Building new system, need advice!

Loki-XP

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Dec 31, 2006
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Hey guys,

I'm building a new system and was wondering what some other advanced gamers think of the setup. Tell me what you think. I'm planning on overclocking this a tad depending on if the E6600 I get can handle it.

I'm going with New Egg as they seem to have pretty stable prices, and I can get it all shipped from one place..

I'm going to be running Vista Ultimate, wanted DX10, and eventually a hybrid hard drive if they start making them for desktops (I've only seen laptops one planned so far??)

Heres the plan:

eVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR nForce 680i SLI Motherboard $249.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M L2 Cache LGA 775 $317.00
Corsair Dominator 2GB PC2 8500 $389.00
Thermaltake Armor VA8003BWS Black Full Case w/ 25CM Fan $169.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX 620W Power Supply $169.99
eVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 $589.99
ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler $69.99
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound $15.99

Total: $1971.94 (not including s&h or rebates)
Later on I will add a second 8800 GTX in SLI.. my guess is that I wont be needing 2 of them until some really kick ass games come out :)

I did not include cd/dvd drives or hard drives as I already have them..
Tell me what you think, am I buying good hardware thats going to last me or did I get a few things wrong? :)
 

Loki-XP

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Oh crap I'm seriously glad you caught that as it was originally on my list but for some reason I deleted it, wooops!

I was planning on going with the
CORSAIR CMPSU-520GX ATX 520W Power Supply $119.9

I edited my original post to now include it...
I'm new to SLI is 520W ok for multiple HD's, dvd burner and two 8800's?
I looked through ASUS's documentation on the 8800's and for some reason did not see a power requirement listing for two of them running in SLI mode, maybe I missed it but does anyone have any hard numbers on how much 2 of these cards draw at max pull?
 

sirheck

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it has 3 12 vlt rails at 18 amps each so it should work ok.

but i would (for the money you are spening) go for the 620watt version.

one good thing, they come with a 5 year warranty.
 

knowsitall

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Loki-XP said:
ASUS Striker Extreme (nForce 680i SLI) $409.99

Asus striker nice board and all.. but 409$$ no thanx.. get the evga 680i motherboard for 250$.. dont give in to increasing motherboard prices.. and with the 150$ u save buying the evga 680 put it towards the $430 gts and that will give u 580$. throw in a few more bucks and get a 8800gtx for around 600$-650$. I m possitive with the evga 680 and gtx u will see greater performance increases than with the striker and 8800gts.........
 

Loki-XP

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I guess its my personal preference to go with ASUS, I did have some bad exp. with eVGA in the past, can anyone else recommend going with the cheaper motherboard? Would make sense as long as its still a great motherboard..
 

Walker

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That Power supply aint good for that kind of system you can get a BFG 650 watts PSU from best buy with 2 12 volt rails with lifetime warrenty so more watts lifetime warrenty will run anytihng you throw at it
 

PCAnalyst

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I guess its my personal preference to go with ASUS, I did have some bad exp. with eVGA in the past, can anyone else recommend going with the cheaper motherboard? Would make sense as long as its still a great motherboard..

I reviewed the ASUS Striker and found VERY little difference between that and eVGA's board.

From the start there were a scattered few new eVGA owners who experienced problems with the board but after some BIOS revisions ended up with all problems corrected... or so they say.
(Check out eVGA Forumz for many many reviews and comments).

I would certainly suggest you choose the eVGA over ASUS for price considerations, But they are both the Top of the line ATM.

As far as power supplies go you might want to reconsider your original choice as well... I am no PSU expert but I have enlisted the help of mpilchfamily who is an expert here in the forums and he has helped many with the very same problem... don't take the PSU lightly... there are major differences between them you should know before buying.

As far as the Video Card... I would agree with KnowsItAll... since you have the budget worked out... a simply re-adjustment of where the money goes will get you the full monty of video cards as of January 2nd :p

PNY technologies has the card for $549 at Newegg... and the remaining $50 you save can go towards a better PSU. Also you won't need to go SLI with the GTX... it is just massive and will handle any game for some time to come.
 

Loki-XP

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As per forum members input and some more research on my part I've decided on the following changes:

Going with an eVGA 8800 GTX instead of ASUS 880 GTS
Going with eVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR instead of ASUS Striker Extreme
Upgraded the Corsair power supply to the 620w version
(man Corsair has one heck of a 5 year warranty on these)

I'll update my first post to reflect the changes.

I wish someone on the forums knew for sure if that Zalman 9700 cooler I'm going to use will fit the motherboard/case with no issues?

Damn I wish hybrid HD's were out for Vista too =)
 

knowsitall

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Loki-XP said:
Going with eVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR instead of ASUS Striker Extreme

i think with the evga motherboard you picked will not fit the zalman 9700 heatsink unless you modify the backplate. If you shave part of the back plate off it should fit. i m pretty sure it can be customized fairly easy to fit on the motherborad from articles and reviews i have read
 

dave86

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Read my post E6600 + G8800GTX Good over clocking
I spent a lot on a good power supply but I think it was important