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One down from the best..

Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2003
Posts
15,921
Location
UK
Due to me letting off steam and "finalising" the snivelling wheezing wreck that was my last rig (I'm sure some of it has survived but meh, it can go in the server pc in the other room).

Time for a new build that WILL be purchased as soon as we have finished discussing it.
Money is no object but as I know all the replies will be "pointless buying all the best stuff and paying through the nose for it when the next best thing will do just a good a job"

That's what this thread is asking..
What IS the best thing I could build but with a sensible head on...

My thoughts,
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS5 Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - OEM

Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x2GB) Supplied with Airflow Fan (TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF)
< definitely prefer Corsair over ANY other)

Got to wait for some new graphics cards to come onto the market I guess... Kinda hampers this build though! :(

Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU

Enermax Liberty 620W ELT620AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
< Already have this

OCZ 32GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1S32G)

Always thought of doing a water cooled rig. Maybe now is the time??

Swiftech H2O-220 Apex Ultra+ Watercooling Kit (Socket 462/478/LGA775/754/939/940) < obviously won't need the Tuniq tower if I do this. (which is a good thing as I can't buy a Tuniq tower from here at the moment)

Which version of Vista ??

Already have a DVD-RW drive..



Time to chew it over people..
 
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No point in soon dead tech HIS ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail

No point in the 36 gig raptors.

No point in Physx

Antec 900 is a cramped style over content case.

Other than that I see no problem
 
i wouldnt bother with the physx card. i would get a bigger/better case instead. like a p182 or something.

you definatly need more room for those 3870x2 in crossfire i would have thought. and that psu might not fit in the antec properly either but i havent investigated it .

and maybe try a 8800gtx this time :rolleyes:

oh yeah didnt see the hard drives .... would recommend 2 x 500 gb samsung instead of the 2 raptors . or even just one 500 gb hdd.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-053-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940
 
I need little to no extra HDD space other than for the games themselves.
I have about 2Tb in the attic... (9 other HDD's spread about the house, networked)

How long before the "soon to be dead tech" is actually dead... I see nothing available for pre order so I guess it's a while??

Didn't realise the Antec case was cramped.. Throw me a bone here?? :D
 
I did look at the skulltrail :D
I remember why now... PCI-E slots too close together. Had enough hassle with this rig trying to keep the top card cool when it sits within 3mm of the card below, what a **** design. :(




Edited in the Akska case as I like it. :D

So that leaves just the Graphics and HDD's to agree on ?
 
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what would be the purpose of two 3870X2s, why not a single 9800GX2, unless your planning on hooking your PC upto like four 24'' monitors or something? and i agree with the others, no point buying physx, never had much of a purpose other than wasting power and money, and the raptors don't give that much of a performance increase as far as im aware to justify there huge price premium, would just get a couple of rock solid hitachis or seagates and be done with it :)
 
what would be the purpose of two 3870X2s, why not a single 9800GX2, unless your planning on hooking your PC upto like four 24'' monitors or something?

well 2 x 24"..... and then there's Crysis (the old Twin 1950XTX's stuttered too much for my liking / resolution


and i agree with the others, no point buying physx, never had much of a purpose other than wasting power and money,

OK removed, was a bit of a joke anyway, was going to add it back in at the end saying thanks for saving me a wedge, now I can afford this.... :D


and the raptors don't give that much of a performance increase as far as im aware to justify there huge price premium, would just get a couple of rock solid hitachis or seagates and be done with it :)
doh. I like the RAID0 raptors (that's what I'd being doing with them)
Definitely seems a much perkier system when they are in a rig
 
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Motherboard, RAM, CPU, case are fine - however...

3870X4 is extremely overkill, especially being 30 days away from the 4000 series ATI cards and 32 away from the GTX 280, and even a 520W Corsair PSU can power the hungry 9800GX2 (just) let alone everything and anything less powerful. At a stretch 620W preferably 750W+ is more than enough for CrossFire'd cards; all these 1000W+ units are just marketing gimmicks - nothing else.

No idea why you've picked that Zalman cooler, nothing wrong with them I admit but far from some of the better air sinks available like the Thermalright 120-E, Tuniq Tower or the Noctua NH-U12P. Of course, aesthetics is everything, but then I think those three aforementioned look great anyway IMO ;)

With the money you'd save, you could also ditch the raptors and buy a single 32Gb Solid State HDD instead :)
 
Motherboard, RAM, CPU, case are fine - however...



No idea why you've picked that Zalman cooler, nothing wrong with them I admit but far from some of the better air sinks available like the Thermalright 120-E, Tuniq Tower or the Noctua NH-U12P. Of course, aesthetics is everything, but then I think those three aforementioned look great anyway IMO ;)


Only reason was when looking at the Thermalrite stuff, quite a few had "Out of stock , No ETA..

edited that in instead then...
With the money you'd save, you could also ditch the raptors and buy a single 32Gb Solid State HDD instead :)

Oh alright then. :D

edited that in as well

even a 520W Corsair PSU can power the hungry 9800GX2 (just) let alone everything and anything less powerful. At a stretch 620W preferably 750W+ is more than enough for CrossFire'd cards; all these 1000W+ units are just marketing gimmicks - nothing else.

A bit reluctant to put anything from my old system into the new build, but I do own the Enermax liberty already.... (620W)

So edited that in for now.. (it will get beaten with a big stick if it plays up on the new rig :D)
 
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why not go for watercooling?

In a nice Silverstone TJ-07BW?

Is that Gigabyte board a suitable base for watercooling??

(plenty of headroom in the budget to do watercooling if it's a good direction to go in, always thought of doing it, but never got round to it (story of my life :D ))
 
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