High-end Gaming build, need input

[Jet]

The 680i SLi board has onboard Gigabit Ethernet which will be fine. It's built in and will be fast. 100 times what your internet connection is capable of.

I still don't see why you're spending so much $ on your PSU. My friend has a 550Watt PSU running his 8800GTX.

While 550w is a little low (in my opinion), I agree with Grey. Scale back a little, and consider something in the $150-$225 range instead.

 

[joeswm8]

even a 700 watt OCZ GameXStream would be fine, although do whatever you want with the PSU, more is better just to be safe

 

[Emper0r]

I'm a big multi-tasker, I like to play new games, surf the web, listen to music, watch movies or whatever at the same time. Do you really think a 550 watt power supply could handle a big multi-tasking load of:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz overclocked to 3.0GHz
GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Don't get me wrong I hope you're right... but I also might want to do SLI somewhere down the road, and I look at buying the 1000 watt power supply as being safe instead of sorry. I could be way off, I appreciate any feedback thanks again.

Oh also, what do you guys think of my DVD/CD burner and DVD/CD player choices in the revised build on page 2? Are these good choices?

 

[Emper0r]

Joe, you said to buy the following:

2x120mm Case Fan - Thermaltake A2018 120mm Blue Case Fan---$12.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999122
2x90mm Case Fan - Thermaltake A2017 90mm Blue Case Fan 2800RPM---$12.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999121

But the case already comes with 2x120mm Case fan's and 2x90mm Case fan's, did you know this already and are saying I should have a total of 8 case fans?

 

[Grey410]

I'm a big multi-tasker, I like to play new games, surf the web, listen to music, watch movies or whatever at the same time. Do you really think a 550 watt power supply could handle a big multi-tasking load of:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz overclocked to 3.0GHz
GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Don't get me wrong I hope you're right... but I also might want to do SLI somewhere down the road, and I look at buying the 1000 watt power supply as being safe instead of sorry. I could be way off, I appreciate any feedback thanks again.

Oh also, what do you guys think of my DVD/CD burner and DVD/CD player choices in the revised build on page 2? Are these good choices?

This PSU has been tested powering THREE yes 3 8800GTX's at the same time in one system. It's cheaper and quality. Archangel has one too. She swears by it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817139002 $169.99

 

[ceewi1]

I'm a big multi-tasker, I like to play new games, surf the web, listen to music, watch movies or whatever at the same time. Do you really think a 550 watt power supply could handle a big multi-tasking load of:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz overclocked to 3.0GHz
GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

A quality 550W PSU would do the trick easily. Keep in mind the official recommendation from nVidia is only 400W (with at least +12V@30A).

Don't get me wrong I hope you're right... but I also might want to do SLI somewhere down the road, and I look at buying the 1000 watt power supply as being safe instead of sorry. I could be way off, I appreciate any feedback thanks again.

It's absolute overkill for your system, even if you do want to SLI those 8800s. The Corsair is a great PSU, and while I don't doubt that it will handle SLI'd 8800GTXs, the power consumption of these cards will increase as DX10 is rolled out. If I were purchasing a new PSU with SLI'd 8800GTXs in mind, and wanted to keep plenty of upgrade potential, I would go with the Silverstone ST75ZF. Other great options include the PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750W and Seasonic M12 700W.

As I said earlier, if you really do want a 1KW PSU, i'd choose the Silverstone Olympia over the Enermax Galaxy.

 

[joeswm8]

the case fans included with the case are crap, so getting new ones is the way to go to get the best cooling

and i feel its better safe than sorry for the PSU, so if you have the money, go with the 1k watt

 

[m0nk3ys1ms]

I say either the one Grey suggested or this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817153039

 

[liquidshadow]

the case fans included with the case are crap, so getting new ones is the way to go to get the best cooling

and i feel its better safe than sorry for the PSU, so if you have the money, go with the 1k watt

How do you know what CFM they are? My case isn't a Thermaltake, but the stock fans that came with it are ~80 CFM, which is pretty good IMO.

 

[joeswm8]

i dunno, but they arent the best as many reviews have said, and superior airflow wont be there with the stock fans

 

[ceewi1]

I say either the one Grey suggested or this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817153039

Not if you want to leave upgrade headroom with a pair of 8800GTXs. There's a reason that Thermaltake's only SLI 8800GTX approved PSU is the Toughpower 850W.

In a situation where he's considering a 1KW PSU, that's cutting it down a little too far, IMO.

 

[Emper0r]

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it. I have some final questions and thanks to all of your help I'll list the final build below it. Here's the final questions and if as many people could answer as possible I'd really appreciate it:

Questions:

1. I've never built a computer before, but I can do the easy stuff like connecting cards and HD's, is there anything that's advanced that won't come with the instruction manual with the MOBO?

2. I've never overclocked a CPU before, is there a good step-by-step site for beginners to overclock their CPU's? Also for the Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4ghz how much could I overclock with proper cooling and still be stable?

3. Ebay has the cheapest prices for the Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP monitor that I want to get and the good ones also come with the warranty. However, I'm still a little nervous about ordering such a pricy item from ebay, is there a retailer with a cheaper price then the dell site that offers this monitor?

4. Currently the video card I have in mind is the GeForce 8800GTX. Do you think I should wait until Vista is released so more DirectX10 cards are released and prices drop? Or will the prices dropping not be drastic enough to justify the wait?

5. Looking at the build below, is there any final recommendations you could give?

----------------

Build:

Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813188009
Price: $249.99

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115003
Price: $317.00

RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145034
Price: $274.00

Power Supply: ENERMAX GALAXY EGA1000EWL-DXX ATX/BTX 1000W Gamers Edition Power Supply 100 - 240 V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194016
Price: $349.00


Hard Drives:

Primary:
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012
Price: $224.99

Storage:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustR...&SortField=0&SummaryType=ALL&Pagesize=&Page=2
Price: $139.99


Video Card: eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130072
Price: $589.99

Sound Card: Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102005
Price: $145.99

Case : Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154
Price: $149.99

Fans: Case - Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum/Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case---$154.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154
2x120mm Case Fan - Thermaltake A2018 120mm Blue Case Fan---$12.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999122
2x90mm Case Fan - Thermaltake A2017 90mm Blue Case Fan 2800RPM---$12.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999121
Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Thermaltake CL-P0310 120mm CPU Cooling Fan---$55.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106080
Thermal Paste - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound---$5.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835100007

Monitor: UltraSharp 2407WFP Wide-Screen Black Flat Panel Monitor, LCD with Height Adjustable Stand
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=320-4335
Price: $650 from the right people

DVD/CD Burner: LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM E-IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?Item=N82E16827106055
Price: $39.99

DVD/CD Player: ASUS Beige 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 2MB Cache E-IDE/ATAPI Combo Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827135075
Price: $27.99


Total price: $3307.87

 

[Jet]

Your build looks very solid.
1) It's easy building a computer; it's not much harder then doing casual upgrades.

2) Take each step as you come to it. Once you have built your computer and can actually see what we are talking about first hand, it will be easier to explain.

3) As long as you buy from a reputable seller, there isn't really anything to worry about. I bought my CPU, motherboard, and Windows from an Ebay seller (among other things), and everything went fine. Just read through the auction carefully, and make sure you understand what their terms are.

4) I would recommend getting an 8800GTX, unless you can wait until late February, when ATI's DX10 card comes out. It is worth spending the extra for DX10; if you don't, you will probably find yourself upgrading within the next year or so.

5) Again, your build is very good. I would recommend many of your choices to other people who are interested in higher end builds. My only comment is about your Optical drives: You probably only need two DVD Burners. They are so cheap, that it is worth the small amount expense to get them over a standard DVD-ROM drive. Also, have you considered what speakers you are interested in?

 

[Emper0r]

Thanks a bunch for the reply.

Would there be an advantage to getting two DVD burners instead of one dvd burner and one player? Cuz the DVD/CD rom I have listed is cheaper than the DVD burner.

I'm probably not going to get speakers anytime soon, I live in an apartment that's not very sound proof so my headset has become what I use all the time.

Since you seem very knowledgeable I have another question for you:

I kept hearing people talking about "burning in" new parts. What does this mean, is it neccessary and how do you do it?

Thanks again.

 

[Emper0r]

Also can anyone with experience with 10k RPM hard drives tell me if it really is significantly faster over 7.2k RPM drives? Thanks!