I'll build the damn thing myself! Maybe...

Alright you guys win,

I'll stop being lazy and build the damn thing myself (see previous posts) I will need some help, been reading ALOT lately. (mostly the negativereviews from Alienware and Cyberpower, YIKES!!!) I did find one company that seems ok for future reference, Digitalstorm.

BUT I AM GOING TO BUILD IT, (and Crysis will come)

So I will need help here with some things. You guys up for it?

I'll Post pics the whole way. Here's where I am right now.

1. Case: Coolmaster stacker 830 Tower
2. Power Supply:Thermaltake toughpower 750W
3. Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz FSB) (8MB Cache)
4. Motherboard: nVidia 680i Core 2 Quad (By: eVGA) (nForce 680i SLI) (A1 Revision)
5. Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 800MHz Dominator (Dual Channel) (High-Performance)
6. Hard Drive : 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
7. Optical Drive : DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x)
8. Network Card:Help , was going to use on board???
9. Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB (By: eVGA) (PCI-Express)
10. Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE (Up to 7.1 Channel)
11. Windows OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home (Includes Service Pack 2)
12. Samsung 20" flat panel LCD
13. Cooling : ThermalTake Maxorb Entheusist

Now the Questions;

1.How about a few (new) links to some pc building guide you all think are decent. To get me up to speed faster.

2. Whats about these "easy to use" power and data cables,worth the extra money?

3. Do I really need to liquid cool with this thing?

4. Newegg? Who else should I shop with, (who do ou use).

I'll begin posting pics after i make my case buy.

Any recommendations to change the above specs are more than welcome.

Xipo

1.How about a few (new) links to some pc building guide you all think are decent. To get me up to speed faster.

2. Whats about these "easy to use" power and data cables,worth the extra money?

3. Do I really need to liquid cool with this thing?

4. Newegg? Who else should I shop with, (who do ou use).

xipotec

1. Check out this video. It's pretty much the basics for the actual assembly of the PC.

2. Sorry, don't know what you're talking about...

3. No.

4. In the past, I've also used xoxide, mwave, and frozencpu.

change the mobo try going for the new x38 chip route

also i would recommend going crossfire there is not that much of an increase in performance with sli but with crossfire you get a hugh increase.

try getting two 3870's from HIS or MSI

1. Google Corsair PC Build Guide, there's a guide I used for my PC builds with loads of pictures.

2. Like, Modular cables?? I think they're usefull, if you have cables that you don't use, you just don't use them instead of having to stuff them in every empty nook and cranny for your case.

3. Water cooling only if you want to OC to more than 3.4Ghz

4. Newegg for life!

Also, since you seem like you have the cash, get a WD Raptor for your OS and apps, then a larger drive for Music, Videos, Pictures, and Data in general.

I don't really know anything about SLI or Crossfire, I have never had the money for them, but I have heard better things about Crossfire. I think SLI also is only supported on SLI boards, which are great, but I am liking Intel chipsets more and more.

1: Been covered already. Also read the manuals when you get them, a lot of people surprisingly don't.

2: Modular cabling just means you can add and remove certain cables to help cut down on clutter in your case. It's up to you if you think it's worth it or not. I wouldn't sacrifice a good unit for modular cables though, make sure you get a good unit first and foremost.

3: I would not recommend a first-time builder attempt liquid cooling, nor would I recommend anyone not willing to spend at least $300 go with it. Doing it properly is the only way to see the true gains of liquid cooling, and doing it properly is rather expensive.

4: Newegg is good, ZipZoomFly and Tigerdirect are also good, and for little extras like lighting and cooling, FrozenCPU is also excellent.

Dont get the thermalright PSU, they are unreliable and not that great.
hacker_xyzzy

Thermaltake, not Thermalright. And the Thermaltake Toughpower units are actually rather high quality. The Toughpower series is actually better than most of the units Antec makes, come to think of it.

change the mobo try going for the new x38 chip route

also i would recommend going crossfire there is not that much of an increase in performance with sli but with crossfire you get a hugh increase.

try getting two 3870's from HIS or MSI

sabbath2gamer

Actually, you won't be getting a "hugh" increase with one over the other, and SLI is slightly better than Crossfire in terms of scalability anyway.

Scroll down a little bit less than half way down this page to the table labeled Multi-GPU Scaling.

I'll even spell it out for you:

In oblivion, 2 cards in Crossfire gets you an extra 70% where SLI provides an 87% increase. The situation is similar, but less rosy with UT3 where the XFire setup is 48% faster than one card and SLI is 66%.

[QUOTE="sabbath2gamer"]

change the mobo try going for the new x38 chip route

also i would recommend going crossfire there is not that much of an increase in performance with sli but with crossfire you get a hugh increase.

try getting two 3870's from HIS or MSI

TheLiberal

Actually, you won't be getting a "hugh" increase with one over the other, and SLI is slightly better than Crossfire in terms of scalability anyway.

Scroll down a little bit less than half way down this page to the table labeled Multi-GPU Scaling.

I'll even spell it out for you:

In oblivion, 2 cards in Crossfire gets you an extra 70% where SLI provides an 87% increase. The situation is similar, but less rosy with UT3 where the XFire setup is 48% faster than one card and SLI is 66%.

[QUOTE="TheLiberal"][QUOTE="sabbath2gamer"]

change the mobo try going for the new x38 chip route

also i would recommend going crossfire there is not that much of an increase in performance with sli but with crossfire you get a hugh increase.

try getting two 3870's from HIS or MSI

hacker_xyzzy

Actually, you won't be getting a "hugh" increase with one over the other, and SLI is slightly better than Crossfire in terms of scalability anyway.

Scroll down a little bit less than half way down this page to the table labeled Multi-GPU Scaling.

I'll even spell it out for you:

In oblivion, 2 cards in Crossfire gets you an extra 70% where SLI provides an 87% increase. The situation is similar, but less rosy with UT3 where the XFire setup is 48% faster than one card and SLI is 66%.

What? No link to prove it? Gamespot needs wiki's [Citation Needed] labels IMO.

Don't call me a fanboy either. I recently upgraded from an X1900GT to an 8800GT only because I had to replace a bad IGP in another machine. I have an xfire mobo and I wanted to get the OCed 3850 w/ the dual slot cooler, but newegg was out.

I was pretty much set on the SLi , been doing some reading and seems to me from my research that crossfire has less options. I guess it's and AMD vs Intel thing. I am pretty set on the 8800gt 512's. Most 3dbenchmarks show that this setup gets the best framerates anyway for the cost. (prove me wrong?)

NewEgg has 3 different 8800gt's on the site what they heck is the big difference? Just out of the box overclocked?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001402+1068310557&Description=8800gt&name=512MB

Whats the word on the next gen nvidia cards? Do you think they will be mega expensive? I can always upgrade later to them

I am very interested in possible a smaller case, but I want it big enough for the future, and obviously for the components I am using , without having to squeeze everything in tightly (airflow don't ya know.) Perhaps Mid ATX? But do not want it squishy, no squishy.

I am a BIG manuel reader (even read microwave manuel) So no problems following directions. I was talking about a site for reference that may show a few unique soloutions to common problems or even some detailed pictures of a rig being put together, sort of a visual guide for confidence building.

Why this drive? SEAGATE 500 GB 7200.11, its much better? Why?

Ok second choice on the cooler was>

ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler -

I am trying to keep the puter quiet. I have been also looking at the coolmaster cosmos to help with this issue. How about some tips for making the thing quiet?

I have heard good things about the Corsair PSU's. But also about Thermaltake. I want at least 750 watts for growth and Sli certified as well.

Thanks again, you all are aninvaluable resource.

Order your 8800GTs(I'd got with the eVGA Superclocked version) from ClubIT. They always have them in-stock and usually for the same price or cheaper than newegg. I couldn't say anything about the next Nvidia cards, as they havn't been announced yet.

The 8800GT is a large card and it produces a lot of heat. I'd only put two of them in a small case if you put aftermarket coolers on them, because the stock cooling doesn't do all that good of a job.

I can't speak to that specific hard disk, but I do know that there are plenty of 7200rpm drives that out-perform the Raptor that was recommended.

If you want a quiet heatsink, go with the Cooler Master GeminII. It cools pretty well without any fans attached so long as you've got good airflow. You'll need a pretty decent sized case for this, though.

Here are the cases I am considering

Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

Price: $74.99

In Stock? YES

To View This Item: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811166004

Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

Price: $129.99

In Stock? YES

To View This Item: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154

COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution RC-830-KKN3-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

Price: $179.99

In Stock? YES

To View This Item: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119122

Coolmaster was the first pick, but I like to look of the sunbeam and it's cheaper.

I cannot wait for the release of the Nvidia 9X series. So its SLi or me now.

What MOBO could be considered besides the one I originally picked?

xipo

Xipo

Whats so good about the Corsair PSU'sxipotec

They're exremely efficient, heat-tolerant, reliable, quiet, and are good in pretty much every way a power supply can be. The ony bad thing I've heard about them is that the modular connection isn't quite as firm as it could be, but that's a minor gripe in a sea of well-earned praise.

I don't know where you're getting your monitor from but Buy.com usually has good deals on monitors with free shipping. Look around for checkout options to get additional $$ off.

Youtube.com has lots of computer building videos along with some monster setups.

The basics:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=94z0jQ5--6A

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLcwLj8aJGo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFrB3rC9Avs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=41sq0RnPjeQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFUDfLOxf2w

www.youtube.com/watch?v=trcJvMjhjlM

For more basics search geekteks (they'll show you everything including how to wire it up) and sciguy14 (complete setup with liquid cooling) on youtube.

3DGAMEMAN has plenty of video reviews on youtube for all types of hardware and also has a vid on building a kickass gaming rig. He'll even show you how to overclock.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQo1W_f_Do8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xL1Bm7-8j8&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Ea_l_TCaY

Even though he doesn't show you everything step by step mofukra has some funny videos especially his computer building ones.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPjBKX8vF4E

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8sNGoQYnjk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOvAZ8zwFGE

FREAKIN Great Links.

Tank you so much.

Xipo

FREAKIN Great Links.

Tank you so much.

Xipo

xipotec

You're welcome.

Another consideration is CPU. For around the same money you could pick up a dual core E6850 running at 3.0GHz versus your quad core Q6600 running at 2.4GHz.

Most games are not written multi-threaded and those that claim to support multiple cores don't shown huge preformance gains at this time. You get a good boost from the second core because one core can run the OS and your malware on one and the game gets a core to itself. Adding more cores, especially at the cost of clock speed, won't help most games. If your primary interest is running games well consider a faster 2x core for the same money.