Here's another build for all you experts to critique...

vertigo_2000

Distinguished
Feb 26, 2007
370
0
18,780
I just threw this together in a hurry, so be gentle. :roll:

I'm looking to put together a high-end gaming system. I've never OC'd before, but I may want to give it a shot. Would I have to upgrade the PSU?

All prices are from www.directcanada.com

Asus P5W Dh Deluxe Atx LGA775 975X Conroe DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Gblan Sound Motherboard
($258.12) x1

Mitsumi FA404M-BK 7-IN-1 Floppy Drive & Flash Reader CF/SM/SD/MMC/MS Black
($27.00) x1

ASUS Quietdrive DVD-E616A Black 16X DVD-ROM CD-ROM 48X Retail Box W/SOFTWARE
($24.84) x1

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache Ncq Hard Drive
($199.98 ) x2

Pioneer DVR-111D Black DVD-RW 16X6X16 DVD+RW 16X8X16 DL 8X IDE OEM DVD Burner
($40.14) x1

OCZ PowerStream 520W ATX12V V2.0 BTX 20/24PIN Low Noise Power Supply W/ SLI
($128.89) x1

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
($343.09) x1

Antec Sonata II Black Atx 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 450W Air Duct 120MM Fan
($112.75) x1

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Quad Core Processor Kentsfield LGA775 2.66GHZ 1066FSB 8MB Retail W/ HSF
($1,212.64) x1

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 GTX 575MHZ 768MB 1.8GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card
($676.28 ) x1

Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Audio 24BIT Sound Card 7.1 PCI OEM
($48.60) x1

TOTAL = $3,256.67 (Taxes included, free shipping)
 

rook

Distinguished
Feb 16, 2003
401
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18,790
You may need a bigger PSU for that system. 520 might be enough, but I would double check.
Another thing, if you are going crazy high end, why go witht the cheapest X-FI, obviously money is no object. I'd go woth something more like this or this.
And check around and make sure that video card will fit in that case.
 

CmdPT

Distinguished
Dec 29, 2006
438
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18,780
Newegg doesn't ship in Canada.

As for Vertigo_2000 system, thats one hell of an High end gaming system. I agree with Rook Get a bigger PSU the OCZ 600W GameXstream should be enough to handle that beast of yours.
 

skyguy

Distinguished
Aug 14, 2006
2,408
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19,780
NICE build.....except you're unfortunately way off base on a few components.

You're spending some major coin on some very high end components like the CPU and GPU, but you get a crappy PSU, a crappy case, and overpriced RAM. Your system deserves (and needs) some better parts there.

Ditch the PSU. Get the OCZ GameXstream, not the PowerStream. Get the 700w one, it won't break the bank and it'll last a long time. PowerStream sucks by comparison.

And since you're getting a standalone PSU and aren't using the one included in the Sonata case, ditch that case too. You're paying for the PSU (which is decent, but not good enough for an 8800GTX). And I'm not sure the GTX will even fit in that case. Regardless, it's a waste of money....there are much better standalone cases for $120 or so. LOTS of them. And if you can spend like $30 more, you'll jump into an even better class of cases.....Antec P180 comes to mind. Or get an Antec 900. Or look at the Thermaltake Armor Jr. or Aguila. Or a Coolermaster. Even maybe a full tower like an Armor or Kandalf. Why try to jam a Ferrari engine into a Hyundai? That's what you're doing......

You're also getting killed on the Corsair CL4 stuff. Far too expensive. For that price, get some Team Group or Crucial at least. Or drop the price and go with the OCZ Platinum 800 or Spec Ops 900 for $100 less.

And go with the Quad 6600....nice price drop for almost the same performance.

Hope that was going easy enough on you. But honestly, I'd hate to see a fellow Canuck waste his money like this when you could instead be spending it on Platinum Leafs tickets ;) LOL
 

deceneu

Distinguished
Oct 19, 2006
277
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18,790
taht cpu is a big waste of money, get a e6600 oc it to 3,6 gigs with a schyte cooler , and whit the remainning money take a better mobo, like the asus striker extreme, the chipset ( 680 ) is much much better than the 975. and yes, get a better psu.



and you will still heve enough money remaining from the cpu to go with your girl friend to disneyland
 

vertigo_2000

Distinguished
Feb 26, 2007
370
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18,780
Yeah.

Surfing directcanada.com while the boss is around. Quickly grabbed what I thought was appropriate. In some cases I guess I hit the mark, in others I was way off.

Never built a system before either, so cut me some slack.

I'll update the build list when I get a chance.

Thanks for the help so far folks.
 

warezme

Distinguished
Dec 18, 2006
2,450
56
19,890
nice build my only changes would be more juice on your PS.

maybe a 680i based mobo so you can separate mem/cpu buses

make sure you get the RMA extended warranty from Evga, otherwise you can get screwed and make sure you test the card with default drivers and immediately do a driver update making sure your card takes the upgrade correctly, trust me on this one.

best of luck
 

dsidious

Distinguished
Dec 9, 2006
285
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18,780
Mitsumi is on my black list, I had some sad experience with their products.

For CDN $199 you can get a WD5000KS at some local store (500 GB instead of 320 GB).
 

gloppppp

Distinguished
Nov 30, 2006
164
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18,680
I just threw this together in a hurry, so be gentle. :roll:

I'm looking to put together a high-end gaming system. I've never OC'd before, but I may want to give it a shot. Would I have to upgrade the PSU?

All prices are from www.directcanada.com

Asus P5W Dh Deluxe Atx LGA775 975X Conroe DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Gblan Sound Motherboard
($258.12) x1

Mitsumi FA404M-BK 7-IN-1 Floppy Drive & Flash Reader CF/SM/SD/MMC/MS Black
($27.00) x1

ASUS Quietdrive DVD-E616A Black 16X DVD-ROM CD-ROM 48X Retail Box W/SOFTWARE
($24.84) x1

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache Ncq Hard Drive
($199.98 ) x2

Pioneer DVR-111D Black DVD-RW 16X6X16 DVD+RW 16X8X16 DL 8X IDE OEM DVD Burner
($40.14) x1

OCZ PowerStream 520W ATX12V V2.0 BTX 20/24PIN Low Noise Power Supply W/ SLI
($128.89) x1

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit
($343.09) x1

Antec Sonata II Black Atx 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 450W Air Duct 120MM Fan
($112.75) x1

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Quad Core Processor Kentsfield LGA775 2.66GHZ 1066FSB 8MB Retail W/ HSF
($1,212.64) x1

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 GTX 575MHZ 768MB 1.8GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card
($676.28 ) x1

Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Audio 24BIT Sound Card 7.1 PCI OEM
($48.60) x1

TOTAL = $3,256.67 (Taxes included, free shipping)
:arrow: Looks good,however you should lose the Sonata,I just built 2 systems,one with Sonata II and one with Antec 3000,the 3000 is way bigger and the Sonata II is small and cramped inside,I would not use one for myself,also(as stated by other folks here)the smart power 450 unit that comes with case is not the highest quality.
 

mtlboy

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2007
12
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18,510
aside from directcanada.com are there any other places that offer good deals/wide selections and ship to Canada? I was thinking of etccomputer.ca but I'm not sure I like them so much. Need somewhere that builds the pc too, can't do it myself.
 

skyguy

Distinguished
Aug 14, 2006
2,408
0
19,780
www.ncix.com

www.canadacomputers.com


Dealt with both of them many times, both are good. CC usually has great prices on memory. If you live in Ontario, then you'll have to pay PST since they're in Ontario as well. NCIX will usually price match almost anything, and they're in BC, so if you're outside BC then you won't pay PST.
 

vertigo_2000

Distinguished
Feb 26, 2007
370
0
18,780
Thanks to all who replied. I had to spend a few more dollars from the original post, but it appears to be worth it.

I decided to go for a Raptor for the OS and games... the Seagate for storage.

I'm still not 100% sure about the PSU... a couple people mentioned the 700W one, but someone else said the 600W one would be fine.

Any further input again is greatly appreciated.

Here's the updated version:

Asus Striker Extreme Nforce 680I Sli LGA775 Conroe Atx DDR2 3PCI-E16 Pci Sata Raid Sound Motherboard
($384.20) x1

Mitsumi FA404M-BK 7-IN-1 Floppy Drive & Flash Reader CF/SM/SD/MMC/MS Black
($27.00) x1

ASUS Quietdrive DVD-E616A Black 16X DVD-ROM CD-ROM 48X Retail Box W/SOFTWARE
($24.84) x1

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache Ncq Hard Drive
($199.98 ) x1

Western Digital Raptor 150GB Sata 10KRPM 16MB Ncq 5YR Mfr Warranty Hard Drive
($268.32) x1

Pioneer DVR-111D Black DVD-RW 16X6X16 DVD+RW 16X8X16 DL 8X IDE OEM DVD Burner
($40.14) x1

OCZ GameXStream 600W ATX12V 24PIN SLI Ready Active PFC ATX Power Supply 120MM Fan Black
($106.79) x1

Team Xtreem Dark Series PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
($266.72) x1

Antec P180 Black ATX Mid Tower Aluminum Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS W/ USB & Audio Ports
($156.06) x1

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB Retail Box
($989.99) x1

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800 GTX 575MHZ 768MB 1.8GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card
($676.28 ) x1

Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Audio 24BIT Sound Card 7.1 PCI OEM
($48.60) x1

TOTAL = $3,323.38 (Taxes included, free shipping)
 

vertigo_2000

Distinguished
Feb 26, 2007
370
0
18,780
My fault... the $1200 processor price was for the 6700 not the 6600. I have fixed the price.

I realize the prices are going to fall, I'm more concerned about the overall build right now. Pulling the trigger on the ordering part of it can wait.
 

CmdPT

Distinguished
Dec 29, 2006
438
0
18,780
Thats going to be a kick a$$ computer and no other concerns everything you have is practically top of the line parts.

Enjoy and happy gaming.
 

vertigo_2000

Distinguished
Feb 26, 2007
370
0
18,780
So how long will this rig give me quality gaming?

My wife manages the finances in our household, so I'm dipping inot my "allowance" for the next 3 years here. :lol: :oops:

Hopefully I won't have to do a major upgrade for 4 years.
 

Wonderwill

Distinguished
Sep 28, 2006
558
0
18,990
So how long will this rig give me quality gaming?

My wife manages the finances in our household, so I'm dipping inot my "allowance" for the next 3 years here. :lol: :oops:

Hopefully I won't have to do a major upgrade for 4 years.

That system should last at least 3-4 years without needing a serious upgrade and maybe another 2-3 depending on the speed of technology. Keep in mind that by that time it will be just as low-life as my P4 2Ghz Dell (which the rest of my family still uses all the time for surfing the web and email) By the time software catches up with that quad core, you will need to replace everything else anyway.