This will be my second home built system. I built one 4 years ago and it's time to build a new one. I'm into gaming and photography. I'm looking to build for Windows 7 64bit.
I'm thinking along the lines of:
CASE: Thermaltake Armor(model with slideout MB tray).
I've had Thermaltake since the days of the Xaser's and love my current older Armor case(without the sliding MB tray).
MB: ASUS: possible models....
ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58
ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
ASUS Rampage II Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX
ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution with NF200 3xPCIe true x16 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX
ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
I have had ASUS motherboards since time began and they have never giving me an issue.
CPU: Intel Core i7-970 Gulftown 3.2GHz 6 x 256KB L2 Cache 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7970
I don't need the extreme CPU's.
MEMORY: I Love Corsair, so probably 12gigs of Dominator or perhaps depending on which MB I get, 24gigs???
HD: probably 1 WD Velociraptor for system drive and 1 standard(7200) for storage.
Power Supply: 1200w:I have had Enermax with no issues, but I see a lot of good things for EVGA and Thermaltake PS's too.
Sound: Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card. I've always had Sound Blasters and love them.
Video: EVGA Nvidia GTX 580. I've always had EVGA/Nvidia cards and love them.
FOR THE QUESTIONS:
With regard to the sound blaster, I currently have an X-Fi pro(model with internal card and large external controller). I assume that this card will be too slow for gaming.....that the newer model will be faster? I assume I can just put the new card into a PCI-E 16 slot if need be as some of these potential MB's I'm looking at only have 16x slots?
With regard to the video card, I only use 1 card, no SLI. I have a small room and it can get warm. No overclocked model, just reference, again to help with heat. Also, I game on a 22inch at like 1650 res, so it's no biggie. However, having another 16x slot just in case I want to at some point is a requirement.
With regard to the MB choice, any thoughts? Any models that stand out as overkill?
With regard to memory, is 12GB more than enough? Is 24GB overkill? Also, I don't overclock memory, just factory specs.
Also, with regard to heatsinks/fans for the CPU, what's a good brand/model considering I'm putting it into a Thermaltake Armor case? I consider this the hardest part in building a system...........finding a good CPU heatsink/fan that works great and fits the case, let alone the MB. These things can get huge as you know.
I'm thinking along the lines of:
CASE: Thermaltake Armor(model with slideout MB tray).
I've had Thermaltake since the days of the Xaser's and love my current older Armor case(without the sliding MB tray).
MB: ASUS: possible models....
ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58
ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
ASUS Rampage II Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX
ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution with NF200 3xPCIe true x16 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX
ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
I have had ASUS motherboards since time began and they have never giving me an issue.
CPU: Intel Core i7-970 Gulftown 3.2GHz 6 x 256KB L2 Cache 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7970
I don't need the extreme CPU's.
MEMORY: I Love Corsair, so probably 12gigs of Dominator or perhaps depending on which MB I get, 24gigs???
HD: probably 1 WD Velociraptor for system drive and 1 standard(7200) for storage.
Power Supply: 1200w:I have had Enermax with no issues, but I see a lot of good things for EVGA and Thermaltake PS's too.
Sound: Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card. I've always had Sound Blasters and love them.
Video: EVGA Nvidia GTX 580. I've always had EVGA/Nvidia cards and love them.
FOR THE QUESTIONS:
With regard to the sound blaster, I currently have an X-Fi pro(model with internal card and large external controller). I assume that this card will be too slow for gaming.....that the newer model will be faster? I assume I can just put the new card into a PCI-E 16 slot if need be as some of these potential MB's I'm looking at only have 16x slots?
With regard to the video card, I only use 1 card, no SLI. I have a small room and it can get warm. No overclocked model, just reference, again to help with heat. Also, I game on a 22inch at like 1650 res, so it's no biggie. However, having another 16x slot just in case I want to at some point is a requirement.
With regard to the MB choice, any thoughts? Any models that stand out as overkill?
With regard to memory, is 12GB more than enough? Is 24GB overkill? Also, I don't overclock memory, just factory specs.
Also, with regard to heatsinks/fans for the CPU, what's a good brand/model considering I'm putting it into a Thermaltake Armor case? I consider this the hardest part in building a system...........finding a good CPU heatsink/fan that works great and fits the case, let alone the MB. These things can get huge as you know.
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