How does this look?

[DJ BOOYAH]

I am looking for a new beast computer and was wondering how this setup looks. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[New !!] Nzxt Guardian 921 Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Black

Cold Cathode Neon Light Blue

800 Watt -- XION SuperNova XON-800F14R-201 Power Supply Quad SLI Ready

[=== Quad Core ===] Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9450 (4x 2.66GHz/12MB L2 Cache/1333FSB) Free 4GB Pen Drive

[=== Silent ===] Extreme-Performance INTEL CPU Cooling Fan System Kit Silent & Overclocking Proof = Maximum cooling efficiency for quietness and performance

eVGA Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, 3-Way PCI-E MB

4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR3-1333 Memory Module OCZ-Gold or Major Brand

Either a 9800GTX+ or a GTX 260 I can't decide if the added price is worth the performance?

500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache]

[** Special !!! ***] 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black

3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

I will be running 64 bit Vista. The things I'm not really sure about are the PSU, the motherboard, and the cooling system. Also do I need both the CD/DVD drive and the CDRW/DVDRW or just the RW? Any suggestions to make it the best system possible for around 1600-1700 dollars are greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

Your going to hear that nvidia boards now are a bit on the flaky side. If you not stuck with nvidia go with a intel board and a ati 4870. I never had any expierence with xion power supplies but what I've seen on these boards is that PCP&P and corsair units are the best. I can't see which cooler your getting exactly so i'll just say that the xigmatek 120mm units are a favorite around here too.

 

[Proximon]

Never heard of XION PSUs. Get a major brand.

Are you saying you are using stock Intel CPU cooling? It sucks.

nForce boards and SLI are not that way to go. Get an Intel chipset such as the x48 and two 4850s.

For 1600 US dollars? Just the box? Ya you can do way better.

 

[dragonsprayer]

beast or puppy

beast has raid

beast has a good psu - silvestone antec, pc & p - xion are nice its a maybe!
beast has 1000-1200w its a beast! puppy has 600w so this is mini beast!

beast has 4ghz+ of water cooled quad


anything less then ddr1600 7-7-7 is waste of money

beast runs 400fsb min with 7-7-6 1600mhz


120mm fan cooling the cpu with Xig (make sure you install it right on 65nm) or thermal right with the 45nm - its a mini beast, beast has water

here is a beast, starts with a beast cooling:

 

[dragonsprayer]

here is mini beast it only has single loop:

i lov to post photos!


lastly a beast must have raptors - i hope you know i just having some fun - your system will be fine! get a good cooler!

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Whatever dragonspayer said was complete overkill and overpriced. Edit: Ha ha, just what I thought, he was joking and being a little sarcastic.

DJ BOOYAH: Is this system a prebuilt machine? From the looks and description of the items, it looks like you're getting a system from CyberpowerPC or ABSPC. Do you have a link to the site you're using?

If you are, then I can only advise you to buy the components separately and learn to build it yourself. You will save a lot more money. A lot more. For reference, if you were buying the 9800GTX+ or the GTX260 by itself, the GTX260 only costs $50 more than the 9800GTX+ and it is definitely worth the extra $50.

 

[dragonsprayer]

ya i liking havin fun - i had to take the beast thing for a ride!

get uv lights and uv parts

raid your system it helps alot - get 2 x 250gb raid is simple with vista and rock solid

i run raid on everysystem - i have raid10 5 and 0

raid is rock solid - i have a raid10 system here that is 2 or 3 years old on the x975 that has a warning for 2 years and its not failed - it dual boot dual raid

4 drives half in raid10 half in raid0 - its reset 20-30 times and always come back rock solid

raid is the only way to go


remember everyone is using the same old hard drives for the last 5-7 years, raid is the "great equalizer"

 

[Zorg]

xion are nice its a maybe!

Dude why do you say things like this? XION PSUs are crap. Here is a review of the Xion Supernova 600W. I strongly suspect the 800W is the same junk.


DJ BOOYAH, as said don't buy that junk PSU. Get a Corsair or a PC P&C. If you aren't hell bent on SLI do not get an SLI mobo. Also, as said get a P45 and use whatever single Nvidia or ATI card you want. The stock HS is no good IMO. Get a good aftermarket HS with a back plate, not those stupid push pins, you will be glad you did. I do like the description from Ibuypower though.

Extreme-Performance INTEL CPU Cooling Fan System Kit Silent & Overclocking Proof = Maximum cooling efficiency for quietness and performance

What a complete load of unadulterated crap.

One last thing, don't get an Ibuypower. Build it yourself or find a local shop to do it for you.

 

[Zoron]

Haven't had any issues with my nVidia board so far... though I have heard people have had issues with them. I purchased all my components from Tiger Direct.

 

[dragonsprayer]

Nvidia chipsets have, and the mobos have, very high failure rates - over heating, slots breaking, eating memory and other issues - while intel does eat some memory too there are not the reliability issues.

many nvidia mobos are too hard to tune for quads, this has to do with nvidia's stupid move to fight intel first sli, then with cuda would take over the world - nvidia is very combative when they should be partnering. there is


Xion are ok (i said they are nice = ok) then said maybe (that means its not my first choice)

I will admit i am biased while i have tried most products i have not tired the xion, they look nice but those connectors look like problems in tight cases?

he asked i liked antec, pc p, silverstone - too many new products to test them all!

as far as corsair psu, while i have only used 2, both ran hot - they worked well but hot=inefficient

 

[jevon]

Are you buying a monitor? What size/resolution? Will have a big impact on the video card choices....

The sweet spot for price/performance are Intel P45 motherboards with one (and eventually two) 4850's, or X48 motherboards with one (and eventually two) 4870's. The 4870x2 is due next week so I'd say wait for that if you can.

DDR3 is really overpriced right now, I'd stick with 4gb of DDR2-800, that will OC the Q9450 to 3.2Ghz. You can get DDR2-1066 if you want to try and OC beyond that. Try to get timings of 4-4-4-12 if you can.

No idea what cooling solution that is you mentioned... The most effective CPU heatsinks right now are the Xigmatek and OCZ Vendetta 2, plus a separate bolt thru retention bracket. The Sunbeam Core Contact is my new personal fav because of its price and the bracket it comes with - not quite as good as a bolt thru as it uses Intel's push-pins, but still much better than doing a heatsink right onto the CPU via the pins.

Western Digital 640gb is a great performer with the new 320gbx2 platters and is priced really well.

I completely agree with getting either a Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, or Antec PSU. Most important part of your whole system! Make sure you check out the requirement levels for using two of whatever video cards you end up choosing. I think the Antec Quattro 850W is priced well on the higher end (4870x2), and would go with PC Power and Cooling 750W for two 4870's.

Check out the Coolermaster 690 case, I love that thing, great cable management, airflow, price.

You just need the one DVDRW drive.

Not sure about the sound you listed.. I wouldn't purchase a sound card though if that's what that is; onboard sound these days is pretty solid, give it a try first.

Good luck!

 

[dragonsprayer]

p35 is just as goos as p45 - i agree p45 is sweet. asus p5k wifi nice mobo but slot 2 is only 4x this may retard high end cards


ddr3 is a good investment if you get 7-7-7 1600, 1333 is a waste

ddr3 gives a big memory bandwidth boost if right timings and speed



i never buy WD's other then raptors - i really had some bad experince. new 750's are fast as old raptors and in raid they are bad!
bad as in good!


that antec 850 is nice i used it before: (picture time!!!!! o man i am so bad)
bad as in bad

690 case rocks for no door case - antec 180b is nicer is quieter and just as good when laid out right and dual fans mid in the front and bottom - photo time!

wrong photo - you want a fan in front of the mid section

i think this is like the family slide show from the 70's for me!

i could post photos of the 690 too but i do not want to suck up all the space

 

[DJ BOOYAH]

K thanks I will change out the PSU and the cooling system. Also, if I was only going to get one graphics card and never really SLI it what would be a good motherboard. I donno...I am definitely getting Nvidia graphics cards (like almost 100%) and was wondering what the best motherboard would be. For the RAID harddrives, do you have to do the raid thing yourself or can someone else do it for you? Also, I already have a 22 in viewsonic monitor 1680x1050 from my old computer. I am getting this from ibuypower probably, whats so bad about them? Thanks.

 

[Zorg]

I just don't like ibuypower, Tiger Direct etc. Get any P45 mobo brand you want, Gigabyte, Asus etc. Nvidia makes good VGAs, many think that they are not the best bang for the buck right now, but a VGA choice is a personal thing. Before you get all excited about RAID0 understand that it is more trouble. You do run a higher risk of loosing your data, from a hard drive failure and also from RAID corruption. If you go that way, then get an extra drive and keep your data backed up regularly. It's a lot harder to recover data from a corrupt array then from a corrupt stand alone drive.

What choices does Ibuypower have for PSUs and HSs?

 

[DJ BOOYAH]

Here are the PSU that ibuypower offers.

Standard Case Power Supply
500 Watt -- Power Supply [+ $49]
550 Watt -- Power Supply [+ $55]
600 Watt -- Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $64]
600 Watt -- XION SuperNova XON-600R14-201 Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $79]
650 Watt -- Coolermaster Extreme Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $99]
650 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-650TX Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $108]
680 Watt -- Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $85]
750 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-750TX Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $169]
750 Watt -- [$40 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0117RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $169]
800 Watt -- Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $110]
800 Watt -- XION SuperNova XON-800F14R-201 Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $121]
850 Watt -- [$40 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0172RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $198]
950 Watt -- Tuniq Miniplant Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $219]
1000 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-1000HX Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $245]
1000 Watt -- [$50 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0155RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $253]
1000 Watt -- Ultra X3 Energy Efficient Modular Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $232]
1000 Watt -- XION SuperNova XON-1000R14HE Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $205]
1200 Watt -- NZXT PRC-1200 Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $279]
1200 Watt -- [$50 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0156RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $297]
1250 Watt -- CoolerMaster Real Power Pro Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $329]

I feel a little over my head right now. Everyone says that the nvidia chipsets are crap, but I pretty much have to get one because I want to get nvidia graphics cards. I also want to get an SLI board, but they all suck. Maybe I will get a good mobo and just one graphics card...but then I wouldn't be future proof. It would be amazing if someone could go to ibuypower.com and make the best build for around 1600-1700 but I doubt someone would want to take the time to do that. Sorry for being such a noob...

 

[inspector71]

Haven't had any issues with my nVidia board so far... though I have heard people have had issues with them. I purchased all my components from Tiger Direct.

I agree with you also i havent had no problems with my nVidia board either, its been quite reliable and i have had it almost a year now.But i keep hearing alot of complaints about them lately.

 

[inspector71]

Here are the PSU that ibuypower offers.

Standard Case Power Supply
500 Watt -- Power Supply [+ $49]
550 Watt -- Power Supply [+ $55]
600 Watt -- Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $64]
600 Watt -- XION SuperNova XON-600R14-201 Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $79]
650 Watt -- Coolermaster Extreme Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $99]
650 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-650TX Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $108]
680 Watt -- Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $85]
750 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-750TX Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $169]
750 Watt -- [$40 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0117RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $169]
800 Watt -- Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $110]
800 Watt -- XION SuperNova XON-800F14R-201 Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $121]
850 Watt -- [$40 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0172RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $198]
950 Watt -- Tuniq Miniplant Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $219]
1000 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-1000HX Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $245]
1000 Watt -- [$50 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0155RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $253]
1000 Watt -- Ultra X3 Energy Efficient Modular Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $232]
1000 Watt -- XION SuperNova XON-1000R14HE Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $205]
1200 Watt -- NZXT PRC-1200 Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $279]
1200 Watt -- [$50 OFF Mail-In Rebate] Thermaltake Toughpower W0156RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $297]
1250 Watt -- CoolerMaster Real Power Pro Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $329]

I feel a little over my head right now. Everyone says that the nvidia chipsets are crap, but I pretty much have to get one because I want to get nvidia graphics cards. I also want to get an SLI board, but they all suck. Maybe I will get a good mobo and just one graphics card...but then I wouldn't be future proof. It would be amazing if someone could go to ibuypower.com and make the best build for around 1600-1700 but I doubt someone would want to take the time to do that. Sorry for being such a noob...

Where are the Antec power supplies on that list , they are my personal favorite.

 

[Zorg]

This is the one to get. It's a little larger than you need but the smaller ones are not good, IMO, and it's nice to have a little headroom.
650 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-650TX Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $108]

 

[DJ BOOYAH]

This is the one to get. It's a little larger than you need but the smaller ones are not good, IMO, and it's nice to have a little headroom.
650 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-650TX Power Supply SLI Ready [+ $108]

Yea I just started making a new build and that is the one I chose..thanks a lot man.

 

[inspector71]

They start getting more expensive after 700 800 watts of power, i payed $230 for my antec 850 watt truepower quattro overkill power hog which i love and i am gonna use it again in my next build this month.

 

[DJ BOOYAH]

But wait that PSU isn't quad SLI ready...damn, maybe I should just get a DUO processor?

 

[Zorg]

I just realized that you wanted to SLI. I though you only wanted one card. If you want SLI then you will need to bite the bullet on the mobo and get a larger PSU depending on the cards you want to use.

 

[Zorg]

Which cards do you want to SLI? The GTX 280 uses 380W by itself under full load.

 

[DJ BOOYAH]

I'm not really sure. Maybe the 9800GTX+ or the 8800GTX or maybe even the 8800GT. Let's say I wanted to run, say, Crysis, on high settings. Would I need to SLI or would one good graphics card work. If I just got one good graphics card and a really good reliable mobo would my computer be an all around better comp. Maybe I should get that corsair PSU, a really fast duo core, and maybe SLI some 8800's? I just don't know what exactly to do...thanks tho and sorry for all the questions.

 

[Zorg]

I don't have a good answer. I would post that question in the graphics section, you should get plenty of responses.

Those cards pull 215W, 231W and 157W respectively in SLI at full load. So the 750 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-750TX Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [+ $169] will cover you easily. Technically the 650TX will cover you as well, but it could get a little tight with an OC and some additional components.