$1475 Gaming build. Please review

[stevediaman]

Little bit of background info. I play on a 22" monitor at 1440x900 and im going to play Age of Conan when it releases. I mostly play MMO's and some first person shooters (not alot). I also want this build to be future proof (3-4 years of max graphics in MMO's).

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

[Combo Deal]

Motherboard: XFX MB-N780-ISH9 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813141005

- $425

I hear alot about the new CPU's comin out next year and all that and i dont want it... Its gonna cost way too much and a quad core will probably suit me just fine since i only play MMO's

Since i dont plan on upgrading my CPU for a few years, im investing in a good motherboard with pci-e 2.0 slots so i wont be screwed out of future tech.

Processor Heat-sink: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

- $37

I plan on over-clocking the Q6600 to about 3.0 so i dont want the standard heat-sink.

Video Cards: 2x EVGA 512-P3-N807-AR GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO SuperClocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130335

- $450

Ok, my reasons for these cards are kinda complicated... I want a powerful GPU that isnt super expensive... sounds simple but it never really is, is it? Im going w/ the GT's over the GTS's cause the price vs the performance increase is not worth it. I'm not getting 9600's because they are almost exactly the same, except I am told they were optimized via drivers to perform as they do, whereas the 8800 GT's have not yet been. Also, any GTX or GX2 is simply out of my price range.

Also i went with the akimbo because since im going to SLI, i want the better heat-sinks to expel the hot air out the back because i do plan on over-clocking these quite a bit.

Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

- $120

Memory: OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227269

- $65

Hard-Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

- $100

DvD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151154

- $33

Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

- $85

I plan on cutting out the 3.5" bays so the front 120mm can hit the 2 8800GT's directly. The only thing im worried about is hear issues from the power-supply since its mounted on the bottom.

My plan was 1 frot intake 120mm, rear 120mm exhaust that sucks out the processor heat-sinks air, and 1 side pannel 120mm sucking out any excess heat from the dual cards or power-supply. Maybe 1 more exhaust on the side panel if it fits to suck out more processor heat. Also if possible to mount 1 more front fan.

Case Fans: Antec 75003 120mm Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835129030

- $12

Case comes with 3, but in case they suck, (not in the good way) im getting 3 more. If they dont suck ill just stick em in there somewhere.

What i wanted to know is if anyone could recommend any better case fans? i dont want an LED on them tho.

Case Accessories: StarTech BRACKET Metal 3.5" to 5.25" Drive Adapter Bracket
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811993004

- $10

Need this so that i can cur out the 3.5" bays so i can mount the HD in the 5.25" bays. If anyone knows a better bracket, please let me know.

Other than these parts, im buying some thermal paste, and windows vista 64-bit home premium.

- $106

Total Price with shipping = $1491

Will really appreciate it if i can get some feedback. This is lookin like my final build

 

[sciggy]

Seems like a pretty solid build to me. You have justified why you want each part to yourself, and thats all that matters. You will have a pretty sweet system once it is all up and running. Any of the stuff that I would change would all be personal preference(45nm cpu, 8800gts), but if you like what you selected then thats all that matters.

 

[stevediaman]

im just kinda worried it wont live up to my high standards even though i like all the parts lol

People always joke around and tell me how i want everything for nothing... well wait it isnt a joke lol its true.

 

[sciggy]

Well you have high potential with over clocking on that cpu so at least if it isn't fast enough you can try getting up to 3.6-4.0ghz.

 

[redbadge]

your sli graphics performance will be largely restricted if you stop at 3.0 ghz for the q6600.

if the machine is for gaming only.... an E8400 would get to 3.6 ghz safely/easily(most likely on stock voltage) and use less power and give better gaming performance in all environments (as its 45nm...it gives the performance of a core2duo 65nm (aka q6***/e6***) @ 3.8 - 3.9ghz...

Its a better choice as you seem not to want to overclock that much.

8800gt's are a better pick than the 9600gt's

 

[smalltime0]

Personally I'm partial to the Antec 900 for approx. 160 off new egg with shipping. It has 3 tri cool 12c, LED fans and a top mounted tri cool 20 cm fan... It also has a mount for a side exhaust/intake adjacent to the GPU slot and a mount for a middle case fan over the GPU as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec%2b900
but if you dont want to stretch your budget the coolmaster is fine...
Also the Asus silent knight is a great fan, but is about $70 off new egg after shipping (I picked one up at my local store in Aust for $60, and AUD<USD by a bit then). But one of the main attractors was the Blue LEDS (even though I had a sonata 3 at the time).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835101018

Personally I would delay the purchase of the graphics card (if you have an older Pci-e your not using) until the 4870 arrives, at the very least it should cause moderate price drops of Nvidias range and higher drops in AMD's range

 

[stevediaman]

your sli graphics performance will be largely restricted if you stop at 3.0 ghz for the q6600.

if the machine is for gaming only.... an E8400 would get to 3.6 ghz safely/easily(most likely on stock voltage) and use less power and give better gaming performance in all environments (as its 45nm...it gives the performance of a core2duo 65nm (aka q6***/e6***) @ 3.8 - 3.9ghz...

Its a better choice as you seem not to want to overclock that much.

8800gt's are a better pick than the 9600gt's

whats the price tag on the 45nm tho? theres no way ill pay more than what im paying for te q6600

also, how much of a bottleneck would you way the q6600 will cause for the graphics cards? any solid numbers behind this?

 

[stevediaman]

ok so i made a change to my list so far.

I am spending an extra $40 on the cards and getting the superclocked versions. instead of the stock 600 its 720 (saves me the hassle and risk of screwin somethin up)

i have some questions tho

theres no way i want a e8400 cause i dont think it'll last me the next 4 years

im stickin w/ the q6600 and ill try to OC it as high as i can, but bein a OC virgin i guess i just need to take it slow and not **** anything up.

also if lets say i get it to 3.8, will it still bottleneck the cards? does anyone have any more detailed information on this?

i am kinda curious about the e8400 tho... will i be hurting in the future w/ only a dual core? i was mainly gettin the q6600 for the future proofing.

1 last question. someone told me something about directx10.1 coming out soon and it only working for the 9 series cards. will this hurt me in any way since i dont plan on upgrading for as long as possible? (ill only upgrade if i absolutely need to. Ill lower graphics before i have to spend alot of money)

 

[smalltime0]

1 last question. someone told me something about directx10.1 coming out soon and it only working for the 9 series cards. will this hurt me in any way since i dont plan on upgrading for as long as possible? (ill only upgrade if i absolutely need to. Ill lower graphics before i have to spend alot of money)

The Nvidia 9 series and the AMD 3XXX/4XXX(the 4 will when it comes out) series support 10.1, but the 8 series supports 10. AFAIK a 10 complaint graphics card will run the games with 10.1 features (I dont know of any games that run exclusively 10 with 10.1 features), but wont be able to use the .1 features... AT the most this might cause slight slow downs or slightly less graphics... but shouldn't impact on the game too much (look at crysis 9v 10 to see difference).

 

[PCnut]

I knwo you already have plans but i wanted to tell you something about the case. I have this case and you do not have to worry about heat coming from the power supply on the bottom. Also unless you are just determined to cut away the hard drive cage you do not need to as you have a exhaust fan on the back also if you do cut away the hard drive cage this the fan still will not blow directly on the video cards. you can put 2 fans on the side to blow air direct on the video cards .. and then you also can have 2 fans to exhaust air out the top of the case. all 120mm fans. youshould also consider getting a 80mm fan for the back of the mother board. this case will hold 7 120mm fans and one 80mm fan. it is a nice case and has good cable management