Changed the rig once again:

RAM - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Reaper HPC Edition Dual Channel DDR2
MOBO - Asus P5Q-E Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz
Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 Pro CPU Cooler
GPU - Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 PCS Extreme 512MB
PSU - Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2
HDD - Samsung SpinPoint F1 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
OPT - Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter

Whadya think?

Hello again you lot, I previously posted this but my circumstances have changed slightly and now my cash is needed elsewhere.

I now have a budget of around £600, so I threw together some parts and came up with this:

RAM - G.Skill 2GB DDR2 NQ PC2-6400C5 CAS5 Dual Channel Kit
MOBO - Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz
Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 Pro CPU Cooler
GPU - x2 Leadtek GeForce 8800 GT ZL OC 512MB
PSU - OcUK Huntkey 550W PSU
HDD - x2 Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache
OPT - Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
COMP - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

Figured I can build this rig for £520 based on the prices at overclockers.co.uk. What do you all think, can I squeeze any more performance out of the £80 I have left? I've got a 42" 1080p LCD so I'm gonna use that as well as a 5.1 home cinema system I have rigged up atm. Cheers.

Yeah and a bit lighter on the wallet too! Anyone got any answers for them Qs I asked earlier?

Ok, so I've been working on the W/C system:

CPU BLOCK - D-Tek Fuzion V2 Universal CPU Block
- D-Tek Fuzion v2 Quad Core Mid-Chamber Insert
- EK LGA775 CPU Backing Plate
GPU BLOCK - EK HD 3870 X2 Full Cover VGA Water Block
SPLITS - x2 PrimoChill Barbed Y (Red) 3/8"
RES/PUMP - XSPC Dual 750 Bay Reservoir & Pump
RAD - Thermochill PA120.3 120mm Triple Radiator
COOLANT - x2 Feser One UV Reactive Coolant 1 Litre (Red)
TUBING - x2 DangerDen ClearFlex60 1m
DISPLAY - Alphacool Full Graphic LCD Display (240x128, black)

Order of flow:

RES/PUMP>RAD>PCU>GPU(s)>RES/PUMP

Does that look right to you guys? I was thinking of splitting it after the pump and feeding it into 2 seperate rads, then having each one feed the CPU and GPU seperately, then connecting back up before reaching the pump, would this work?

I've got a few questions as well:

Will the board be able to house 2 4870X2s, the soundcard and the network adapter?
Is there a waterblock for the the northbridge?
Does the PSU have enough cables to power all the hardware?
Does double/triple rad mean 2/3 rads in one?

[QUOTE="trashedteen"]

Ok, so taking into account all thats been said, here's a new list:

- GPU - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB + Water Block
- CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 2.40GHz + Water Block
- RAM - OCZ 4GB PC2-9200C5 1150MHz Flex II Passive/WaterCooled Dual Channel DDR2
- PSU - Thermaltake ToughPower 850W Modular Power Supply
- HDD(s) - x2 Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-II(raid0)
- MOBO - DFI DFI-LPUTX48-T2R Intel X48
- CASE - Silverstone Temjin TJ07B-W
- OPTICAL - Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter
- NETWORKING - KillerNIC M1 Gigabit PCI Network Adapter
- OS - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1
- MOUSE - Razer Lachesis Ice White 4000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse
- KEYBOARD - Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
- MONITOR - Samsung SM-245T 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor
- SOUND CARD - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty 7.1 Champion Series
- SPEAKERS - GigaWorks S750

All cooled by a custom watercooling kit. Just trying to work on it now, has anyone got any suggestion for what parts to use (pumps rads etc)? Also, is there any reason why I couldn't use 2 rads? What I intend to do is have a Y split directly from the pump, then each one of them splits going through the rad, cooling the graphics and CPU seperatly, the joining back up before they go back to the pump?

Watdya think?

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

Btw, I commend you for working so hard to get the money. At least you work for it. See ya around.

Alter_Echo

Thanks for that. Its much appreciated.

In theory that water loop will work but it wont be optimal.

Also dont get the s750's. I had a pair and the quality was abysmal. The driver in the sub blew up after 2 months without even having sub gain turned on or going past 1/2 volume and the front channels had to have their wires resoldered within 6 months due to cracking and popping.

Also the additional volume control pod with its crappy manual upmix options that you will never use is worthless and cumbersome. They dont even sound good overall either. in 99% of the content you will listen to the 2 extra channels are wasted and to get sound in them you have to upmix which ruins the discrete nature of the other channels.

In short they sound subpar and feel like they arent well put together either. Sub is absolute trash. You cant make it actually sound deep without blowing it up.

Hmmm, have you got any recommendations? I did want to go with a 7.1 set-up for the added quality in-game but if you don't think its worth it then I won't. You think I've made the right choice on the sound card? And why would that W/C set-up not be optical, I thought with the GPU and CPU being fed seperate cooled water it would be better?

Ok, so taking into account all thats been said, here's a new list:

- GPU - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB + Water Block
- CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 LGA775 'Wolfdale' + Water Block
- RAM - OCZ 4GB PC2-9200C5 1150MHz Flex II Passive/WaterCooled Dual Channel DDR2
- PSU - Thermaltake ToughPower 850W Modular Power Supply
- HDD(s) - x2 Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-II(raid0)
- MOBO - DFI DFI-LPUTX48-T2R Intel X48
- CASE - Silverstone Temjin TJ07B-W
- OPTICAL - Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter
- NETWORKING - KillerNIC M1 Gigabit PCI Network Adapter
- OS - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1
- MOUSE - Razer Lachesis Ice White 4000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse
- KEYBOARD - Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
- MONITOR - Samsung SM-245T 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor
- SOUND CARD - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty 7.1 Champion Series
- SPEAKERS - GigaWorks S750

All cooled by a custom watercooling kit. Just trying to work on it now, has anyone got any suggestion for what parts to use (pumps rads etc)? Also, is there any reason why I couldn't use 2 rads? What I intend to do is have a Y split directly from the pump, then each one of them splits going through the rad, cooling the graphics and CPU seperatly, the joining back up before they go back to the pump?

Watdya think?

Btw, I commend you for working so hard to get the money. At least you work for it. See ya around.

Elann2008

Thanks for that. Its much appreciated.

So what do you think it would take to run crysis with those settings?

Yeah your quite right, it just seems that if you do it that way you always stuck with a mediocre PC that lasts a year as opposed to a top-of-the-range pc that lasts a couple, if not more.

Don't get me wrong, I'm more than willing to take advice, thats what I'm here for! It does make a lot of sense. My mentality when builing this rig was most expensive rig = fastest rig.

One thing, however, I'm not prepared to compromise on is the monitor, and therefore I need GFX enough to power it at its native res. You can't seriously say that one 280GTX is enough to power Crysis at near enough full graphics in full resolution?