Hi all
 
I’m looking for some advice for building my new gaming rig, I want to build the best I can, but obviously don’t want to fork out for unnecessary expensive componants, I have some cash now and if I don’t spend it on a pc now I never will, not an easy thing to do that’s why I’ve come to you guys.  
 
The main thing I want is a system that will last for as long as possible (don’t we all), so OC will probably be high on the list of thing I’ll need, also bearing in mind I’m a novice to the whole world of OC but have a good computer knowledge.
 
This is basically what I was intending on building to run Vista 64bit with a 24in monitor.
 
CASE          - Gigabyte 3D Mercury GZ-FW1CA-AJ Black Alu Front, Watercooling
HD             - 2xWestern Digital Raptor 150GB SATA 16MB 10000RPM
PSU           - OCZ ProXStream Powersupply ATX/EPS 1000W ,80mm Fan, SATA, 4/8pin CPU, 20/24pin
MEMORY    - OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600MHz EB 4096MB KIT, w/two 2048MB XTC, CL7-6-6-24
CPU           - Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz Socket  LGA775, 1333MHz, 12MB
MOBO     - Asus Striker II Extreme, Socket-775,DDR3 ,nForce-790i Ultra SLI, 3xPCI-Ex(2.0)16
GRAPHICS – SLI not sure whats the best model
 
I’ve looked at some reviews of the case and as water cooling is the way I want to go and I’m new it this seems like a good option, I’d also like to put in some GPU water blocks in the future.
2 raptors is self explanatory, I’ve already got a 750 f1 to put in it as well for extra storage
Not sure if I need this size PSU, but I’m also planning on putting in some eye candy, cathodes alphacool lcd and probably an extra fan or 2 and a fan controller.  
The memory, mobo and cpu are where I need most help with, these 3 items will set me back €1177 compared to what I’ve seen a lot of people recommend below which will cost me €433, is the extra €700 well spent and will I see the advantages of it in the years to come. One reason I like the mobo is the fact that its appears to be user friendly towards OC and that it has a water cooling feature. I’ve no idea which ram to get or what speed, this just looked the best, the CPU from what I’ve read is nearly as good as a QX9650 and can be OC’d  
 
Intel Core™ 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz, Socket LGA775, 6MB, 1333Mhz BOXED w/fan
Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4, X38, Socket-775, ATX, GbLAN, DDR2, 2xPCI-Ex(2.0)x16
OCZ DDR2 PC8500 4096MB KIT, Reaper HPC, 2x2048MB, Heatpipe, (CL5-5-5-18)

Graphics as well is another area I need some help, I’d prefer nvidia, is the hugh price from the 280’s worth it, bearing in mind I want to sli and plan to water cool in the future, which card is best punch for pound so to speak.
 
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated or if anyone spots any incompatibility please howler.
 
Cheers  

I would say don't really watercool unless absolutely necessary, you can get good OC temps from air cooling with a proper configuration.  I would also wait on the DDR3 unless you have  the money to burn price is still fairly high.  Most of this is just my opinion so don't take it as the industry standard

Replace the two Raptors with a single Velociraptor. It will be twice as big, and about as fast as those two in RAID 0, and without the risk of data corruption and noise and heat.
 
I'd get the Q9550 with the GA-EX38-DS4 (or GA-X48-DS4) and the DDR2 you listed and two HD 4870 cards.
 

^what he said,
 
and I'd consider 8 gigs or DDR2 as it would be a fairly minor jump in price for what your looking to spend, and then you won't have to try to mach up high end memory in the future when DDR2 isn't high end anymore. just try buying good DDR1 these days.

cheers for the replys guys, good call on the 8gigs, where i normally buy my gear doesn't have the GA-X48-DS4 stocked but has GA-X48-DQ6 i presume this is just a slightly better board??
 
for the novice how easy is the overclocking of the x48, from looking at the reviews advert of the striker II extreme its very easy??
 
with regards to the HD, excuse my ignorance if i'm wrong, but i thought raid 0 was quicker than a single drive, space isn't an issue really as i have a 750gig F1 as well for storage and with the size of the case i have lots of room for more drives, i was going to use the raid config for the operating system and the high end games, i've also got a 500gig external for backups.
 
haven't got a price on the HD4870's but from what i can see they're cheaper and have better performance than the dearer nvida's
 
does anyone know anything about the PSU, does it do what it says??

The ProXStream 1000W is a decent PSU. Overkill, but why not, especially with lots of drives. Just be careful, it has 6 pin connectors, and some high-end video cards want 8-pin connectors. The HD 4870 wants only 6-pin, so you're OK. (I check Visiontek and Sapphire. If you buy a different brand check first.)
 
The RAID 0 will not improve the time needed to move the head to the right track (and the Velociraptor does better there). It will not improve the time needed to rotate the disk to the right sector either (and there both types of Raptor do the same, at 10K rpm). RAID 0 will almost double the read/write rate after the tracks and sector have been found, but so does the new technology called perpendicular magnetic recording that the new Raptor has. On the whole, I don't think you'd distinguish a RAID 0 with two old Raptors from a single new Raptor. So yeah, raid 0 is quicker than a single drive, if it's the same type of drive as those in the raid, but not necessarily if it's a better drive.
 
Yes DQ6 is like DS4 plus even more fancy features, mostly for overclockers or saving energy or cooling.
 
Overclocking the x48 - debatable. When you add more overclocking settings in the BIOS, some people will applaud the extra flexibility while others will curse the manufacturer for complicating things. Both are right Yeah, it should be easy, unless you're trying for a record high clock.
 

cheers aevm, thanks for taking the time to respond, point taken with the raid unless i go for 2 velociraptors  

Yeah, well, I wish I had $600 for 2 velociraptors too. See what you've done, now I'm going to go home and cry

one last thing i need help with and thats a good 24in monitor, it needs to have a HDMI connection for use with PS3 and be HD
 
this is what i was looking at but i've heard mixed reviews about them
 
Samsung 24" LCD Syncmaster T240
 
any ideas??

I read an article about new ratio (6x9?)monitors coming out soon tat will be actual 1080p in 22" and 24" for PS3 and entertainment cent, that might be better than what is currently availiable.  
 
I'm thing it was LG and going up for sale Q3 or Q4 of this year. the story was from Tom's, look it up.

Did they mention prices, by any chance? 1920x1080 on a 22" would be really nice, yeah...
LG makes good monitors IMO. I'm very happy with mine, anyway.
 
The Samsung 245T gets great reviews. It costs more than other 24" LCD's but that's because it's an S-PVA panel.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6&Tpk=245T
 
The one I'm getting for myself is the 275T though, when I catch it on sale in my area. Pretty much the same as the 245T, $300 more, 27" instead of 24".

someone else has told me that the below would be a better option and to stay away from the water cooling case above and go with a heat sink below. anyone any idea's  
 
 
   1. Asus Rampage Formula
   2. Mushkin HP2-6400 2x2GB
   3. Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + Scythe SFF-21F fan
   4. 2x ATI 4870 in CF
   5. Corsair HX1000
   6. WD VelociRaptor (for OS/apps)
   7. WD 6400AAKS (Data)
   8. Intel Q9550
   9. Samsung SH-S203N
  10. + any decent full tower case

That's a fantastic build.
 
 

i'm still in 2 minds about going down the water cooling route, would i get a longer life from the componants by using water cooling by being able to OC it more?? I've been told that watercooling is really only any good when you do extreme OC'ing, sigh, i really don't know what to do!!
 
From what i hear the 4 series radeons get very hot, would these be better with a water block??
 
Is the Gigabyte 3D Mercury GZ-FW1CA-AJ case any good, if not whats a good case and cooling kit to get started with.

Air coolong has come far enough that for the most part, water cooling is best for people who want an absolutly quiet computer.
 
I'd say the chance of a leak more than makes up for any minimal life gained by watercooling. I general, even OCed to the moon parts become obsolete before the wear out.
 
I'd think the 4870 double slot cooler should keep it cool enough.

Also, watercooling needs some maintenance, every 6 months or so. I'd rather just have to clean some filters on an aircooled box. OK, maybe I'm just too lazy and you don't have this problem, I don't know.
 
In general, a $100 air cooling solution beats a $200 liquid cooling solution. Liquid cooling starts paying off only if you get a good solution, and those tend to cost a bunch.

Again guys cheers for the replies
 
i've found a cheaper supplier and had a change of heart re the water cooling, it was something i wanted to try but as you pointed out leads to more work and if it goes wrong i'm in big trouble, water and electics not a good combination.
 
so this is what i've decided to go with, can you have a look and see if there's anything that i should change
 
CPU                   - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 Q9550
HEATSINK           - Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)
HEATSINK FAN    - Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3/4 Pin
RAM                  - 2 x Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX
MOTHER BOARD   - Asus Rampage Formula Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard  
PSU                   - Corsair HX 1000W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
GRAPHICS           - 2 x HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI
HARD DRIVES       - 2 x VelociRaptor 300GB 10000RPM SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM  
OS                     - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-Bit - OEM  
DVD                   - Samsung SH-S223F/RSMN 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
MONITOR            - Samsung SM-T240 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor
CASE                 - Antec Twelve Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
FAN CONTROLLER - Scythe Kama-Meter Multi Functional Controller
PASTE                - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
 
i think the heatsink should fit in the case, does anyone know if the clips for a fan comes with it??
 
Cheers

The Thermalright should fit IMO. I couldn't confirm it yet, but it fits in the Antec 900, which has 7 mm less room for it (20.6 cm wide vs 21.3 cm). Yes it comes with fan clips.