Possible i7 Computer

Don't buy $14 fans for the case, and don't use the cost of additional fans as the deciding factor as to whether or not you like a case. A good yet relatively inexpensive fan is the Yate Loon D12SL-12 fan, which can be found at many places for less than $6 per fan.

The only time that I would recommend a $15+ case fan is when you're trying to replace a dead fan for the CPU cooler. Even then, I would only recommend a few fans for that task.
 
Sansari said:
$5 price difference with $14 fans. I'll go with the antec I think.
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The included fans you get with the Antecs are not worth $14 each. They may sell for that much, but they are not worth that much. Yate Loons would do a much quieter job while pushing more air than the included Antec fans, and are much, much cheaper.

Both the Antec 900/v2 and the RC-690/590 cool equally well. The Antec Gamer cases are nice and all, but they are way overpriced, IMO. They should be priced similarly to the CM cases... and those, too, could be cheaper, lol.
 
Hmm I was looking at higher cfm fans with similar decibal ratings. The one I was going to buy was 80ish CFM with 30 dB. How much CFM do you think I should look for? When does getting higher CFM become redundant? Also how high can the decibels go before being loud?

I think this one is a fair fan. I'm just afraid I may want more than 40 CFM.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185057


Statistics on this one are great, especially for a $6 fan. Are they probably inaccurate?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233009
This one's also nice. And all positive reviews on newegg! That's a first. It seems like a good fan; I think I'll go with this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233015
 
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loudness is subjective... i think anything above 28db is loud; anything between 20 - 28 is audible to me, from where my computer is to my chair; and anything under 20 is pretty damn quiet to me.
 
Yeah, I figured about those numbers, so I picked that last one b/c they claim it's under 20 dB, but has a fair amount of air displacement.
 
Remember that decibels are logarithmic. If you have ten 20dB fans, they will make a 21dB noise.
I got it all wrong, didn't I?
 
Aaah! The evga motherboard is out of stock! I really wanted that motherboard! How long would it take for newegg to restock? If it's within the month i'd wait for it...
 
You have two options with the EVGA motherboard. You could either look for it at another store or pick a different X58 board from NewEgg.

If you're ready to build right now, why wait any longer?
 
Well I think I want to stick with the evga. I found it for $30 more!! at Tigerdirect.com, but I'd rather get it with the rest of my stuff with newegg. Do you have any idea how long it will take to restock? If it'll be restocked by the end of this month or early next month, I'll just wait.

I want to build, but school's almost out, and my dad wants me to focus on exams =P So we're waiting till the end of school (July 9th ish) to buy the computer.
 
Ok new last thing, I don't know if I want the 192 core or 216 core version of the gtx 260. The 216 would run faster but I think it'd overheat more. Right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143140

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143189

(Disregard price for now, I'd get a different model)


Also, what do you think of this case?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103011

Would be nice, especially for 2 gtx 260's. I'm just not sure it'd fit.
 
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Sansari said:
Ok new last thing, I don't know if I want the 192 core or 216 core version of the gtx 260. The 216 would run faster but I think it'd overheat more. Right?
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Nope. You'll hardly notice a difference between the 216 or 192 in performance or temperature. Go for the cheapest GTX 260 backed by a lifetime warranty,

Sansari said:
Also, what do you think of this case?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103011

Would be nice, especially for 2 gtx 260's. I'm just not sure it'd fit.
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Personally don't like the side fans but can't say much about the cooling.
 
Alright i'll stick with the bfg $150 card.

Yeah, the side fans aren't pretty but they blow a lot of air very quietly and directly onto the gpu(s) which will be important if i get 2 gtx's.
 
XClio's cases always seem... a bit over the top to me, lol. Though, they always look like the have good cooling, hehe. That case looks spacious, though. Two huge fans blowing in... how does the hot air get out?
 
I *know* that people have a dark knight and 2 gtx's in my current case, but i'm not sure the xclio can fit them b/c case width isn't huge without the fans. The fans would be great though.

Hot air only goes out of back 120mm fan and vents around the whole thing.
 
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Ok new problem - os
I'm going to get 64 bit of Vista home premium or ultimate, which one I'm getting doesn't really matter right now. You can only install vista on one computer right? It doesn't even work when you install it on two because microsoft knows the computer associated with your serial number, as I've heard. Would the oem version let me install on more than one? I don't think so because it's still only one serial code. Is there any way to get vista on more than one computer without buying more than one copy?
 
Sansari said:
Ok new problem - os
I'm going to get 64 bit of Vista home premium or ultimate, which one I'm getting doesn't really matter right now. You can only install vista on one computer right? It doesn't even work when you install it on two because microsoft knows the computer associated with your serial number, as I've heard. Would the oem version let me install on more than one? I don't think so because it's still only one serial code. Is there any way to get vista on more than one computer without buying more than one copy?
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Are you trying to use/install the same Vista key on two PCs at the same time?
 
I'll be buying one copy of the system builder's cd, so it comes with one cd key, yes.

edit: Then again...
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/234554-44-retail-vista
I may need retail so that I can change parts without trouble. for system buildiers = oem right?

edit again: Actually it does look like oem will be fine for upgrades, I'll just stick with 64 bit home premium for system builders.
 
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Sansari said:
I'll be buying one copy of the system builder's cd, so it comes with one cd key, yes.
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Is that yes to my question or something else?

You cannot use the same key on two PCs at the same time, regardless whether its OEM or not.

Sansari said:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/234554-44-retail-vista
I may need retail so that I can change parts without trouble. for system buildiers = oem right?
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You can still change parts with little trouble with OEM. And yes OEM is meant for system builders but also usable by Enthusiasts.
 
Yes that's a yes to your question :)

So I'll just get home premium 64 bit oem for this pc and buy it again for any other pc that needs vista.
 
Sansari said:
Yes that's a yes to your question :)

So I'll just get home premium 64 bit oem for this pc and buy it again for any other pc that needs vista.
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Ahh, ok. Yes that is what you need to do.
 
About the SLI...
How much better would two gtx 260's be than one? I'm thinking I'll either get 2 gtx 260's, if the second one is a significant upgrade; or just one gtx 260, then sell it and upgrade to two 275's later when I get more money.
 
Since you have to pay 100% more for a 2nd video card, SLI is never worth it, IMO, since you never get 100% performance improvement. ;) To those with 30" monitors, the high cost monitor comes with high cost parts, suck it up. :p For everyone else with 1900x1200 or lower, my first statement applies.
 
Of course, you're right. But i've heard ATI's cards can get nearly twice the performance for two cards, though i'm not sure about Nvidia's sli.
Also, I'm looking for a really good card or combo, so I'm not staying at a single 260. It'll either be 2 260's, 2 275's, or maybe a higher card or a future 300 series. Are you suggesting I should just keep looking for better single cards as opposed to 2 lower cards? I think it's more wallet-busting that way.
And it is going to be 1080p with really graphic intensive games, so I want great performance in my gpu's.
 
In general, you'll never gain a 100% improvement in games, regardless of whether you go with CrossFire or SLI.

What we're saying is that you can obtain decent performance with one GTX 280 compared to two GTX 260s in SLI. Yes, SLI offer better performance overall, but the GTX 280 is less of a hassle, cost less, and is easier to upgrade or replace.

But which games are you considering playing? Any video card that you pick now, by itself, would be a vast improvement over whatever you've been using earlier.
 
I'm playing old not-graphic intensive games all the way up to... crysis.
Like bioshock, rainbow 6 vegas 2, halo 2, cod5, fallout 3, farcry 2, crysis, etc... and I'd like to be able to max out settings while maintaining high fps.

Oooooh I didn't realize that! A single 280 at $265 is about the same or better than 2 260's at $320... So the 280 costs less and performs better! Right?

What about $220 gtx 275 vs $265 gtx 280? Is there a noticeable jump in performance between them? So far I've seen that 280 is a fair bit better than the 275 esp. at high resolutions & settings, but is it $45 better?
 
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Ok from what I've seen, a single 285 outperforms a single 4890, which is slightly better than a 275... Not much of a difference, so whichever card is lowest price is probably the best option. But, in sli I think the 275 should be more efficient than the 4890's crossfire (maybe-not sure, but crossfire seems to skimp out somewhat frequently), and nvidia's drivers are commonly seen as better than ati's. The 275 is also quieter and I think a bit cooler than the 4890, but it's bigger.
Overall I think I prefer the 275 over the 4890, and it usually comes with a game :)


I'll get 275 sli
 
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One more thing and it should be all set. I think an 850W PSU should be fine, but I noticed a lot of people who have an i7 and want to overclock get the 1000W version of my PSU. Like the majority. Would I need more than 850W? For anything? I doubt it unless I get water cooling and that demands a lot.
 
Sansari said:
One more thing and it should be all set. I think an 850W PSU should be fine, but I noticed a lot of people who have an i7 and want to overclock get the 1000W version of my PSU. Like the majority. Would I need more than 850W? For anything? I doubt it unless I get water cooling and that demands a lot.
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Yes for GTX 275 SLI, a good quality 1000W PSU with 80A on the +12V rail is highly recommended. For any single GPU config as well as CPU overclocking, the Corsair 850W PSUs will be more than enough.
 
Ohh good point. I noticed the 275 asked for a 40A +12V rail, so 2 of them would need an 80A? Hmm I didn't think it works that way, is that what you meant? Or is 80A just suggested?
 
Sansari said:
Ohh good point. I noticed the 275 asked for a 40A +12V rail, so 2 of them would need an 80A? Hmm I didn't think it works that way, is that what you meant? Or is 80A just suggested?
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The 40A rating is for the entire system + the video card. So no two of them would not be 80A. That is not how it works. The Corsair PSU finder recommended the Corsair 1000HX PSU for a Core i7 OC'd more than 30%, two drives and two HD3870X2 (closet power consumption to the GTX 275)
 
Ok, thanks. I figured that didn't make much sense :p

But a jump from $120 to $210 is... painful to say the least. At least it's modular.
 
Sansari said:
Ok, thanks. I figured that didn't make much sense :p

But a jump from $120 to $210 is... painful.
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Yes. Though if you switch to the HD4890 CF, the Corsair 750TX is actually more than enough.
 
Eh, I'm fairly solid on the GTX 275, whether for good reasoning or bias ;)

At least I'll probably have extra power for future additions, like liquid cooling or that raid business.
 
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