Need HELP!!!

[ReVolt911]

Hello. I am working on picking out the parts for a new computer. I used to work at a computer shop where we built custom PCs but that was a while ago. Since I havent been involed in building resently, I haven't been informed about what is the best for your money. All my PC's have Nivida Cards. I would like to keep it that way. I am going to school for game softwared devolpment so I need a computer that can with stand the rendering software. I am looking to spend around 1300. I dont want to go over 1500 and I need an OS included in that price. If you could I would like to know what i should purches. Thankyou for your help! I also will be using the Thermaltake VH600LBWS LCS aluminum ATX / E- ATX full tower case. It will be liquid cooled

 

[gkay09]

Check ur post 'Building New Tower Please HELP!'..given a few suggestions...

 

[batuchka]

This would be my latest $999 Phenom 2 build config

 

[captaincharisma]

thats good but he is also looking to add an OS into his build. i would say vista home premium should be good enough. also are you going to be using your old monitor or would you be getting a new monitor too?

 

[techwizard08]

batuchka is always on top of the phenom builds. The next time I have to put one together for a friend, I know who I'm calling

 

[xthekidx]

Just under your $1500 max:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=14386287

You can combo the Mobo and CPU and get $30 off, which will offset the cost of shipping. Then $50 MIR. You probably can't do any better for the price, that will be one kickass build, I have a very similar configuration and I love it. The PSU allows for SLI later of those video cards.

If you thought you could spend $25 more, then I would recommend this ram kit instead, I have them and they run great with no problems, completely stable on my OC with the timings I have in my signature:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

And since you already have cooling/case figured out, you can take $150 off that price

 

[techwizard08]

*closes his eyes and imagines thekid's build.*

I'm thinking i7....*clicks the link*

 

[techwizard08]

*does a little dance*

@zipzoomflyhigh
There are a few things in the OP's post that hint at his capabilities to do such things as OC, or multitask, or use the PC for more than just playing games. He worked in a shop building computers, he's going to be doing graphics rendering as part of his major...not to mention OCing an i7 doesn't require...well, a major in computer science

If you want to play games, buy an *insert gaming system here* OP obviously will be using his computer for other things. PLus, i7 is t3h s3x

 

[xthekidx]

Theres a lot of overkill on that system and the P2 system at $400 less would be even faster in gaming due to the video card.

I mean $77 for a cpu cooler and thermal compound? The guy didnt even say he wanted to overclock. 850w psu for 1 video card? A good 650 would be fine even for 2 video cards.

If you actually read all the messages here, I said take out the thermal compound and cooler down below the link...and the OP said he was going to watercool his system...that rings some bells for me.

PII is fine for gaming but like techwizard said, I'm willing to bet he will put his computer to more use than just playing games, otherwise he could buy a PS3 and and save even more money than going PII. i7 bitchslaps the PII all over the place in video editing and rendering and I'm sure it will do the same for software development. It is definitely worth the cost to the OP.

Plus, unless he is using a 1920x1200 res monitor, the GTX 280 will be more than enough card for his needs. A 4870x2 would be a waste. Put the extra money into a processor that will last a long time.

 

[fullmetall]

Mostly, if your going to build a computer this detailed, or any kind of computer home custom built, theres a 99% chance..its going to be oc'd, I would go with the build thekid put in and take out what ever needed to be taken out and walla. Intel is and will always overtake AMD in any gaming situation possible, psu wise, 850w might be eh.. idk, 650W+ is alright. PC power cooling and corsair ftw.

 

[xthekidx]

850tx has higher quality parts in it and will last longer than the 750tx or 650tx, plus it allows for SLI later without replacing the PSU. If you went lower, like the 650tx, you would need to replace the PSU as well for the upgrade. The 850tx is a better deal than the other two options in that series or the PC P&C 750w silencer (although that red one is awfully hard to beat). I always build with future expansion in mind, unless severely constrained by budget.

 

[fullmetall]

I guess, I would have went either way, pc power 750w or the corsair 850w. It's single rail which is iffy but, such a high amperage i dont see him pushing over that much so that should be fine unless he wants to go all out oc'ing mean machine on it, multiple rails would come in play.

 

[ReVolt911]

thanks for everyone that has helped me with my minor problem. I am having a couple more issues. everytime i add everything to my cart and add the price of my tower i come up to 1800. thats a little high for me. my tower coast $370. so if you could count that in on the price. i dont mind cutting back on some of the simple stuff, i can always up grade later. plus i have 1 harddrive and cd dvd burner/and one Cd Dvd rom drive. i do plan on going sli later so i want a psu that can hold up to the pressure

 

[ReVolt911]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471

how would this do compared to the i7 and how much better off am i going with the i7. does AMD support DDR3?

 

[xthekidx]

They are close in games, but i7 mops the floor with PII in everything else. If all you do is game, then PII is a better buy. PII does support DDR3 if you go with the AM3 socket, but this jacks up the price of the PII platform and makes it close to that of the i7 (PII's strongest selling point is that its cheaper to get a PII platform than the i7 platform, which is nullified if you go the AM3 route). If you want DDR3, then i7 is the way to go, but the Difference between DDR2 and DDR3 systems performance wise is very slim, and not really worth it unless you do CAD or Video editing or that kind of app.

I had assumed you already owned the case and watercooling solution, since you don't, that changes things. Are you absolutely dead set on getting that tower? Because getting it means you will have to sacrifice performance for it to fit in your budget. Only reason to get a tower like that is to accomondate a powerful system. If you go for that tower, you will have to sacrifice on your components, which defeats the purpose IMO.

 

[ReVolt911]

so you think if i dont go with the i7 that i will regreat it later? I realy like this case and i know i want to go liquid cooled i plan to OC and i want the liquid cooling. Im still in the gen ed. part of my school and im not sure what rendering software we will be using. so if i go i7 is there anything that i might be able to cut back on to save a little money. so by what your saying i dont want to go with AMD?

 

[xthekidx]

An i7 would give you much better results.

I wouldn't recommend cutting back on any of those components because they are fairly basic as it is. You could go with 3gb of ram instead of 6, but you get a much better deal for 6gb. You could also cut back on the GPU, but then your gaming won't be good.

Why do you want watercooling? It isn't necessary unless you go over 4ghz, and quite frankly 4ghz is faster than anything you could really need for apps that exist today. Watercooling is cool, but the performance gains don't justify the costs IMO. You need to spend about $150 or more to buy a watercooling setup that cools better than the TRUE, which costs half that price.

If you are unwavering on that case/cooling combo, then you are going to either have to increase your budget, or go with a PII build or Core 2, the Q9550 would be better than the PII.

 

[ReVolt911]

the case that i picked out comes with the pump and water block already i dont have to buy anything after the price of the case.

 

[xthekidx]

Right, so your case/cooling costs $370. An antec 1200 (which is also a very nice case, I would say comparable to that Thermaltake case you are looking at) costs $130 at microcenter + $75 for TRUE = $205.

Have you seen how that cooling kit that comes with that case performs? Because the TRUE can outperform some of the cheaper watercooling kits, so you might be paying way more for less value. I have no idea what quality that watercooling kit is, but you should look into it. It may just be a marketing ploy.

 

[xthekidx]

I found a review of your case/cooling.
http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/cases/Thermaltake_Armor+LCS/index.shtml
The case is the thermaltake armour + with a bigwater 780e preinstalled, so its a good cooler and case combo.

That being said, why do you need it? The people who this product is marketed to (extreme gamer setups) need this case and cooler to keep their expensive rigs running properly. They spend the money on this case because they 1. have money to spend, 2. need it to sufficiently house and cool their system. You are on a budget, and will not be able to afford the parts that this system is designed for. I think your priorities are backwards.

 

[ReVolt911]

okay well i checked out that case you suggested i dont like it. if you have any other good cases let me know. you bring up a good point. I still want to liquid cool so if you could keep that in mind. lets see if i can cheapen up my price a bit

 

[aford10]

This is probably my favorite case, should be more than enough room for watercooling
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160&Tpk=haf

 

[xthekidx]

Did you also look at the Antec 1200?
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0288150

 

[aford10]

Did you also look at the Antec 1200?
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0288150

+1, also one of my favorite cases.

 

[ReVolt911]

i did take a look at the antec 1200