Building the Beast MkIII

I have actually changed gear on how I want to go with my next build. With space becoming a premium, as well as microATX taking an enthusiast tilt, I am making my next system as a mATX gaming god, so I guess it should be more appropriately thread titled as "Building the MicroBeast mk 1"

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Extremely long hours of gaming and bluray movie watching

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500-$2000 Canadian (it does NOT include the hardware being transferred from the old system)

3) Where do you live?
Western Canada (Alberta)

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Core i7 CPU, 1366 Mobo, 6 GB 1333 DDR3, a nice microATX case (I'm thinking Antec Mini P180 or CoolerMaster Elite 341) twin video cards (ATI 5870 1GB's or 5850 1 GB's, depending on price), 1000W PSU (Currently looking at Corsair HX1000 and KingWin Mach 1 1000), Control HDD (wobbling on SSD vs Mechanical), Potentially new gaming drives (2x 500gb in Raid0 most likely). Will be completely air cooled, so having a good air cooler (I think a TRUE 120 fits in all occasions, so that's good) on teh CPU will be prime

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
LG GGC-H20L BluRay reader/DVD Rewriter, Dell 3007WFP-HC 30 inch monitor, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB HDD for data storage

6) Will you be overclocking?
Potentially minor overclock on the CPU to alleviate CPU bottleneck on graphics. However, I will NOT be doing extreme overclocking.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
30 inch and it's staying

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
January 2010

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
CrossFireX with 2x x16 lanes, so pretty much an X58 mobo

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Windows 7 Professional x64

So, what I need to nail down is:

best 1366 mATX board, best mATX case to hold a lot of stuff but allow for cable management and have good airflow, best value core i7 coming in the next couple of months (under $400 for CPU), and if I should go mechanical (WD Raptor 10k drive) or SSD (lose some of the total build money, but get a superfast SLC 60 GB drive)

Bump due to changed priorities. I want to build a mATX megagaming system

EVGA 121-BL-E756-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX SLI Micro Intel Motherboard - Retail $250

OCZ Obsidian 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3OB1600LV6GK - Retail $135

CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $160

you don't need a 1000w psu for crossfire 5870/50.

I will finish the list in a bit.

Would CrossFire work on an SLI board o_O? Remember, AMD/ATI is CrossFire, not SLi XD

I was thinking more along the lines of and Asus Rampage II Gene
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...5%28ME%29.aspx ($250 and is a local store)

I do like this: http://www.corsair.com/products/hx850/default.aspx the HX850W PSU mostly because it's a single raid design and 80+ silver rated.

Also, i think I've nailed my case down the P180 Mini. Much better airflow design and can fit even a CoolerMaster V10 if I so desired (I'm looking at getting a TRUE 120, mostly because it just WORKS )

its x58 board. Which supports both SLi and Crossfire.

as for the cooler
Corsair H50 would be better value than V10

I was only using the V10 as a size comparison :P As stated, I'll probably use a TRUE 120. Althought, with the 200mm exhaust at the top of the P180 mini, do you think that it would suck all the hot air from an H50 system out before it could go anywhere else? I will be populating all the 120 slots with 120 mm Scythe Kaze Jyuni's

you use rear case fan as intake and top 200mm as exhaust with H50 install.

Originally Posted by vagabond142

Would CrossFire work on an SLI board o_O? Remember, AMD/ATI is CrossFire, not SLi XD

I was thinking more along the lines of and Asus Rampage II Gene
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...5%28ME%29.aspx ($250 and is a local store)

I do like this: http://www.corsair.com/products/hx850/default.aspx the HX850W PSU mostly because it's a single raid design and 80+ silver rated.

Also, i think I've nailed my case down the P180 Mini. Much better airflow design and can fit even a CoolerMaster V10 if I so desired (I'm looking at getting a TRUE 120, mostly because it just WORKS )

Go with the Gene II Bro. I just sent back my EVGA x58 Micro, came with bent pins in cpu socket area. I did more research, found this to be a common problem with those mobos. Plus the more i research the more I find better about the Gene II. (the onboard sound, board layout, oc'ing results, ect.)

PLUS the Gene II is on sale at newegg right now for 209.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131371

I'm just wondering what level overclock I'm gonna need to go to to get teh best performance without impacting reliability. I'm thinking somewhere around 3.2 on air would be okay? o_O