The question thats been asked a million time before...

[ffmedic12]

The question thats been asked a million times before...

First off I'd like to say its been a very long time since I've posted here. The amount of help, wisdom and humor here is overwhelming at times.

As you can see by my sig, it has come time to put my current rig out to pasture. I'm starting this thread with the intent of getting some help, since I've been out of the loop on whats new out there. I'm asking for suggestions on a base rig that I think will work. I'm just not sure if the components are a good combo, or for few dollars more/less I would be better off. I'm strictly a gamer at heart, and I want to be able to upgrade down the road. And yes I do tend to OC. Any thoughts will be appreciated. I will continue to look at other posts and the quides for help, and look at people's sigs to see what is out there now.

Case: Thermaltake Kandalf VD4000BWS Black Chassis: Newegg.com - Thermaltake Kandalf VD4000BWS Black Chassis: 1.0mm SECC Front door: Aluminum ATX / BTX Tower Computer Case - Retail

*Updated* MB:Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

*Updated* GPU:Newegg.com - EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

*Updated* PSU: Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

*Updated* MEM: Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

HD: Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB
Newegg.com - Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

The remainder of the items I have or going to use from my currnet system.

OS: Most likey VISTA, unless proven otherwise.

 

[Gabb]

First off I'd like to say its been a very long time since I've posted here. The amount of help, wisdom and humor here is overwhelming at times.


HD: Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB
Newegg.com - Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM



OS: Most likey VISTA, unless proven otherwise.

Get at LEAST a GTS 320 mb with a system like that. The 150 gig raptors used to be 165 after MIR ( watches as everyone complains for you not to get the raptor ), at least dont get a raptor X I think the 150 gigs are worth it if you dont want to go through the hassle of RAID or double the data loss risk. The major problem with your system is that it at LEAST needs a GTS, the 8600 is trash.

 

[Akubane]

Here's my suggestions.

lose the 8600 GTS. nothin against the card and such but as opposed to the 8800 gts or the newly released 8800GT its junk XD

theres another thread with the 8800 GT link but here it is:
XFX PVT88PYDF4 Geforce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Video Card Retail ***Free Shipping*** at ZipZoomfly
280$ cant beat that. anythign else would probably be a waste untill the 9 series comes out. my opinion only tho

OCZ psu isnt really needed. Since components are beign made to use less power and not more. I sugges the Corsair 520hx or 620hx. I always do just because they're good Solid psu's. And the modular cabling rocks XD

Ive got the asus p5k delux myself but everyoen seems to like the Gigabyte p35 DS3L or DS3R. Great OC'ability, cheap, solid.

I don't know about that ram, someone else might be able to speak about it ^^. I got the 2Gb G.Skill myself. eventually i'll go to 4Gb. Everyone here lieks the crucial ballistix. Both great overclockers.

Everything looks great. I'd go with a seagate storage drive on top of that raptor. I'm not big on raptors myself but lots of people love em. I like the new 1Tb Seagate 7200.10 RPM 32MB cashe <3 it's a bit pricey though lol. killer space and good speed though.

 

[aetherh4cker]

You're not likely to need 4GB a RAM for a little while, and *really* won't need 8GB. With that in mind, I'd use 1GB modules instead of the 2GB ones. Crucial Ballistix are really nice, with a good mail-in-rebate:
Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

I wouldn't recommend a Raptor drive. Many say that the slight performance increase to load times isn't worth the cost increase. So I'd recommend a SATA3.0 drive... but some people really prefer the 10K RPM drives.

Nice choice in processor. I recommend a Tuniq Tower to cool it. Second best air cooler there is. Get you a nice overclock.

For Video Card, the upcomming 8800GT would likely suit you well... Might want to consider that one...

Edit: Didn't realize the case came with water cooling when I recommended the HS&F.

 

[ffmedic12]

ty for the quick replies. I was looking at the Crucial Memory, I'll revisit it.

As far as the Tuniq Tower. How does it compare to the Zalman 9500? I have that now and I've been very happy with that. But with the new case, it comes with water cooling for the CPU.

I'll switch the GPUs as suggested.

MB I will look at them, seems like it could be a worth while cost savings also.

I'll update my orginal post as I make changes. TY again.

 

[Akubane]

hmm I don't know about comparison to the zalman but most people rate the tuniq tower as the 2nd best air cooler. And it comes with a fan. Its 2nd to the Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120. Fan seperate. Not sure about pre-watercooled case. When I rbought it up everyone unanimously told me to avoid em. lol

 

[ffmedic12]

ty Akubane. I might rethink my case also. Go with air cooling. This case (Newegg.com - Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail )is one i looked at before. Seems like good fan cooling, good reviews on cable management and so forth. Plus it looks cool, I've never been a fan of the LED glow look, my computer is in the basement with me, and I'm the only one who looks at it. I haven't WCed before, thought id try it, but I know air cooling, and I know its reliable.

I know stock gpu fan cooling has come a long way since I last checked. Is stock fan GPU cooling good enough now to OC, as long as theres good case cooling?

The psus you suggested are nice. I like the mod cables. I will look into to it further. Tho I've been an Antec fan for a longtime. The OCZ was suggested to me a longtime ago.

Just a thought: I see your sig says watercooling in progress. You still looking at watercooling as an option?

 

[aetherh4cker]

I wouldn't get an after-market heatsink & fan for your video card unless you get the 8800GTX or 8800Ultra. Stock does 'ok', well enough to get a slight overclock.

I second his recommendation of the Corsair PSU's.

 

[Akubane]

Im goign watercooled 100% of the way. It's in progress cuz this crap is costing me a fortune and I don't make as much money as I want to XD (who does) And my car just cost me 400$ and counting in repairs ; ; I've got a nice setup picked out. Gonna cost me a pretty penny but I'm gonna eventually take this PC as far as I can take it. I'm a huge geek when it comes to new stuff. Stock air cooling can get the q6600 around 3.2 with good temps, I've heard. I don't have any experience with it. I've seen someone with the TRUE120 take it to 3.6+ stable but he went through tons of lapping(sanding) work and other mods. I'd like to push it to 3.8 or higher. I dont think i've ever seen it over 3.8 so I don't know if its even possible or not. I'm gonna do some serius GPU oc ing as well, air just won't hold up for my 34/7 running. And ill be going all out on games like crysis, fear, alan wake, lost planet, supreme commander, world in conflict and stuff. i work crazy hours so I spend a lot of time playing video games between the nights I go out to the bars and such.

IMO* watercoolign is only for peopel who really want to get some intense usage out of their components. People who like benchmarking and pushing things as far as possible and such. Otherwise Air has come a long way and does just fine in most cases. I'm doign it half because I think its fun (hobby) and half cause I wan't some sick performance out of it ^^. I don't mind costs as much as some people cause I do look at this like a hobby, and right now I wanna build a killer system.

As for the PSU's i love em. I suggest them to anyone

The p182 looks nice. I looked at it a while back but wasn't showy enough for me ^^ im going for UV kits and wires/tubing/coolant and all that jazz for fun.

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

the cosmos is another case with great reviews, awesome airflow, a cool look (i think) It abotu the same price as the p182 before the p182's rebate. Just another option. Id get it if it wasn't for the fact that it cant really be modded to fit my coolign like the Lian-Li A70B. And I like windows.

 

[Oreo]

EDIT: Doesn't matter actally screwed up