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atxjoe

n00b
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
10
  1. What will you be doing with this PC? This is a replacement for the system formerly known as “badass gaming system”. I want this to be modernly “badass” and somewhat portable for my regular weekly LAN gaming session. No torrents, MP3s, MS Orifice, or intertubal surfing allowed here.
  2. What's your budget? 1800ish
  3. Where do you live? Austin, TX
  4. What exact parts do you need for that budget? Mobo, CPU, RAM, HDD, Case, Power, Video, Air cooling
  5. If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Keyboard and mouse, and maybe not even those.
  6. Will you be overclocking? Probably not… <sigh> Yes, I do know this is HardOCP, and I actually remember what that stands for…
  7. What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? Single 22” Flat panel
  8. When do you plan on building/buying the PC? I’m itching to do it today, but I’ll wait for your great advice.
  9. What features do you need in a motherboard? I’m leaning ATI/AMD on video, so crossfire.
  10. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? Lucky MSDN subscription owner, not sure which MS flavor I’ll choose but it will be legit. Probably XP for now for stability and compatibility, and will go to Win 7 sometime soon.

$1,550: Total
$250: ASUS Rampage II GENE 1366 Intel X58
$262: Intel Core i7 920
$138: Mushkin 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 998679
$250: ASUS EAH4890/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4890 1GB
$110: Thermaltake VF1000BWS Black Aluminum MicroATX Case
$140: SeaSonic M12D SS-850 850W ATX12V
$230: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB
$170: LG 6X Blu-ray Burner & HD DVD-ROM SATA

I’m not married to any of the above, except maybe the HDD because it’s named after a badass dinosaur. I LAN-party once a week, so portability is important. I liked the top handle on the Thermaltake (btw is that Thermal-TAKE or Thermal-TA-KAY?) case, but feel free to sell me on something else.

Questions I have:
  1. Cooling, please recommend a CPU HSF and NB cooler that will fit this setup. I hear the GENE’s run hot.
  2. 4890 seems fast enough today, I’d like to add an X2 down the road after prices have dropped. Will this case and power supply handle an X3 config?
  3. I’d prefer the PC power & cooling 910W Silencer. WHY? A friend of mine said Single rail makes you badass. But I’m worried the PCP&C won’t fit in this uATX case. Agree/Disagree?

Thanks for your help!
 
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You come to the right place man. We will reduce your cost on this build yet, still will be a badass setup.
 
another tip- please don't use that color of blue, I can't read it at all on the dark grey :(
 
HardwareGuru - Thanks man, I don't post often but I know this is the place to do my research!

PC_User - Thanks for the advice. The Thermalright looks nice n' tight for a smaller case. I'm assuming I'll need to purchase a separate 140mm fan. Noise isn't a concern, just system stability. I based my memory choice on this article. The G.Skill didn't do as well. Since I'm not OC'ing the memory may not be as important.

I was digging through some other posts and found the OCZ Vertex SSD Raid setup. Seems smokin fast... This ASUS board already supports RAID, so I just need to plug two in and let XP take care of the rest? A tad more expensive than the Raptor, but much faster and SSD would be better for a system that will be moved a lot.

Any recommendations on a PSU that would accomodate 3X crossfire and fit into this case?

*Changed the font color
 
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The 22" lcd, is that an existing 22" monitor you have or plan to get? I don't see a need to Xfire 3X cards for a mere 22" lcd with a 1680 x 1050 res. Or, even 1920 x 1080 22" lcd. Let's go over your build shall we.

1. Get the Asus Rampage Board from Zipzoom for $240 w/free shipping
2. Look at the Antec EA-750 modular PS for $140 w/free shipping. It won't run 3 x cards but, again I don't see why you need to. There is a combo deal with the XFX Radeon HD 4890 Xtreme 1gig both for $370 ($20 MIR on the video card)

If you make these adjustments along with what PC_User suggested earlier, you save a good $200+ dollars right there.
 
atxjoe said:
This ASUS board already supports RAID, so I just need to plug two in and let XP take care of the rest?
Click to expand...
No. You have to first setup the RAID array in the mobo's BIOs. Instructions to do so will be in the mobo's manual. since you're using XP, you will need to have a floppy disk on hand to load the RAID drives when prompted to press F6 during the XP install.

atxjoe said:

Any recommendations on a PSU that would accomodate 3X crossfire and fit into this case?
Click to expand...

Why 3XCF? Most games don't scale well beyond two GPUs and your monitor size is way too small for Crossfire let alone 3xCF to be cost-effective. It's akin to using a nuke (Crossfire with 2 and 3 GPUs) to get rid of an ant-hill (your small 22").


2) Yes that Seasonic will be able to handle a 3x HD4890 CF config
3) First, it does not matter whether or not the PSU is multi or single rail. If properly setup, there is little to no difference whatsoever about the quality and capability of the PSU if its single or multi-rail. Second, that PC P&C 910W is made by Seasonic IIRC. Third, I highly recommend reading this PSU FAQ:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1036
 
PC_User said:
Doesn't any ATX power supply fit? If so, I'd suggest the Enermax Revolution85+ 1050W.
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It’s a uATX board and I read that these 4890 cards are huge. I believe any ATX power supply will fit in the case, but will I have enough room left over for the video cards, heatsink and other toys? That’s my concern.
HardwareGuru said:
The 22" lcd, is that an existing 22" monitor you have or plan to get? I don't see a need to Xfire 3X cards for a mere 22" lcd with a 1680 x 1050 res. Or, even 1920 x 1080 22" lcd.
Click to expand...
My strategy was to build in a little future-proofing. I felt the single GPU would last me for a while and then when “Call of Duty 9: Fear my Crysis” comes out, I could pop in a cheap X2 card to keep the framerate above 30 on my single monitor.
HardwareGuru said:
1. Get the Asus Rampage Board from Zipzoom for $240 w/free shipping
Click to expand...
Great find, thanks! Looks like the egg won’t get all of my business.

Danny Bui thanks for the RAID advice.
Danny Bui said:
Why 3XCF? Most games don't scale well beyond two GPUs and your monitor size is way too small for Crossfire let alone 3xCF to be cost-effective. It's akin to using a nuke (Crossfire with 2 and 3 GPUs) to get rid of an ant-hill (your small 22").
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I believe that is the Soviet definition of badass, which is acceptable “&#1074;&#1077;&#1083;&#1080;&#1082;&#1086;&#1083;&#1077;&#1087;&#1085;&#1099;&#1081;”
Danny Bui said:
2) Yes that Seasonic will be able to handle a 3x HD4890 CF config
Click to expand...
&#1042;&#1077;&#1083;&#1080;&#1082;&#1086;&#1083;&#1077;&#1087;&#1085;&#1099;&#1081;!!
Danny Bui said:
3) First, it does not matter whether or not the PSU is multi or single rail. If properly setup, there is little to no difference whatsoever about the quality and capability of the PSU if its single or multi-rail. Second, that PC P&C 910W is made by Seasonic IIRC. Third, I highly recommend reading this PSU FAQ:http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1036
Click to expand...
15 minutes after reading that I’ve still got a nosebleed. Great info though, thank you. I’ll need to go back and try osmosis to absorb all of it.
 
no such thing as future-proofing... people paid $300 for HD3870 back then and now you can get 4670 for $70, which can even match 3870 in any game.
 
Thanks lt_shiro, I think I'm starting to get it now. So forget the 3x Crossfire, and look at a less expensive PSU like the Antec that HardwareGuru recommended.

If I use Windows XP do I need a floppy drive to install the RAID drivers?

If I jump right to Windows 7 do I still need the floppy drive? I've heard there's already pretty good game compatibility with Win 7...

Thanks for all your help so far.
 
Cut that VRaptor and RAM and get a SSD. Way more performance and totally different beast.
 
No, you won't need a Floppy drive for XP installation of RAID drivers if you slipstream the drivers into your installation ISO.

If you didn't watch the video I posted, that was basically my suggestion to dump the VRaptor and go with 2 or 3 fast SSDs. The OCZ Vertex SSDs are the popular flavor right now because they're on par with the Intels, yet much much cheaper. I don't think the Samsung SSDs from that vid are available yet. Anyhow, get 2 or 3 and RAID0 them for some badassness. ;) Two 30GB Vertex drives will cost $300 and blow the VRaptor into extinction.

For even more badassness, get a 30" monitor at 2560x1600, and then you'll NEED some 2x or 3x SLI/Crossfire action. :p
 
atxjoe said:
If I jump right to Windows 7 do I still need the floppy drive? I've heard there's already pretty good game compatibility with Win 7...
Click to expand...

No need for the floppy drive. Either Win 7 will come with the drivers or just prompt you for the drivers during the install. You can use a flash drive to load the drivers now with Win 7 and Vista.

The only real game problem I've experienced and heard of is with games using Punkbuster. Seems like Punkbuster does not want to support beta OSes. So you will get kicked out of online games within a minute if the game uses Punkbuster. COD4, COD:WAW and BF2 are just some of the games that uses Punkbuster.

Though I've heard of a few people actually getting punkbuster to work in Windows 7. Not 100% sure about the validity though.
 
wow... punkbuster... thats still around? lol... haven't used that since like '99 or sometime around there, hehe.
 
Points taken on the OS. As much as I hate to, I’ll use Vista 64 for a while until Punkbuster works on Windows 7. It will also make it easier to install an OS on the RAID drives.

enginurd said:
If you didn't watch the video I posted, that was basically my suggestion to dump the VRaptor and go with 2 or 3 fast SSDs…. For even more badassness, get a 30" monitor at 2560x1600, and then you'll NEED some 2x or 3x SLI/Crossfire action. :p
Click to expand...

Nice, you threw down the gauntlet and called me a puss, someone had to! Well I’m in for the 2 SSDs, but most of my gaming will be LANparty so the bigger monitor won’t be a plus. I thought about moving to a 4870X2… but the 4890 saves me $120 and holds its own at 1080p. Sticking with the Muskin Kit because of that Tom's article. I'd rather overbuild a bit than deal with any nitpick issues.


Updated List

$1,671 Total
$240: ASUS Rampage II GENE 1366 Intel X58
$262: Intel Core i7 920
$138: Mushkin 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 998679
$250: ASUS EAH4890/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4890 1GB
$110: Thermaltake VF1000BWS Black Aluminum MicroATX Case
$200: Silverstone Decathlon DA850 850W (Upgraded $40 for modular cables in the small case, still overbuilt? Maybe – still working on the PSU)
$300: 2 X OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30G 2.5" 30GB (SSD Raid Upgrade)
$170: LG 6X Blu-ray Burner & HD DVD-ROM SATA

Running on Windows Vista 64

If I’m not overclocking can I stick with stock cooling? If not, I’ll add Thermalright AXP-140 Low Profile High Performance Heat Sink for $60
 
If you don't live in a particularly hot place and don't plan on overclocking, nah no need for a 3rd party HSF.

Oh and in the PSU department: If you're gonna spend that much on a PSU, at least get one of the best:
$200 - SeaSonic M12D SS-850 850W Modular PSU.

The above Seasonic is far superior to that Silverstone in terms of quality.

Case wise, I highly recommend taking a look at this case:
$90 - Silverstone SUGO SG01B-F Black mATX Case

GPU wise, I recommend ditching the Asus and going with a XFX branded card for the Double Lifetime warranty that XFX offers:
$250 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-E Video Card
 
Any particular reason why you're choosing that Mushkin kit over the G.Skill RAM that I recommended?
 
Danny Bui said:
His answer was:
Click to expand...

I didn't catch that. Anyway, I don't think thats the most rational choice. First of all, I take everything from Tom's with a grain (or two) of salt. Secondly, he'll be overpaying about $60 for a 6GB kit without any real-world performance increase to warrant the increase in price. Just trying to provide objective and logical advice, I guess. Ultimately, it's the OP's choice.
 
Please don't use words like "badass" in thread titles.
 
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