Building a new rig, thoughts?

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KingSquibs

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Joined
May 29, 2010
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I'm a computer security enthusiast currently sourcing parts for a new penetrations testing rig, the build will be a high end machine and most of the hardware has been purchased already. The purpose of the rig is to run several virtual machines at once when I'm working and also act as a good gaming/general use machine when i'm 'slacking' ;)

Because of my age (19) I am quite restricted with funds at the moment and money has run dry for 2 weeks (currently trying to sell a projector to cover the costs of a motherboard). I am based in the UK and wondering if anyone thinks there is a possibility of sponsorship?

As well as having a powerful rig, I want it to look beautiful, so I will be investing in the general look (thinking Corsair 800D for a case) as well as individual sleeving of cables, etc.

The hardware I have at present is as follows:

Intel Core i7 960
12GB DDR3 1600 RAM
2 x GeForce 250GTS (I know the graphics are lacking a little, but it should pull off all the hash bruteforcing required)
750W PSU
500GB WD HDD (This is from my current machine)

Basically, I want to further my current knowledge into that of a professional and as you can gather from the amount I have spent on the above hardware, I am serious about this move; I've worked hard for my equipment and I wouldn't let my sponsors down with the machine's appearance.

I would thank anyone if they could produce some advice as to what I should invest in next, I need a decent socket 1366 motherboard with 6 dimm slots (to utilise the 12GB memory) and a decent case.

The hardware I was hoping for:

Corsair 800D
x58 Motherboard, 6 DIMM slots
64GB SSD
Cable Management / Sleeving
Water Cooling system.

I don't expect to secure this through sponsorship, i'd only expect maybe cable-sleeving with sponsors until I proved my capabilities, but it would be nice to have a name backing a project for once? :(

I have been looking around HardForum for years, and I haven't felt worthy of posting here until now having this hardware, so I feel so lucky to be a part of the forum! :)

Thank you all for your time in advance.
 
What 750W PSU will you be using?
What features are you looking for in a motherboard?
 
If I have to be truthful, the PSU is... a let down at the moment, I took the offer of a cheap trade to let me focus my budget elsewhere right now, the temporary PSU is a CIT 750W PSU.

For the motherboard, as I am looking to watercool, it would be nice if I could at least waterblock the CPU and at least the northbridge.
6 DIMM slots.
USB 3.0 if possible
A minimum of 3 SATA slots
Colour Scheme: as black as possible.
I also wish to implement RAID0 sometime.

Being from the UK, I work in GBP and the cheapest motherboard I've found that comes near these specifications (apart from colour) hovers around the £180 mark. Most hardware from the US would require shipping here, and the prices end up even higher :(

Thanks for your help so far.
 
Replace it. Never put expensive hardware on a PSU of unknown quality. Stick with known quality PSU manufacturers such as Antec and Corsair.

Mobo wise, motherboards that tend to be mostly black in color are eVGA and Asus motherboards.

Also what RAM do you have?

As for your budget problems, I really hope you got that i7 960 for less or equal to a Core i7 920/930 in price. Otherwise, that was a major waste of money.
 
2 x http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...ory_id=938&manufacturer_id=0&tid=tr3x6g1600c9 for my RAM.

The i7 960 I got for a decent price, a little bit more than the 920, but nothing I would complain about.

The budget isn't really a problem as such, I can afford living and some other hobbies I have at the moment, living comfortably, I just restrict or limit how much (or frequent) I am spending on this build, where I aimed to have obtained all my hardware by now, I've not managed the funds as well as planned.

The next purchases will be made in 2 weeks time and as soon as I've sold this projector (4 days?)

The 750W I have seen being used on a friends computer (not the same PSU, but same make, model, etc) and seemed to be running fine with it; I think it would push by fine with it, but you're probably right about not chancing it, thanks.
 
Just because a PSU is working does not indicate its quality.

EDIT: Oh and check out the MSI X58 Pro-E Motherboard
 
I've checked out the motherboard and found it met my needs in most cases, so i'm now considering buying it, thanks :)

For a case, the Corsair 800D is a nice looking case, it's also very roomy (for doing the watercooling I wish to do at a later stage) but a bit pricey, is there any other recommendations for cases around this size? I w
ant to keep cable management at its best and the Corsair 800D is the only case I've found remotely close to what I want.
 
$70 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master CM690 II ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922M RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-E8B ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$120 - Thermaltake ElementS VK60001N2Z ATX Case
$130 - Cooler Master Storm Sniper ATX Case
$150 - Antec P183 ATX Case
$150 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$170 - Cooler Master Cosmos S 1000 RC-1100-KSN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$180 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$180 - Lian Li PC-B25F ATX Case
$210 - Silverstone FT01-B ATX Case
$240 - Lian Li PC-V1200A Plus II ATX Case
 
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