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Hi all,

I am building myself a new computer, and have put together a preliminary build. I would like you to take a look, and critique it for me. Tips, pointers etc. Everything is much appreciated.

Motherboard....: MSI Eclipse Plus
CPU...............: Intel Core i7-950
RAM...............: 2x Corsair XMS3 (3x2GB)
Graphics.........: 2x XFX Radeon HD5870
PSU...............: CoolerMaster Real Power M1000
Chasis............: CoolerMaster HAF 932

HDD is not listed because I already own some I want to use, and I was thinking of getting a soild-state drive, but I haven't decided yet.

Anything you would do differently, or add, or just flame me for, please do

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well looks good but you could save some and drop to the i7 920 and overclock it higher with a good cpu cooler http://www.amazon.com/Cogage-True- [...] 38&sr=1-59

Reply to obsidian86

I completely agree with the 920. I have the revision D0 which is what most stores are selling now I believe. It's overclocked to 4GHz with just 1.275V on Asus P6T Deluxe V2.

Reply to arrghushakaboorga

While the case is one of my two favorite's (other being the Antec 1200), I'd put a Corsair HX or TX PSU in there.

Agree on the i7 920 OC's w/ a Prolimatech Megahalems is a good CPU alternative.

I'd choose the Asus Ramapge II Extreme over the MSI . The MSI will be easier for novices to OC but the R2E has much better cooling and is faster:

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 332-7.html

There's a lot of XMS3 choices and you don't specify which DDR speed with prices ranging from $134 to $329 ....best CASS timings are 7-77-20 at DDR 1600. The Mushkin Redline is another alternative at 6-7-6-18.

With the money saved on the CPU, ya might wanna add a 3rd video card to handle PhysX if that kinda thing tickles ya fancy. Adding a 9800GT will cost ya around half the savings. You can get the low down on how to accomplish here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/n [...] ,8786.html

PhysX effects are pretty cool, if you are the type who takes the time to observe them. See the review here for a description of how they are used in batman.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardwar [...] /page2.asp

------------------------------ If a man speaks in the forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong ?
Reply to JackNaylorPE

Theese XMS3 have a CAS latency of 9-9-9-24.

I have never really understood this, and picking RAM's have always been the hardest part for me when building a computer..

I've also never tried OC'ing anything, so this will be my very first attempt, but I can see the benefit in getting the Rampage mobo..

I was thinking that the 920 would be enough, but as I said, I've never tried OC'ing anything.. I guess I could just do a search, but are there guides on OC'ing thoose specificly?

Regarding the cooler, Prolimatech Megahalems, I would need to buy fans for this, right?

I was thinking about getting Corsair Dominator instad of XMS3, would theese do better or worse?: "TR3X6G1600C8D". (I've listed the part number from Corsairs website). They have a CAS latency of 8-8-8-24.

If I were to add a third graphics card to get Phys-X, the 9800GT would be my best option? In fact, I currently own an ASUS GTX280, would that be able to work with the ATI cards?

Thanks for replies, I really appreciate it.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by prebenp on 10-13-2009 at 11:29:58 AM

Reply to prebenp

I can't seem to edit my post above..

EDIT: Now I can..

Message edited by prebenp on 10-13-2009 at 10:56:19 AM

Reply to prebenp

ok this is a good guide to overclocking an i7 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/foru [...] _11_0.html

yes you will need to buy an added fan to put on the prolimatech ,the cogage true is also good and comes with a fan so is the thermalright ultra,thermalright also manufacture cogage,

timing on ram is basically the time it takes to tranfer data so lower timings on ram means it will work faster

the dominators are expensive you could look into the ocz platinium or g skill kits

trying to get physx to work with an ati+nvidia is just a headache physx is just a small gain in gaming i wouldn even bother with it

Reply to obsidian86

prebenp wrote :

I've also never tried OC'ing anything, so this will be my very first attempt, but I can see the benefit in getting the Rampage mobo.

Well if ya don't choke on the price, it's a very fine board....the MSI is lose but I have to give the R2E the edge.

Quote :

I was thinking that the 920 would be enough, but as I said, I've never tried OC'ing anything.. I guess I could just do a search, but are there guides on OC'ing thoose specificly?

The Asus BIOS has "presets" for vaious OC's which are very easy to use. Manual OC'ing appears esier on the MSI tho from what I have read.

Quote :

Regarding the cooler, Prolimatech Megahalems, I would need to buy fans for this, right?

I went with the Enermax Magmas.

Quote :

Lower the better.

If I were to add a third graphics card to get Phys-X, the 9800GT would be my best option? In fact, I currently own an ASUS GTX280, would that be able to work with the ATI cards?

The reviews I have read say give two cards for minimum and recomended, the 9800 being the latter. The 285 is well more than enough.

------------------------------ If a man speaks in the forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong ?
Reply to JackNaylorPE

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