New Quad Core System

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I think the 9600GT would be fine for occasional gaming. You might need to turn the graphics quality from high to medium in some games but overall the 9600GT should give you a good gaming experiance.

Watercooling the CPU isn't usually a requirement but it can be an option if you want. Thermaltake Bigwater 760i $150
A much more complex installation process Youtube installation video Bigwater 760i review

Also the cooling performance isnt always that much greater than air cooled heat sink & fan.
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The ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU cooler runs around $50 ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 review
And the NV120s blue LED fan would nicely match the blue LED of the Antec 900 case.

The Antec 900 case does a good job helping keep your system cool.
It has two 120mm fans in front, 1 120mm fan in the rear and a huge 200mm fan on top of the case.
11-129-021-18.jpg


 

Ibn Saeed

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Thanks once again for taking out time for writing a detailed post.

Ill stick with Air Cooling. Antec 900, are the two preinstalled fans enough or should i add more fans?

I am gearing towards 8800 gt 512 mb after reading its reviews. What do you think ? Maybe, some games such as Crysis.


@WR2, my main work includes Web Design, Web Programming, Graphic Design and occasional gaming.

I think there are different LCD Monitors pertaining to the requirements, for e.g Designers have to choose a different monitor when compared to gamers.

In that case, which Monitor would be the best choice ?

 

Ibn Saeed

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Just checked ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU cooler. Its quite heavy around 638g and huge.

P.S. I am not able to use the Postreply button. When I press Postreply, it says that the thread does not exist.

I am using the Quick Reply now.

 

Ibn Saeed

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Just checked the reviews of ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU cooler and the buyers are saying that they size if very big and one of them had one of his memory slots covered by the Cooler.

If someone has used ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU cooler with Antec 900. Would it fit in the case ?

Any other good Heat sinks?
 
The Antec 900 case has 4 fans. 3 are 120mm and 1 (the top fan) is 200mm. I don't think you'll need more case fans.
I did check the clearance of the Asus P5K motherboard and the Antec 900 case - not a problem for the NV120 cooler.


I can dig out some more coolers to give you a range of choices.

For your monitor - what budget range did you have in mind?
You're right that some professionals use specialized LCD monitors. For graphic artists that do design work and must have exact color on the monitor and photography and video editors that process images that require the highest quality. Those types of monitors tend to be on the really pricey side.


 

smalltime0

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As you are not overclocking the antec 900 is fine with the preinstalled fans on low... and its pretty quiet. You can install a side fan though if you want air flow directed over the graphics card. There is also a middle case fan mount, but I personally dont bother with it.
 

Ibn Saeed

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Thanks, i did reviews of other Heatsinks over at hardwarelogic.com and they gave Nirvana 93 rating and the rest were all below 90.
http://hardwarelogic.com/news/137/ARTICLE/1406/4/2007-10-29.html


I want to Overclock my system.

I am deciding on going with the following:

CPU : Intel 2 Quad Core Q9450
CASE: Antec 900
Heatsink: ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU cooler
Memory : 1 GB Crosair x 2
Graphics : 8800 GT 512 MB

Now regarding the Motherboard.

How about the followin two :

1). GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
# CPU Type: Quad-core / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Extreme / Pentium D
# Dual Channel Supported: Yes
# FSB: 1333/1066MHz
# Maximum Memory Supported: 8GB
# Memory Standard: DDR2 1066
# Number of Memory Slots: 4×240pin
# PCI Express x1: 3
# PCI Express x16: 1
# Model #: GA-P35-DS3L



2). ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030
# CPU Type: Quad-core / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium
# Dual Channel Supported: Yes
# FSB: 1333/1066MHz
# Maximum Memory Supported: 8GB
# Memory Standard: DDR2 800
# Number of Memory Slots: 4×240pin
# PCI Express x1: 1
# PCI Express x16: 1 x PCI-E X16, 1 x PCI-E X16 (x4 bandwidth)
# Model #: IP35 Pro


Need more suggestions regarding Motherboard. Also, would SLI motherboard be good for long term since I wont be changing my system for another 4 to 5 years (if it does not die on me)


 

Ibn Saeed

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My budget for a monitor is around $300.00. $250 would be great.

How about these monitors:

1). Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009094
Contrast Ratio: 700:1

2). ViewSonic Graphic Series VG2230wm Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116060
Contrast Ratio: 700:1

3). SAMSUNG 2253BW Black 22" 2ms(GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001268

Contrast Ratio: DC 8000:1(1000:1)


 

Ibn Saeed

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Just checked a local store over here:

I could not find Acer but found 3 other

Samsung 220WM 22" = $292.00
LG L222WF 22" = $231.00
ViewSonic VA2216W 22" = $258.00


 

KyleSTL

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Centurion 5 is a good case.
I'd go for either the Samsung or Viewsonic.
The Acer you listed is a 6-bit panel with dithering (as opposed to native 8-bit panels) so it's a good thing the store does not carry it.
I'd go for the DS3L, it is popular for good reasons.
 
Only if you are considering a future monitor size/resolution of 24"/1920x1200 or larger would a SLI motherboard start to make sense IMO.
Otherwise upgrading a single video card for a more powerful video card every 18-24months is the usual way people keep gaming systems updated.

The Q9450 is a slightly better choice for overclocking than the Q9300 but both would have OC'd faster than the $1400 QX9770 3.2Ghz CPU.
Q9450 @ 3.8Ghz and Q9300 @ 3.5Ghz is about what you could expect from either CPU Q9450 review @ Hardwarelogic

A well ventilated case becomes more important as you start overclocking. Unless your budget limit is reached I'd still suggest the Antec 900 over the CM Centurion 5. If you go with the Centurion 5 you'd want to get 2 more fans for the case IMO.
I think the ZEROtherm NV120 has you covered for CPU cooling.

Now that you'd considering overclocking and a future upgrade to the video card you'll want to consider a power supply larger then 450watts.

Of all the monitors you've listed I would have picked the SAMSUNG 2253BW. But considering the kind of work you'll be doing the one feature missing on all the monitors you've listed is the ability to pivot the monitor into Portrait mode - the vertical orientation of the screen (1050x1680). Dead useful for looking at a whole webpage in one glance. Also having USB ports on the monitor is super handy for using a USB flash drive to backup your current work files.
Samsung 2243BWX

24-001-254-11.jpg


 

Ibn Saeed

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Hello WR2

I just came back from of the local elec stores.

They have the following LCD's:

Viewsonic VA2216W 22" = $272.00
Viewsonic VX2255WMB 22" = $408.00
 

Ibn Saeed

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I think pivoting is not that important since I have to consider that most of the users dont have such a monitor and they will be working on the regular or wide monitors.

I will look into Samsung Monitors.
 

Ibn Saeed

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Here is what I have come up with so far:

CASE: Antec 900 OR Cooler Master Centurion 590

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450

MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX

MEMORY: Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB kit (2gb x 2) pc26400

VIDEO CARD:
eVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

OR

eVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI


HARD DRIVE: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

POWER SUPPLY: Corsair CMPSU-450VX ATX

COOLING FAN: ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU cooler



Would the Power supply Corsair CMPSU-450VX be able to handle the Grpahics Card eVGA 512 GeForce 8800GT


 

KyleSTL

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Yes, the 450VX will handle it nicely. For a little more headroom (future upgrades, single GPU) or quieter operation you could get the 550VX, but that's not necessary, but may be nice.

Two recommendations:
• Change your hard drive to either the 3200AAKS, 6400AAKS, or 7500AAKS (the first two being the faster of the three) because they are PMR drives and are much faster than the non-PMR 5000AAKS
• Get the standard 8800GT if the overclocked version is more than $10US (or equivalent) more than the standard. If it's less than 10, go for the overclock.

Other than that, it looks great, either case would be fine for your needs.
 

Ibn Saeed

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Hello KyleSTL,

Thank you for the details.

I have absolutely no idea what AAKS means. I better do some research. Whats a PMR drive? Too much technical words lol


Excellent, ill go with Standard 8800 GT.

Now I think i have to get a good monitor. WR2 suggested that I go with Samsung and I think Im leaning towards Samsung brand as well. Since I have a Samsung HDTV 30".


One more thing, I live in UAE where normal outside temps from June till September are between 30' Celcius to 39' Celcius.




 

KyleSTL

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PMR = Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (basically it means more bits/sq. cm., i.e. faster, quieter, lighter, lower power consumption)

for Western Digital -
AA = SATA drive w/o legacy 4-pin molex power connector (only 15-pin SATA power)
K = 16MB of cache (J = 8MB, B = 2MB)
S = SATA300 interface (D = SATA150, B = PATA/IDE)
 

Ibn Saeed

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Hello KyleSTL

Thanks alot for the information.


I called one of the local stores and asked them for
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM

They said that they dont have that one but they do have the following:

Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb = $82.00


What should I do ? Now which is better AAJS or AAKS ?

 

KyleSTL

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From an earlier post:

I assumed you had access to the 5000AAKS based on this.
If it's not too much of a hastle I would suggest ordering the HDD online and getting a 3200AAKS, 6400AAKS (best choice), or 7500AAKS.
Seagate .11 hard drives are also very good if you can get those locally or online easier.
 

Ibn Saeed

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Ill order WD6400AAKS online. I have to check the total weight of the Harddrive in order to calculate the shipping cost to UAE.

The same goes for the Casing's Weight.