Need spec input for new rig- triple monitor!

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I'm also trying to piece together a water cooling setup with parts from Danger Den. SO far I'm looking at running an X-Flow Stealth GTS 360 Black Ice Radiator. That's one with (3) 120mm fans. I figure I should be able to water cool the CPU (e6600), North Bridge and both GPU's (8800GTS x2) with that much rad. Any experience with running all these heat belchers on one system? Much appreciate any input. I'll likely be running an Abit AW9D Max mobo (LGA775).

I'll likely custom build a coolant reservoir to fit where the old hard drive cages were. That's easy enough. Any thoughts on pump output, tubing size, water capacity for such a system?
 
Ok... I've messed around online for a while, chewing through specifications pages for several days now. I think I'm just about set on my parts. I've got a tech support email in to DangerDen to see about getting all the parts for my water cooling system figured out. I want to cool the CPU, North Bridge and both 8800's. I should be ordering up the stuff soon. So far, just about 90% of this system will be bought via newegg.com.

I've been thinking of running triple monitor, but the 30" Dell is calling my name. I'll be jamming those 8800's in SLI mode and pushing them as far as I can. I'll definitely have to dig into overclocking those things. I'll have plenty of cooling for them, so why not, eh?

If anybody has additional comments, I'd appreciate it. Final questions I have:
:question: Can anybody confirm that I have a big enough PSU?
:question: Does the 8800GTS come with necessary cables to run in SLI, or will I need some other parts before it's done?
:question: Does anybody have a good idea for 120mm fans I should pack on top of the radiator? I'll be running (3) of them. Quiet is good.

My components:
Case: Nspire ATX case, basic, boring, gutted.
Mobo: Abit AW9D-Max $210
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo e6600 2.4GHz $224
HD: (3) Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA-300 $125 ea.
Optical: DVD +/-R/RW CD-R/RW Lightscribe I found at Best Buy $50
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 650W $145
RAM: G.Skill DDR2 (2x2GB) PC2-6400 DDR (4GB) $240
Video: (2) BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC2 640MB $410 ea.
Cooling: DangerDen stuff... +/- $200-250
I'll be running an X-Flow Stealth GTS360 Black Ice Radiator
Dynamat Extreme (sound deadening) $40
Monitor: Dell 3007WFP 30" LCD $1499

I'll also be shoving a wireless network card inside the case, as well as the receiver for a wireless keyboard and mouse combo. Have yet to dig up those final selections, but no real worries there.

I'll have to work a few more hours of overtime to get the $ together to plunk down for that 30" Dell monitor, but I've got the cash ready for the rest of this beastie. Yes, I'm serious! I'm actually going to build it!!! :eek: It's so close I can almost taste it.
 
I was playing some WoW today. The laptop is really getting crushed by it's absurd heat. I was getting 20fps @ 1024x768. Piece of crap! :mad: *kicks laptop* Nobody buy an HP laptop with a desktop processor in it. Their idea of cooling leaves a lot to be desired. I'll probably have to hack this thing up and water cool it if I want it to survive much longer.

I'm ordering parts tomorrow morning! Cashed in a couple weeks' PTO from work (net $1900), so I'll have the 30" Dell screen on the way too! :D

Got a response from DangerDen. Pretty decent overall, though I has stated I was going to run a radiator that has (3) 120mm fans and they specified one with only (2) fans. Hmmm... Anybody have any idea why? Also, they specified their highest output pump, at over 300GPH... is it really necessary to push that much water around? Seems like a lot to me. :confused:
 
So... I ordered MOST of the parts online today. Totally crushed my credit card for a little while until I transfer my cash over there. Got the 30" Dell monitor coming (although they specify that it'll take a week and a half just to put it out the door... not sure why... you just have to print a label and ship it morons!)

Got the mobo, PSU, CPU, memory, hard drives and video cards from Newegg. My wife does the mypoints thing, so both orders netted her some bonus points, at least enough to get a $10 McDonald's gift certificate. Hey- buy a computer for $4K and we'll spring for dinner! Yeah. I'm underwhelmed.

I put together a cooling setup on Danger Den. I choked when I saw the grand total was over $450, and they didn't even have the blocks for the 8800GTS's! Ouch! Will have to look elsewhere to see if I can pull something together faster and cheaper. I'm not a complete lamer. I should be able to find a lot of these parts myself and hack them together without the premium price. Might still have to wait for those blocks from DD though... they're way nice.

Will have plenty of time to poke around with things when the boxen start arriving. I've got that sad looking shell of a case sitting around waiting for some shiny new parts, and a pile of materials I've scrounged together. Now if I could just find a dang metal nibbler so I can punch out the proper holes.

I can't wait to drag the new 30" monitor over to work for a while to sit in place of my 21" screen. I'm sure the graphics card they've got in our systems won't push full res, but it'll still look pretty spiff.
 
The boxen have arrived! Thursday night was sheer geek heaven! I was surrounded by piles of plastic wrap, styrofoam peanuts, small boxes, manuals, cables and many small bits of stuff. It was amazing! Just like Christmas morning. So much stuff to immediately unwrap.

Made a minor mistake though. Ordered IDE hard drives instead of SATA. I SEARCHED FOR SATA, but Newegg sent me to a listing including IDE and I didn't bother checking beyond that. I didn't notice until I went to plug in power and data. Ugh. Well, Fry's had some SATA 500GB Maxtor's on sale for $110 each, so I snapped up three of them. I'll RMA the IDE's or just flip them on Craig's List. No big deal.

I've gone through the process of installing everything in the case. The 750W Thermaltake PSU is now where the hard drive racks were. It fits perfectly. I've made some modifications to allow the power and vent to come out the side of the case. There will be a 140mm fan hole in the front (probably behind some operable doors). A little messing around with some plastic stock and I'll have perfect airflow through the PSU.

The 8800GTS's fit perfectly in a case without drive racks. Leaves plenty of space for wiring and other messing around. Once I figured out where all the wiring is chasing around at, I took everything back out of the case. I've cut most of the holes I'll need in the case and I've shot the interior with some flat black.

I'll be setting up the system at first to just run air cooled. It will be water cooled eventually. The 30" Dell monitor is supposed to arrive Monday. I might have the system slapped back together around mid-week and will start setting up the RAID array and getting this bad sucker up and running. I can't wait to see it in action and get some benchmarks! It's going to be fantastic!

Oh, and going through the manual for the mobo, it states that I need a floppy drive (yuck) to make a boot disk for the RAID setup utility. Well, my work has some junk sitting around so I was able to borrow one of these floppy drive things (who uses these anyway??) so everything should work out. I'm pulling that sucker out of my shiny new system as soon as I'm done with that setup disk.
 
Will see about some pics soon. I'm due to take photos of the progress tonight anyway. Not a lot to look at yet though. The case is a bit of a mess, and all shot with flat black paint. I'm currently working on getting the bad sucker to boot up. I'm working on getting my USB keychain drive to be able to boot so I can flash the BIOS with an update. That should resolve an issue with the system locking up and giving me a 2A postcode. Then it's on to setting up the RAID 5 configuration. Then I can finally install Windows XP Pro. Drives are in a makeshift rack made out of the old rack I drilled out of the case. You'll like the location for the PSU. It looks like it belongs there.

A buddy who does more computer stuff than me may be heading out to visit tonight, so maybe we'll make some real progress on getting the system up and running.

I've run into one snafu that I haven't come up with a fix for yet. If anybody can help with the proper name of an object and installation of it, it would be extremely helpful. I have (2) 8800GTS's. They each have (2) DVI out ports. I have a 30" Dell with (1) DVI input. I'm going to be connecting the 8800's together with an SLI connector (the one that goes between the cards). Now, what I need is the little Y cable that goes on the outside, and I need to know how it's supposed to me installed. I assumed one connector would go to each video card, and the other end to the monitor. Somebody else told me that both ends go to the main card, and nothing to the secondary card. The Y DVI cable was not included with either the video cards or the monitor.

1. What is the cable called, and where do I get one? I've spent hours trying to find one but have come up short. Or is the cable that comes with the Dell 30" panel somehow not needing this Y connector?
2. If I need the Y cable, what is the proper location to plug each of the ends into?

I haven't done SLI before, so this one's new to me. Currently I'm setting up the system with one 8800 card. When I get my RAID set up and get the BIOS flashed, and can install some WinXP on this thing, I'll turn my attention to getting both cards up and running.
 
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