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Hopefully this is posted in the right topic.
Overview; I'm making this computer to be an "Ultimate Gaming Machine". However I also enjoy doing a lot of video creating and editing as well. I have somewhat of an expansive budget (3000$), however, the cheaper I can make it, the better, and the quicker I can have it built. I plan on doing some overclocking, but as for how much and how soon, that's in the air. We'll see how she runs stock to begin with.
Case: Lian Li, PC-70 - ebay $91.61 (includes shipping)
**I found this gem on ebay from a guy who thought it was too big and was reselling it. I've already started modding it, putting in a couple windows, getting a vinyl decal made up, and a slick high-gloss paint job. This case gives me a TON of room to put whatever I want inside, not to mention all the drive bays on the front for various meters, drives, and cool fan controls.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo, E6700 - $568
**I was thinking of the X6800 right off the bat, but at almost double the price, it's not worth it. These processors already blow everything else out of the water that's currently out there. Plus, with a little overclocking (nothing risky) I can up the performance even more. The difference in stock performance to me is not worth the extra $500-$600
Motherboard: ASUS, P5W DH Deluxe - $269.99
**One of the motherboards out right now that supports the Core 2 Duo processors. On top of that, I do plan on doing a little bit of overclocking, so the DDR800 Memory support appealed to me. Not to mention the amount of PCIe slots and room for RAM. Is this the way I want to go? I'm still a little lost when it comes to overclocking and the FSB/RAM speeds and multipliers.
Video Card; BFG Tech, Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2 - $600.00
**Honestly this is where I had my biggest hang up. I couldn't decide if I wanted to go with the top of the line, or get a single 7800 and wait for the Dx10 cards to come out. I finally decided to get the top single card I could. My reasoning is that Dx10 cards won't be out for a few more months, and it will be even more time until games start to utilize and take full advantage of Dx10. So I've got about a year before I probably will think about upgrading. In the meantime I get one of the best performing cards out there (comperable to 2x7900 in SLI, but a heck of a lot cheaper).
Sound Card; Creative Labs. Audigy 2 - $64
**I don't have a mind blowing, surround-sound set up for my computer, and I don't need or plan on having one. I'd use the Audigy 2 I have in my current machine but I've lost a lot of the software, so I figure it's time for a replacement, especially since it is so cheap.
RAM; OCZ, Platinum 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 - $206
**Optimized to work with my motherboard and I'll get an extra benefit out of it through slight overclocking. 2GB is definitely the way to go for games and OCZ is some of the best RAM out there. I hear Corsair would be more in line with my overclocking aspirations? Again, I'd love an explanation on how the whole RAM vs. FSB vs. CPU speeds all work.
Power Supply; PC Power and Cooling, EPS12V 610W - $159.00
**One of the best PSU makers out there, and for a great price too. 600W should suit me just fine I decide to do Quad-SLI, then I might need more. Like I said though, I'm not planning on it so 600W should suit me just fine, and it's a silent model as well.
Hard Drive; Western Digital, Raptor 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA - (2) $220
Western Digital, Caviar 320GB 7200RPM SATA - $100
**Instead of partitioning my hard drives, and because I'm going for an ultimate gaming machine, I decided to go with 2 smaller, very fast (10,000RPM) hard drives linked together in RAID0. The upside is that I'll get fast performance, downside is if one of the 2 drives crashes, I can't get ANY of my data because it's split between the 2. Meanwhile I get a 320GB Hard Drive to store all my pictures, music, movies, whatever.
TOTAL COST ~ $2280
So I've got about $720 to work with for DVD-RW drives, any case mods I want to put on, and a water cooling system. Definitely do-able, hopefully keeping my grand total under $2800. Anyone have suggestions for a watercooling system? I've been doing a TON of reading (already bought and read 3 books about computers, modding, and building), but still a little unsure. Am I going to be allright with my PSU if I want to run a DC pump? Are there any downsides to that? I want to water-cool the GPU as well, but as of right now there are no waterblocks out for that stacked 7950, so I'll just make sure it gets enough air and throw on a waterblock when it comes out.
I know this was kind of long, but it gave me an opportunity to show you all the thinking I went through when trying to put together a system. Thanks for taking the time to read this and pass on any of your knowledge/advice/experiences.
Overview; I'm making this computer to be an "Ultimate Gaming Machine". However I also enjoy doing a lot of video creating and editing as well. I have somewhat of an expansive budget (3000$), however, the cheaper I can make it, the better, and the quicker I can have it built. I plan on doing some overclocking, but as for how much and how soon, that's in the air. We'll see how she runs stock to begin with.
Case: Lian Li, PC-70 - ebay $91.61 (includes shipping)
**I found this gem on ebay from a guy who thought it was too big and was reselling it. I've already started modding it, putting in a couple windows, getting a vinyl decal made up, and a slick high-gloss paint job. This case gives me a TON of room to put whatever I want inside, not to mention all the drive bays on the front for various meters, drives, and cool fan controls.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo, E6700 - $568
**I was thinking of the X6800 right off the bat, but at almost double the price, it's not worth it. These processors already blow everything else out of the water that's currently out there. Plus, with a little overclocking (nothing risky) I can up the performance even more. The difference in stock performance to me is not worth the extra $500-$600
Motherboard: ASUS, P5W DH Deluxe - $269.99
**One of the motherboards out right now that supports the Core 2 Duo processors. On top of that, I do plan on doing a little bit of overclocking, so the DDR800 Memory support appealed to me. Not to mention the amount of PCIe slots and room for RAM. Is this the way I want to go? I'm still a little lost when it comes to overclocking and the FSB/RAM speeds and multipliers.
Video Card; BFG Tech, Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2 - $600.00
**Honestly this is where I had my biggest hang up. I couldn't decide if I wanted to go with the top of the line, or get a single 7800 and wait for the Dx10 cards to come out. I finally decided to get the top single card I could. My reasoning is that Dx10 cards won't be out for a few more months, and it will be even more time until games start to utilize and take full advantage of Dx10. So I've got about a year before I probably will think about upgrading. In the meantime I get one of the best performing cards out there (comperable to 2x7900 in SLI, but a heck of a lot cheaper).
Sound Card; Creative Labs. Audigy 2 - $64
**I don't have a mind blowing, surround-sound set up for my computer, and I don't need or plan on having one. I'd use the Audigy 2 I have in my current machine but I've lost a lot of the software, so I figure it's time for a replacement, especially since it is so cheap.
RAM; OCZ, Platinum 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 - $206
**Optimized to work with my motherboard and I'll get an extra benefit out of it through slight overclocking. 2GB is definitely the way to go for games and OCZ is some of the best RAM out there. I hear Corsair would be more in line with my overclocking aspirations? Again, I'd love an explanation on how the whole RAM vs. FSB vs. CPU speeds all work.
Power Supply; PC Power and Cooling, EPS12V 610W - $159.00
**One of the best PSU makers out there, and for a great price too. 600W should suit me just fine I decide to do Quad-SLI, then I might need more. Like I said though, I'm not planning on it so 600W should suit me just fine, and it's a silent model as well.
Hard Drive; Western Digital, Raptor 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA - (2) $220
Western Digital, Caviar 320GB 7200RPM SATA - $100
**Instead of partitioning my hard drives, and because I'm going for an ultimate gaming machine, I decided to go with 2 smaller, very fast (10,000RPM) hard drives linked together in RAID0. The upside is that I'll get fast performance, downside is if one of the 2 drives crashes, I can't get ANY of my data because it's split between the 2. Meanwhile I get a 320GB Hard Drive to store all my pictures, music, movies, whatever.
TOTAL COST ~ $2280
So I've got about $720 to work with for DVD-RW drives, any case mods I want to put on, and a water cooling system. Definitely do-able, hopefully keeping my grand total under $2800. Anyone have suggestions for a watercooling system? I've been doing a TON of reading (already bought and read 3 books about computers, modding, and building), but still a little unsure. Am I going to be allright with my PSU if I want to run a DC pump? Are there any downsides to that? I want to water-cool the GPU as well, but as of right now there are no waterblocks out for that stacked 7950, so I'll just make sure it gets enough air and throw on a waterblock when it comes out.
I know this was kind of long, but it gave me an opportunity to show you all the thinking I went through when trying to put together a system. Thanks for taking the time to read this and pass on any of your knowledge/advice/experiences.