New Build - Help Request ^_^

J

Jelic

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
161
Hey, I'm currently planning to build a new system and I need some suggestions. I have everything planned out already, but I'm not sure if I could do better with the money. This is going to be a build for college so it'll have to last me for a while. Here's the parts list, just give me a few suggestions please!

Case: Aspire X-QPack: I want this mainly for the size. I go to
LANs decently often and I don't partcularly like the Socket 939 shuttles. This is small enough to fit on an airplane as carry on and large enough to accomodate my needs. I have an Audigy 2 ZS that I want to use and the shuttle cases don't have an extra PCI Slot and they're pretty expensive, so this seems to be the best deal I can find for now.

Mobo: JetWay A210GDMS-Pro: The aspire case only takes Micro ATX mobos and this seems to be the best one currently available. I'd like to have one based off of an Nforce 4 chipset, but the only one available has very few overclocking options, and this is the only one that has options for voltages, HTT, and ram dividers.

CPU: 3700+ San Diego Core: This is the lowest rated san diego core and I've heard it has good overclocking potential. The board should be able to handle it and I'm planning to overclock to around 2.7 ghz (250mhz FSB)

RAM: 1GB Geil DDR 500: I've heard decent things about this ram. It has timings of 2.5 and runs stable at 250mhz.

HD: 2x 120GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.7: Again, I've heard good things about these hard drives. I'd like to get a couple of raptors but those are simply out of my price range. These on Raid 0 should provide enough speed.

Graphics Card: 7800GT: This technically isn't out yet, but it should be coming out around August 11th for 400 bucks. It's the latest generation and supports Pixel Shader 3.0 which should last me a while. Unless I can get a good deal on a GTX, I think I'll be going for this one.

Power Supply: I heard the Aspire X-QPacks are shipping with beefier power supplies now that have 30amps on the 12v rail. This should be enough, and the Jetway mobo takes a 20pin connector so I think it should be perfect.

Now, the case has decent ventilation but I'm also going to be putting in two 120mm slot coolers and I think that'll help ventilation a lot when I'm overclocking.

My one really big concern is with the heatsink. I just purchased a 3700+ OEM from Monarch ($260) and now I need a heatsink. What heatsinks are compatible with this mobo/case combo? I heard the max height is around 80mm and that rules out A LOT of heatsinks, including the Thermalright XP-90 that I was eyeing for a while now. Anyway, one that I found that would fit is the Artic Cooling Silent 64 hs/fan, the only problem is I'd like to overclock to around 2.7ghz (250mhz fsb) and I'm not sure if that'll be enough cooling. If you guys have any suggestions it'd be great, thanks a lot!
 
Best heatsink to get for your rig is the Zalman 7000B, there are two versions AlCu (aluminum) and Cu (copper). The X-qpack has enough clearance for this heatsink and a lot of qpack owners use it.
 
Ahhh I see, and this is compatible with the Jetway mobo without any problems? The Jetway mobo has a large heatsink near the CPU that is for the onboard video and I think that might interfere with the 7000b heatsink =/ Could someone confirm that it'd be fine? Thanks ^_^
 
check the zalman website for compatiblity with your mobo. You also need two holes on either side of the socket for a 7000 to fit. I believe the compatiblity list also takes into account clearance around the mounting area (i.e. capacitors, heatsinks, etc) but yes, the 7000 is used a lot with the qpack.
 
It doesn't really look like money is that much of an object with you getting Nvidia's flagship card, a SD core, and some premium memory...............spend the extra dough on a nice power supply.............Fortron Blue Storm is minimum I'd use.
 
Hah I'd like to imagine that money isn't an object, but unfortunately it is =( It may be bad to cut corners around the power supply, but I heard it really was quite a good one. Also, if I were to replace it, would an OCZ Modstream 450w be good? That's the other power supply I've been eyeing lately. Also, it's suprising how few people I've heard use slot coolers. I saw some on newegg that are 120mm and are only like 4 bucks for one. If I slap two of them in here, wouldn't temperatures go down dramatically without any drilling for extra fans? Here's the link to the slot coolers that I'm talking about. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835888602
Tell me whatcha think!
 
I wouldn't get any slot blowers until you actually have the system all done. A lot of people have really good airflow in the X-qpack and run regular temps (same temps as mid-towers). You don't want to be wasting money and more importantly a PCI slot for something you might not even need.

As far as the modstream, thats the PSU I wanna get for my qpack but I haven't seen/talked to anyone who actually has one inside their X-qpack.
 
Ahh, but slot blowers are quite cheap, and even with my vid card and audigy 2 zs, I still have two open slots, so why not put in a couple of slot blowers? Heh ^_^
 
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