dantrigger

Hello everyone, hope I'm posting in the correct place.

I'm trying to build a new pc for gaming and the most important factor to me is that it is as future proof as possilbe, unlike my Dell XPS 600 which has a crappy CPU and I can't do a thing about it which is a shame if you factor the huge amount of money ($7K) I spent on it 2 years ago . One thing you have to know is that I live in Mexico and is kind of hard to find the latest technology and things tend to cost higher than in US or other countries, let's say a motherboard can be found in newegg.com for $129, well here in Mexico the cost is around $200-$220 if I'm lucky. Also I should probably mention that this will be the first PC I ever build.

Anyway back to the topic, this are the components I'm thinking of using that seem to have good reviews, good technology and, most important, are available in Mexico. I'm not including the graphics card because I'm planning to wait for the new nvidia card or probably will buy 2 8800 gts 512mb.

Here is the list:

Case: RAIDMAX SIRIUS ATX-701WB
Motherboard: ASUS P5N32-E SLI PLUS INTEL NVIDIA 650i SLI
CPU: INTEL CORE2DUO E6750 2.66 GHZ RETAIL 4MB CACHE L2 BUS 1333 (could also be a Q6600)
CPU Cooler: COOLIT SYSTEMS FREEZONE
GPU Cooler: COOLERMASTER AQUAGATE RL-M4A-E7E3-GP
PSU: COOLERMASTER REAL POWER PRO 850W ACTIVA SLI
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL RAPTOR WD1500AHFD
RAM: PATRIOT EXTREME PERFORMANCE 2GB (2*1024MB) PC6400 DDR2 240 DIMM 800MH PDC22G6400LLK
Optical unit: DVD WRITER LG GSA-H55NK
Extra fan: COOLERMASTER NEON 120 X 120 MM SUF-S12
Sound card: CREATIVE X-Fi XTREME GAMER

What do you think? Will this system rock in Crysis in very high settings and future DX10 games? Am I missing anything?

Please advice as I'm new to this whole PC Building thing (I'm following the guide from DH).

Thanks for your attention.

__________________
[COLOR=gray][COLOR=DarkRed]Motherboard: [/COLOR]Nvidia nForce4 SLI x16
[COLOR=DarkRed]Memory:[/COLOR] 2 gig (2x1 gb) @ 667 Mhz
[COLOR=DarkRed]Video:[/COLOR] Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX @ 430/1200 Dual SLI
[COLOR=DarkRed]Sound: [/COLOR]Audigy 2ZS
[COLOR=DarkRed]HD:[/COLOR] 2x 80 gig SATA in RAID 0 config (10000 RPM) and 500 gig 7200 rpm
[COLOR=DarkRed]Optical Drives:[/COLOR] SPhillips DVD+/-RW DVD8701 ?DL?, SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615
[/COLOR]

cozumel

Hi dantrigger and welcome to DriverHeaven.

You live in a great city. I'll be there soon, going to Amecameca and will climb Popo.

Anyhow, back to your rig. In my opinion you should stay well away from the Asus mobo. Read the user experiences in this and other forums. And not too sure whether the Raptor will offer you the best value as other hdds are catching up fast and offer far better $ to GB value.

__________________

JohnDoe47

If you had a 3-4 year old AGP system I wouldn't bother. Keep it. The Radeon HD 3850HD is on its way for AGP users courtesy of Sapphire and Powercolor. (colour*)

But because you have a DELL...which is a system with its own stupid Motherboard and RAM making it non-upgradeable than ye...NO. Yes by all means build a new system but please stick your head in the sand of shame for even having a DELL.

8800GTS? Wait a little bit longer as NVIDIA are starting to release the 9XXX series.

I'd rather have a poor frame rate with ultra-high image quality (which you get with ATI graphic cards) than a drop in visual quality for a higher frame rate (which you get with NVIDIA cards). But seeing as your going the SLI Motherboard way wait for the 9XXX series.

-N-

kris23

please do not get the Freezone...... its a pathetic waste of space for the price you pay for it man.....

you will be better off with a cheaper water cooling setup or high end air coolers. they all outperform it by far.

and the nforce 650i i dont think has enough bandwidth to run the newer cards and upcoming ones reliably man.... i recommend the Intel P35 and a single 9 series card.

the current Nforce boards are an absolute joke, if you are going with nvidia,, i'd wait for a better chipset. the "780i" is really just a pumped up 680i chipset literally! if you were to remove the heatsink, you would see 680i right on the northbridge.

also, you should get rid of the Aquagate, it probably wont decrease your temps much from stock anyway, it was built around older cards like the 7900s and 1900s, i highly doubt thhey will cool 2 powerful 8800GTS's

heres my sugestion, one thats cheaper and way more powerful so you can rock Crysis way better:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (Crysis is so power hungry that no other Core 2 can handle it besides the Quads)

4GB of DDR2 1066/1200mhz (Crysis is so power hungry that it consumes RAM and the 4 gigs will really help loading and higher resolutions)

Dual 150GB WD Raptors or Dual Seagate 7200.11s in RAID 0 (i recommend the dual raptors as it also helps in load times and gaming due to its high RPMs)

Lastly, the highest clocked 8800GTS you can get your hands on.

if you can get your hands on a Cooler Master stacker 832, that will be the better than any of those expensive cooling items you wanted to get if you just get a few fans.......

one last thing to note, if you want REAL performance, stability and power, i recommend an Intel X38 board with Dual HD 3870s, the new drivers give them more force than a single 8800GTS not sure on how much though....

__________________

dantrigger

Appreciate your quick replies.

Cozumel:

Thanks for the comments. You are right, this is a great city and a great country I just wish technology was a little bit cheaper hehe. Hope you enjoy your time here.
About the ASUS mobo I'll do some research I really tought this one was the way to go but I would really like an stable system. In the mean time I found this other mobo EVGA nForce 680i SLI, any thoughts about this one?

Nick0323:
You have no idea how much I regreat buying that... thing and I'll wait for the new nvidia card.

Kris23:
About the case I found this other one COOLERMASTER STACKER 830 is 3x expensive than the Raidmax one but if you think it'll be enough to ditch the Feezone and the Aquagate, then is worth the price.
The CPU recommendation I'll take it, going for the Q6600. I'll try to find the RAMs and the HDD I haven't seen them with any retailer around.
Thanks for the recommendation about the mobo and the cards but I rather stick with Nvidia, I think they offer better products than ATI (of course that's just a personal opinion) and as far as I know Intel is not SLI ready/compatible.

I'll await for more input.

__________________
[COLOR=gray][COLOR=DarkRed]Motherboard: [/COLOR]Nvidia nForce4 SLI x16
[COLOR=DarkRed]Memory:[/COLOR] 2 gig (2x1 gb) @ 667 Mhz
[COLOR=DarkRed]Video:[/COLOR] Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX @ 430/1200 Dual SLI
[COLOR=DarkRed]Sound: [/COLOR]Audigy 2ZS
[COLOR=DarkRed]HD:[/COLOR] 2x 80 gig SATA in RAID 0 config (10000 RPM) and 500 gig 7200 rpm
[COLOR=DarkRed]Optical Drives:[/COLOR] SPhillips DVD+/-RW DVD8701 ?DL?, SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615
[/COLOR]

P4raDoXx

Yeah, go with the Q6600. Most of the newer games coming out are multi-threaded, which will give you a significant boost. You can also run more in the background.

And why wouldnt you get a 8800GTX? If you wana be futureproof, id say eather wait for the new line of nVidias (which, in spite of all the rumors, i dont think is going to happen for a long time) or get a 8800GTX and when you start to get a little outdated, get a second one.

The PSU wattage is ok, it will last a while, and should run duel GTXs, but i personally would trust Taigan or PC Power and Cooling more. And screw the GPU coolers. nVidias stock cooler are fine unless you're going to overclock

And yes the freezone sucks. Get a thermaltake or a scythe

And if your going to run Vista you really should get 4gigs of RAM. Trust me, its worth it. (And theres nothing wrong with Vista, ive been using it since it came out and havent had a single noteworthy problem)

The sound card is good. Works especially well with 5.1 or 7.1 surround, and the crystalizer makes your MP3's sound much better.

And again, the raptor is good, but if you dont want to have to upgrade in 6 months, i would get a much bigger storage drive, and get a smaller 74gig raptor for windows. 150gigs will not be enough for a gaming rig.

I have a 680i and it works very well. im not sure what the differance is between the 650 and the 680 however.

And just because you mentioned it, im going to have to give you the truth about crysis. right now im suspecting the only system that can run it on maximum settings (at 1680x1050 resolution) would have to have duel 8800GTX's, a 3Ghz or higher Core Quad, and at least 4 gigs of RAM. i say this because i have a single GTX, a Q6600, and 2Gigs and i run crysis at all settings High with sound and physics very high and shadows and particles medium. (at 1680x1050 with 2x AA) With this i get about 30FPS when im walking and 15-20 FPS in a close range fight. if shadows and particles are set at high, i cant get through fights. the game will freeze up at like 3 FPS .

so dont feel bad when your system cant run it on max. i know i was for a while, 3.5k in technological caffene should be able to move mountains right?

anyways, yeah have fun with it. building your first system is an enjoyable experience.

~<+>P4raDoXx<+>~

EDIT:
Yeah i know im totally jacking this guys thread, but i have to ask. Is Penryn out yet? havent heard anything about it in months.

kris23

the 8800GTX and Ultra are in classes all their own and while untouched in the highest of settings, the 8800GTS G92 version surpasses them in lower resolutions.

the only problem with the G92 cards is the memory bandwidth, 256 bits is too narrow..... ATi countered this bandwidth problem with GDDR4, it wouldve been best if nvidia did the same.....

if only ATi's 3870 was just a bit more powerful.... they would have had to get the core 150mhz+ than the current to touch the 8800GT and GTS.......

__________________

OldBuzzard

Another case to look at would be the Cooler Master CM690. Just going by Newegg pricing, it's close to the same as the Raidmax you are looking at, altho it doesn't have a PSU.

As for the watercooling setup that you are looking at, for a similar amount, you could go with a Koolance EXOS 2 and have a lot more options.

__________________
When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Mousey

ATI Also said that the 2900 series would be coming to AGP systems soon, but it hasn't and that's what? a year ago?
Besides, the HD3850 needs a fair bit of juice in native PCI-E, in AGP it'll need even more.
Take my old X1550 for example, the PCI-E version of the sapphire card didn't need any additional power, however, sapphire's AGP version needed an additional molex connector to give it the juice it needed.

And what's the point in sticking with AGP now anyway? It's really cheap and cost-effective to move to PCI-E, since we're getting ready for PCI-E 2.0 and DDR3 technologies to become mainstream the prices of current PCI-E 1.0 and DDR2 are falling all the time.
Lastly, you've got zero upgrade headroom for AGP now, plus getting hold of a mobo that supports it is worth too much trouble.

__________________

kris23

man..... i remember when i had that HIS Radeon X1950PRO AGP card...... costed me like, $329-359

and i couldve had an 8800GTS for that same price at the time or something......

__________________

kris23

the EVGA 680i is a good board but its really old, it has no support for the upcoming CPUs like the e8400s, e8500s, and Q9450,Q9550s and such.

but if you are happy with a Q6600 then going with the 680i is a decent move. though i think going with a 780i would be the best choice when theyre cheaper. currently 780i boards score worse than the 680i boards they spawned from..... and they only support the dual core e8XXX series not the quad core Q9XXX series. not sure if that'll be fixed though....

that was the main reason why i went with an X38 board despite ATi cards having less speed...

since you said youll be waiting for the 9 series of cards, you will be waiting until late February to March. by then there should be a good amount of updated components......

__________________

cozumel

^^^ What he said ^^^

Edit: Also, CoolerMaster have a damn fine range of cases at the moment. There is the RC-690 (Which OldBuzzard said), Kris is using the Stacker and I'm using the Cosmos. All of them good choices for different reasons. They are all capable of taking full-length GFX cards. The Stacker and Cosmos may mean you have to undertake some minor construction in your home to accommodate their enormous size!!!

__________________

kris23

lol

EDIT: yup stacker 830/832 is about 2ft long by 2ft high and 10 inches thick. its not the sturdiest case ive seen but this thing is the sturdiest aluminum case ive used.....

the best cases for durability though is steel....

__________________

cozumel

The Cosmos is steel and weighs an absolute ton. I use it as part of my weight-training and fitness regime...so I guess it's a multi-purpose upgrade lol.

__________________

kris23

lol

__________________

dantrigger

I've done more research an it looks like I better wait until the new nvidia boards are released.
The 780i I think also does not take the new CPU's from Intel or am I wrong?

Well anyway I think is better if a wait a month or 2.

Thanks for your help!

__________________
[COLOR=gray][COLOR=DarkRed]Motherboard: [/COLOR]Nvidia nForce4 SLI x16
[COLOR=DarkRed]Memory:[/COLOR] 2 gig (2x1 gb) @ 667 Mhz
[COLOR=DarkRed]Video:[/COLOR] Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX @ 430/1200 Dual SLI
[COLOR=DarkRed]Sound: [/COLOR]Audigy 2ZS
[COLOR=DarkRed]HD:[/COLOR] 2x 80 gig SATA in RAID 0 config (10000 RPM) and 500 gig 7200 rpm
[COLOR=DarkRed]Optical Drives:[/COLOR] SPhillips DVD+/-RW DVD8701 ?DL?, SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615
[/COLOR]

temeteus82

The 780i should support the new 45nm CPU's from intel. I would be really shocked if they didn't.

__________________

cozumel

The 780i will definitely take the Yorkfield and Wolfdale penryn CPUs from Intel.

__________________

dantrigger

Oh I see, well if I can get my hands on one of those I'll be buying it then.

Also is HybridSLI worth to wait, I've been reading about and seems like a good way to save energy and thus money when the electric bill comes in, any word of advice about this?

__________________
[COLOR=gray][COLOR=DarkRed]Motherboard: [/COLOR]Nvidia nForce4 SLI x16
[COLOR=DarkRed]Memory:[/COLOR] 2 gig (2x1 gb) @ 667 Mhz
[COLOR=DarkRed]Video:[/COLOR] Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX @ 430/1200 Dual SLI
[COLOR=DarkRed]Sound: [/COLOR]Audigy 2ZS
[COLOR=DarkRed]HD:[/COLOR] 2x 80 gig SATA in RAID 0 config (10000 RPM) and 500 gig 7200 rpm
[COLOR=DarkRed]Optical Drives:[/COLOR] SPhillips DVD+/-RW DVD8701 ?DL?, SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615
[/COLOR]

cozumel

But to come back to the waiting game...It's a real problem...the new 9xxx cards coming out and maybe NVidia bringing out updated mobos. I hate saying that maybe you could wait as you could be waiting forever and new components are always on the horizon. But maybe you should...I just don't know...it's a difficult choice...makes you feel little bit and then , but whatever you get you'll end up with a rig that gives you and feeling

__________________