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Ok guys I need a new computer I want to spend $3,500 I dont need a monitor because im hooking it to a 65inch HDTV, It will be used for gaming. I have never built a computer before but it seems way cheeper to me and what i am trying to do is build the best computer I can get for the money. Anyways I know what processor I want it is.

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 3.0GHz

As for the video card I want a 8800 GTX with SLI I plan to hook 2 up later down the road. Also I will get Vista for my OS. I want eather DDR2 or DDR3 witch ones better??

I have no idea what motherboard to get theres so many to choose from.

I am looking at this for my Hard Drive.
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

Also I have seen these around the internet and they look like there a must
Bigfoot Networks Killer K1 10/100/1000 Gigabit Network Card with FNA Upgrade
BFG Ageia PhysX Accelerator Card - Graphics Accelarator, 128MB GDDR3, PCI

I dont have a clue what case to get or how to keep my computer cool.

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Assumiing the HDTV is 1080:

You'll need a DVI to HDMI adapter, if the HDTV doesn't have DVI input.

The cpu is a very goood choice. Are you ok with the $1000+ price tag? You could go with a Q6600 or even an E6850. Do you know the difference between Extreme and C2D?

If you get 8800GTX SLI, then you'll need an SLI board. Evga 680i Revision A1 would be my suggestion. True x16 x16 PCI-E slots. Can overclock Q6600 hands down.

I would suggest at least a pair of identical SATAII 320-500GB hard disks in a RAID setup. Which level to choose would be up to you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID#Hardware_RAID

Don't bother with Gb NIC. Let me ask you a simple question: how fast is your Internet? 5Mb/s? See what I'm getting at? The onboard network in 680i does Gb as well.

Physic card is good, but the price tag is not. You could for example overclock the cpu moderately to compensate for the lack of a physic card. The software ragdoll model in 3D games is quite taxing.

As for a gaming case, many like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ntec%2b900

Message edited by akhilles on 09-25-2007 at 04:18:39 PM

Reply to akhilles

The Killer NIC and the Physics card are a total waste of money and in my opinion so is the Raptor X but that one is up to the individual. If your goal is SLI as you stated then the best choice at this time is a board with the 680i chipset. Evga 680i or the P5N32-E SLI are your best choices. The 680i chipset has problems getting over FSB1600 while overclocking Quads but since you planning on a Extreme CPU with an unlocked multiplier it won't be an issue.

Even with spending $2000 on the CPU and video cards $3500 is a lot to spend. You would need to get a very expensive case and a bunch of hard drives and I still think a lot of that money would be wasted.

Just so you know the 680i boards only support DDR2 and at this time DDR2 is the better option. Some of the newer P35 and soon to be released X38 boards support DDR3 and some support both, but as of right now they don't support SLI (though I have read that it's possible the X38 boards might support it in the future).

This http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119121 is my case and I love it but the Antec 900 that akhilles suggested is a good case as well and much cheaper. With all those heat producing components the key is to look for something with good ventilation and air flow. Also look for the case features you want such as placement of the front I/O panel (USB/Firewire/Heaphone jack), front door or no front door, construction materials (steel, aluminum, plastic) and things like that.

Message edited by ausch30 on 09-25-2007 at 05:25:39 PM

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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
-Aristotle
Reply to ausch30

Wow, that's a lot of cash for a PC. Some ideas:

eVGA A1 680i, QX6850, eVGA 8800 GTX (two), Lian-Li PC-V2100, Enermax Galaxy 1000W, X-Fi (XtremeMusic or better), Z-5500 speakers, Plextor PX-810SA, plus a bunch of WD or Seagate 500 GB disks.

I would not bother with Raptor, Killer NIC or Physics card either.

Actually, the QX6850 is not worth the money any more. Get an E6550 for now and upgrade to QX6950 in November. You'll end up with a MUCH nicer PC for about the same money. Plus you get to send the E6550 to some student on this forum and make him happy

Reply to aevm

AUsch30, The CM STACKER 832 is a very good case. Regarding X38 SLI support, don't hold your breath. It's not gonna happen. However, Skulltrail & Bonetrail (the next Intel chipsets) will most likely be SLI ready as Intel demo'ed one of the machines with nvidia's help. Oh yeah, X38 is already out in very limited quantity & in only GA-X38-DQ6 form. The price tag is $300-ish. Give or take.

Oh and nvidia will ship 7x0 chipsets for AMD & Intel boards in 2-3 months. I don't know when the boards will ship.

Right now the best bang would be 680i & P35.

Reply to akhilles

So when is the Intel QX6950 coming out???

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to daman

In June I was where you are, I built my first computer also. My advice to you is do lots of research on the parts that you want to get. Lets say you want a EVGA 680i based mobo then check all the websites a see what kinds of problems people are having with that mobo and when its time for you to begin building you'll know what to expect. This is how I did my first build, three months of researching.

------------------------------ Intel C2D E6600 @ 3.2GHz * Asus P5E * 2x1 GB Crucial Ballistix Tracers * Raptor X * EVGA Geforce 8800GTX 768MB 651MHz/1525MHz/2100MHz * X-FI Fatal1ty Pro * Enermax Infiniti 720W PSU * Creative THX5.1 * Tuniq Tower 120
Silverstone TJ09 * Windows XP
Reply to systemlord

daman wrote :

So when is the Intel QX6950 coming out???

http://rocks7arhardware.com/e107_p [...] #post_2397

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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
-Aristotle
Reply to ausch30

systemlord, that's a very good build. 3.7 is one of the top o/c's.

See P35 is very little behind if at all X38 for much less $$$. Don't mind the polish language. Just look at the specs, photos & benchmarks.

http://pclab.pl/art28813-6.html

Reply to akhilles

Don't go DDR3 its to expensive and you won't see a real world difference at all, DDR2 is in its prime now so take advantage of it. My DDR2 Crucial Ballistix are running at 1200MHz, but between 800-1200MHz there really isn't much of a difference. Just like theres not much difference between 1200-1600 the processer can't take advantage of it yet. At my 3.7GHz overclock I am not even close to OC'ing the Ram. Just get some good quality DDR2 800.

akhilles You know I posted at 4GHz but the temps were way to high I had to shutdown quickly! Gota go water cooling if I want 4GHz, or build a room inside a freezer.

Message quoted 1 times

systemlord wrote :

Is that true? If price is no issue, do you all still recommend going DDR2 over DDR3 at the current state?

Reply to mystikmedia

For Board i would go EVGA 680i. Lifetime warranty and awesome support. They are very smart, and helped me out with my board. If you are gonna get a gtx, get also EVGA, also lifetime warranty if you register right away. Great team at EVGA. Great board.

I have a intel q6600, which can overclock awesome with the evga board. I am going to run SLI, i have one GTX right now, love it. GTX is a good choice, it eats anything you can throw at it.

I wouldn't go with a physics card, and if you are going to run SLI with a soundcard you are cramped for space as it is.

I have a Raptor, for my operating system and games, it works pretty good, boot to windows desktop in 30 seconds. They are a little pricey though.

I have a cooler master stacker case. Its very big, and i am running 6 fans in it, its kinda loud, but my temps are great. Some say the GTX gets so hot you can't touch it, in my case it gets warm after maxing out FEAR for hours. IF you are worried about cooler, just get a case with options for 120mm fans. For cooling your processor i would get a Zalman 9700, i have one on my q6600 and it barely gets over 40C, put some artic silver thermal compound on your chip and works great.

I spent a little over 4 grand and couldn't be happier with my pc.

Get a UPS, because with all that money a power surge can be lethal. Mine is a 900watt CyberPower, and i love it.

I have a 1000watt thermaltake toughpower power supply. Its a little over kill but i won't have to worry about power or any upgrades i throw on later.

I am running a DLINk modem with a D link gamerlounge router and no problems, boosts my speed. The onboard network stuff in the EVGA 680i works awesome.

best of luck to you. My advice would be read Toms Hardware Forums over and over, along with the manufacturer forums for your parts. and do your homework for what works with what. Newegg reviews saved my butt many times. I did months of research on my build, on every single part i own. Couldn't be happier. Make sure you ask, for help in everything you don't understand. Because one silly mistake and your outta some hard earned cash.

Reply to hastetheday

No-one has asked the million dollar question...

Yes the TV is a HDTV... is it 1080i or 1080p? If it is 1080i i know i have alot of trouble getting 1080i res from my GPU to the screen so i actually run it at 1366x768. At this res your SLI GTX will be no big improvement over a single one. Many reviews show SLi makes an improvement on 1920x1200 and above. No offense but if youve gotta play games at 1366x768 on a 65inch TV i reckon its gunna look like legoville.
IMO there is alot of wasted money here. Q6600 will save dough, kill the killer nic off, kill the physics off. At current Newegg prices this is save you ~760CPU, ~250nic, ~140physics total $1150 now with this..Current price on a Dell 30" $1274 total res 2560x1600 now that would be nice on SLI GTX

My suggestion:
Dell 30" = $1274
2x eVGA GTX = $549x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] evga%2bGTX
gigabyte 680i = 275
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] yte%2b680i
OCZ 2x2gb = 209
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227195
q6600 = 280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017
PCPC 750W = 180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703009
Raptor 150 = 180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136012
Thermalright 120ultra = 65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835109140
Scythe 120mm = 24
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835185006
Lian Li A70A = 220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811112140

think i may have left something out
$3805

Bit more than you have listed but that thang would cut sick OCing ability and great airflow in the case as well as watercooling option if your into that sorta thing... and the Dell 30" would kill your HDTV even though its smaller.

Reply to chookman

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