I need help to build High Performance PC (high budget)

[StorM_GmA]

hello guys!!!

for first time in my life i have the oportunity to buy a PC with almost unlimited
budget. In fact, the budget was about 5000Euros (I think it's about 5500dollars
but i'm not sure). However, I went to some shops and checked the prices for
PC with the most expensive parts and the highest cost I saw was about 4.200
Euros. So I think we can add whatever we want!

to the point now,
The PC I want, will not be for a certain perpose. Not an absolute gaming PC,
not an absolute multimedia PC etc etc. But this doesn't mean that I don't want the best VGA card (for example)!
If I should choose something, I think I mostly want best performance for
compiling progs and running heavy applications. But of cousre whenever I
want to play a game, I would like to play it with highest resolution, fps etc...

here is the list of the parts I should buy:

1: Case
2: Power Supply
3: Cooling (water cooling maybe)
4: CPU
5: Motherboard
6: RAM
7: VGA card
8: Audio card
9: HDD
10: UPS
11: DVD Recorder
12: Monitor

I will also buy keyboard, mouse, speakers etc but I don't think we should pay attention to these.
So, these are some parts I like and of course the parts you should tell me your opinions!

Case: I don't know which case I will use because different shops are having different cases but it's not a very potential part.
Power Supply: Enermax EGX850EWL 850W Galaxy
Cooling: ZALMAN Reserator 2 (or 1 plus don't know!)
CPU: INTEL core 2 quad core Q6600 2.40GHz LGA775 1066FSB (I prefer INTEL cpu's but not for a specific reason...I just think it fits better to my usage)
Motherboard: MSI P6N SLI or Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6
RAM: 2 of these: OCZ 2GB Kit (2X1GB) DDR2 1066MHz SLI
VGA card: Asus 8800 Ultra 768MB HTDP (maybe 2 of them with SLI?!)
Audio card: SoundBlaster X-Fi Platinum Champion
HDD: Western Digital 500Mb SATA2 16Mb Cache 7200RPM
UPS: I have no idea!
DVD-R: no idea again!
Monitor: nothing specific but I'd like a black TFT wideScreen 21"

That's all! I need your opinions for all these parts no matter if I personaly
prefer something. The goal for choosing the parts is:
Perfect compatibility, best performance.

Thanks for your time spent reading this post... I hope you will like to give me some guidance!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ok, here's the setup so far!!!

Case: Thermaltake Armor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 (P35, s775, DDR2) *
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Q6600 *
RAM: ?
VGA: 2x EVGA 8800GTX (SLI)
Power Supply: Corsair 620HX
Hard Drive 1 (OS): W/D150 GB Raptor-X (10000rpm, 16MB, SATA)
Hard Drive 2 (Data): W/D 500GB (7200rpm, 16MB Cache, SATA 2)
DVD-R: NEC AD7170S SATA (Bulk) Black
Cooling: ZALMAN 9700 *
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Champion
Monitor: Samsung 226BW 22"

ok there are still some questions i got about parts (the ones with the *)
Motherboard: The shop I'm checking the items doesn't have the one b1gapl said ( Gigabyte P35-DS3R ) they only have the
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4. Is that ok? or this one is crap?
CPU: what about Core 2 X-Treme QX6700 (s775, 2,66GHz, 2x4MB L2, 1066 FSB)??? or QX6800? extremely expensive I should say!
but as you have already understand...who cares?
RAM: why not RAM with highest FSB? like 1142 or 1333? I saw RAMs with that FSB from the manufactorers b1gapl told me! however
which manufactorer should I choose? b1gapl said 3 and I don't know which one is better... =\
Cooling: I will put this cooler because the shop doesn't sell parts of water cooling...so we start with that one and later I will buy
water cooling parts.

these few things left to mention and we're done! I'm glad for having such help I should say!

 

[advancedgeek]

Ok if you really have that much budget then maybe this suits you... so first let me make some corrections. If you really want hardcore gaming intensive graphics video editing then maybe you should wait till July 22 and get the Q6850 and also the case should be something like CoolerMaster Stacker 830 and instead of DVD-R you should get Blu-Ray for the next generation HD movies. And the hard drives you might want to RAID 2 1TB or if not 2 750GB and also follow this power supply guide here http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/updated-power-supply-guide-137927/

oh yeah and your monitor... if you really want hardcore gaming then you should get a 30" monitor that supports 2560 X 1600 resolution which is the max at the moment.

 

[b1gapl]

Just because you have all this money, doesn't mean you have to go out, and buy the most expensive stuff. Blowing $5500 on a computer now, is stupid. It will just be outdated in several months, with the upcoming Phenoms from AMD, or the Penryns from Intel. $1500+, can already build you an awesome powerful system, that can run anything. Then just save the rest for future upgrades.

So looking at your parts:

Case: I don't know which case I will use because different shops are having different cases but it's not a very potential part.

This is more of a personal preference...but getting a high-end system, with a big graphics card, it is recommended you get a full tower case. Popular choices are the Thermaltake Armor, Lian-Li full towers, Gigabyte Aurora series, or the Cooler Master Stacker 830 series.

Power Supply: Enermax EGX850EWL 850W Galaxy

This is overkill for your system. You don't need that much, unless you plan on SLI, and tons of other peripherals. A good 600W power supply will do, and still have enough headroom for upgrades. Suggestions for the PSU, would be the Corsair 620HX, PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610W, SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus 650W, and other brands like FSP (Fortron Source).

Cooling: ZALMAN Reserator 2 (or 1 plus don't know!)

If you want watercooling, it's better to get all the parts separately. Like the water pump, CPU or GPU waterblocks, radiator, tubing, etc.. This will cost you at least $250+, for a good watercooling system. Or you can just get the best air cooling. Like the Tuniq 120, or the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Edition(no fan included).
.

CPU: INTEL core 2 quad core Q6600 2.40GHz LGA775 1066FSB (I prefer INTEL cpu's but not for a specific reason...I just think it fits better to my usage)

This is a great choice. Price will drop on this, by half on July 22.

Motherboard: MSI P6N SLI or Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6

The MSI P6N Platinum is a great choice of motherboard, if you're wanting the SLI option, and extra some features. Forget about the 680i chipset. It's just not worth it. If you want more upgradeability, get the Gigabyte P35-DS3R motherboard. This is ready for the future Intel Penryn CPUs, and is a monster overclocking motherboard. Ask Sora. He owns one, and has overclocked his E6300 to 3.6GHz, on low voltage. Now that's incredible.

RAM: 2 of these: OCZ 2GB Kit (2X1GB) DDR2 1066MHz SLI

This RAM set is pretty good. I would suggest G. Skill or Crucial over them, because of their overclocking capabilities. Specifically models, like the G. Skill HZs DDR2-800, which is capable of reaching 1000+MHz speeds. Or the Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800, which is also capable of reaching those speeds. Another good set, thanks to nagasama, is the Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 CAS4. They can overclock high and still keep tight timings. Although I've heard only the older sets, use the Micron D9 chips, which is better for overclocking. So I would suggest the G. SKill HZs, or the Crucial Ballistix.

You also do not need 4GB of memory, unless you're doing CAD, graphic design, or video editing. 2GB is more than enough.

VGA card: Asus 8800 Ultra 768MB HTDP (maybe 2 of them with SLI?!)

Forget the SLI and the Ultra. Reason for this, is because.....1. SLI is not worth it. You're paying 100% more, for only 20-40% performance boost......2. The Ultra is not worth it either. The GTX can overclock to it's speeds as well, while being much much cheaper. Plus the 9 series will come out in several months, so look out for that, instead of paying a thousand for something, that will be outdated soon.

Audio card: SoundBlaster X-Fi Platinum Champion

I'm not big on sound cards, but the X-Fi Platinum sounds pretty good.

HDD: Western Digital 500Mb SATA2 16Mb Cache 7200RPM

lol....I hope you meant 500GB. Anyway, for the 500GB hard drives, I would like to suggest the Samsung Spinpoint 500GB hard drive. They're known for being very good high capacity hard drives.

UPS: I have no idea!

I have no idea either....but the higher the VA rating, the longer your computer will have power, during a blackout or brownout, giving more than enough time, to safely shut down your computer.

DVD-R: no idea again!

Mostly any DVD burner will do. Popular recommended brands would be LG, Sony NEC Optiarcs, Samsungs, or Lite-Ons....

Monitor: nothing specific but I'd like a black TFT wideScreen 21"

The Samsung 22-24", are excellent monitors. Theres also that new Viewsonic 28", that looks just awesome.

 

[motoxer4533]

Here's a sound card for ya.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 Soundcard - Retail

Awesome Monitor here too:
Samsung SM-245B 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black
(Although you may be able to find something with less response time than 5 ms).

 

[b1gapl]

Case - Cooler Master Stacker 832 or Thermaltake Armour or Your choice...
Motherboard - Gigabyte P35-DS3R
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo Q6600
RAM - Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 or G. Skill HZ DDR2-800 or Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 CAS4
Graphics - EVGA 8800GTX
Power Supply - PC Power & Cooling 610W or Corsair 620HX or SeaSonic S12 650W
Hard Drive - Samsung Spinpoint T 500GB 16MB Cache
Optical Drive - Sony NEC Optiarc DVD Burner
Aftermarket Cooling - Tuniq 120 or Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme
Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Champion
Monitor - Samsung 226BW 22" or Samsung 245B 24"

Should be around 1400-2000 Euros, along with the UPS, and others I forgot to mention.

Notes:
-The Q6600's price will be reduced by half, on July 22, so wait for that.

-It doesn't matter which RAM and PSU you choose. Any choice would be an excellent one.

 

[meat_helmet]

Yes b1gapl is right (as usual) in that it is not a great idea to spend all that cash on an outrageos PC at the moment. With that amount of cash you could buy a top of the line (not over the top) PC now, and another 2 more builds for 2 more years to come.

What i mean is you could use that cash over 3 years to have top of the line gear. That would be better than having an 'over the top of the line' PC which will be out of date in 6 months.

 

[veg1992]

Case - Cooler Master Stacker 832 or Thermaltake Armour or Your choice...
Motherboard - Gigabyte P35-DS3R
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo Q6600
RAM - Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 or G. Skill HZ DDR2-800 or Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 CAS4
Graphics - EVGA 8800GTX
Power Supply - PC Power & Cooling 610W or Corsair 620HX or SeaSonic S12 650W
Hard Drive - Samsung Spinpoint T 500GB 16MB Cache
Optical Drive - Sony NEC Optiarc DVD Burner
Aftermarket Cooling - Tuniq 120 or Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme
Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Champion
Monitor - Samsung 226BW 22" or Samsung 245B 24"

Should be around 1400-2000 Euros, along with the UPS, and others I forgot to mention.

Notes:
-The Q6600's price will be reduced by half, on July 22, so wait for that.

-It doesn't matter which RAM and PSU you choose. Any choice would be an excellent one.

nice build.... but i agree 100% don't blow a lot of cash on a build.... the most a person should ever blow on a build is $1600 without a montior

 

[baron5]

everything b1gapl said is very accurate. but consider a poineer dvd drive as they are widley held as the best of the best drives

 

[veg1992]

everything b1gapl said is very accurate. but consider a poineer dvd drive as they are widley held as the best of the best drives

u maybe right about that (not sure about pionner tho) but sony do tend to have pricier products)

 

[StorM_GmA]

wow! thanks guys for the replies! well, first of all YES i mean 500Gb not 500Mb
lolx

As about the cash now, here's the disadvantage of the thing:
I have only 1 chance to spend 'em...and I must spend 'em within
about 1 month. So I can wait until july 22 (I am not sure if the
Q8650 will be able to my country by then but anyway) but I can't
keep some money for later upgrading...
And if that sounds weird, here's the explanation. I will receive an subsidy
from the European Union due to some small-business-updating-program
and I guess they will not have programs for updating PCs each year! So I must buy
the best I can now, an if it's necessary I will make upgrades later but
with no high budget since all the money will be from my pocket!

That's why I don't care if i pay double money for 2 VGA cards for 30-40%
higher performance... I know that in computer world everything is changing
every year or every 6 months but the chance is 1 and I should get the
best available. After a year maybe we will be here again and talking about
an upgrading! who knows!

anyway, I see you all agree with b1gapl's setup...(is he pro or something?)
just kidding of course! I checked if all of the parts on the list are available
in my coutry and they are so it's really an complete setup I can buy!

2 questions now:
1. After the cash explanation, should I buy 2 VGA cards for SLI?
2. If i want watercooling, why it should be handmade? Market watercoolings
are not good?

Thanks alot guys for your help!