Before I start off, I just like to say thankyou to everyone in the forum ( cept that one guy who went off on me and cussed me out for RMAing my idling 74 celcius 8800 gtx ) for all the info, advice, and suggestions they have given. Especially b1gapl who always seems to be on top of things. Again I apologize for a lot of threads I made concerning my prior computer.
Anyways so come July 22nd I have $1300 to spend on a computer and build myself ( already spent $700 on the 8800 gtx, 2 gigs of ddr800 G.Skill HZ Ram, and G11 keyboard ( which I love dearly ). Here are my thoughts on the computers:
concerning the mobo:
I plan to get either the highly recommended non-SLI mobo the P35 DSR3 ( any recommendations concerning brand ), or just go for a conservative EVGA 680 nforce mobo ( since my 8800 gtx is EVGA and they cover both products if they damage eachother ). My last mobo was the P5N-E asus, it was a great mobo I guess...although got very hot for I dunno what reason. Not to mention SLIing 2 8800 GTXs would have been impossible space/heat wise.
concerning the case:
My last tried case was the NZXT Zero, a full tower case ( which still barely fit my 8800 gtx ), althought it had 8 stock case fans, the ambient temperatures as well as the mobo temparatures were still high. Everything about the case was great and it got great reviews. Some Cons however would be its easily scratched paint mentioned on newegg reviews and its tendenaces for its power LCD to die out ( I'm really OCD about that ). I guess I want to go for that thermaltake armor case everyone always talks about although it looked a bit crappy at Frys, but I defiantely need a full tower case...or maybe I should just get the NZXT Zero again...
concerning the processor:
ill prob go the Q6600...although I dunno since it runs hot and can't be overclocked well. Maybe the E6750 would be a better choice? Hmmmm...The differance in their price really isnt significant to me as it still falls within budget.
concerning the PSU:
My last PSU was the apevia 680 watt beast power...although it looked cool I understand apevia isn't the best of companies for a PSU. I'll prob go for that corsair 600+ watt one u guys have been recommending although I'm not sure where to find it again.
concerning the cooling options:
My last cooling options was the Vigor gaming lite thermoelectric cooler, although it did a good job of keeping the chips below 25 celcius, it didn't help at all with the ambient temperatures and took up a PCI slot for its useless lite read out. I guess I can go for those thermal take tornado thingies everyones been mentioning for the best air cooling. I still don't know, nor do I know anything about thermal paste, but I definately want the best kind. Is it Artic silver 7 or something like that?
concerning the HD options:
Despite everyones advice I bited the bullet and got the WD Raptor, they actually gave me a Raptor X. I was somewhat impressed by its performance but now since I have the option...ill prob go for the much cheaper seagate 7200.10 rpm drive. Although I don't plan to RAID ( not now at least ), but should I for the future? Ive heard a lot of people have a lot of problems with RAIDing.
concerning the soundcard options:
I had a X-fi soundblaster gamer card for a short period of time. Although it sounded amazing and I really like the mp3 crystalizer feature, I think the card somehow prevented me from using the mic jack at the front. Opening the mobo and couldnt figure out the wiring, the card was blocking the mobo mic jack which means I think they wanted u to run the mic from the back which would have been a problem.
Anyways so come July 22nd I have $1300 to spend on a computer and build myself ( already spent $700 on the 8800 gtx, 2 gigs of ddr800 G.Skill HZ Ram, and G11 keyboard ( which I love dearly ). Here are my thoughts on the computers:
concerning the mobo:
I plan to get either the highly recommended non-SLI mobo the P35 DSR3 ( any recommendations concerning brand ), or just go for a conservative EVGA 680 nforce mobo ( since my 8800 gtx is EVGA and they cover both products if they damage eachother ). My last mobo was the P5N-E asus, it was a great mobo I guess...although got very hot for I dunno what reason. Not to mention SLIing 2 8800 GTXs would have been impossible space/heat wise.
concerning the case:
My last tried case was the NZXT Zero, a full tower case ( which still barely fit my 8800 gtx ), althought it had 8 stock case fans, the ambient temperatures as well as the mobo temparatures were still high. Everything about the case was great and it got great reviews. Some Cons however would be its easily scratched paint mentioned on newegg reviews and its tendenaces for its power LCD to die out ( I'm really OCD about that ). I guess I want to go for that thermaltake armor case everyone always talks about although it looked a bit crappy at Frys, but I defiantely need a full tower case...or maybe I should just get the NZXT Zero again...
concerning the processor:
ill prob go the Q6600...although I dunno since it runs hot and can't be overclocked well. Maybe the E6750 would be a better choice? Hmmmm...The differance in their price really isnt significant to me as it still falls within budget.
concerning the PSU:
My last PSU was the apevia 680 watt beast power...although it looked cool I understand apevia isn't the best of companies for a PSU. I'll prob go for that corsair 600+ watt one u guys have been recommending although I'm not sure where to find it again.
concerning the cooling options:
My last cooling options was the Vigor gaming lite thermoelectric cooler, although it did a good job of keeping the chips below 25 celcius, it didn't help at all with the ambient temperatures and took up a PCI slot for its useless lite read out. I guess I can go for those thermal take tornado thingies everyones been mentioning for the best air cooling. I still don't know, nor do I know anything about thermal paste, but I definately want the best kind. Is it Artic silver 7 or something like that?
concerning the HD options:
Despite everyones advice I bited the bullet and got the WD Raptor, they actually gave me a Raptor X. I was somewhat impressed by its performance but now since I have the option...ill prob go for the much cheaper seagate 7200.10 rpm drive. Although I don't plan to RAID ( not now at least ), but should I for the future? Ive heard a lot of people have a lot of problems with RAIDing.
concerning the soundcard options:
I had a X-fi soundblaster gamer card for a short period of time. Although it sounded amazing and I really like the mp3 crystalizer feature, I think the card somehow prevented me from using the mic jack at the front. Opening the mobo and couldnt figure out the wiring, the card was blocking the mobo mic jack which means I think they wanted u to run the mic from the back which would have been a problem.
