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bryan240g   04-12-2008 at 02:10:09 AM

I am 3 weeks away from building my first system, and these are the parts I plan to buy. This rig is for gaming only, I have another pc that I do everything else on. Gaming ONLY. I will be overclocking once I learn more about it. Here it is.

Case: SILVERSTONE TJ09-SW Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply: SILVERSTONE OP1000 ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V 1000W Power Supply

Mobo: EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK

OS: 32 Bit XP or Vista Ultimate, what's your opinion????

Optical Drive: LG 20X DVD±R Super Multi DVD Burner Black ATAPI / E-IDE Model GSA-H55NK

HDD: (2) Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3250310NS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive in RAID 0

Sound Card: Creative 70SB046A00003 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card

RAM Fan: CORSAIR CMXAF1 Fans

Case Fans: (4) Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm Case Fan

CPU Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

VGA Cooler: (2) Thermaltake CL-G0102 VGA Cooler

Video Cards: (2) EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

I already own the graphics cards. Thinking about EVGA's step up program though.

So here is my first build, what do you guys think? Remember I will be OC'ing, and this rig is for gaming only. Hope you guys approve. Oh and what are your thoughts on Vista?

Once I build this machine, do I hook both hdd up, and then setup the raid 0 in the bios, and then install the OS?


Message edited by bryan240g on 04-12-2008 at 02:11:24 AM
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iluvgillgill   04-12-2008 at 02:20:01 AM
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it looks like you looking to spend big money!so why not get the 9800GTX instead since you got a SLI motherboard you can do 3 way SLI with it.the 1000W PSU i overkill for what you have now.the amount you spend on the VGA cooler is enough to make it for 9800GTX.

have a think before you buy it.step up is the best option as i would say.

Reply to iluvgillgill
hjjfffaa   04-12-2008 at 02:41:14 AM
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no don't bother with the 9series get two 8800GTX's in SLI

Reply to hjjfffaa
Shadow703793   04-12-2008 at 02:49:52 AM
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overkill on PSU, Motherboard unless you plan to SLI.

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 Reply to Shadow703793
bryan240g   04-12-2008 at 03:37:47 AM
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Well, one reason that I am getting a 1000watt power supply, is because I will eventually be running up to tri-sli, and will be upgrading to watercooling, in the future. I had change of heart on the RAM, now I am thinking about getting some patriot 1200 mhz RAM.

Reply to bryan240g
Shadow703793   04-12-2008 at 05:38:35 PM
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^Ok, if Tri-SLI then 1kw PSU makes sense. DDR2 1200 is overkill, no need to spend that much money. Also most RAM natively above DDR2 800 seems to have compatibility issues.

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 Reply to Shadow703793
bryan240g   04-12-2008 at 07:21:57 PM
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So then what do you recommend then? I want the best 800mhz ram I can buy then, do you have any suggestions? I will be using the evga 780i mobo, and I want to overclock the ram as much as possible. Can you also recommend a really good watercooling system? I am thinking about ditching the air cooling and going water.

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Reply to bryan240g
aevm   04-12-2008 at 08:32:09 PM
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You don't need 4 SFF21F fans. The TJ09 comes with two good fans and mounts for 3 more. I added 3 SFF21E fans to my own TJ09 and kept the original fans too. I picked SFF21E rather than SFF21F because they're quieter.

I'd buy a SATA burner, not IDE.

Vista will give you DirectX 10, but lower fps. OK, with that much GPU power, Vista will be fine anyway. If you get Vista avoid the X-Fi, horrible drivers. Get an HT Omega or Auzentech.

I don't like the Zalman 9700. For that money you can get something quieter and better. There's a very nice cooler made by Xigmatek, for example, or the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme.

With a high-end PC like that it looks weird to get only a dual-core CPU. Why not a Q9450...

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Reply to aevm
Shadow703793   04-12-2008 at 09:05:27 PM
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bryan240g wrote :

So then what do you recommend then? I want the best 800mhz ram I can buy then, do you have any suggestions? I will be using the evga 780i mobo, and I want to overclock the ram as much as possible. Can you also recommend a really good watercooling system? I am thinking about ditching the air cooling and going water.


I recommend Crucial Ballastix (if OCing and/or doing 2*1GB) or Corsair XMS2 (if doing 2*2GB)

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 Reply to Shadow703793
ill_take_two   04-12-2008 at 11:45:53 PM
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May want to look at this board also unless you hell bent on tri sli


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188026



Message edited by ill_take_two on 04-12-2008 at 11:46:22 PM
Reply to ill_take_two
SuicideSilence   04-12-2008 at 11:51:19 PM
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You do know that you cant tri SLI with the 8800 gt right?
Tri sli is only possible with 8800 gtx/ultra i think. I am sure you cant tri sli with 8800 gt though.
Get this PSU. Its much better quality.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703013

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------------------------------ Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L*Intel E2180 OC 3.00Ghz Lapped*PowerColor ATI 3850 256MB*Patriot 2x1GB DDR2 800*Cooler Master CM690*Western Digital 250 GB*Silverstone Strider 600 Watt Modular PSU*Samsung Lightscribe Drive*CoolerMaster Geminni II Lapped Mirror Finish
Reply to SuicideSilence
Shadow703793   04-13-2008 at 12:43:17 AM
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^Agreed on PSU. Yeah, you are right you can't Tri-SLI with 8800GT
see:
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp? [...] y=&#297333

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Shadow703793   04-13-2008 at 12:43:59 AM
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SuicideSilence wrote :

You do know that you cant tri SLI with the 8800 gt right?
Tri sli is only possible with 8800 gtx/ultra i think. I am sure you cant tri sli with 8800 gt though.
Get this PSU. Its much better quality.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703013


I love that name. lol EVGA NVIDIA nForce 750i FTW SLI

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 Reply to Shadow703793
jonyb222   04-13-2008 at 12:59:46 AM
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aevm wrote :

With a high-end PC like that it looks weird to get only a dual-core CPU. Why not a Q9450...




He's only doing gaming, so a dual core with higher fsb is hands down the best choice as there's lilttle multithreaded games and GPU speed scale better with higher CPU frequencies than with more cores.

------------------------------ It is a very newb question, which is why I ask it.
 Reply to jonyb222
bryan240g   04-13-2008 at 01:51:38 AM
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I don't see too much difference between the 750i and the 780i. Other than price

Reply to bryan240g
bryan240g   04-13-2008 at 01:54:49 AM
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aevm, good looking out, I just realized that I clicked on the wrong dvd burner, I deffinitely want a sata drive.

Reply to bryan240g
aevm   04-13-2008 at 05:07:26 AM
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Between E8400 and Q9450 - the E8400 is the better choice indeed, if you're only playing games, you're not running other things in the background, you don't play FSX. Longer-term, that will change, of course, as games start supporting quads better.

Between 750i and 780i: 750i runs the PCI-E slots at x8, 780i at x16. For the 8800GT cards this is not a problem. For your next card(s) it will hurt. You decide. If you'll buy your next video cards at the same time as a new motherboard and a Nehalem CPU then no worries, go with 750i and save some cash.

Those VGA coolers will turn your single-slot cards into thick cards. You will probably lose some PCI slots, maybe all, depending on which motherboard you pick. If you want a soundcard or TV tuner you have to be careful when you pick a motherboard.

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Reply to aevm
bryan240g   04-13-2008 at 06:40:47 AM
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So the Nehalem CPU is a new type of processor right? Even when they do come out they will probably be rediculously priced, so they are out of the question for now. In 2 years I will probably step up to DDR3 and a new mobo and processor anyway, but I am thinking about using EVGA's step up program and bumping up to a card that supports tri-sli, for in the long term, if I can just pop another card in later, that will extend of the computer build even longer for me. As is in 2 years I will deffinitely want something faster, maybe even in a year or more. Once I get this first build under my belt and learn what the hell I am doing, then I will really wanna get serious and at least go watercooling, and build a bigger badder system. So then what's your opinion on the video card upgrading? You see what cards I have now, besides the super expensive cards, got any recommendations on card upgrades? By the way all I really play is FPS games(COD4 mainly). Keep the input coming, I am really learning alot on this forum thanks guys. AEVM, why is the pci-e speed not a problem for the 8800gt's, and do you think me adding coolers is a good choice? Since now I am not going with the 790i board and the DDR3 ram now I have saved a few bucks and can sink it in elsewhere in the build. As for the sound card, I deffinitely want an x-fi sound card.


Message edited by bryan240g on 04-13-2008 at 06:53:19 AM
Reply to bryan240g
johhnyboy19   04-13-2008 at 06:59:33 AM
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aevm wrote :

Between E8400 and Q9450 - the E8400 is the better choice indeed, if you're only playing games, you're not running other things in the background, you don't play FSX. Longer-term, that will change, of course, as games start supporting quads better.

Between 750i and 780i: 750i runs the PCI-E slots at x8, 780i at x16. For the 8800GT cards this is not a problem. For your next card(s) it will hurt. You decide. If you'll buy your next video cards at the same time as a new motherboard and a Nehalem CPU then no worries, go with 750i and save some cash.

Those VGA coolers will turn your single-slot cards into thick cards. You will probably lose some PCI slots, maybe all, depending on which motherboard you pick. If you want a soundcard or TV tuner you have to be careful when you pick a motherboard.



The EVGA NVIDIA nForce 750i is listed with 2x x16 Sli slots you mentioned them at x8. i haven't seen any information like that, I remember the 680i boards had the tri-sli as 16x-8x-16x but see no mention of 750i being 8x.
and as a side note does anyone know what the FTW means in the 750i (for the win?) just weird it's on the box.

Reply to johhnyboy19
iluvgillgill   04-13-2008 at 07:20:58 AM
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if you dont plan to play on 2560 with 4xAA then forget about the 8800GTX!9800GTX is much better with overclocking and performance/price ratio.

Reply to iluvgillgill
bryan240g   04-13-2008 at 07:36:15 AM
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good to know, maybe i will step up to the 9800gtx then. unless someone on here thinks what i have already is good enough for at least a couple of years.

Reply to bryan240g
spencercpu1983   04-13-2008 at 08:13:48 AM
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aevm is right. Get the Q9450 and the Xigmatek HDT-S1283. The Barracuda ES.2 is very reliable, great choice. The PCP&C Silencer 860 watt Power Supply has a 200,000 Hour MTBF and a 7 year warranty, so it's worth the price.

Here's a Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Review. http://www.frostytech.com/articlev [...] 233&page=1

Reply to spencercpu1983
bryan240g   04-13-2008 at 05:33:55 PM
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Ok, but why should I get the Q9450, when as it was stated eariler this a a gaming machine ONLY? There are currently no games that utilize all 4 cores. Besides if you read a few posts back, in 2 years I will upgrade again, and then if games start to use quads, I will step up then, otherwise, why would I pay the extra for a quad core when I simply do not need it. I have an XPS600 that everything else is done on, I say again this is going to be a gaming machine only!!! Thanks for the replies though.

Reply to bryan240g
jonyb222   04-13-2008 at 09:13:29 PM
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Don't go quad, it'll actually be slower. Since it is only a gaming build you'll need dual (with higher clock) so your GPUs aren't throttled and you'll be able to reach higher speeds, sure you can overclock a quad to dual speeds but then all you'll have is a overheated system with 2 cores that'll almost never be used.


Message edited by jonyb222 on 04-13-2008 at 09:14:32 PM
------------------------------ It is a very newb question, which is why I ask it.
 Reply to jonyb222
bryan240g   04-13-2008 at 11:39:57 PM
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JonyB222, as stated earlier in the thread, I WILL NOT BE GOIND QUAD CORE. There is no reason for me to get a quad core cpu, being that this is a GAMING ONLY machine. Thanks for your input.

Reply to bryan240g
bryan240g   04-13-2008 at 11:50:47 PM
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I just noticed when comparing the 750i and the 780i, that the 750i doesn't have any PCI-Express 2.0 slots. My current cards are 2.0 compatible. Does this make a difference. Not that I am dying to spend as much as possiblem but I am now leaning back towrads the 780i, because I am planning to step u to a faster card. Whats your opinion?

Reply to bryan240g
Shadow703793   04-13-2008 at 11:53:35 PM
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^No, PCIe 2.0 is just "future proofing". Current cards (possibly except X2 cards) come close to using the total PCIe 1.x bandwidth.


Message edited by Shadow703793 on 04-13-2008 at 11:53:50 PM
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 Reply to Shadow703793
bryan240g   04-14-2008 at 12:55:37 AM
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Ok, thanks. I geuss I am noe back to the 750i. Appreciate the reply.

Reply to bryan240g
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