TOP OF THE LINE COMPUTER -- need a little advice

[BenWhitey]

To see the computer go https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=3003131&WishListTitle=Computer+Revised

Please tell me what you think and if you think it could be improved.

I need fans for it. I think the case I selected takes 5x 80mm. I dont know how many fans are necessary and which ones to get.

I was thinking about a few http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835188001 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999014 . I think that the Enermax is a better fan, but it is also black which I dont think will go very well with a transparent case.

Any ideas?

 

[Heyyou27]

Opteron 185 > FX60

 

[DDay629]

Ok, a few suggestions:

Case, don't get this case, I mean, unless your big on seeing all your fancy spinning LED's and stuff. Personally, I would recommend the Sonata II which comes with a really good 450 W PSU.

Motherboard, don't get it. Get a DFI Lanparty UT Ultra-D, especially for this case, then you can put a fancy black light and the whole board will glow. The other reason not to get the SLi, is that you just don't need it, its just a cheap gimick by nVidia and the same with Crossfire.

Graphics Card, I would recommend that with all the money you save on the Motherboard and the Case and PSU, that you get a 512 MB 7900 GTX. Its faster then those two 256's in SLi.

PSU, if you are going to get the case you originally wanted, get an Antec Truepower 550 W. Much better PSU.

I wouldn't go with the FX60. Overpriced, and you can get an Opteron 180 and Overclock it to 2.8 Ghz for only $700 I believe. Need I go into why Opty's are better?

RAM, I definetly like it, but personally, because I found such an amazing price on it, I would go with some XMS. Click here to see what I mean.

Hard Drives, I would get one of the Raptor, and one Caviar 250 GB. Obvioiusly use one for system and games, and other for storage.

Disk Drive, don't get Lightscribe, its completely unneeded, and an added expense. Also, disks cost a bunch. When really, when are you going to use it?

Windows, I would get Pro, since you seem to have the money, but its not needed.

Accesories, I like the headset, definetly something I would want to buy, though, I'm always kind of worried about bluetooth. Mabye a bit safer to get a corded one, that is higher quality.

Keyboard, I wouldn't ever go wireless, I just always want to be able to plug my USB key into my keyboard. Period. Also, you can't get a wireless Logitech G15 Keyboard, which is AWESOME.

Mouse, again, I wouldn't go wireless, as really, its safer, and faster with a gaming mouse, to go with wires. So go with the G5, which is also AWESOME.

CPU cooler, I definetly like it, but again, personally I would go with a Zalman. Personal choice though.

Arctic Silver is a must.

I like Norton, but really, I wouldn't spend the money on it. There are lots of really good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs out there. And as my friend Shadowduck says, "The best firewall is a Hardware firewall." So, use the one in your router.

As for a final price, I have no idea, though I know for a fact its less then what you have now.

DDay

Good luck with your build.

Also, are you sure that your case only takes 80 mm fans, cause if it does, I definetly wouldn't get it. 120 mm are always better, quieter, and more air is moved.

 

[DDay629]

As I said, in my review, yeah, Opty, WAY BETTER. Though you only need a 180 to be better.

DDay

 

[shadowduck]

DDay has it right. Unless you like getting taken or have a moral obligation not to overclock there is no reason ever to buy an FX-60. Get the Opteron, take it beyond the FX-60 and be much happier.

I would also take 1 7900GTX or even an X1900XT over 2 GTs in SLI anyday.

 

[DDay629]

Thanks for the moral support shadow.



Not really needed, but thanks.


DDay

 

[DDay629]

Also, I would recommend shopping using three things. I would use Newegg or TG Stores to pick out your parts, and then I would use TG Stores and Froogle to find the lowest price. It is very rare for Newegg to have the lowest prices if you include shipping and taxes.

DDay

 

[jnjkele]

Amen to everything DDay suggested with one minor correction regarding this part:

Ok, a few suggestions:


I like Norton, but really, I wouldn't spend the money on it. There are lots of really good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs out there. And as my friend Shadowduck says, "The best firewall is a Hardware firewall." So, use the one in your router.

.

Let us all be clear THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 'HARDWARE' FIREWALL!! The router-based firewalls are invariably embedded software running on the firewall hardware, but they are STILL sofware firewalls - for clarity sake let's call them 'firmware' firewalls. That said, they have both advantages and disadvantages, so my suggestion would be to use both - that' what I do. It doesn't affect anything I do online and I get the advantages of both. My biggest complaint with 'firmware' firewall is that they are 'dumb' firewalls that only update when the router mfgrer does a firmware update, leaving them more vulnerable to the ever-evolving malware crowd. (it's also a pain to constantly check logs to see if there is any firewall activity) Secondly, they are what I call a 'one-way' firewall, meaining that if something happens to breach the firewall, there is nothing to stop it from getting back 'out' (i.e. self-replecating, contacting the zombie server controller, etc). All good 'software' firewalls have features that track which apps are net-authorized and will stop malware from getting back out if it does get in.

My reccomendation - get a software firewall to complement your router's firmware firewall.

J.

 

[DDay629]

But as my friend shadowduck said to me last night in a chat,

"Software firewalls have a critical flaw. All of them do, and nothing can fix it. The offending packet must be on the PC before the firewall can block it.. software firewalls are easy to get around if you are a smart hacker."

I don't know much about firewalls, but I'm just following his suggestion.

DDay

 

[linux_0]

Amen to everything DDay suggested with one minor correction regarding this part:

Ok, a few suggestions:


I like Norton, but really, I wouldn't spend the money on it. There are lots of really good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs out there. And as my friend Shadowduck says, "The best firewall is a Hardware firewall." So, use the one in your router.

.

Let us all be clear THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 'HARDWARE' FIREWALL!! The router-based firewalls are invariably embedded software running on the firewall hardware, but they are STILL sofware firewalls - for clarity sake let's call them 'firmware' firewalls. That said, they have both advantages and disadvantages, so my suggestion would be to use both - that' what I do. It doesn't affect anything I do online and I get the advantages of both. My biggest complaint with 'firmware' firewall is that they are 'dumb' firewalls that only update when the router mfgrer does a firmware update, leaving them more vulnerable to the ever-evolving malware crowd. (it's also a pain to constantly check logs to see if there is any firewall activity) Secondly, they are what I call a 'one-way' firewall, meaining that if something happens to breach the firewall, there is nothing to stop it from getting back 'out' (i.e. self-replecating, contacting the zombie server controller, etc). All good 'software' firewalls have features that track which apps are net-authorized and will stop malware from getting back out if it does get in.

My reccomendation - get a software firewall to complement your router's firmware firewall.

J.


Aye, this is very true.

Just as jnjkele said, even the best so-called hardware firewalls are essentially embedded computers running an embedded operating system.

Cisco firewalls run IOS, some run BSD, others run Linux, QNX, vxWorx, etc.

Sadly all are vulnerable to varying degrees.

Even super-expensive Cisco routers running IOS were found to be vulnerable.

 

[angry_ducky]

Everyone is now talking about firewalls, rather than the "TOP OF THE LINE COMPUTER".

 

[DDay629]

Well, everyone seems to agree with my build, so whats the point!



DDay

 

[angry_ducky]

Well, everyone seems to agree with my build, so whats the point!



DDay

Your build looks very nice. AMD + DFI = user

 

[linux_0]

Well, everyone seems to agree with my build, so whats the point!



DDay

Your build looks very nice. AMD + DFI = user


I second that :-D

 

[ikjadoon]

Yeah, my dad uses a "real" hardware firewall on his server. It is some old computer that the internet runs through. Not really sure if it actually does something or makes more noise, lol! Agree with everything, but I've heard some people having problems with the Typhoon, and again, I agree with going with a Zalman or the TuniqTower 120, which is also superb. OPTY'S OWN!

~Ibrahim~

:EDIT:

OK, I take back me statement on the cooler. After reading numerous reviews, the TuniqTower 120 WINS!

X-Bit Labs
"Tuniq Tower 120 Cooler Review: All Super Coolers are Great, but some are greater than others!"

 

[DDay629]

You wonder why I have the opty sticker as my avatar.



GO OPTY GO!


DDay

 

[linux_0]

You wonder why I have the opty sticker as my avatar.



GO OPTY GO!


DDay

$Opty = AWESOME();

:-D :-D :trophy: :trophy:

 

[DDay629]

I believe I have posted 25 times today to the extent of how much Opty's rock!



No, Seriously, I have.

DDay

:trophy: :trophy:

 

[MrsD]

Ive not read what the other have written but I have 2 suggestions. If you read the newegg reviews you know that Asus ratings on their sli boards has been terrible lately.
Id suggest this mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130037
Also, dont spend a grand on a FX-60. If you got the money buy a high end opteron dual core. They are extremely reliable, very overclockable and much cheaper. You could probably get better performance out of it than the FX-60.
I recommend this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103584
or for another $200 get the Opty 180.
Good luck.

 

[DDay629]

I'm not sure what your refering to? I always recommended a DFI Lanparty-UT Ultra-D? And I always recommended a Opty.

As for Asus boards, thats really not true. The Asus A8N32-SLi Delux was the board I was originally going to get, and it has very good reviews by sites such as neoseeker and such.

DDay

EDIT:
Oh, I see what your saying, you just replyed to the last poster, and didn't read any of what we said. Really, please, if your going to post, read what came before you, as this has been said many times.

 

[BenWhitey]

Thanks guys!!

I should have probably explained this before hand, but I'm being paid to build a computer for some family friends. The budget on this computer is $3500 so that is why I am going all out on it. I would never get an FX-60 for myself because I dont have that kind of money to spend on a cpu but out of a $3500 budget it is easy.

I have DFI LP Ultra-D in my computer. I will get the Asus mobo because it supports SLI in full 16x mode, unlike the DFI LP nF4 SLI-DR.

The wireless keyboard/mouse are a must because the family I am building the computer for has son who has muscular distrohpy so he is in a wheel chair and needs to use wireless keyboards and mice. I agree with you guys that wired are much better but it is not an option.

I am getting them the DVD burner with lite scribe just because it is cool, not because they need it. I would never buy it for myself.

I know that anti-virus and firewalls do not work, but I thought I would get it for them anyway. This way he can play games and virus scan with no lag .

I would rather get SLI 7900GT CO superclocked than 1 7900GTX.

Thanks for your advice guys,

Ben

 

[ikjadoon]

Looks great, are you planning to overclock it any? Like before you have to give the beast away?

~Ibrahim~

 

[shadowduck]

Thanks guys!!


I have DFI LP Ultra-D in my computer. I will get the Asus mobo because it supports SLI in full 16x mode, unlike the DFI LP nF4 SLI-DR.

Ben

This basically makes no difference, but like you said its not your money. lol