New Build - please critique away!

[Jie]

Greetings all,

After some careful consideration I have finally decided on a final build for my new system. I've decided not to go SLI/Crossfire this run. I've done so for the past few years and just feel I've dumped way too much $ into something I "personally" am not getting the performance out of. I run all games at 1280x1024 and it seems some of the new single GPU cards can handle this resolution very well. I decided to go with the higher end single GPU now, because of some really smoking new PC games are soon to be launched later this year and eary next yuear. I'll most likely upgrade to DX 10 next year.

Here it goes:

Case - Antec p180 Silver
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129154

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

Power Supply - Mushkin 650w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817812001

If anyone could reccomend any other good power supplies for this build...I would greatly aprpeciate it!

Video Card - ATI Radeon X1950XTX - When it comes out

Hard Drive - Western Digital Raptor 150g 10,000 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012

Sound Card - Creative X-FI Xtreme Music
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188

Heatsink/Fan - Zalman CNPS9500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118003

Ram - 2gigs Corsair XMS2 DDR800 (PC 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145034

Mobo - little lost here actually. I've had some difficulty finding qualty boards that do not have crossfire or SLI. If in the end it's better to get a crossfire/sli board I will, but I'd prefer not too.

DVD Burner - NEC

DVD Rom - Samsung

I'll be holding onto my Razer Mouse, Saitek Keyboard, Hyundai 19" LCD and Klipsch Pro Media Ultra Speakers. I'll probablly upgrade the LCD in the coming months. The system will be running Windows XP Home SP2 until Vista has been out for a few months.

My budget is $2000.00 (give or take a little)

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!!

 

[Boggerslosh]

I have heard that some are having issues with the Antec case. You can read the reviews on newegg. Personally, I love Lian Li cases. Nice and sturdy with a clean look. Can be a bit pricey though.

Also, do you need that much power in a PSU? I have an Antec 420 Watt and it is plently for me. I have 4 hard drives and an AGP video card that draws power.

I would recommend Antec PSUs. I've owned 4 and haven't had any problems with them so far.

[Edit]: Looks like a solid platform for future upgrades i.e. DX10 card.

 

[angry_ducky]

Also, do you need that much power in a PSU? I have an Antec 420 Watt and it is plently for me. I have 4 hard drives and an AGP video card that draws power.

An X1950XTX uses considerably more power than your X800XT PE. The overall build looks great; I didn't see any compatibility issues.

 

[Jie]

I've also been looking at a Lian Li. I currently own a v1000, but butchered it to all heck. Honestly, my first attempt at water cooling works extremely well, but looks aweful. Just didnt come out the way I had planned. My main debate with either the Antec or Lian Li is air flow. I despised the blower fan that came with my Lian Li...any idea if the new versions with side 120mm fans work better? If so, I'm all about the Lian Li.

It's been a while since I've gone witha single GPU, so I didnt know if 650w would be needed.

I'm going nutty waiting for Vista and DX10. I figured as far as the GPU is concerned it really doesnt matter when I upgrade. I kind of don't want to miss out on some new title coming out soon. I'm going keep XP until Visat gets a lot of it's bugs out before upgrading.

EDIT:
Hard Drive - I'm thinking of swapping out the Raptor for 2 x Seagates 7200.10. I was thinking of 2 320gb HDs in a Raid 0 config.

Mobo - Still trying to figure this out lol.

Case - Thinking of upgrading to a Lian Li Silent V1100 Pluss II. ANy have experience with this Case...is it silent with sufficient coolung?


Thanks!

 

[fainis]

Greetings all,

After some careful consideration I have finally decided on a final build for my new system. I've decided not to go SLI/Crossfire this run. I've done so for the past few years and just feel I've dumped way too much $ into something I "personally" am not getting the performance out of. I run all games at 1280x1024 and it seems some of the new single GPU cards can handle this resolution very well. I decided to go with the higher end single GPU now, because of some really smoking new PC games are soon to be launched later this year and eary next yuear. I'll most likely upgrade to DX 10 next year.

Here it goes:

Case - Antec p180 Silver
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129154

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

Power Supply - Mushkin 650w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817812001

If anyone could reccomend any other good power supplies for this build...I would greatly aprpeciate it!

Video Card - ATI Radeon X1950XTX - When it comes out

Hard Drive - Western Digital Raptor 150g 10,000 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136012

Sound Card - Creative X-FI Xtreme Music
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188

Heatsink/Fan - Zalman CNPS9500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118003

Ram - 2gigs Corsair XMS2 DDR800 (PC 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145034

Mobo - little lost here actually. I've had some difficulty finding qualty boards that do not have crossfire or SLI. If in the end it's better to get a crossfire/sli board I will, but I'd prefer not too.

DVD Burner - NEC

DVD Rom - Samsung

I'll be holding onto my Razer Mouse, Saitek Keyboard, Hyundai 19" LCD and Klipsch Pro Media Ultra Speakers. I'll probablly upgrade the LCD in the coming months. The system will be running Windows XP Home SP2 until Vista has been out for a few months.

My budget is $2000.00 (give or take a little)

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!!

one thing my friend ....be very carefully how you connect the power :

use one rail for the cpu.....the other one for the video card ..and the later for the drives....and check if the video card will work with only 20 amps....

 

[Doughbuy]

First off, ditch the Mushkin, buy a GameXStream 700W for around 110 on newegg right now. One of the best PSU's on the market and it will keep you running for a long time to go, especially with its high efficency rating and the active PFC.

Second, I like the Scythe ninja better than the Zalman coolers, mainly because the shapes of the Zalman coolers will create problems in a lot of situations. I think the Scythe Ninja is a better all-around cooler, but thats up to you.

Do you really need a dedicated sound card?

Do you really need EPP ram? Save 50 bucks and get the regular...

Mobo, if your sure your not going multi-gpu, look at the DS3 or the P5B. I like the P5B since it seems to be a nice overclocker and I like Asus more than Gigabyte. But its up to you. The Abit AB9 pro is decent too, but I would choose the P5B.

The GameXStream labels all their cables carefully so you know what goes to what rail. Just follow instructions and things should be fine.

Case wise, I believe there are better, but depends on what you want. Me, I'm going to get the NZXT Lexa, because of the bad-ass cooling that thing offers (3 120mm fans and 2 80mm)

 

[Jie]

I choose the Muskin for the modular power supply, but come to think of it, I've never really had a problem with any regular power supplies. Just takes a bit more patience.

I've actually always use Zalman lol. I'll take a look at the Ninja.

I've always favored sound cards over onboard audio. For some reason every on board audio experience I've had has been a really bad one.

I didn’t realize I had chosen the EPP version of the corsair ram. Changing this is a good idea. Thanks.

I'm still torn on the mobo. Are there any C2D crossfire boards on the market? I know if I go SLI or Crossfire I'll be tempted to by a 2nd car. I’m trying to prevent myself from doing this lol.

The NZXT Lexa is a great looking case, but I'm not sure if it fits me. I'm leaning a bit more towards another Lian Li.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. It really helps to get feedback from fellow enthusiasts!

 

[Jie]

Doh...not sure why it double posted on me lol.

 

[doordand]

People, please stop with the buying of the Dual Core procs just because... well... it has two cores. That does not make it better, just more expensive unless you really need it for multi-tasking. But for every-day use and even for gaming, there is no gain. Games are not yet being written to take advantage of the second core.

 

[mhbjmsr]

Doughbuy, the lexa has 3 120 fans, but only 1 80 mm fan. Not 2 as you suggest. No big deal.

 

[IcY18]

People, please stop with the buying of the Dual Core procs just because... well... it has two cores. That does not make it better, just more expensive unless you really need it for multi-tasking. But for every-day use and even for gaming, there is no gain. Games are not yet being written to take advantage of the second core.

Please doordand please stop writing dumb posts about how nothing is mult threaded or not, most people already know this and and we also know that any game in development now will more than likely be multithreaded, and lastly whether or not games are multithreaded how many times do you know have one program open at a time?

and finally i didn't see any core 2 "uno's" out there for sale did you?

 

[Kohlhagen]

K i didn't look at what other people said.. but i would most definately get a Crossfire/SLI motherboard for future purposes.. unless you fill up all your PCI slots i would prepare yourself for DX10..

(i know your not going to use the other PCI-E X16 slot but its better to have it than have to upgrade a whole new motherboard)

 

[wolfman140]

I don't know why everyone's so concerned about SLI/XFire...I thought it was proved that the performance increase was no where near worth the price of two cards...Like it was only a 30% increase as opposed to another 100%. I just assume forget SLI and forget 'SLI Tested Components' because they are more expensive and a better card will be out in 6 months that'll beat dual current cards anyway.

As far as the HSF goes, I have the Zalman9500 and I kinda wish I went with the Ninja (although I didn't know much about it then) 3 reasons:
A) It CAN be silent if you wanted, if not you can just mount a fan on any side to blow it whatever direction you want
B)Its a straight-up design. The Zalman bows out (cuz its a circle naturally) and gets in the way. I wanted to get a little fan on my NB chip but my Zalman is too annoying and in the way
and
C) it was a B**TCH to get on (in my opinion)