Going all out on a new PC, need some suggestions.

[M.Lee]

First, Hi, I just joined these awesome forums :) . I hope this is the correct section for this. If not please forgive me :slap: .

I'm working on building a new PC, I think I've got it pretty well covered but I'd like some other opinions on the specifics. So far this is what I plan to get:

Motherboard: nForce 680i SLI
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz Quad Core
Cooling: Liquid Cooling
RAM: 4x1GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8888 DDR2 1111MHz
GPU: 2x eVGA GeForce 8800GTX
HDD: 1x Western Digital Raptor X 150GB 10kRPM SATA-150 (Master) & 1x Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 7200 SATA-300 (Slave)
PSU: SilverStone ST85ZF Zeus 850W 12v
Case: SilverStone TJ09 Tower
Monitor/DVD-RW/Mouse/Keyboard/etc.

Aside from gaming, it will be used for lots of 3D work, CG and video rendering. The main thing I am not sure about is cooling, what would be the best setup? I'm not all that into liquid cooling, but I don't know much about it either.

And any suggestions for anything else would be helpful. Currently it will only cost roughly $2500-$3000 with my friends discount, not counting the extra unlisted items. So the price is on the bottom of my concerns list.

[damnnit]

So far it looks like a hardcore gaming machine. Everything is like top of the line. Not sure how much you plan to overclock but that should be fine. I use the Tuniq tower 120 and I like it. If you go that far out with the cpu and the ram, y not also go phase change? That ram is extremely high bandwidth for that cpu. Maybe lower it to about DDR800 and save some money.

[SlyMaelstrom]

I really gotta ask what you're doing on your PC that you need 4GB of RAM. That's not going to help you much unless you do REALLY heavy multitasking with a lot of memory intensive programs. I personally would drop that down to 2GB and lose the ZALMAN 9700. That should give you about $700 to spend on a second Raptor X, a decent RAID card, and a pretty darn good Water Cooling loop for your CPU.

Edit: Actually, you said you do a lot of video editing and such, so the 4GB of RAM wouldn't be such a bad idea. I'd still go Water Cooling over Phase Change though. Phase Change isn't really a practical 24/7 cooling option. People do it, but I don't really like it... as long as there is money to be spent elsewhere, then it should be spent there. Before going all out on Phase Change, I'd get a second Raptor and I'd get a more future-proof PSU (PC Power & Cooling 1000W).

Edit 2: Oh, I also like the TJ-07 a lot better than the TJ-09, but that's just me.

[kemo]

Every thing looks great just pick Tuniq tower or nice water cooling system
________
Honda Z series specifications (http://www.honda-wiki.org/wiki/Honda_Z_series)

[Peter949]

Gonna be a monster! Gonna run HOT! :)

[ScythedBlade]

Get a Tunic damnit

[Lithan]

Considering the noise of the raptor, I think watercooling would be a decent idea. Myself I'd go for a quieter and more upgradable components (2gb sticks, single gfx card (because its a good bet 1x next gen will beat 2x this gen), 2x 30inch lcd screen, high end home theatre audio system and audio card, maybe a nice 40"+ LCD HDTV and wait for next gen intel chipset board, dual core cpu: wait for next gen quad cores... seriously doubt much can utilize quads too efficiently today, and by the time things will, that core will probably be low-mid end anyway. (Just a guess based on my buddies reports of graphics work with 2core that 4core would be pretty much futile at this point in time).

[SlyMaelstrom]

...4core would be pretty much futile at this point in time).Not if he does a lot of video editing and graphic design. In fact, that's one of the few places that the Quads tested much better in. While I agree with you for the most part that when you get this high end of a PC it depreciates in value extremely fast, however, if you're going to do it, then do it. There is no point in waiting on this or that because by the time this or that comes out there will be another better product to wait for.

[M.Lee]

Tuniq Tower it is :) .


So far it looks like a hardcore gaming machine. Everything is like top of the line. Not sure how much you plan to overclock but that should be fine. I use the Tuniq tower 120 and I like it. If you go that far out with the cpu and the ram, y not also go phase change? That ram is extremely high bandwidth for that cpu. Maybe lower it to about DDR800 and save some money.
Would that cause any problems? Are there any quad-core CPU's coming out soon that would be better suited? I won't be buying everything until around January-early February., so a couple things may change with releases.

I'm still undecided on the cooling, though I'm starting to lean towards liquid cooling. The only thing is I've never used it before, and read on these forums that it's better to build my own than buy one? If so, how would I go about doing that exactly? And I don't suppose I'd need the heatsink then, correct? I was also already thinking about going for the SilverStone OP1000 PSU, so I may go ahead and do that. One more, what advantages/disadvantages does Phase Change have? Sorry for asking so many questions :D .

Lithan-
I searched for 2x2GB RAM cards that matched the speed, but couldn't find any. I think the current one's should last me quite some time without needing to upgrade though. Plus everything especially GPU's progress so fast you could end up waiting forever for the best. I'm mainly just trying to get the best as of now, something I won't need to upgrade much for quite some time. And I do do a lot of work with video editing, rendering and 3d work with Maya, 3DSMax, programs like that. Areas of which the quad-core will help quite a bit.

Thanks for all the help :) .

[SlyMaelstrom]

I'm still undecided on the cooling, though I'm starting to lean towards liquid cooling. The only thing is I've never used it before, and read on these forums that it's better to build my own than buy one? If so, how would I go about doing that exactly?Go to the Water Cooling forum. There are stickies about how to choose a Radiator, Water Block, Pump, Res, Tubing, etc...
One more, what advantages/disadvantages does Phase Change have?Sub-zero temperatures and it costs $900, respectively.

[Serra]

Tuniq Tower it is :) .
Would that cause any problems? Are there any quad-core CPU's coming out soon that would be better suited? I won't be buying everything until around January-early February., so a couple things may change with releases.

Quad-core CPUs should be out by then, I believe Intels target was Q1 2007, but I've heard rumors they may make it out earleir (don't know accuracy of those claims though). Definitely something to get if you're waiting that long anyway.



I'm still undecided on the cooling, though I'm starting to lean towards liquid cooling. The only thing is I've never used it before, and read on these forums that it's better to build my own than buy one? If so, how would I go about doing that exactly? And I don't suppose I'd need the heatsink then, correct? I was also already thinking about going for the SilverStone OP1000 PSU, so I may go ahead and do that. One more, what advantages/disadvantages does Phase Change have? Sorry for asking so many questions :D .

It's certainly better to build your own water cooler. Water cooling kit companies try to offer the arguement that by buying a kit you're making water cooling easy, but realistically you're still doing exactly the same amount of assembly work... all they're doing is offering your a more convenient way to get parts (though the quality is traditionally low with kits).

Definitely head over to water cooling, all your questions will be answered there.

Your setup looks pretty good so far, my only comments relating to your setup are then:
1. [You said your budget isn't a huge concern, but I don't know how far that goes] If possible, add on another raptor or two for RAID-0 performance, and keep your other disk for backup (though I would highly recommend switching to a Seagate 7200.10 series instead).
2. Get a line conditioner and/or UPS. You're making quite an investment, you might as well protect it (for more info, I reference my sticky in the PSU section).

[Patrick1980]

What OS are you gonna run on it? WinXP has a limit of 3.2 GB for the 32 bit version. So you'll need Windows Vista (Ultimate :banana: ) or the Xp 64 bit version on this monster :)

[damnnit]

Tuniq Tower it is :) .

I'm still undecided on the cooling, though I'm starting to lean towards liquid cooling. The only thing is I've never used it before, and read on these forums that it's better to build my own than buy one? If so, how would I go about doing that exactly? And I don't suppose I'd need the heatsink then, correct? I was also already thinking about going for the SilverStone OP1000 PSU, so I may go ahead and do that. One more, what advantages/disadvantages does Phase Change have? Sorry for asking so many questions :D .

Tuniq Tower should be a good choice. Not sure how hot quadcore will run but ill let you know when mine comes in. Liquid cooling, dont buy any kits just find some parts and put them together.

Tuniq = $50-60
Water setup = $300+?
Phase = $600+ custom (cheaper than vapochill with better results but theres the wait for the building process)

Phase change gives you subzero cooling so that you can take your cpu further with overclocking. You may not want that after all, seems you need a reliable system with moderate overclock not extreme for your video/gaming. Phase does however make your system more easily transported than water. Phase also runs your electricity bill higher is all I can think of for disadvantages. =)

[Terru]

No master and slave with SATA drives, correct?

[Lithan]

Not if he does a lot of video editing and graphic design. In fact, that's one of the few places that the Quads tested much better in. While I agree with you for the most part that when you get this high end of a PC it depreciates in value extremely fast, however, if you're going to do it, then do it. There is no point in waiting on this or that because by the time this or that comes out there will be another better product to wait for.


I stand corrected then. I have no personal experience with that environment myself, I just know that my buddy who's the tech guy at an architecture firm got a handful of dual core stations recently and has reported virtually no difference in dual core and single core workstations.

[Lithan]

Tuniq Tower should be a good choice. Not sure how hot quadcore will run but ill let you know when mine comes in. Liquid cooling, dont buy any kits just find some parts and put them together.

Tuniq = $50-60
Water setup = $300+?
Phase = $600+ custom (cheaper than vapochill with better results but theres the wait for the building process)

Phase change gives you subzero cooling so that you can take your cpu further with overclocking. You may not want that after all, seems you need a reliable system with moderate overclock not extreme for your video/gaming. Phase does however make your system more easily transported than water. Phase also runs your electricity bill higher is all I can think of for disadvantages. =)


You could feasibly build a decent water cooling setup for about $100+ cost of all the blocks you will use (I see no reason to watercool a Northbridge).

Rads can be had around 25$, tubing maybe $5, clams and barbs and such maybe $10, 4 of 5 times I got plexy scraps for shrouds free... 1 time cost like $3, and a solid fan maybe $15 shipped, Pumps cost in the $25-50 area, via 1300 was a strong pump under $25, but got unbearably loud after only a year or so.

The extras will cost you... convenient bleed and fill setups, a case big enough to house all that crap and look good, and the time setting up and arranging everything of course.

I left water back to air for the simple reason that air gave basically the same temps under 60-75ish(?) watt cpu output, for me. When I put TONS of volts into my cpu, air couldnt handle it as well... but air got me easily to the PDM (Point of Dimishing Returns) which I was happy with. And also, I could not find a silent enough pump with a head rating I was comfortable running with. As air cooling has improved a LOT since then, Id guess that 100-125watts is no problem for even reasonably quiet air cooling with good case flow. So I'd decide air or water based mostly on the cpu you buy and its thermal properties, and the voltage you expect to run it at.

I must also warn you, Watercooling is a paradise of unnecessary spending. I bought over a dozen 6.75" fans, 3 different radiators, 4 different blocks, handmade 4 shrouds, bought a dremel and a blowtorch and solder and flux to make things look nicer, bought a $100 case to fit everything in then hacked it up to hell without considering I might at one point stop watercooling. And I only ever watercooled during the 462 era.

[icon57]

and a 2nd raptor and go with a raid0 array

[Serra]

No master and slave with SATA drives, correct?

Right

[ExplosiveDiarea]

the video cards are awesome gaming cards, but I dont know if they will be the idea solution for rendering and 3D development. If you are anal about every line being perfect in your project, you might want to consider a work station card.

If you plan on doing more gaming with your rig then actual 3D and rendering the the 8800 will work fine. If you can find hacked drivers to make the 8800 mimic a workstation video card, even more power to you.

sadly, the 8800 may be superior to any workstation card right now in regards to power, but the bottom line revolves around the cards drivers and what those drivers are designed to be used for.