-=!Help Me With My Build!=-

[C2ASH]

So I am considering to build a gaming computer and wanted to see if you might be able to assist me a little bit. I have built one in a class of mine years ago, but besides hooking up some of the main hardware I am afraid that I might get kinda lost with certain connections (ie. hooking up the switches correctly). Do you know if the motherboards and hardware come with installation instructions or not?

And of course the BIOS set up...I have read up different instructions on setting it up, but if I understand correctly using all "default" settings would not optimize the performance of my parts. I do not feel comfortable with overclocking so I definitely do not want to take the risk of damaging my computer. I have read up on how to install the operating system and that seemed simple enough.

Before I made the investment I wanted to run a few thing about what parts I am looking at and see if you might find any kind of compatibility issues or what not. Not only that but I know you know a hell lot more about this kind of stuff than I do (I'm not as knowledgeable about computers as I used to be).

So here it is:
-Case: RAIDMAX SMILODON
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811156063
-Motherboard: MSI K9N SLI Platinum
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813130048
-CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103751
-HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (OEM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148140
-Video Card: XFX GeForce 7950GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814150189
-Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 600W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817341001
-Memory: Kingston HyperX 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820134041
-CD/DVD/RW: NEC Black 18X (OEM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827152076
-Floppy:NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5" (OEM)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16821152005
-O.S.: Windows XP Home (OEM)

These have been the items I have been looking at. I have looked into product reviews on all of them and they showed them to be good performers for a gaming system. Something else I wanted to ask ... For my case you can add two 80mm fans to increase the airflow....from reading previouse reviews about the motherboard the NorthBridge has a tendency to get kinda warm and and sits in between two PCI slots one would be for a passive cooled video card and I would like it to stay as cool as possable. What would I need to install the two extra fans...the case already comes with four fans...do you think it would be excessive?

Any kind of advice or help would be greatly greatly appreciated.

--------
THANKS!

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

Double check PSU is on cert lists, since it appears you want to go SLI:

Being an OCZ chances are it prob is.

PSU Links:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html#certified_powersupplies
http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/buildyourown2.html
http://users.on.net/~darkpeace/psu/List_of_Recommended_PSUs_Nov_2006.pdf


The build looks damn good to me.

Which XFX GeForce 7950 GT (passive) are you getting though ?, There is more than one model, each has diff specs. (eg: 610 / 1600).


Are you an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 fan are you ?

Are you are planning to run SLI ? (Prob yes, but just in case).

 

[ben72227]

Hmmm. Looks pretty good, but I would suggest a few things:

1 - Drop the floppy drive; nobody uses them anymore - replace it with something like a card reader (CF, MMC, SD, etc.)

2 - AMD processors are THE gaming processors 8) , but the sad truth is that AMD is lagging behind Intel pretty big right now. Get a Core 2 Duo instead - maybe the Conroe E6400?

3 - Get a Raptor 10,000 RPM hard drive in addition to the 350GB one you're getting - use the raptor to boot the O/S and put your games on it (at 10,000 lag time becomes MUCH less). Put your MP3s, documents, etc. on the 320.

4 - Keep in mind that for only $150 more, you can have a GeForce 8800 GTS, which is pretty much top of the line right now...

 

[-silencer-]

I'd go with the 520W Corsair (SeaSonic) power supply instead for $120. SeaSonic makes some of the quietest and most efficient power supplies around - 520W is more than enough for SLI, multiple drives, and overclocking.

If you think there's a possibility of wanting to overclock your machine, get a different motherboard. The nVidia 500-series motherboards don't do so well there.

Consider the Western Digital SE16 series hard drives - they're basically the best combination of cool & quiet operation with performance.. not expensive either. $80 for 250GB.

Also, the extra $30-40 to step up to the E6300 Core 2 Duo is easily worth it. I don't see the point in buying an X2 system right now since the price difference isn't that far apart. I also wouldn't put $250 into a DX9 videocard right now - in a few months $250 will buy an 8600GS DX10 card.. either wait until then, or pay the $450 for an 8800GTS. If you don't have a high end monitor (1280x1024 or lower), just get a 7600GS for about $100 and upgrade it later on.

Overall though, if you're set on buying everything today, what you've listed will be a fine system.

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

Even the best 520 watt will fail within 2 years if used with 2 x GeForce 8800 GTS cards - if it even worked at all. (Assuming he wants to upgrade to 2 cards, that will be using 8800 GTS level power within 18 to 24 months on the same PSU, while wanting to overclock a little here).

Have a closer look at the links I provided again, there is a reason they certify the PSUs now.

PSUs get less efficient over time.

The momment one starts overclocking, they can increase power demand by a good +20%, and in some more extreme cases more. (and the PSU is getting less and less efficient week by week while overclocked, then what happens !).


Tip: The GeForce 7600 GT is about +60% better under load than the GeForce 7600 GS. - An XFX 7950 GT (passive) at 610/1600 will kick both of them. - The 8800 GTX/GTS is a pre-Christmas part and the refresh parts will be using GDDR4 clocked a good +33% higher while using less power I'd suggest waiting for it.

Don't expect a 8600 GT/GS within 4 months either, try 8-9 months.

 

[C2ASH]

Well I checked out the Slizone site and it did show a GeForce 7950gx2 @ with my psu except it show the power supply with 700watts with that particular card. The graphics card I am looking at is the "XFX PVT71JYHE9 GeForce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP" ...to be more spacific. I added links to all of the items...they are actually listed in my shopping basket. Do you think that a 600watt PSU is going to be effeciant enough? I mean it's on the list, but I will say that the graphics card that they showed with the 700watt (XFX GeForce 7950gx2) is the top modle for this series, I'm looking at the modle below it.

As far as Intel...I got to be honest with you...'bout five years ago....I could totaly understand most of the terms and setups and the new computer technowledgy...but now I am totaly out of it! So I have to say I am not familiar with that Proccessor. My main inspiration for this build is I miss playing bad ass computer games...and a magazine called "Computer Games" that shows you how to build a computer for....apparently....$1000. I didnt find that to be true using Nexttag and shopping around...so if I think I can manage connecting everything up, and I figure out how to set up the BIOS/DOS (which intemidates me the most) I think it will be smooth sailing...when you buy the parts do they have installation instructions...stuff like the motherboard/HDD/CD/FDisk isnt going to be a challenge its mostly the USB's/Fans and the switches I am concerned about.

And yes I most apsolutely want to go PSI...its more common isnt it?

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

Ahh, yeah

Newegg didn't link the specs.

http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurations.jspa?seriesId=185563&productId=638284#

The YHE9 varient has a 570 MHz GPU core, 24 pipelines, and only 1.46 GHz GDDR3.

I'd go for a card with 1.6 GHz GDDR3 today at least (my 7900 GT runs with 1.8 GHz GDDR3 today, as does the 8800 GTS, but it has 384 bit wide VRAM bus, instead of 256 bit like the 7900 series).

Unless you are planning to replace the card down the track, or only need a 1.46 GHz GDDR3 level of performance.

FYI: Most the real gamers I know run at least 1.63 GHz GDDR3, nVidia or ATI, so I'd be aiming around that mark.

The passive cooling is very attractive though, you can SLI 2 of them with low noise output.

 

[C2ASH]

Yeah I love the cooling system...although I will say I am a little worried about how much it will heat up.. If you look at the motherboard configuration you can see that the two PCI slots for the video cards have the North Bridge in the middle of them. Based on the design of the card being that they are fanless I am a little concerned about air circulation. Now the way my Case is set up it does have an 80mm fan that blows on this part of the card, but again I want to be sure that the four fans preinstalled to the case are going to be suffeciant enough. I will mention that I havent really though of using more than one graphics card...unless one became obsolete to the point that I would have to use two to play any of the new games that would be out there at that time.

And something else...with the BIOS should I set the date/time/etc and just leave the rest of the settings on default setting? Am I overcomplicating this or is it just that simple?