Another upgrade/new computer build.

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xazraelx

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
77
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Video Encoding, light gaming (currently WoW, Heroes of Newerth), Internet, Light Coding/Compiling, HDR Image compilations.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget is around $1000, but flexible ~$150 or so.
3) Where do you live?
North Carolina (Charlotte, specifically)
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything - CPU, Mobo, RAM, GPU, Case, PSU, Aftermarket Cooler, HDD (fast OS drive only, storage is networked)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have a CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX that I can re-use, a 9600GSO dual slot I can use, a 8800GT I can reuse.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes. Modest overclocks preferred - would like to hit 3.6 on a 920 i7.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24" Westinghouse MVA panel, 22" LG TN Panel, own both.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Beginning of September.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Would like to use a RAID setup for the OS if performance gains are there. Would also prefer ESata as well as modest overclocking options (not a hardcore overclocker). Also need it to wake up from sleep properly <.< (hint hint gigabyte)
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
MSDNAA Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition - Legit.

My reasoning behind this build is primarily because I am building a BD / HDDVD / DVD collection and backing it up on hard drives. I currently have over 1.5 or so terabytes that I need to encode to rip to a 5.1-compatible PS3 format. I started doing it on my E6750 and my roommates Q6600, and the times were astronomically high.

Basically, I don't think my gaming needs will ever need a dual/tri sli setup. I don't play crysis, WoW has cartoon graphics, valve games aren't that demanding, and, well, CUDA technology isn't that advanced yet for encoding videos without issues. My 8800GT performs fine for all my current needs, but since I'm building, I was thinking a GTX 260 or something along those lines.

I am choosing the i7 920 over the upcoming i7 860 due to the marginal performance gains in encoding, specifically. I don't believe there will be a large price difference between a 920 build and a 860 build until around december, and I would like this to be done during early September. I could be mistaken in this choice, but it seems to be the general consensus. I am not against ideas of an AMD phenom if the statistics are there, but with the infamous nature of the 920, I haven't looked very far into their new/soon to be released processors.

The other alternative was a Q9550, but I've heard going ahead and getting the i7 920 will be more beneficial.

I will not be doing a water cooling setup at this time, but plan to in the future. It will be my first one, so I don't plan on messing with it until I have done a bit of reading =)

I will be linking a tentative plan soon, have to pay attention to my better half for a bit.

I know this is vain, but one of the things I am insistent on is a red and black theme. I don't mind light case modding to achieve this. I hate blue colors in computers with a passion. For this reason, there will be a side panel :)
 
COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail and Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail Combo $303

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard - Retail and G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ - Retail Combo $345

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM $75

EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $185

or

XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $200

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $100

or

COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $90

Total Before S&H $988-$1023

4890 (it is as fast as GTX 275) is bit faster than GTX 260 in most cases but I would suggest going with a GTX 275 for gaming on 24".

Either case would go with your planned red and black theme.

Corsair CWCH50 or Coolit Domino are great inbetween options for cooling.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions!

I'm trying to arrange for my roommate's brother to ship me an i7 920 for $220, which is cheaper than I can get it anywhere else, and also guarantees he can check for d0 stepping.

The board is the one I was eyeing, mainly due to the decent-good overclocking results, as well as the many happy people that have it. The only disadvantage is there is no x16 second pci slot, only x8. Although, I doubt I will ever do anything that requires sli (maybe one day...) and, if so, x8 will add enough benefit I'm sure.

As for the HDD, I've always been a fan of the black series, and own two myself.

I love EVGA cards, and I love their warranty. The 275 isn't much more expensive tahn the 260, and I'm running at 1920x1200 so I will go with the 275. Question: Would it be beneficial to run the 8800GT or 9600GSO as a PhysX card? Would I see -any- advantage to doing that other than upping my power bill?

As for cases, they don't have to have red fans to start with, I just need to be able to replace the fans =) I would also like to prepare for water cooling in the future, and am not a fan of latching it on to the rear of the case. I currently have a CM 690 and I've seen a few mods to put it inside the case, but it appears a little cramped. For this reason, would it be beneficial to look into full towers?

Does anyone have any opinions on this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133024 - it would force me to go ahead and spend a little extra for the water cooling, but for only ~$200 more it seems, and it's already built-in.
 
xazraelx said:
Question: Would it be beneficial to run the 8800GT or 9600GSO as a PhysX card? Would I see -any- advantage to doing that other than upping my power bill?
Click to expand...

It really depends on the game. Not all game supports PhysX.

xazraelx said:
As for cases, they don't have to have red fans to start with, I just need to be able to replace the fans =) I would also like to prepare for water cooling in the future, and am not a fan of latching it on to the rear of the case. I currently have a CM 690 and I've seen a few mods to put it inside the case, but it appears a little cramped. For this reason, would it be beneficial to look into full towers?
Click to expand...
Not really. I recommend trying out the WC kit with your CM 690 first and then figure out if you need more room. Getting a full tower now before you've had actual first hand experience with WC and your case is a bit of a bad idea.
xazraelx said:
Does anyone have any opinions on this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133024 - it would force me to go ahead and spend a little extra for the water cooling, but for only ~$200 more it seems, and it's already built-in.
Click to expand...
Not worth $280 IMO. Maybe $150 but definitely not $280.
 
If you transfer from drive to drive, you may want some fast storage drives, WD1001AALS. If you don't need fast storage drives, the WD10EADS drives are good. ;)
 
lt_shiro said:
I would say stay away from thermaltake water cooling kits.
Click to expand...
Danny Bui said:
Not really. I recommend trying out the WC kit with your CM 690 first and then figure out if you need more room. Getting a full tower now before you've had actual first hand experience with WC and your case is a bit of a bad idea.
Not worth $280 IMO. Maybe $150 but definitely not $280.
Click to expand...
Cool, I've already looked into one mod (which I've -almost- already done myself, just because I was annoyed with the top fans on the CM 690 and already have the metal mesh dremelled out where the WC Rad can go.

Just curious, wouldn't it be easier to make a watercooling setup with more room? Figured it would be more "manageable" with the extra space.

enginurd said:
If you transfer from drive to drive, you may want some fast storage drives, WD1001AALS. If you don't need fast storage drives, the WD10EADS drives are good. ;)
Click to expand...
I just need a fast OS drive preferably > 320gb and a secondary drive preferably >500gb. Everything else is done via NAS on a gigabit connection, and I'm pretty sure then it's the network that is the limiting factor :). Where do they sell the WD1001AALS - All I can find is the FALS for their 1tb blacks. The difference in price between the 500-640-1tb hdds is so small it's worth it just to get the terabyte for secondary.

Thanks for all the input! Will be ordering soon, hopefully when I get back from vacation this week :) I'm excited to see what all the hype over the i7 feels like.
 
Danny Bui said:
Not really. I recommend trying out the WC kit with your CM 690 first and then figure out if you need more room. Getting a full tower now before you've had actual first hand experience with WC and your case is a bit of a bad idea.
Click to expand...

I rarely disagree with Danny Bui, but my personal experience with this matter leads me to think differently. I built a very high end E6600 rig in the winter of 06 with the intention to water cool once the quad cores came out. It was the first high end build I put together in quite a while, and I chose put all the components in a gorgeous $300 Silverstone TJ-09 case. The TJ-09 is a full tower case, and it's great for air cooling. However, fitting a triple radiator internally was practically impossible without doing some dremel work. I went as far as to spec out how I would mod the case and even borrowed a dremel, but soon realized that I didn't have an adequate workspace to do the modification. After some additional planning and false starts, I decided that modding the TJ-09 wasn't in the cards, so I lived with a rad-box for about a year.

For my next build, I swapped to a Cosmos S knowing that I could put in a triple radiator without issue. I was not pleased that the useful life of my expensive TJ-09 was cut short , but the Cosmos S was simply much better for water cooling.

The advantages of having a WC friendly case can't be overstated. Not only can you skip out on all the dremel work, but building and maintaining a WC loop is much, much easier. Furthermore, being able to place components in sensible areas allows you to cut-down on tubing, which further increases performance while decreasing complexity.

If you know you want to watercool, and assuming you want to go for a high end setup (i.e. triple rad,) I suggest you do some research into larger WC friendly cases. Not only will setup be easier, but going with a WC friendly tower in the beginning means that you won't have to redo your loop should you find your existing case too small.
 
Thank you a lot for the personal feedback. I've read up on several CM 690 watercooling builds, and they say that fitting the block internally limits you to what you can do (and requires light to medium modding/dremelling), and most say that if you plan on doing it, plan on using the WC setup for only the cpu and northbridge.

I plan on folding with the GPU, something I got into a while back and never picked it up again due to botting at the time, and so watercooling seems like a sensible idea. I know it's a higher upfront cost, but I'm going to wait until tuition is due and then re-evaluate my budget and see if I can squeeze in an initial water cooling setup. In the meantime, I'm just keeping an eye out on "deals" and I'll pick them up as I go along, as I know what I want as far as processor and whatnot, but I'm still doing a LOT of research into cases and watercooling. I have my work cut out for me in that area.

Thanks a LOT for the feedback, and I hope that others can share their personal experiences too! I'm coming across quite a few just searching, but it's nice to read it here too.
 
Finally got my D0 i7 for $225 shipped after tax. Now I've been looking into cases while I was on vacation, as well as the various other parts.

I have a couple questions: Does this corsair RAM deserve another $60 from these G. Skills?

They both run at 1600, they both have slight overclocking abilities, the only thing I see is that G. Skills might require a bit more voltage. Is it worth it to purchase the Corsair sets?

This ATCS 840 is the case I'm going to get. I think I fell in love with the simplicity of it, as well as the fact it is easy to install watercooling into later. The only downside is that I was really hoping to get a side window in the case. I originally was going to buy the HAF 932 and I really like it, but I can't get over how freaking ugly the side panel and the HAF stamp is. It really, really ruins the case. In addition, the build quality is a bit less and it does NOT have a removable motherboard tray (something I've never had before, and would like to experience). Another alternative was the aforementioned Cosmos S, but those handles kill me every time I look at them. Therefore, I think I'm going to settle with the ATCS 840 and purchase a side panel window. Any alternative suggestions?

For motherboards, I'm really in a mix. I can't stand the ugly motherboards because I eventually want to have a side panel, possible watercooling setup, and I really *really* despise the eighteen-colored boards that looks like a crayola box melted on them. Really, what's the point?

This EVGA board has great reviews, but how large of a hindrance is not having 2 x16 slots? I will be folding until I start playing games that would hugely benefit from SLi (I play most games on the xbox 360), and I don't think the lack of more than one x16 would affect the folding that much, but I would like to future proof for gaming.

I'm thinking about buying a GTX 260, and then potentially using the Step Up program for something better if that doesn't suffice. I'm also going to be throwing my 8800GT(single slot) and the 9600GSO(dual slot) in the other PCI-E slots, if they will fit. Does the bandwidth of a slot matter to folding? I don't think that the 9600GSO can even accommodate an x8 slot with it's power, not sure about the 8800GT. However, I would like to plan for the future, so 2 x16 slots are a necessity, in case I decide to stop folding and go SLi for gaming.

For power supplies, is 750w enough? My current computer draws about 280w, but I don't know how much three graphics cards, an i7, and ddr3 ram pulls. My current 620hx is an amazing PSU, and it says it's compatible with i7, so should I go with a new PSU or keep using my year and a half old one?
 
I'll provide some insight on your first three questions (and 750w should be enough for a PSU.) Don't know too much about Folding to answer whether the GTX 260 will do.

RAM: There is absolutely no reason to get the overpriced Dominators over the G.Skills.

Case: The ATCS is nice, but do some research into how well it will fit water cooling components. If you know you're going to go with a high end water cooling setup later on, but want a classy case, take a look at the Silverstone TJ-07. It's pricey and it's been around for a while, but it can fit two triple radiators without modification. It's also gourgeous. Alternatively, look at the Lian-LI V2100 and A77.

MoBo: Right now, the only cards that will come class to saturating a PCI-E Gen 2.0 x16 bus are the 4870 X2 and the GTX 295. Whether more cards join this list with the next generation remains to be seen. If you're not giong to game on anything larger than a 22inch, then don't worry about it. However, if you're sporting a 24 or 30 inch monitor and want the best of the best in terms of graphic hardware, you may want to consider a board that has two X16 lanes.
 
this case isn't a full tower but already meets your color scheme needs and is a well setup case for air cooling. Thermaltake V9

and i really just like how the inside is already painted black.

Here's Full Tower Case from their lineup that would be much more WC setup friendly. Thermaltake Spedo. It also falls in your black and red scheme. It doesn't however have the inside of the case already painted black. they do have one that does but it's like $70 more for a window and a black inside.
 
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Markyip1 said:
The ATCS is nice, but do some research into how well it will fit water cooling components. If you know you're going to go with a high end water cooling setup later on, but want a classy case, take a look at the Silverstone TJ-07. It's pricey and it's been around for a while, but it can fit two triple radiators without modification. It's also gourgeous. Alternatively, look at the Lian-LI V2100 and A77.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I'm trying to stay on a somewhat modest budget. I do plan on moving to watercooling, but I am heavily ignorant on the subject, so I am not sure whether or not I need two triple radiator setups or not. I plan on running SLi eventually, and I assume those two would need cooling, as well as NB and CPU cooling, and possibly RAM. Would all of those components need two radiators?

I like the TJ-07 a lot, but the price sets it back a bit. Maybe I could find it somewhere for sub-300, and that might be doable as it's future proofing for...anything? Heh. The V2100 is appealing as well. I'm still trying to decide on the case issue, there are so many nice cases in the 150-300 range.
Markyip1 said:
MoBo: Right now, the only cards that will come class to saturating a PCI-E Gen 2.0 x16 bus are the 4870 X2 and the GTX 295. Whether more cards join this list with the next generation remains to be seen. If you're not giong to game on anything larger than a 22inch, then don't worry about it. However, if you're sporting a 24 or 30 inch monitor and want the best of the best in terms of graphic hardware, you may want to consider a board that has two X16 lanes.
Click to expand...
I game on a 24" main MVA panel at 1080p, and I have a feeling for the better games I will be needing something along the lines of an upper level gpu. I am going to wait for the new GPUs to come out to drive the current prices down a bit, then pick up a nicer dx10 card (sli'd gtx 275s would be amazingggg). Thank you for the comment regarding x16, x8 though.

bigwooly said:
this case isn't a full tower but already meets your color scheme needs and is a well setup case for air cooling. Thermaltake V9

and i really just like how the inside is already painted black.

Here's Full Tower Case from their lineup that would be much more WC setup friendly. Thermaltake Spedo. It also falls in your black and red scheme. It doesn't however have the inside of the case already painted black. they do have one that does but it's like $70 more for a window and a black inside.
Click to expand...
The Spedo was one of the first cases I looked at, but several reviews discounted the build material as well as the noise level. Granted, this is with the stock fans, and they can be replaced - so I guess it's still worth looking into, but I will continue to ponder it. I'm not in a huge rush, just trying to finish it before the next couple weeks.
 
Sli'd GTX 275s = one GTX 295.

As for what you plan to watercool -- if you really want to go all out and hook up two gpus, a cpu, and a northbridge to water loops, then yes, you will absolutely want two loops with two radiators if you're after optimal cooling / overclocking performance w/o using fans that sound like jet engines. Both radiators don't necessarily have to be triple 120s, but a triple rad will give you more cooling headroom than a double or single.

However, you may very well decide that you don't want to watercool every component in your PC. The CPU is probably the most important component to watercool. Cooling graphic cards is also helpful if you want to overclock them or if you want to get rid of their noisy fans. Since I like to run low to medium speed fans through a radiator, I would not put a Core i7 and a high end graphics card on the same loop.

As for the X58 North Bridge, the good thing about them is that they don't run hot enough on most boards to require cooling, nor are they critical enough in what they do (remember that the memory controller is now part of the processor, so the X58 North Bridge is not much more than a PCI-E controller.) They only board where I think cooling the North Bridge may be worth while is on the Classified, where they're known to run a bit hot. Yet on my Classified, North Bridge temps have never been a problem. Maybe it's because I have the B3 revision of the X58 chipset.

Oh, and South Bridges and RAM absolutely don't need water-cooling.
 
Thanks to all those who helped me, this is what I've ordered so far:
i7 920 = $250 - $25 MS Live CB
CPU Hyper N Cooler = $29.99
BLU-RAY DRIVE LITE-ON = $67.99
G Skill 3x2gb 1600 set = $119.99
EVGA LE Mobo = $229.99 - $20 rebate - $15 discount with RAM

Comes out to $698 total so far before cashback and rebates, $638 with.

I'm about to order the HAF 932 (after MUCH deliberation, I decided just to bite the bullet and get the ugly ass case with top notch airflow and a window) and I'm going to try and see what I can do in terms of modding it. I already picked up two cans of plasti dip and some red satin paint. I'm going to see when the case gets here, but hopefully I can do something about the ugly X on the right side, or the ugly HAF stamped on the left, or both. We'll see. That will be $140.

I'm also going to order the 750W Corsair for $120 - $20 rebate.

After the case and PSU, my total cost will be $958 before rebates/cb, $878 after rebates/cb. So I guess I'm going to go a little over budget, but not that much =)

I have a post here about what kind of drive I'm going to buy, any input would be great. It's in relation to short stroking a RAID 0 setup of the .12 500gb platter hard drives vs a SSD.

I think that about sums it up...anyone have any other thoughts, addendum I might need? I know I haven't gotten a GPU yet, I'm going to continue using my 8800GT/9600GSO setup at the moment until the 5xxx, 3xx series come out and then probably buy a nicer single GPU that can handle 1080p resolutions without struggling. Besides, my 8800GT still pumps out close to 5400 PPD :)
 
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