I am new to the PC building game. I've been preparing to build a system for over a year now. My 5 year old college laptop is hilariously uncooperative and I am a gamer at heart. I have read a fair number of reviews, online guides, etc. but that definitely doesn't replace experience. I hope that my build doesn't have two mutually exclusive parts somewhere. I'm going to list the parts I have been "collecting" and ask that the kind experts out there take a look. Please tell me if I'm going to waste money on something that isn't going to work! Also see the questions spread throughout the parts list.
Note that the main theme in my set up is the ability to increase my computer's capability with as little straight up replacing of parts as possible to avoid wasted money as new developments occur. Money isn't tight and isn't really an issue up front; I just want to spend wisely. Also, I'm an audiophile and enjoy silence as much as my music. I don't NEED silence, but if I can spend a few extra hundred dollars and stay sub-30dB at all times I think it's worth it. (Perhaps that goal is just naive for a gaming machine without water cooling)
In no particular order:
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840 (want full tower case for GTX 2x0 cards and system growth potential. has water cooling support design. also supposed to be very quiet+cool. mmmm 230mm fans)
CPU: Core i7 920 (Noctua NH-C12P heatpipe cooler -- with ATCS case this may be mildly overclockable, but i really don't plan on doing that anytime soon)
Motherboard: ASUS 6PT Deluxe (may be a problem with SLI-ing the videocards I think I want, see below)
Soundcard: ASUS Xonar Essence STX (I'm an audiophile)
Memory: 6 GB OCZ PC3 16000 - Platinum Edition 9:9:9 (high end, but I think they'd haul butt for a long time making the investment worth it)
Videocard(s): Inno3d iChill GTX 260 (potentially SLI; i love the low temps and low noise. 2 of them in SLI would be like a silent 295 without the complications of watercooling. only problem is the cooling solution is so big. does anyone know if I can fit two of these on the ASUS P6T Deluxe mobo and still maintain the low temps/noise? size constraints? air flow constraints? the cooler blows down onto the card, right? would that make a difference in a tight fit situation?)
Power supply: Zalman ZM850HP 850W (the Enermax Pro82+625W would be a good choice too, but it doesn't have the system growth potential like the 850W. besides, anandtech tests the Zalman at 85% or better for system consumptions above 180W, which I'm pretty much guaranteed to hit at idle, even with one videocard)
OS: Windows XP 64-bit (avoiding vista like the plague; waiting for Windows 7)
Optical Drive: SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe (standard, not fancy, pulled out of typical builds from "customize your own pc and we build it" websites)
Hard Drive: was considering solid state + big WD caviar for space, but was also considering waiting until price dropped. I think I could deal with the price of a 128GB drive (haven't zeroed in on the model yet) if it is worth the cost.
Mouse: NZXT Avatar Mouse (you'd understand this purchase too if you had to deal with the junk mice I'd had. ugh!)
Monitor: not sure yet, again haven't had time to zero in on an exact model, but I have somewhere to start - BenQ G2400WD Black 24" 1920x120
That's all I can think of right now. Please give any and all feedback! Thanks!
Note that the main theme in my set up is the ability to increase my computer's capability with as little straight up replacing of parts as possible to avoid wasted money as new developments occur. Money isn't tight and isn't really an issue up front; I just want to spend wisely. Also, I'm an audiophile and enjoy silence as much as my music. I don't NEED silence, but if I can spend a few extra hundred dollars and stay sub-30dB at all times I think it's worth it. (Perhaps that goal is just naive for a gaming machine without water cooling)
In no particular order:
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840 (want full tower case for GTX 2x0 cards and system growth potential. has water cooling support design. also supposed to be very quiet+cool. mmmm 230mm fans)
CPU: Core i7 920 (Noctua NH-C12P heatpipe cooler -- with ATCS case this may be mildly overclockable, but i really don't plan on doing that anytime soon)
Motherboard: ASUS 6PT Deluxe (may be a problem with SLI-ing the videocards I think I want, see below)
Soundcard: ASUS Xonar Essence STX (I'm an audiophile)
Memory: 6 GB OCZ PC3 16000 - Platinum Edition 9:9:9 (high end, but I think they'd haul butt for a long time making the investment worth it)
Videocard(s): Inno3d iChill GTX 260 (potentially SLI; i love the low temps and low noise. 2 of them in SLI would be like a silent 295 without the complications of watercooling. only problem is the cooling solution is so big. does anyone know if I can fit two of these on the ASUS P6T Deluxe mobo and still maintain the low temps/noise? size constraints? air flow constraints? the cooler blows down onto the card, right? would that make a difference in a tight fit situation?)
Power supply: Zalman ZM850HP 850W (the Enermax Pro82+625W would be a good choice too, but it doesn't have the system growth potential like the 850W. besides, anandtech tests the Zalman at 85% or better for system consumptions above 180W, which I'm pretty much guaranteed to hit at idle, even with one videocard)
OS: Windows XP 64-bit (avoiding vista like the plague; waiting for Windows 7)
Optical Drive: SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe (standard, not fancy, pulled out of typical builds from "customize your own pc and we build it" websites)
Hard Drive: was considering solid state + big WD caviar for space, but was also considering waiting until price dropped. I think I could deal with the price of a 128GB drive (haven't zeroed in on the model yet) if it is worth the cost.
Mouse: NZXT Avatar Mouse (you'd understand this purchase too if you had to deal with the junk mice I'd had. ugh!)
Monitor: not sure yet, again haven't had time to zero in on an exact model, but I have somewhere to start - BenQ G2400WD Black 24" 1920x120
That's all I can think of right now. Please give any and all feedback! Thanks!
