New PC Build. You Thoughts?

[jeebuscrp]

Well, my p4 2.6 cpu and Radeon 9600 are getting a little outdated so I was thinking about building a new system.
Goals - Good gaming PC (WoW, HL2, D3 and SC2 when they come out), with good overclocking potential (First time overclocker so any tips would be appreciated.)
budget - $900 - $1200

Here is what Ive come up with so far:

Burner: ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA

Case: Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

HD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor

MB: EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Video Card: EVGA 512-P3-N873-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Cooling: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler, XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket

Good ? Bad? suggestions?

thanks!

[spearman914]

Everything is good but change these two things:
GPU: 4850
PSU: Corsair HX620 or HX520 which should be enough

[BarbaricSoul]

Here's a build for you-

CPU- e8400 $164.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037 core2duo's raw speed beat quads for gaming, and from early reviews/speculation, will be better for gaming than the I7 when they are released
Mobo- EVGA 750 FTW $169.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188026 performance just as good as the 780 your looking at, just 2 less USB, 2 less SATA, and only 2 pci-e ports instead of 5
RAM- G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166
Video Card- PNY GTX 260 $239.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133229 alot better than the 9800gtx+ your looking at
Case/PSU combo- Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS/Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU 750W $259.98 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133062 same case you picked out with a combo deal on a very nice PSU
CPU heatsink/fan- XIGMATEK HDT-S1284EE $39.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233023 probably the best heatsink/fan you can get for under $40
DVD burner/drive- LG Black 22X $24.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136153

total price, including shipping to my house is $1019.70

BTW, I'd be interested in buying your old cpu/motherboard/RAM/GFX card when you buy your new stuff

[Mussels]

ooh yay, i get to give opinions.

1. Core 2 duo (45nm) is a better choice for modern games. COre 2 quad was best in the 65nm era.

2. ATI 4850 or GTS260 are indeed far better options than the 9800GTX. the 9800GTX is in fact, the 8800GTS G92. Its merely an old card with a new label.

3. i dislike thermaltake cases. its a personal thing. the TT PSU has a very good reputation, on that 750W model.

4. Xigmatek coolers are indeed incredible. They're cheap, and fight for the top performers too. Make sure you get the crossbow backplate for it, they help temps a lot.

[jeebuscrp]

thanks BarbaricSoul

Got a few more questions for ya.

- I have a copy of XP Pro that I planned on using, but that wouldn't recognize the full 4gb of RAM would it? should I switch to VISTA? Main reason I haven't is just because I don't feel like buying it.
-Should I get the retention bracket thing for the hs? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233020 (NVM Mussels answered my question thanks!)


Other than that I like ur suggestions and might buy it sometime this week.

[Mussels]

Vista 64 bit is a *good* choice. The compatibility problems the ignorant speak of are basically non-existant.

retention bracket for the HS is definately a good idea! the stock push pin method is... flimsy. (i own a xigmatek HDT92 in my lan PC)

[BarbaricSoul]

- I have a copy of XP Pro that I planned on using, but that wouldn't recognize the full 4gb of RAM would it? should I switch to VISTA? Main reason I haven't is just because I don't feel like buying it.

I'm running XP pro right now. That 4 gig set I suggested is about the same price than buying 3 gig's (2*1gig 2*512 meg for dual channel to run). It may not use all of it, but if it's the same price and future proofing somewhat....

[BarbaricSoul]

also keep in mind, for another $15 or so, you can up the e8400 to a e8500.

[Dan2312]

I seriously advise against this;

Case: Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Im a CPC (Custom PC) Subscriber in the UK, they just reviewed all cases with tests with a infared thermal camera worth 50k GBP, and a thermaltake was awful, everything overheated inside. the computer crashed after 20 mins.

Go for Antec 1200. rated the best.

[nosboost300]

Originally Posted by Dan2312

I seriously advise against this;

Case: Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Im a CPC (Custom PC) Subscriber in the UK, they just reviewed all cases with tests with a infared thermal camera worth 50k GBP, and a thermaltake was awful, everything overheated inside. the computer crashed after 20 mins.

Go for Antec 1200. rated the best.

agreed, i owned the thermaltake armor and absolutely hated it.. terrible case, extremely heavy... and terrible airflow.... got rid of that thing in a heartbeat.. my 8800gtx's absolutely hated it!

and as for video cards... i love SLi! so... i suggest a gtx 260.. i've owned me crossfire 4850's so i don't want no bias bull crap!!! i've owned me tons of ati cards in my day.. and in my opinion i love nvidia's release of drivers pretty much every other week!!!! and week every other week we see performance gains! can't see how you can't love that

[jeebuscrp]

Thought I'd go with this for the combo deal:

CASE - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021

PSU - Antec TPQ-850 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371009

Any thoughts before I push the buy button

[nosboost300]

awesome power supply, and awesome case if your really patient with wire management

[jeebuscrp]

Well I bought all of it last night from newegg...thanks for all the help

[BarbaricSoul]

enjoy, you're gonna have a awesome performing rig once it's assembled and running.

[FooArm]

i would say stay with quad (inside info)
and go with the 9800 gtx+ cause 9800 gtx+ SLI > 4850 crossfire

crossfire is purely inefficient

plus the tri sli so go with that

think about going with the EVGA FTW, or that new 780i from xfx


~edited - to late

[jeebuscrp]

OK well I got all my components today. put everything together and installed xp. Installed all my drivers. Now I keep getting a BSOD that says: driver_irql_not_less_or equal. sometime it happens right when windows is at the loading bar and sometimes it happens once I'm in XP. So far I've updated my drivers, uninstalled all my drivers, and attempted to rotate RAM in different slots and different combos...and still the error plagues me. I'd try changing the video card but I don't have another PCE-E card to do it with (just my old AGP card, but I'm not sure if I can even put that in there). Keep in mind I haven't overclocked at all, Just left everything on default. Any help would be appreciated.

System (also in my avatar):

CPU: E8500
PSU: Antec 850w
RAM: GSKILL 4g (2x2gb) (1066) 5-5-5-15, 2.0volt.
Video: EVGA GTX260

[Mussels]

those errors are generic ones, and tend to be ram settings or overheating.


Your ram says it needs 2.0V... did you set that manually? ( motherboards cant auto detect ram voltage)

[jeebuscrp]

Yes... I have changed the volts to 2.0 for memory...timings were on auto but were at the correct 5-5-5-15

[Mussels]

only a few things come to mind here.

1. make sure ram is set to 2T, not 1T (its faster, but rarely stable on DDR2)
2. make sure all power is in correctly. 24 pin main ATX and 4/8 pin secondary.
3. double check CPU isnt overheating, or that you forgot a fan power somewhere.

[jeebuscrp]

Well I messed with the volts again and made sure it was on 2.0..I haven't gotten an error yet and I'm running Prime95 to see if I get any errors..so far so good

[BarbaricSoul]

well?

[jeebuscrp]

well... I ran it all night and no errrors (6 1/2 hours), also ran 3dmark and no errors. CPU is idle at 26C and 36C on full load with Prime95. Hopefully it was just a driver/voltage problem that is now fixed.

[Mussels]

yay! enjoy your new rig

[BarbaricSoul]

Let me know what you think about it, aside from the PSU and case(which you did make good choices on), it is my build.

Also, don't forget-

BTW, I'd be interested in buying your old cpu/motherboard/RAM/GFX card when you buy your new stuff

It'll be acouple weeks before I can, but I'm very interested in buying your old tower(I want to set up a dedicated server for a old game and comms) if your interested in selling it.

[jeebuscrp]

I might sell it not sure yet.. at the moment my wife is going to use it..but she doesn't go on much + she uses our laptop a lot more. I'll let ya know.