Spec me... spec me...

Skullfish1 · 18 Jul 2006 at 17:46

Hey all.

I'm putting together a new rig. Hopefully going to buy next month when the glut of conroe boards come out and theres a half decent cheaper overclocking board.

Can anyone see any glaring problems with my list, i.e. conflicts etc?

Couple of quick questions:

1. Is the PSU alright? I've heard either rave reviews or damning reports of tagan PSUs.

2. Will this PSU fit in the case/cables be able to reach the mobo? (heard problems with the P180)

3. Considering I eventually intend to end up with a crossfire/sli (depending on mobo choice) DX10 setup when DX10 cards are cheaper, will any of the components hold me back? (I.e. RAM/CPU limiting the GPUs, I know I'd probs have t get a bigger PSU for stability)

4. I've pretty much come up against my budget limit now, figuring in the extra cost of a decent mobo and postage I've already gone slightly over the limit, any way I can shave off some costs without loosing performance/stability?

5. Is anything I've chosen a pile of poo?

6. Any other problems?

7. I'm moving my computer to and from uni twice a year, there and back at xmas and at the start/end of the year, will the zalman sink leave an interesting 'airflow feature' through my nice mobo? :rolleyes:

Heres the list:
Zalman VF900-CU Quiet Copper VGA Cooler (SY-008-ZA)
£20.95 £20.95

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN)
£214.95 £214.95

G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-013-GS)
£147.95 £147.95

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
£62.95 £62.95

Zalman CNPS9500-AT Aero Flower (Socket 775) CPU Cooler (HS-020-ZA) 1
£28.95 £28.95

Akasa AK FC-03 Fan Controller Pro (OA-002-AK) 1
£24.95 £24.95

Antec P180 Advanced Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Silver) (CA-039-AN)
£75.95 £75.95

Tagan TG580-U15 580W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU
£69.95 £69.95

Samsung SM-920N 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-043-SA)
£147.95 £147.95

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
£219.95 £219.95

CD-001-BQ BenQ DW1650 16x16 DVD RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-001-BQ)
£23.50 £23.50

Subtotal £1,045.00

Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £24.95

VAT £187.25

Total £1,257.20

Oh yeah, I've got an experienced friend who will be helping me assemble everything and put a healty overclock on all components. I know there isn't a mobo on there, hence the waiting.

I'm also considering the 600W seasonic PSU as an alternitive.

fenderbass86 · 18 Jul 2006 at 18:05

1) That PSU is fine, i'm getting the 530W version for my conroe system.

2) The length of the cables should be fine, I think the cables are longer on the FSP Epsillon.

3) That system should be rocking, overclock that CPU as much as possible.

4) Considering you've only opted for a 19" monitor, you could drop the gfx card down to an X1800XT. I was originally gonna get the E6600 and an X1900XT but decided to save £170 and get an E6400 and an X1800XT.

5) Nope, all top notch

6) Not that I can see. You could consider the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 motherboard, it's supposed to be wicked.

oceaness · 18 Jul 2006 at 21:22

7. Quite possible.

The chance is greatly reduced when carrying or transporting the PC on it's side (i.e. motherboard flat) however when upright there will usually be considerably more G's on the HSF

When wil they invent a motherboard that has 4 screw hole pillars comming up neatly behind the motherboard from the case around the CPU that the HSF attaches to. We need a clamping system for the big HSF's :rolleyes:

Skullfish1 · 18 Jul 2006 at 21:56

Cool, cheers. I went for the higher-end GFX card becasue I've already got an SM-919n moniter. I fancied the overall sexiness of twin moniters.

Any suggestions on good air cooling solutions for CPUs that allow for a bit more, 'roughness'? :rolleyes:

I'd ideally like to OC everything as much as possible while maintaining stability and component life. (This rig has to last a while at that price...)

oceaness · 19 Jul 2006 at 11:29

Not really sure, the better air coolers are all quite large/tall like the Zalman.

Perhaps a ThermalRight SI-120. There 400g compared to the 530g of the Zalman and not as tall but you will need a 120mm fan.

Also good to check the compatability with the motherboard

The best bet is watercooling as you get better cooling and therefore better overclocking, you can cool the North Bridge as well so you can get higher FSB's and theres no weight on the CPU.

Stelly · 19 Jul 2006 at 11:56

looks good, I have a Conroe rig and use the Seasonic PSU wouldnt use anything else

Stelly

Skullfish1 · 19 Jul 2006 at 12:47

oceaness said:
Not really sure, the better air coolers are all quite large/tall like the Zalman.

Perhaps a ThermalRight SI-120. There 400g compared to the 530g of the Zalman and not as tall but you will need a 120mm fan.

Also good to check the compatability with the motherboard

The best bet is watercooling as you get better cooling and therefore better overclocking, you can cool the North Bridge as well so you can get higher FSB's and theres no weight on the CPU.

And how much would this set me back? If I could afford watercooling over the top of this build, then I'd love it, but I don't think I can fit it in without going waaaaaay over budget?

How easy would the zalman be to remove for lugging about, and has anyone actually had their HSF rip through/damage their mobo in any way before? I almost can't believe that mobos would be that badly designed after all this time. (But then I am a young and naive innocent...) :rolleyes:

oceaness · 19 Jul 2006 at 15:45

I've only ever used a large heatsink once. The Artic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro with a DFI NF4 SLI-DR Expert but then that motherboard has a huge thick plastic retaining bracket, I would still not move it around with the HSF attatched.

Detailed specs on the Zalman HSF here

It depends largely on how well your motherboard is built.
Can't say how easy it is to install as it depends on how close your PSU is to the motherboard retention clip. You'd also have to clean and re-apply thermal interface material every time which becomes a bit of a pain. On the plus side you'd become very good at it

I use an Asetek WaterChill Xtreme CPU/VGA/Chipset Cooling Kit - Triple 120mm Radiator/6 Fans kit that OcUK sell for £321.89
I got mine ages ago for about £180

It's a little overkill and is the same kit as a WaterChill Power CPU/VGA/Chipset Cooling Kit - Triple 120mm Radiator/Fans (£234.12 - from OcUK) but the above has 3 extra fans and the radiator can mount on both sides (I tihnk that the only difference)

If you just want to cool the CPU then you only need a WaterChill Power CPU Cooling Kit - Dual 120mm Radiator/Fans or equivalent as there are other manufacturers. I use Asetek stuff cause it's so damn easy to cut the tube and push it together

Skullfish1 · 19 Jul 2006 at 17:40

Right, Reckon £180 is still way out of my price range for cooling. At the moment I'm spending £50 cooling the entire PC (figuring the 120mm fans with the P180 are alright) and thats enough for me. As I've said there isn't much room left in the budget.

oceaness · 19 Jul 2006 at 18:38

Yeah Watercooling is still exspensive

Well we don't know how strong the retention bracket on the motherboard is going to be, and any large HSF will come with a warning not to transport the PC with the HSF attached. I've never heard stories of large HSF leaving new "AirFlow" features in motherboards, but it must have happened, else there likely wouldn't be the warning.

I guess you have to wait till you've got it together and find out how strong it is and then decide wether you want to remove the HSF transport the PC then clean and re-apply thermal interface material or wether you'd rather just gamble and leave it attached.

I assume you'll be tranporting it laid flat in a car. Obviously driving carefully helps though if you have to stop quickly or accelerate quickly you may find that new "AirFlow" feature