New Ultimate Gaming PC (REV2.0)

[Zer0Cool]

REV 2.0 04/16


Well I have revised all my parts & here is what I was able to come up with (see the link below) this is not final, with ur help I hope I can arrive to the best decision. The main parts that I changed are the MOBO, RAM, PSU, CD-ROM & SLI (2nd 9800gtx)

This computer will be used for gaming, & for me to learn overclokcing (maybe not a great idea lol, il be careful I promise ) I will also add the razer sound card that I currently have to the available PCI slot. I have few questions about this build, which I hope u might be able to help me answer.

COOLER MASTER cosmos S
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16811119150

EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813188025

EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) X2
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814130339

OCZ ModXStream OCZ780MXS ATX12V / EPS12V 780W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16817341008

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16819115039

Patriot 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16820220278

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB X2
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16822148298

ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16827135156

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 English NA DVD - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16832116469

D-Link DGL-4300 IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless Gaming Router
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16833127158

ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16835118020

Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm Case Fan X3
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16835185006

CORSAIR CMXAF1 Fans
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16835704001

Scythe KM01-BK "KAZE MASTER" 5.25" Bay Fan Controller
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16811998038


How good is this MOBO, I know its fairly new and I saw some people have problems with it, but I heard its supposed to be great for cooling, overcloking & 45nm processors.

Should I save $100 and get 2X 8800gts instead of the 2X 9800gtx? I hope to do a step up from EVGA later on.

What do u think about my choice of ram? I really would like to have 4G of RAM.

How good is the PSU that I'm getting? Will it have enough power for this SLI build? Should I go with something better? plz link

How loud will this build get? I will have this PC in the same room where I sleep, I sometimes leave the PC at night.

How good is the CPU heatsink that I gat? I know uts not the best...Should I go with the "Ultima 90" (Theraright 120 will not fit in my case because of the 200mm fan on the side)

Please don’t comment about the case, It was ether the Cosmos S or the Stacker 830, both are almost the same price.

This is a big decision for me, I appreciate ur help

Thanks

 

[Silverion77]

Theres a lot of things that are totally unnecessary...

In overclocking u might be better off with a Q6600 processor. Its cheaper and has a higher multiplier = easier overclocking. I doubt the Q9450 could hit 3.6+ cause the mobo would hinder it.

If u r gaming do not bother with wireless...it will lag. And if you want wireless, don't get a ridiculous router....it doesnt even do wireless N which is the best.

For the motherboard, that is very expensive for a P35...go with a Asus P5K-E. Its cheaper and has more power regulators for higher quad overclocks.

For the GPU, I suggest the 8800GTS 512. The 9800GTX is basically an overclocked GTS. No ROP's difference and only has some increased speeds. Also the GTS is $100 cheaper.

For the PSU...ur comment was that u might go SLI. One problem, the motherboard isnt SLI, also its a waste unless you get the card in like 6 months.

Do not get those Network gaming cards...theyre a silly waste of money

Do u need Ultimate Vista. All it gives u is some security things u might not need. 64bit Home Premium can be had for $100.

For cooling use jabtech.com....they are much cheaper

 

[boonality]

^^ It's harsh but i agree. You can sacrifice MAYBE 15% performance (at stock speeds) and spend half of what you have there.

 

[predatorgsr]

Most of your system looks good. Thats a bit much to spend on a case imo ( i usually get a lian li case for ~120), but thats up to you.

The one big flaw I see is that you're planning on running raid 0. There is absolutely no benefit to running raid 0 on a desktop system. I was looking into it as well for my system as well. You might want to get a raptor x for your system drive, but the benefits won't be huge. Check out this anandtech review, they benchmarked raid 0 raptors and found absolutely no performance advantage in the vast majority of situations. http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2101&p=11

I linked to the conclusion, read through the article for details.

 

[dagger]

Q6600 is better bang for the buck than Q9450, but if you have the money, go for Q9450, as it perform significantly better and overclock more, assuming fsb isn't the bottleneck. That p35 board is way overprices at $190. You can get a X38 board for $207. P35 runs at 1333mhz fsb natively, and ocs reliably to 1600mhz. X38 runs at 1600mhz fsb natively, and ocs reliably to 2000+mhz. 1600mhz = 3.6ghx for Q6600 (9x multiplier) and 3.2ghz for Q9450 (8x multiplier). Neither of those boards support sli, only crossfire. 780i chipset boards support sli, but cost a little more than x38, and overclocks the same as a p35. 790i overclocks better than 780i and p35, but not as good as x38, and cost $350+.

X38/48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=280&Description=&Type=&N=2010200280+1070509908+107172333&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=1&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=707%3A31640&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A29253&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A34674
780/790i
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=280&Description=&Type=&N=2010200280+1070509908+107172333&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=1&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A33949&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A37989

G92 8800gt performs similarly to 9800GTX, and use the same g92 gpu and with the same 256bit memory bus. 9800GTX is still faster, but not significantly. This g92 8800gts is factory overclocked, and comes with a free game, for $230, or $199.99 after mail in rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325

 

[predatorgsr]

Also, I recommend the PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 psu, came in first place in the toms hardware stress test, has all the connectors you'll need, and is on sale right now for $160 ($90 discount). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

 

[dagger]

Also, I recommend the PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 psu, came in first place in the toms hardware stress test, has all the connectors you'll need, and is on sale right now for $160 ($90 discount). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

That looks about right. The one you cited cost less and have 60amps on one single rail, which should be an advantage of the 64amps spread over 6 rails, due to power lost on switching. It's not modular though, which matters to some people. Frankly, both of them are overkill.

 

[predatorgsr]

Yea, modular is nice, but I dunno if its worth the extra $80. I have a small case, and while installation was a bit of a hassle, once all the wires were tucked away in the empty drive bays it worked out well.

 

[crazywheels]

I wouldn't go with a DFI board get an Evga, or Asus. You can go with ever chipset you want but I prefer an nvidia chipset.

 

[crazywheels]

I wouldn't go with a DFI board get an Evga, or Asus. You can go with ever chipset you want but I prefer an nvidia chipset since you are getting an nvidia video card

 

[topper743]

How about a motherboard with wifi onboard? That would save you the cost of the xtra wireless card, here is one to consider: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182.

Get higher rated ram with lower timings, link to a few: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147+1052108080+1052420643+1052315794&name=4GB(2+x+2GB))

The Q6600 is a great cpu, but in all likelyhood the Q9450 will oc as well as the q6600 or nearly so and out preform it at equal clock speeds.

 

[dagger]

How about a motherboard with wifi onboard? That would save you the cost of the xtra wireless card, here is one to consider: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182.

Get higher rated ram with lower timings, link to a few: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147+1052108080+1052420643+1052315794&name=4GB(2+x+2GB))

The Q6600 is a great cpu, but in all likelyhood the Q9450 will oc as well as the q6600 or nearly so and out preform it at equal clock speeds.

OC in Q9450 compared to Q6600 depends on how much Q9450 is held back on fsb bottleneck. When fsb is not an issue, Q9450 oc much better than Q6600.

 

[stoner133]

Its not final till its built with photos showing it running

 

[Silverion77]

^^ that is the most useless comment ever

As for ram stick with 800...1066 is OCed 800 and is a waste of money
Only get an nvidia chipset if u r doing SLI, otherwise get a P35

 

[Sundog]

q9450 available from microcenter.com for $300 (have to click the add $50 price reduction )

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0286543

 

[Yoosty]

Theres a lot of things that are totally unnecessary...

In overclocking u might be better off with a Q6600 processor. Its cheaper and has a higher multiplier = easier overclocking. I doubt the Q9450 could hit 3.6+ cause the mobo would hinder it.

The QX9450 does overclock to 3.70ghz. Check out review at Overclockersclub below.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/intel_q9450/

 

[badgtx1969]

How about the case? If you are willing to spend $250 at least get something like a Lian-Li (so many options) or a Silverstone case (TJ-09/10).

Personally I think those Cooler Master cases are a lot of unnecessary plastic parts, and steel.

 

[Zer0Cool]

Theres a lot of things that are totally unnecessary...

In overclocking u might be better off with a Q6600 processor. Its cheaper and has a higher multiplier = easier overclocking. I doubt the Q9450 could hit 3.6+ cause the mobo would hinder it.

If u r gaming do not bother with wireless...it will lag. And if you want wireless, don't get a ridiculous router....it doesnt even do wireless N which is the best.

For the motherboard, that is very expensive for a P35...go with a Asus P5K-E. Its cheaper and has more power regulators for higher quad overclocks.

For the GPU, I suggest the 8800GTS 512. The 9800GTX is basically an overclocked GTS. No ROP's difference and only has some increased speeds. Also the GTS is $100 cheaper.

For the PSU...ur comment was that u might go SLI. One problem, the motherboard isnt SLI, also its a waste unless you get the card in like 6 months.

Do not get those Network gaming cards...theyre a silly waste of money

Do u need Ultimate Vista. All it gives u is some security things u might not need. 64bit Home Premium can be had for $100.

For cooling use jabtech.com....they are much cheaper

The Q9450 has better cooling and it can deff hit the 3.6
The wireless is for my father, I will be using hardwired connection, I hope that one has a good 1
I had spent so much time with people telling me what mobo to get, that I just dont know anymnore and dont know who to listen, If I know that the mobo is good, at this point I dont care about the price.
I will think about the GTS for my vid card, thanks.
Ya that gaming card might be a joke.
I will think about ythe vista, I know that I need the 64 bit version because of 4gb of ram.

Thank you

Most of your system looks good. Thats a bit much to spend on a case imo ( i usually get a lian li case for ~120), but thats up to you.

The one big flaw I see is that you're planning on running raid 0. There is absolutely no benefit to running raid 0 on a desktop system. I was looking into it as well for my system as well. You might want to get a raptor x for your system drive, but the benefits won't be huge. Check out this anandtech review, they benchmarked raid 0 raptors and found absolutely no performance advantage in the vast majority of situations. http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2101&p=11

I linked to the conclusion, read through the article for details.

I didnt take a look at that link just et, im about to go to bed but I will. I was thinking about the raptor, but theyt are so fricken loud!

Q6600 is better bang for the buck than Q9450, but if you have the money, go for Q9450, as it perform significantly better and overclock more, assuming fsb isn't the bottleneck. That p35 board is way overprices at $190. You can get a X38 board for $207. P35 runs at 1333mhz fsb natively, and ocs reliably to 1600mhz. X38 runs at 1600mhz fsb natively, and ocs reliably to 2000+mhz. 1600mhz = 3.6ghx for Q6600 (9x multiplier) and 3.2ghz for Q9450 (8x multiplier). Neither of those boards support sli, only crossfire. 780i chipset boards support sli, but cost a little more than x38, and overclocks the same as a p35. 790i overclocks better than 780i and p35, but not as good as x38, and cost $350+.

X38/48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=280&Description=&Type=&N=2010200280+1070509908+107172333&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=1&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=707%3A31640&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A29253&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A34674
780/790i
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=280&Description=&Type=&N=2010200280+1070509908+107172333&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=1&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A33949&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A37989

G92 8800gt performs similarly to 9800GTX, and use the same g92 gpu and with the same 256bit memory bus. 9800GTX is still faster, but not significantly. This g92 8800gts is factory overclocked, and comes with a free game, for $230, or $199.99 after mail in rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325

I had spent so much time on the forums about the mobos, that I just dont care anymore. Everyone is telling me sometjing different. Acide for the price is this mobo a bad overcloker? Is it good for Q9450? I thought with the 8 phase regulator and all it should be great! Again this is my first build, and my first overclock, so i dont know much....

How about a motherboard with wifi onboard? That would save you the cost of the xtra wireless card, here is one to consider: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131182.

Get higher rated ram with lower timings, link to a few: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147+1052108080+1052420643+1052315794&name=4GB(2+x+2GB))

The Q6600 is a great cpu, but in all likelyhood the Q9450 will oc as well as the q6600 or nearly so and out preform it at equal clock speeds.

I will not use wireless signal, its just for my father. I will be using hardline. Why get a higher ram if my current mobo has 800 standard memory? If I get 1066 memory I will still have to @ to get it to 1066 right? or am I missing something here, please advice what speed of ram to get!

^^ that is the most useless comment ever

As for ram stick with 800...1066 is OCed 800 and is a waste of money
Only get an nvidia chipset if u r doing SLI, otherwise get a P35

I thouht about it and NO SLI/CROSSFIRE FOR ME!!! Help me decide on the ram plz.

q9450 available from microcenter.com for $300 (have to click the add $50 price reduction )

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0286543

I dont want to be giving my cc to 2 many places. $50 will not save me in this case. Thank you tho

How about the case? If you are willing to spend $250 at least get something like a Lian-Li (so many options) or a Silverstone case (TJ-09/10).

Personally I think those Cooler Master cases are a lot of unnecessary plastic parts, and steel.

I dont like the way Lian-Li look like, 2 plain for me. I want something that looks nice, and cool

 

[Silverion77]

I kno the Q9450 can hit 3.6 but the question is it worth the $100 for it but thats personal opinion.

Dont get a raptor. They were good, but now with newer drives theyre a waste of good money. A nice large drive is just as fast unless u care about the 1 second shorter load time on a game.

Okay so no SLI/Crossfire means a P35 board. The one u chose is good but relatively expensive. The Asus P5K-E is good for a cheaper price. It has a 8 phase power regulator and ive seen many good quad overclocks on it.

 

[cirdecus]

First: I would go with 2 raptors in a RAID 0 config. make them smaller drives, 75GB or so each. Then grab 1 or 2 large drives for everything else. Splitting up windows and your applications on 2 fast drives and putting your music, videos, etc. on another drive is great for performance.

secondly: the Q9450 is a great choice. It has a higher FSB, runs on a newer 45nm die and is great for overclocking (i have one). No reason to go with an older processor.

Everything else looks pretty good. The only other advice i can give is to consider watercooling, because this computer is going to be loud. Watercooling will not only lower the noise level and prolong system life, but it will allow you to push that processor and graphics card to their limits. Thermaltake's Big Chill works great for me. Combined with Koolances GPU blocks

 

[Silverion77]

watercooling is only good if you go all the way...thats means $300+. Those kits are crap. They are made of aluminum which slowly corrodes, clogs and breaks

Raptors are such a waste of money, but hell if you have it spend it....but personally id rather get a 9800GX2 or GTSs in SLI

 

[cranbers]

Yeah I agree, a lot of wasted money here. The system I have which I put together 15 months ago is still state of the art, and it would cost you 1/2 or even less then what you spent.

UPS is good, but you dont have to go that fancy. Watercooling is good but remember how cool those chips run anyway. Mine is overclocked and still doesn't exceed 60c while running torture tests, even while on air. I tried water cooling, really no benefit. Back in the day with very power hungrey p4's that generated enough heat to cook some eggs it was needed but not anymore.

As for the vista ultimate, completely unnecessary. Home edition is fine unless you need to hook into a domain, doubt that is the case for a home network.

For a power supply I would strongly recommend corsair's. They are cheaper and much better bang for the buck. Time and again its been proven, cost alone on a power supply has shown as wasted money. I know Maximum pc has done tests on them and numerous times the most expensive are worse then the cheapos.

Corsair is what I use, I love just about every product they put out there. Definetely quality.

As for the motherboard, I would suggest nvidia 680i or 780i. Also the 9800 cards seem to be nothing more then updated 8800's, no real difference at all in regards to performance. It's pretty sad.

As for the case, did you look at the Antec 900 gaming case? It's the best case i've ever seen for the money. 160 bucks is what I paid but you may get it for less. And you wont even have to dish out for all those fans.

This sytem is going to be LOUD, if you dont want it loud, ditch all the extra fans and go for a antec 900 gaming case, it has a HUGE fan on top, and two in the front. Very quiet, and the best air flow ina case i've evern seen. the air blows right over the hard drives as well.

If you have the money, spoil yourself. But really in truth, most of that stuff is completely un necessary.

Also the q6600, its a hundred dollars less, and you can over clock a lot better, especially with a nvidia 680i or 780i board.

The wireless router, I would suggest a 99 dollar linksys, its just as good and you can upgarde the firmware to dd-wrt.

Save some money money dude, buy a new desk or chair. You will find most of that stuff you bought, sitting in a closet somewhere because you never needed it.

Have you taken a look at the new logitech mx 5500 mouse/keyboard? It's the best thing i've ever bought. I love it!

Raptors I owned one of those as well, LOUD and really no benefit, lets also not forget expensive and low storage space. Seagate 500gb is definetley the way to go. I love mine.

I can honestly say i've never had a computer this long and still felt no need to upgrade. The industry is moving dog slow now. Lets hope AMD can get their act together so we can get some new innovative products and technology out there. I want to spend money! But no reason to when my system is still on the market, for not much less then it was when i bought it all back in Dec 2006.

 

[cranbers]

First: I would go with 2 raptors in a RAID 0 config. make them smaller drives, 75GB or so each. Then grab 1 or 2 large drives for everything else. Splitting up windows and your applications on 2 fast drives and putting your music, videos, etc. on another drive is great for performance.

secondly: the Q9450 is a great choice. It has a higher FSB, runs on a newer 45nm die and is great for overclocking (i have one). No reason to go with an older processor.

Everything else looks pretty good. The only other advice i can give is to consider watercooling, because this computer is going to be loud. Watercooling will not only lower the noise level and prolong system life, but it will allow you to push that processor and graphics card to their limits. Thermaltake's Big Chill works great for me. Combined with Koolances GPU blocks

I have no idea why you would od any of these things, reality is more expensive, minimal benefit. The chip runs cool, especially at 45nm, even while overclocking. Raid, once again minimal benefit. And those raptors are so expensive and LOUD. water cooling isnt going to silence anything. The video card fans and processor fans are going to be the QUIETEST thing in that computer you are suggesting.

So yeah, i've experienced and tried every thing you suggested. Minimal benefit, asking for trouble with issues, at maximum price.

MOre expensive doesn't always equal better, also if you really do want to go raid, dont bother with on board raid, you have to get an external card. And multiple hard drives. Lets also not forget this is going to add a new failure point, and lost data if anything goes south. 1 hard drive, the card itself, really is more complication for minimal benefit.

Data security is the only reaosn to use raid in a home envirment. But that is what external backup drives are for. And you don't even have to worry about your motherboard frying everything in the system if there is some sort of failure.

Just my two cents.

 

[Zer0Cool]

Thank you all for ur inpit, Im still looking at some of the parts, like the new PSU and maybe going for the 8800gts. Dont know why u guys are saying the system will be loud...I was under the impresion I am getting good quality fans for a a good solid cooling.

Here are some changes I decided to make.

Instead of the 5 Noctua fans, I will be getting 5 Scythe S-FLEX fans. I will be keeping 1 92mm Noctua for my CPU heatsink. I am also switching from 7200.11 HDD’s to the WD6400AAKS its faster then the .11 one. I also had updated the main thread.

Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120MM Cooling Fan 1600RPM 28.0DBA 63.7CFM FDB (X5 = $57.75)
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=17749

Noctua NF-B9-1600 92MM Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan 1300-1600RPM 41-64M3/H 7.9-17.6DBA Molex
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=28452

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive – OEM (X3)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD6400AAKS

Lots of people also told me to go with the 1066 ram and not the 800. Here are 2 type of ram I was able to find. What u think guys? G skill or Patriot?

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Patriot Viper 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220299

 

[reconviperone1]

Most of your system looks good. Thats a bit much to spend on a case imo ( i usually get a lian li case for ~120), but thats up to you.

The one big flaw I see is that you're planning on running raid 0. There is absolutely no benefit to running raid 0 on a desktop system. I was looking into it as well for my system as well. You might want to get a raptor x for your system drive, but the benefits won't be huge. Check out this anandtech review, they benchmarked raid 0 raptors and found absolutely no performance advantage in the vast majority of situations. http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2101&p=11

I linked to the conclusion, read through the article for details.

U gotta admit thats the best looking case on the market though