Feedback on a new system

[MrRush]

I am about to build a new system and thought I could use some feedback from more experienced builders (this is my first one..).

* CPU E6700
* Scythe Infinity or Ninja
* Motherboard EVGA 680i
* EVGA 8800GTX
* Enermax Infiniti 720W
* Corsair XMS2 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 model TWIN2X2048-6400C4
* Samsung 500GB x 2
* Western Dig Raptor 150GB
* DVD: Samsung 18x (SATA or IDE)
* Lian Li PC-A10

So some thoughts I have, welcome more thoughts from you guys.

1. The case, the system will not be built for maximum OC'ing. Moderate OC but I want a quite system. Is this a good box?
2. Related to (1), anyone with hands-on experience with both the Infinity and Ninja in same box and setup. There appear to be wild differences in which one is the quiter. On these forums most appear to thinkt he Ninja is the quieter, but reviews appear to point to the Infinity.
3. DVD, should I go for SATA or IDE with this board/system? And why one or the other?
4. HD setup: I am think about using on-board RAID for the two Samsungs, not for performance but for data security (loads of sensitive data). How should I configure it? Any good places on where you can find more about this? The Raptor is for games.
5. Which is the big one since this is my first system build. In what order do I install and configure everything? Any good system build guides that would go through the configuration that I am thinking about?

Appreciate any suggestions/help I can get. Thanks!

 

[jeff_2087]

Depending on the price difference between the e6600 and the e6700 (which is usually significant) it may be a better idea to go to the e6600. Often the e6600 is much cheaper, and if you're OCing anyway, chances are you won't get significantly better OC out of the 6700.

The 680i is hands down the best board if you want SLi. But your PSU likely couldn't take another GTX if you later on you buy another GTX to put in SLi. So if you do intend to upgrade to SLi in the future, you should prepare yourself with a PSU with a bit more muscle. Check out Nvidia's list of SLi supporting PSUs. Most are in the ballpark of 850 watts. For a single GTX, though, 720w is easily enough.

I don't think it really matters whether your disk drive is IDE or SATA. I doubt you'd see any performance increase going to SATA, but if theyre the same price, why not. There's only one IDE channel on the 680i though so you can only ever have two IDE devices hooked up.

 

[MrRush]

Thanks appreciate that. Hadn't actually observed that you could only have two IDE devices hooked-up (which gives me reason to check how many SATA's there can be... ).

You are probably right on the 6600, but since I will only do moderate OC'ing on the 6700 I am hoping that I might be able to run the Infinity without the fan on all the time or maybe even without fan in the Lian Li box. While the heavier OC'ing on the 6600 to reach same performance would result in too much fan use.

On the PSU you are probably right. If I was to go to SLI in the next few years it isn't sufficient, but the Enermax just seem to be soo awesome that I want it...

 

[foz]

I found this review of the Infinity that also compares it with the Ninja. The Ninja seems to do better with a low airflow/low noise setup
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article658-page1.html
Make sure you get the Rev. B, I read some ware its easer to mount.
Its also on sale at NewEgg right now for $39.99 (but I don't think $10 or $20 will worry you with your budget )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185038
It's a nice build BTW.

 

[MrRush]

Thanks, will have a look at that review as well.