Need help building gaming rig.... (mobo?, liquid cooling?, etc)

[saranghaes2]

not sure if this is in the right section, sorry if it isn't but

alright, so basicly im deciding to maybe build my own desktop... i wont care about the cost. i care about the performance and kind of noise. also looking at how hot/cold it will/can be. so far all i have is this to run on.


Case: is def. full-tower... i just dont know which one to get yet... suggestions please for this as well~

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 980x Extreme Six Core Processor (3.33GHz, 12MB Cache) (heard theres a way to make it 12 cores? im new to this..)

Operating system: Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English

memory: not sure weather to get 6 gb sticks or 12 gb sticks.... and if i should get 2 or 3/4

hard drive: 512GB Raid 0 (2x 256GB Samsung Solid State HDDs (if theres a better hard drive suggest please~ must be SSD) (solid state)

Video card: Dual 2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5970 CrossfireX™ Enabled or Dual 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 480 - SLI Enabled??? (if theres a better one again~ please suggest)

optical drive: Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BR-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) (again suggest better ones please?)

sound card? (is it needed...):Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium (suggest?)

and of course the optional Killer Xeno™ Pro

Im wondering which liquid cooling system i should get and which motherboard would be best to handle all of these... i know its a lot to ask but i really really wanna know and it would be awesome if u could share your knowledge. (btw if im missing stuff tell me and ill edit it in... my bad in advance ^^;

thanks a bunch

 

[ares1214]

first off, is this a complete build, or do you already have certain parts? what are your needs? im assuming you dont have a budget. country of origin? without all that, i cant do too much, but heres some pointers:

CPU: depends if you want future proofing or not. might want to get the xeons for the sr2

GPU: id wait for the gtx 475, or in the mean time get a few 470s or 2 5970s. maybe the Ares.

OS: good

RAM: you can more or less get a max of either 24 or 48 gigs (conventional board or sr2)

HDD: there are better ssd's out there, like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227552

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148349

the rest i need the top info for.

 

[ares1214]

also, what is your building expertise and experience with an lcs loop? if those arent high, the best system might be one from cyber power or digital storm, however of course i recommend to build your own.

 

[saranghaes2]

first off, is this a complete build, or do you already have certain parts? what are your needs? im assuming you dont have a budget. country of origin? without all that, i cant do too much, but heres some pointers:

CPU: depends if you want future proofing or not. might want to get the xeons for the sr2

GPU: id wait for the gtx 475, or in the mean time get a few 470s or 2 5970s. maybe the Ares.

OS: good

RAM: you can more or less get a max of either 24 or 48 gigs (conventional board or sr2)

HDD: there are better ssd's out there, like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227552

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148349

the rest i need the top info for.

if the gtx 475 is better than what i've chosen then i guess ill do so. im going to try to get probobly 48 gigs of ram.

I'm in Canada, my needs are to run any game on the absolute best settings and maybe be able to record with 60fps plus (basicly very good performance)

im trying to make a complete build... im kind of a newbie at this but im very eager to learn. those are basicly what i need. i expect to be keeping this for at least 8+ years for myself.

Any more suggestions? i'd gladly appreciate it!

EDIT: i also wonder which power supply i should get... im aiming towards a 1k watt power supply, depending on what ill need.

 

[coldsleep]

If you could provide the info requested in How to Ask for New Build Advice, that would help a lot.

The i7-980X has 6 cores and it has hyperthreading which enables it to present 12 logical cores. Basically, each core acts like 2; I'm guessing that's what you're referring to. The i7-980X is complete overkill for gaming, you'll be fine with the i7-930 for about $770 less. If you really have the money to burn though, go ahead and get the 980.

With RAM, for an i7-9nn, you want to get 6, 12, 24 GB (multiples of 3 sticks). 6 is all you need for gaming, though.

For graphics, it really depends on what you're looking for. Are you more interested in 3D gameplay or extreme (5x1 or 3x2) multi-monitor setups? If 3D, I'd go with nVidia (with the caveat that I don't think 3D gaming is really going to be all that exciting for another few years), if big multi-monitor, go ATI.

The best 256 GB SSD out there right now is the Crucial C300, which ares also linked. You will probably also want one or two traditional hard drives for data storage.

Most people find that onboard sound is pretty great these days and don't need a separate sound card.

And really, the "gaming" network cards are a waste of money unless you plan to drag the box around to LAN parties. At best, they may be able to reduce your ping on your local network (thus a possible improvement for LAN parties). They can't do anything about the traffic once it hits your cable box or DSL modem or whatever. You'd be better off spending that money on a faster internet connection.

 

[saranghaes2]

If you could provide the info requested in How to Ask for New Build Advice, that would help a lot.

The i7-980X has 6 cores and it has hyperthreading which enables it to present 12 logical cores. Basically, each core acts like 2; I'm guessing that's what you're referring to. The i7-980X is complete overkill for gaming, you'll be fine with the i7-930 for about $770 less. If you really have the money to burn though, go ahead and get the 980.

With RAM, for an i7-9nn, you want to get 6, 12, 24 GB (multiples of 3 sticks). 6 is all you need for gaming, though.

For graphics, it really depends on what you're looking for. Are you more interested in 3D gameplay or extreme (5x1 or 3x2) multi-monitor setups? If 3D, I'd go with nVidia (with the caveat that I don't think 3D gaming is really going to be all that exciting for another few years), if big multi-monitor, go ATI.

The best 256 GB SSD out there right now is the Crucial C300, which ares also linked. You will probably also want one or two traditional hard drives for data storage.

Most people find that onboard sound is pretty great these days and don't need a separate sound card.

And really, the "gaming" network cards are a waste of money unless you plan to drag the box around to LAN parties. At best, they may be able to reduce your ping on your local network (thus a possible improvement for LAN parties). They can't do anything about the traffic once it hits your cable box or DSL modem or whatever. You'd be better off spending that money on a faster internet connection.

thanks a lot for your advice, i really appreciate it. ill start off wit hthe "how to ask for new build advice"

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: from a month to 5 months. depends on what comes out in the time span as well.

BUDGET RANGE: no price range, go all out.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Multi tasking with lots of programs running, possible 3d 4d rendering, etc.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Mouse pad, speakers, 3d moniters (dont need 3d really, maybe later) and thats it i think

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: i heard newegg is pretty good. Also, brand named sites are good too (example intel) more reliability.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

PARTS PREFERENCES: whichever u experts advise, ill research into it deeper and see which i want to choose. that would help me greatly.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: whichever seems better, although i've heard crossfire is good.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: prefered to have the highest possible? (im going all out with this)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: if its possible to make it quieter without changing performance or heat problems etc please suggest. It would be nice to learn a lot more as im asking these things so go ahead and say little "tips" that could help me in the future, thanks!

 

[ares1214]

if you are willing to wait 5 months, i would. sandy bridge and bulldozer will be making their debuts, and hopefull the nvidia 4xx lineup will be complete, and maybe some info in ati 6xxx series. its never good to wait for tech, as theres always more around the corner, but now IS a good time to wait it out IMO.

 

[saranghaes2]

if you are willing to wait 5 months, i would. sandy bridge and bulldozer will be making their debuts, and hopefull the nvidia 4xx lineup will be complete, and maybe some info in ati 6xxx series. its never good to wait for tech, as theres always more around the corner, but now IS a good time to wait it out IMO.

srry to hassle u and stuff, but if i did wait til leverything came out, which would u recommend? u dont have to tell me if its ganna take too much of ur time. what you've told me is already a lot and i thank you for that.

 

[ares1214]

its hard to say to be honest. not enough info is out on these things. however, if you wanted my educated guess, i think Bulldozer is the better buy. Assuming you buy new, bulldozer will have a good upgrade path on am3+ (if they follow history), and will be backwards compatible with am4 (maybe?). Also, at the time, intels sandy bridge will be on socket 1155. This is actually mainstream for them, and socket 1366 will actually be the highest performing all the way till Q3 2011. in Q3 2011, intel release the new socket, which 1155 wont be compatible with. Also, id say its fairly likely bulldozer will outperform sandy bridge to begin with.

 

[saranghaes2]

its hard to say to be honest. not enough info is out on these things. however, if you wanted my educated guess, i think Bulldozer is the better buy. Assuming you buy new, bulldozer will have a good upgrade path on am3+ (if they follow history), and will be backwards compatible with am4 (maybe?). Also, at the time, intels sandy bridge will be on socket 1155. This is actually mainstream for them, and socket 1366 will actually be the highest performing all the way till Q3 2011. in Q3 2011, intel release the new socket, which 1155 wont be compatible with. Also, id say its fairly likely bulldozer will outperform sandy bridge to begin with.

i really wish i knew more about what u were talking about Dx looks like i have to hit the books hard tomorrow.

I've also been wondering about the power supply... is Diablotek RPM Series 950W ATX PSU any good for what im building? or could i do better?

 

[gerry410]

not sure if this is in the right section, sorry if it isn't but

alright, so basicly im deciding to maybe build my own desktop... i wont care about the cost. i care about the performance and kind of noise. also looking at how hot/cold it will/can be. so far all i have is this to run on.


Case: is def. full-tower... i just dont know which one to get yet... suggestions please for this as well~

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 980x Extreme Six Core Processor (3.33GHz, 12MB Cache) (heard theres a way to make it 12 cores? im new to this..)

Operating system: Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English

memory: not sure weather to get 6 gb sticks or 12 gb sticks.... and if i should get 2 or 3/4

hard drive: 512GB Raid 0 (2x 256GB Samsung Solid State HDDs (if theres a better hard drive suggest please~ must be SSD) (solid state)

Video card: Dual 2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5970 CrossfireX™ Enabled or Dual 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 480 - SLI Enabled??? (if theres a better one again~ please suggest)

optical drive: Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BR-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) (again suggest better ones please?)

sound card? (is it needed...):Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium (suggest?)

and of course the optional Killer Xeno™ Pro

Im wondering which liquid cooling system i should get and which motherboard would be best to handle all of these... i know its a lot to ask but i really really wanna know and it would be awesome if u could share your knowledge. (btw if im missing stuff tell me and ill edit it in... my bad in advance ^^;

thanks a bunch

HI, just wanted to suggest reading some of Tom's "do it yourself " builds. Thats what I did and its all working well. I pretty much followed the $1500.00 March 2010 build with a few upgrades and minus 1 video card due to my budget. I figured for my first build its a good safe "recipe" to follow.

If it's your first build I would also suggest watching a lot of you tube how to videos. Take peoples advise of what they think you should do with caution and get a lot of different opinions. Liquid might be risky for a first build but if you must take it slow and cautious. Good luck man. Your gonna feel great when you hit that power button and the machine purrs.

 

[saranghaes2]

I've chosen these 3 full towers and these 3 motherboards... i dunno which one i should choose. in terms of the tower, i want it to be easily cooled yet stylish.

all 3 motherboards support the core i have but i dunno whihc would be best for the rest of the stuff i have.

i also chose a power supply, tell me if u think its good enough please. thanks~!


Images

Chasis/cases: http://thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1303&ID=1423#Tab1

http://www.directron.com/vh600lbws.html

http://thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1445&ID=1418#Tab2

Motherboard: http://www.directron.com/rampageiigene.html

http://www.directron.com/rampageiiigene.html

http://www.directron.com/dx58so.html

Power Supply: http://www.directron.com/rsc0080gad3us.html

Also the cooling i chose: http://www.directron.com/cwch501.html

do i have to refill that one constantly? or can u just leave it? wondering about that too.

your replies will be much appreciated! thanks a lot guys

 

[ares1214]

ha, we have similar tastes in cases if you like the xaser, i personally like the blue and black one more. however, look at these cases:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225&cm_re=haf_x-_-11-119-225-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001&Tpk=800d

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163161&cm_re=ft02-_-11-163-161-_-Product

however if you are waiting a little bit, a lot of new cases will be out, a lot from silverstone and corsair. im sure cooler master too. as far as motherboards go, id recommend this over all the others:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130289&cm_re=big_bang-_-13-130-289-_-Product

that is if you are sticking with the 980x over xeons. for the psu:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256054&Tpk=st1500

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194046

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341028

 

[saranghaes2]

ha, we have similar tastes in cases if you like the xaser, i personally like the blue and black one more. however, look at these cases:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225&cm_re=haf_x-_-11-119-225-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001&Tpk=800d

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163161&cm_re=ft02-_-11-163-161-_-Product

however if you are waiting a little bit, a lot of new cases will be out, a lot from silverstone and corsair. im sure cooler master too. as far as motherboards go, id recommend this over all the others:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130289&cm_re=big_bang-_-13-130-289-_-Product

that is if you are sticking with the 980x over xeons. for the psu:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256054&Tpk=st1500

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194046

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341028

my bad accidently pressed remove. man i love the chasis designs u chose! stylish and good for cooling!

Thx for the motherboard choice too, i've been trying to find something like this.

for power, i tihnk im wither ganna go iwth the first one or the third one... still deciding though.

Your the best help iv'e ever come across, enough for me to call u godly even x] you've inspired me to press on and study hardware even further thanks a lot!

ill try to combine everything ive got and then ill post it up later. your the best!

 

[ares1214]

hahaha, well ares is the god of war, but im just givin ya some pointers. do you want a complete build?

 

[Joplaya]

sorry

 

[coldsleep]

I don't want to highjack his thread, but I'm almost in the same situation as the OP;

No rules against posting your own thread.

 

[ares1214]

i mean, they serve the same purpose for the most part, however a PM or your own thread would be prefered, but no big problem. lemme work on that, newegg.ca?

 

[Joplaya]

pref ncix please

 

[ares1214]

even if newegg is cheaper?

 

[Joplaya]

I'm Canadian so I'd prefer getting it from ncix, and I might get it assembled by them as well.

 

[saranghaes2]

hahaha, well ares is the god of war, but im just givin ya some pointers. do you want a complete build?

lol if u would do that for me then i would feel guilty >_< but if u can i would also be extremely greatful.

sorry for the late reply i was hooked on final fantasy x >_< my friend gave it back and i wanted to play it badly

 

[ares1214]

sure, country of origin, budget, and will you be building this yourself, or buying pre built?

 

[saranghaes2]

sure, country of origin, budget, and will you be building this yourself, or buying pre built?

lol i already told u everything xD ill post it again in here then.


Also the cooling i chose: http://www.directron.com/cwch501.html

do i have to refill that one constantly? or can u just leave it? wondering about that too.


case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageGallery.aspx?CurImage=11-119-225-TS&ISList=11-119-225-Z01,11-119-225-Z02,11-119-225-Z03,11-119-225-Z04,11-119-225-Z05,11-119-225-Z06,11-119-225-Z07,11-119-225-Z08,11-119-225-Z09,11-119-225-Z10&VSList=11-119-225-V01,11-119-225-V02,11-119-225-V03,11-119-225-V04,11-119-225-V05,11-119-225-V06,11-119-225-V07,11-119-225-V08,11-119-225-V09,11-119-225-V10,11-119-225-V11&S7ImageFlag=1&Item=N82E16811119225&Depa=0&WaterMark=1&Description=COOLER%20MASTER%20HAF%20X%20RC-942-KKN1%20Black%20Steel/%20Plastic%20ATX%20Full%20Tower%20Computer%20Case


Supply power: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341028&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=


Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130289&cm_re=big_bang-_-13-130-289-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=


HHD: around 3 or more of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148349&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=


Video card: im ganna wait for the card u suggested for me. i think it was the GTX 475

Processor: intel i7-980x hex core extreme

OS: windows 7 ultimate

i think thats everything. am i missing something or do i have any non-compatible parts?

almost forgot im getting 12 or 24 gb ram sticks too.

 

[ares1214]

for a system like this, if you arent VERY positive about your building capabilities, then you might wanna go pre built. how sure are you? :lol: