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Final Build (Possibly, Suggestions Please)
CPU: Intel Core i7 965 (Retail box)
Mobo: ASUS Rampage II Extreme ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 PCI CrossFire SLI (Retail box)
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card (Retail box) (Any suggestions for a better one)
Soundcard: PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series (Retail box)
HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (Retail box) (Any suggestions for a better one)
DVD: Blu-ray, DVDR/RW, CDR/RW (Still unsure which brand I want, need suggestions) (Retail box)
PSU: 1 Kilowatt (Still unsure which brand I want, need suggestions) (Retail box)
RAM: DDR3 Triple channel 6GB (3x2GB) (Still unsure of which brand I want, need suggestions) (Retail box)
CASE: SILVERSTONE TJ09-BW Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case (Retail box) (Any suggestions for a better one, someone suggested this is big enough for eventual watercooling; anyone have any experience with this case)
Monitor: Samsung 245T (24-inch) (Retail box)
Keyboard: Razer Tarantula (Retail box)
Mouse: Razer Lachesis (Retail box)
Mouse Pad: Razer Destructor (Retail box)
OS/1: WinXP Pro (OEM)
OS/2: WinVista Home Premium 64-bit (OEM) (On a side note: WinV Ultimate 64 is dual-socket aware)
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Michael
Comments
everything looks pretty good but on your win xp boot you gonna have very little ram to work with due to the memory use on the graphics cards.
The 2GB on the graphic card is 1GB per GPU, so really don't see what you're talking about.
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Michael
The brand of ram doesn't matter on a Core i7. The memory channel isn't linked with the processor, and you can't really overclock the ram on this particular board currently.
For PSU, with the current board and power supply, you shouldn't need 1000w. Infact you may get worse energy effeciency at idle using it. I would suggest a 750w~800w supply. For Brand, Thermaltake, CoolerMaster, and OCZ offer good PSUs. Whatever you do, don't get a Rosewill.
The case is not too good in my opinion, and made cheaply for what you get. Here is my recommendation on a case.
Thermaltake Spedo $189.99 Its easier to setup with a removable motherboard tray and tooless devices. Also it comes with its thermal compartment design.
I am going 1KW because in the new year I may get a second vidcard and run it in crossfire, as well as more hdds.
Idle, it'll hardly be idle.
What about watercooling...can that case do it?
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Michael
Here are some suggestions in my opinion.
Core i7 has theTLB bug which is something to keep up to date with. Also picking out a motherboard maker that updates BIOS to help in a timely fashion.
Remember with your RAM make sure it is not rated over 1.65V as it could fry your CPU.
My recommendation for RAM would be Patriot Extreme Performance Viper Series DDR3 6GB (3 x 2GB) PC3-12800 at around $300 - $340 ish is a sweet buy.
PSU: I would go with the Corsair HX 1000W which will see you through fine for an additional 4870X2 in the future. Additional research will show it is one of the best out there and decent energy efficiency.
GPU: I wouldn't preferably go with Sapphire, I would pick Visontek above them (just my experience)
As for the CPU personally I would drop down to the lower one and overclock it (which is easy) and then invest in a 300gb velociraptor WD HD in conjunction with a TB drive and still have change.
Thermaltake Spedo Preview
Yes, its a pretty large case. It really depends on the watercooling system you use, there are 3 types and the case supports all 3. The first is the 5.25" bay version wich can be setup in any case with 2~3 5.25" bays one over another. The second is using an exterior radiator, and this case has pre-drilled holes for those. The third is an internal radiator and that depends on size. Any full-tower should be able to house an internal radiator and its water-reservior.
TLB error was a disgusting thing for the Phenoms. Its a very rare instance that usually only happens on Servers. A desktop user will usually never encounter it. The fix for it is the worse part, it completely kills performance. Its impossible to fix unless you change processors. I just think its funny that Intel knew the TLB error existed with this processor design, and it ruined Phenoms launch. Yet they didn't bother to fix or look for it in the Nehalhiem, despite having a year to address it.
Well... the Xclio 1000 is a pretty decent case, a little pricey, and a little flashy but its large and gets the job done, oh and lots of fans.... lots.
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx
It's almost 2010, and I am just not wiling to tolerate clunky graphics while being told that "gameplay is more important than graphics". That excuse won't wash with me any more. I expect my games to have both good graphics and good gameplay.
-Quote Isoke(VN boards)
Sorry for not responding sooner, for some reason I am not receiving emails telling me I've got responses to my post(s).
On to business: it's a nice case, but can it do watercooling?
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Michael
Actually, here is some more news on that front:
Intel Denies Core i7 Having TBL Issues
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Michael
What I meant was that a 32 bit OS will only allow 4 gigs of memory TOTAL. So if you have 2 GB of it being used by the Vid cards then only 2 GB of your ram will be seen by windows xp.
For example I have vista 32 bit and I have 4 gigs of ram and a 512 MB Video card so windows sees me as having 3.35 or so gigs of ram. Not sure where the other .15 gigs goes...
What you seem not to be understanding is that the videocard itself has 2GB -- 1GB per GPU -- of GDDR5 RAM...it is not touching the system RAM.
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Michael
What about the Xclio-2000...?
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Michael
you are wasting your money if you plan on purchasing the the new Intel i7 CPU. You'll get absolutely nothing in return out of it for gaming. Save your money and put it towards something else. It's a waste. Besides in about 2-3 months you'll be able to pick it up for 1/2 of what you'll you spend on it today.
Also, drop the Razer crap (mouse, keyboard, etc) -- they are worhless and overpriced. Pickup Microsofts Sidewinder mouse. Not the new one, but the original with the steel wheel -- so much better than the Razer. I thought the Razer was good, but the Sidewinder is so much better. The only good razor product is the exactmat, and that you can find cheaper elsewhere. Seriously, it looks like you plan on wasting a lot of money on worthless overpriced junk.
wow
Its a strong set up. I think it's too early to drop money on Core i7 though. I will probably jump in after the first refreshes pop up a little less than a year from now.
What about the Xclio-2000...?
As far as I can tell, the 2000 is not currently availiable, I've heard about it, but after checking Xclio's site and various online hardware shops(Tigerdirect, newegg etc.) Its pretty much just a name.
That said, the specs on the 1000 are pretty decent-as far as number of expansions and cooling goes. Also, for mid level budget builds the A380 is a great case, and for budget-budget builds, the coolbox is pretty good.
It's almost 2010, and I am just not wiling to tolerate clunky graphics while being told that "gameplay is more important than graphics". That excuse won't wash with me any more. I expect my games to have both good graphics and good gameplay.
-Quote Isoke(VN boards)
A 32 bit system will only show 3.35 gb ram even though you have 4 gb installed. You need to have 64 bit system to fully read your 4gig of ram. 32 bit systems werent made for more than around 3.5 gb of ram.
The video ram is completely seperate of the system ram. The system doesnt share the vid cards ram.
Maybe you should read up on youre different sytems and such. The more you know the better.
And knowing is half the battle. (GI Joe)
you will need at least 2 or 3 hard drives (hd)
fast main hd with at least three partitions, system files on first partition separate from the games and other junk then next partition for workspace and mayby a third partition for your current games. With 300 and 500GB fast hd only about us$100 it is not that big a deal expense wise.
Then a second hd for back-ups;
Possibly a third hd for bulk storage of pictures and movies. The hd movies can be a couple GB each instead of the old timer 300 to 700MB movies.
Confidential info do not store on hd, make hard copies for off drive storage (or zapable removable hd.) The next version of windows (w7) has built in gov't backdoor support (e.g. vPro) where "they" can snoop and sabotage your system even when it is turned off.
Having 70 to 100MB partitions speeds up defraging, it can take half a day to defrag a full 1.5TB hd. Also wise to not have possibly dangerous new downloads placed on your main partition with the rest of your system files.
The next os (w7) will be going toward dx11 and ddr3 (three sticks of 2GB each) system memory and 4 core cpu at 3GHz... in the old days we insisted the 100MHz cpu were ultimate and nobody really could use more than 32MB of system memory (well mayby 64MB; they were cheap at about us$150 each 32MB) and those new fangled floppy disk would never replace our punch cards and paper tape readers! and the cute lil 7" green monitors.
Get at least a 25" LCD monitor, if the LED 32" versions are not out by then. One spends alot of time looking at the display, so do not skimp on a quality monitor. 17" may be ok for notebook, but 21" is minimum for desktop.
That's a pretty solid design, but I'd pull off the i7 and get a cheaper CPU and overclock it, with a water cooling system, that shouldn't heat your PC up too much. As for the GPU, 2 EVGA GeForce 9800GT Hybrid Power 512MB GDDR3 / PCI-Es work well with me, not much heat and with nearly a gig of graphics memory it'll run anything and at about $135 each they won't set you back too much considering everything you've got there.
As for water cooling a Thermaltake Aquabay M2 1U tank fits in any 5.25" slot, so it's easy to mount and holds 250ccs. Use a Swiftech MCR320 Quiet Power 3x120mm Radiator, as they're meant to be used with 120mm fans, and since you get 3 radiators, you can collect heat from everywhere. Use a Thermaltake P500 Water Pump and some generic water blocks if you need any. That whole system should put you back about $120 with tubing. You should be able to fit that in your case withouttoo much trouble.
That's about it for now.
It looks fine to me. The processor is a bit expensive but it cost to be on the top. You could of course buy a slightly cheaper one and a good fan to overclock instead.
Also, consider this chart for the GFX card.
As you can see, the GTX 280 are performing better. It costs more but I rather get a little slower processor and a faster GFX card to get that extra performance. Also, the price don't seems to be your main concern but performance.
Got one myself, performs exceptionally (was looking at the same card as you also initially but some research pointed to the 280 card instead).
I would go for a Corsair Power supply, they are very good for a acceptable price. It will keep your electricy bill low. I have their 750W and runs a Intel quad with 5 HDs and amy GTX card on it. Don't think it could handle a 6 HD though.
But you're gonna have a real monster machine