over a few hundred dollars (<$500) on speakers. I am aware that you can spend thousands on speakers if one is so inclined. I have to talk with him again and get the details on how much he wants to spend on this.

 

[concernedsophist]

The Thermaltake case has one 120mm fan on the back, so it should be quiet and reletivly cool, I beleive (no overclocking). I will start it up and see how it sounds/looks. A new fan or two would be no sweat if it becomes a problem.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

oh and dfi baords dont run well with any brand of value ram. and get the bandages ready for the thermaltake case

 

[concernedsophist]

OK, so we should go with an ASUS MB. Which of these three would you guys recommend fo a non-overclocking SLI system; the A8N-SLI, A8N-SLI Deluxe, or the A8N-SLI Premium.

 

[concernedsophist]

OK LOUISSSSS, what about this case:

SIVERSTONE

Is it worth the extra $100?

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: concernedsophist
OK, so we should go with an ASUS MB. Which of these three would you guys recommend fo a non-overclocking SLI system; the A8N-SLI, A8N-SLI Deluxe, or the A8N-SLI Premium.

Don't get the A8N-SLI Deluxe! It's my mobo, and I think it's great, but I've read that the chipset fan (spins at like 5600rpm) goes out all the time. Plus the A8N-SLI premium is like $5 more on the egg, and has that awesome heatpipe passive cooling system.

So in other words, vote 1 for A8N-SLI Premium.

 

[concernedsophist]

So, the premium is more reliable m1ldslide1?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

a8n premium is the way to go, that case is up to you, but silverstone has good quality cases.. i'm just not a fan of doors but it looks good, i think its worth the money.

 

[concernedsophist]

Wow, I am doing some addition, and this is getting expensive! But hey, it?s not my money!

 

[concernedsophist]

After taking much of your advice here is what I have on the list:

-ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
-AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+
-two eVGA 256-P2-N563-AX Geforce 7900GTs
-CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB)
-Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB
-Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JD 320GB
-BenQ 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With LightScribe Black ATA/ATAPI Model DW1655
-ASUS Black ATAPI DVD-ROM
-Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum
-SeaSonic S12-600 ATX12V 600W Power Supply
-SILVERSTONE SST-TJ05B-W Black Aluminum front panel/door, 0.8mm SECC body ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive


I will consult him on whether or not he wants to include the floppy drive or not, and we?ll see if he wants to just go for two burners. As well as other stuff you guys have brought up, like the PSU, and SLI, and value RAM. Thanks for the input. Keep it coming if you have anything to add.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: concernedsophist
So, the premium is more reliable m1ldslide1?

Yeah, that's my opinion. The premium has better longevity, a better cooling system, is less noisy, and overclocks better (even though thats no concern here). Quite a bargain for only $10 more...

 

[LOUISSSSS]

yeaa i wish i could've used the premium in my case=
it was my first choice