PC building help.

TheBuzzer

TheBuzzer

HACK THE WORLD!
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
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Well I am thinking of making a whole new pc when vista comes out.

CPU:QX6700 - I am getting this one for sure
SC: SB X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Getting this for sure


GPU:8800gtx - Not sure what brand to get
MOBO: 680i SLI type motherboard - Not sure what brand to get


RAM: I want to get 2gb (1024x2) for sure but not sure what ram to get. Thinking of
CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB but not sure if that very worth the money.

Power supply - No clue at all need help in this
Case - Also no clue at all which case is good. I dont want side windows though.
Hard Drive - Thinking of getting seagate with their perpenclear tech but when vista is out hybrid drives might be out too. And I might get those instand. I going to get 2 hd of course and raid.


DVD Drive - Some NEC brand


I also would like if I could setup a water cooling system too with this stuff. I want a quiet pc that is really powerful. I don't really want to overclock anything though.
 
CPU:QX6700 - I am getting this one for sure
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I'll be the first, of many I assume, who will tell you that unless you really wanna spend the money, there isn't a huge need to go quad core. But, if you have the money to spend, I'll be jealous for one :cool:

GPU:8800gtx - Not sure what brand to get
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Brand really doesn't matter in terms of quality, but it has alot to do with customer support and customer programs.

eVGA has a Step-Up program which if a new card comes out within a certain time period of your purchase you can send in the card you bought and pay the difference for the newer card.

BFG has a VERY nice RMA/Customer service policy, you can find alot of threads of people exemplifying BFG on their Customer service policies.

http://www.evga.com/stepup/default.asp

These are probably the two most popular brands right now.

RAM: I want to get 2gb (1024x2) for sure but not sure what ram to get. Thinking of
CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB but not sure if that very worth the money.
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There are some debates about the merit of the Dominator series. They tend to not be in stock very much, and have very limited overclocks despite their marketing towards the contrary. If you't not going to be overclocking, pretty much any pair of PC6400 sticks will work fine, if you're over-clocking, head over to the Memory forum, and take a look around to see what memory is the best for your system.

Power supply - No clue at all need help in this
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Seasonic and PCP&C tend to be the leaders in this field. PCP&C tends to be a bit over priced, while seasonic doesn't offer many high-wattage offers, but they make alot of other companies power supplies.

The most popular power supply right now is probably the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750. You can't go wrong with this.

Case - Also no clue at all which case is good. I dont want side windows though.
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This is extremely subjective, and depends on your tastes. I'd say head over to the cases and case modding forum and take a look around at all the different cases.

The most pouplar brands are SilverStone, ThermalTake and Cooler Master

Hard Drive - Thinking of getting seagate with their perpenclear tech but when vista is out hybrid drives might be out too. And I might get those instand. I going to get 2 hd of course and raid.
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For games, you'll see a better preformance boost from a Raptor then perpendicular recording. If you need storage space, the ideal solution is to have a Raptor for games and then a high capacity drive for storage.

As for RAID. Depends on what implimentation. If you're thinking RAID-0, I'd STRONGLY recomend against this. While in theory it will provide preformance increases, in every day world, you will not notice a difference. Just use the search feature and take a look in the Storage forum.

DVD Drive - Some NEC brand
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Can't go worng with the NEC 3550

I also would like if I could setup a water cooling system too with this stuff. I want a quiet pc that is really powerful. I don't really want to overclock anything though.
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You'll be able to do this fine. Danger Den and Swift Tech make some of the best watercooling products out there. Take a look at their websites to see what the offer, then head over to the water cooling forum to see how people have theirs setup.

:D
 
thx for the response.

i really want to try making a water cooling system. never tried it before.

also i like hd more for space. also there is going to be those hybrid drives soon so i might get those one if they are worth it.


so for the ram it doesn't really matter what brand and stuff? just timing is import if I am not overclocking?
 
also i like hd more for space. also there is going to be those hybrid drives soon so i might get those one if they are worth it.
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Only time will tell on those. I personally wouldn't wait for them however. From the little I know about them, they're more for laptops then anything else.

so for the ram it doesn't really matter what brand and stuff? just timing is import if I am not overclocking?
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Technically, no since a RAM will run at a rated speed.

However, there are a lot of minor differences between RAM such as latency and IC modules. Micron D's are some of the best IC's out there because they scale really high 1000+Mhz, so what alot of people do is find cheap RAM with Micron D's in them and then OC them to higher speeds. But overclocking is always hit and miss. So, just because you have a Micron D doesn't mean you'll get 1000+ Mhz out of the memory, it just means you'll have an extremely chance to do so.

(cf)Eclipse is the master of memory on [H]ardForums, so listen to what he has to say, lol.

EDIT: The following link will direct you to a thread that lists all of Corsairs products and what IC's they use.

http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44365
 
case: dont forget lian li. they are top of the line cases for your top of the line computer.

water cooling: while they are silent, the radiators used to keep the water cool still use fans, so i dont think you'll get away from fan noise.

ram: if you aren't overclocking, then you are wasting a whole lot of money buying high speed memory. but those dominators are pretty nice. and yes, if not overclocking timing is what matters most.

perpendicular recording technology only enhances storage capacity. it does not affect performance although the 7200.10 seagate series is a great performance harddrive. if you are going for silent, however, western digital harddrives have quieter drives while offering equivalent performance.

your system specs tell me you are going for the best, and it seems either 2x 750gb seagate 7200.10's in RAID 0 or 2x 150gb western digital raptors will give you amazing performance and capacity. ive read on other review sites that anything less than 750gb will provide smaller performance increases but i am not quite sure. i have also heard the 750gb models are extremely loud.
 
water cooling: while they are silent, the radiators used to keep the water cool still use fans, so i dont think you'll get away from fan noise.
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Not always true, there are passive radiators out there or passive radiators/reses as well.

and yes, if not overclocking timing is what matters most.
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Depends, AMD systems are much more timming sensitive then Intel. So, timming does matter, but it depends on the system in question.

and it seems either 2x 750gb seagate 7200.10's in RAID 0 or 2x 150gb western digital raptors will give you amazing performance and capacity
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RAID-0 is a highly debateable topic.

i have also heard the 750gb models are extremely loud.p/quote]

Lol, pun intended? ;)
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lol, i didnt know it, but i made a pun =P

as far as RAID 0 being debatable i'm no expert on raid, but i do remember reading the anandtech review on the 750's in RAID 0 performing on par with the raptors and was thoroughly impressed.
 
well having a good video card should make fps already really good

getting a raptor is just going to decrease some load times.

but I like to have tons of space.

I got a huge anime collection and stuff.
 
Why wait for Vista? I see no point in doing so. While quadcore is nice, unless you're doing some 3d modeling or video editing/encoding, you won't see much performance boost with normal desktop usage. http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2866

Such a pricey soundcard... are you an audiophile? If not, go for the xtreme music instead. and if you are, i hear there are better choices, hehe.

As mentioned above, go with eVGA or BFG. They have the best support. As for the mobo, I heard foxconn is the manufacturer of all the 680i's, lol, so brand only matters for support, again.

Corsair is usually overpriced, and that dominator ram isnt worth it. If you're not overclocking, go for the cheapest ddr2-800 ram. Timings dont matter as much as they used to with DDR, since the pure speed of DDR2 more than compensates for the higher timings. If you are overclocking, don't spend more than $250 unless you want some extreme results.

PSU, go with a Seasonic, since you want silence. CM Stacker is a good, quiet case. So is the Antec P180B. Also, check out the Antec Nine Hundred. Lian-Li makes the best aluminum cases, if you like that look. You don't need WC'ing to get silence (scythe ninja plus, scythe infinity, tuniq tower, cnps9500, etc), but you also want the fun... so have fun! hehe

Don't wait for Hybrid drives, get a good drive now, and when hybrids are affordable, get one then. Don't hold a whole system up on a single component unless it revolves around it. If you want alot of storage, the Samsung HD400LJ drives are great performers while being quiet and very cost effective. The Seagate 320GB drives are very fast as well, and are also nicely priced. My raptor gets 78MB/s while my 7200.10 seagate gets 65MB/s, so I think they're fast enough for their price.
 
CM Stacker = full tower right?

i think i am looking for mid tower.

full tower is too big :)
 
Yah, the Stacker is a full tower... its nice having all that room, though... and it is a quiet case.

According to SPCR, most aluminum cases aren't silent, hehe. Though, both of those are good, and so is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811112107
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article632-page1.html

The second one you posted is probably the most popular around here, hehe.

Antec makes quiet cases, too:
Antec P180 "Mid Tower" << Comes in black now!
Antec P150 << HDD suspension!!!
Antec SOLO << HDD suspension!!!
Antec Sonata II << probably the most popular Antec, aside from the P180B

I have the older Lian-Li's (PC60 & PC7), and they are anything but quiet... though, I really should replace the fans in them (loud cuz they use 80mm fans). I also have the original Sonata, and its really quiet. My P160 is rather quiet as well, and the P180 just improves on the P160.
 
I can tell you this much, anything with the name 'Silent' is marketing, and may not represent the actual case... I don't believe anything companies say until I read reviews.

The thing that's really going to make the case loud is the build quality since noise is caused by virbrations, the more 'unstable' the case is (not tight joints, metal rubbing together) the louder it will be. Beyond this, the fans you decide on will also be a huge factor in the loudness of the computer. The basic goal of a quite computer stop anything from moving around since movement causes vibrations and vibrations cause noise.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16811112066

this one looks cool.
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Eh, I personally don't like the look of Lian-Li *shrugs*

The thing is, if you're going to go water cooling, you thinking about going internal or external? If internal, it's gonna be kind of hard to fit in everything you want in a mid-size case along with water cooling. It can be done, but it's more difficult.

I personally LOVE the SilverStone TJ07. What a lot of people do is put the water cooling in the bottom half of the case so you're not trying to fit everything next to the actual PC Components. So, you might want the extra room just to make it eaiser to upgrade to watercooling eventually if you're going internal. If you're thinking about external, then it really doesn't matter, lol.
 
i have the pc-s80, the first lian li case you linked to, it is definitely extremely quiet. =) unfortunately, however, an 8800gtx will not fit without modding (aka cutting the hard drive rack or removing it.) =(
 
so is a raid config even worth it?

is raid really much faster than a single drive?
 
so is a raid config even worth it?

is raid really much faster than a single drive?
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Generally speaking, no. It's not worth RAID-0 unless you have the money and really wanna spend it.

Truthfully, you'll see more of a gain from getting a e6600/6700 and another 8800GTX then you will with one 8800GTX and a QX6700.

Other then that it's a pretty sweet setup
 
TheBuzzer said:
so is a raid config even worth it?

is raid really much faster than a single drive?
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Yes, raid is alot faster than a single drive. Is it worth it? it all depends on what you're doing. If you need fast access to your data on the hdd, then its worth it (e.g. video/photo/audio editing). If all you're doing is playing games and browsing the internet, then no, its not worth it. If you do alot of media ripping/encoding, then I think its worth it. If you do alot of drive to drive copying, then its worth it. A raid0 config is much more cost effective than a single raptor.

TheBuzzer said:
u can sli 2 different models of video cards?
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It has to be the same model. Brands can be different, but both must be an 8800GTX, for example.
 
ok. i just realized non of you suggested any replacement fans to get.

is the fans from the products already good and silent?

or should i replace it with better fans.
 
Try the stock fans first. If you don't like them, try some Yate Loons :p
 
Yes, raid is alot faster than a single drive. [...] config is much more cost effective than a single raptor.
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Again, RAID is a very debateable topic...

RAID cannot provide a performance boost in all applications. This statement is especially true with typical desktop application users and gamers. Most desktop applications and games place performance emphasis on the buffer startegy and seek performance of the disk(s). Increasing raw sustained transfer rate shows little gains for desktop users and gamers, as most files that they access are typically very small anyway. Disk striping using RAID-0 increases linear transfer performance, not buffer and seek performance. As a result, disk striping using RAID-0 shows little to no performance gain in most desktop applications and games, although there are exceptions. For desktop users and gamers with high performance as a goal, it is better to buy a faster, bigger, and more expensive single disk than it is to run two slower/smaller drives in RAID-0. Even running the latest, greatest. and biggest drives in RAID-0 is unlikely to boost performance more than 10%, and performance may drop in some access patterns, particularly games.
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http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=952998&highlight=RAID-0
 
EQTakeOffense said:
Again, RAID is a very debateable topic...
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Right... and I explained further when it would be of use to him.

enginurd said:
...If you need fast access to your data on the hdd, then its worth it (e.g. video/photo/audio editing). If all you're doing is playing games and browsing the internet, then no, its not worth it. If you do alot of media ripping/encoding, then I think its worth it. If you do alot of drive to drive copying, then its worth it...
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