Researching new build

[Thresh hold]

Hey guys, what do you think about this build. This is my first build:

I'll be using this for gaming (cod4, crysis, yar's revenge et al), but my main purpose is for high end music production, and video editing...


Apevia X-Jupiter Full Tower Gaming Server w/ Temp Display and Fan Control 420 Watt Power (additional pretty little fan will be put on the top)

Sigma Shark SP-635W PSU

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz 1066FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit

Vigor iSURF II Hard Disk Drive Cooling System

Thermaltake V1 Gaming CPU Cooling Fam

Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 Motherboard

4GB (4x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory

evga NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 1GB 16X PCI Express

Windows Vista home premium x64, but ive been warned (trusted platform module, drm?) to stick with xp pro (not x64) at all costs.

An year old samsung syncmaster 216bw (i think res can go UP to 1600x1024)

light to medium overclocking i suppose

Will these components be compatible with each other? Will it bottleneck, and what exactly is bottlenecking?

Any further suggestions as this, of course, is a budget gaming rig. (liquid cooling?)

thanks

 

[dirtmountain]

Buy a quality power supply, 450watts is plenty for a single card system (Corsair, PC Power and Cooling, OCZ, Silverstone etc.)
Get 2x2 DDR2 800 RAM or just 2x1 if you're going XP
Get a better graphic card, at least an 8800GT or a HD4850.

 

[Thresh hold]

cool. thanks. i was wondering about the 2x2 ram, and i will probably do it when i get hte extra 80 bucks for mushkins, or i hear g.skills are pretty good. ive heard good and bad about the sigma shark. should i go with a dual card?

 

[jaibot18]

skip the hd cooling, unnecessary.
Bad cpu fan get a xiggy with a retention bracket. ( xigmatek s1283 )
The psu is not the best... try this combo deal http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3901231&CatId=333
the graphics card is a little underpowered i would recommend a 8800 gt or 9600gt because you are on a budget.
Oh and btw, wouldn't you want a sound card?
good build though, nice job researching

 

[Onus]

What is your budget?
No, you don't want liquid cooling, especially on a first build. I've probably built a few hundred PCs (mostly as a tech years ago), and it has never occurred to me to want liquid cooling. IMHO, liquid cooling is for overclocking competitions, high-tech physics labs, and maybe special environments, not for any business or home-use PC, regardless of how high-end. You're just asking for trouble.
Since you mentioned Crysis, you'll want a better graphics card than the 8600GT. Ideally, your budget will allow at least an HD4850.
I'm surprised you haven't listed a sound card considering your stated uses, or perhaps you already have something you plan to use. Just make sure it has drivers for Vista.
In selecting RAM, choose modules that operate at their rated speeds at the JEDEC standard 1.8V. Mushkin has become my personal favorite, such as these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731
PSU sizing calculator: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
Here's an OLD list of quality tiers. It is still a reasonable starting point. If a newer model you're considering isn't listed, check to see that the manufacturer has nothing below tier-3: http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiered+PSU+Listings?t=anon

 

[Thresh hold]

yikes that would help wouldnt it?! cant believe i forgot that spec! i'll be using a m-audio Audiophile 192 High-Definition 4-In/4-Out Audio Card with Digital I/O and MIDI. great card imo vs. my old creative audigy 2 se card. good card eh?

i agree with the cooling. i was concerned about the heat issue but since overclocking isnt my main pursuit...

I'll definitely look into better cards to support the build as well!

thank you for the ram choices. it never occurred to me these issues other than the size!

its been an exhaustive reasearch, yes.

budget around 12-1400 american dollars

 

[Thresh hold]

yeh, great reviews on the xiggy, jaibot. thanks mate

 

[Wanker79]

I don't know if you're interested in a new build list or just a tweaking of the one you put up, but for your stated goals and $1400 here's what I'd do...

Sound Card- M-AUDIO Audiophile 192 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface High-Def = $180 (that's your call, I have no idea about sound cards)
CPU- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz = $330
MoBo- GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L = $100
GPU- ASUS Radeon HD 4870 = $255 (after MIR)
RAM- mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 5-4-4-12@1.8V = $69 x2 = $138 (after MIRs)
HDD- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB = $85
PSU- OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W = $80 (after MIR)
Case- Antec Nine Hundred = $100
CPU Cooler- XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 = $25 (after MIR)
Retention Bracket- XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 = $7
Thermal Compound- Tuniq TX-2 = $4
OS- Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM = $110

That's a total of $1561.79 (including $33.12 in shipping) and you'll get $115 in MIRs, so that's a grand total of ~$1450 (after MIRs).

 

[Guest]

What's better for gaming E8500 Wolfdale or the Q95550? I'm debating between the two of them...

 

[Wanker79]

Presently and in the near future, the E8500 is the better gaming processor. But eventually games will start utilizing quad-core architecture more. The biggest problem is that nobody really knows how long "eventually" will take to get here. So it depends on whether or not you're willing to sacrifice performance in the short-term for potential long-term benefits.