I’m looking to build a new computer, but have never built a full one before. I have installed video cards, RAM, and hard drives before but besides that the rest would be new to me.

What I’m looking for in this system is to have a powerful gaming computer, that will be upgradeable as needed, runs cool, and will be as quiet as I can get it. I’m trying to keep it below $3000 cdn total, but closer to the $2500 if possible.

I have been doing research for the last week or so on what I think would be a pretty good build. Here is a list of what I’m thinking of getting, and after the list will add in comments and specific questions etc…



Operating System

Windows Vista Home Premium DVD


Motherboard

EVGA nForce 780i SLI - A1 Version NVIDIA

CPU

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700

OR

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

Power Supply

Ultra X3 1000w


RAM Memory

Corsair XMS2 DHX 4096MB Dual Channel PC6400

Video Card

DUEL EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

OR

EVGA GeForce 9800 GX2

Sound Card

Creative Labs X-FI Xtreme Gamer Fatality

Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB


The Video card I’m not sure on because I’m not sure what version of the card to get. EVGA, BFG, or XFX, and is it worth the extra for the overclocking? (leaning towords the duel 8800 GTX)

I would also like a CD / DVD Burner but I’m not sure what one to get.

What cases would you recommend keeping it mind I want it cool, yet quiet. Looks are also important to me, since it has to be something I wont get bored looking at. Obviously it has to fit all of my components (even the long 8800 GTX cards, possibly up to 3 of them if I want ot add one down the road) Some of the features I have read about I kind of like are the tool-less ones, with removable motherboard tray, side-windowed, and dust filters for the fans. From the looks of it my price range to have some if not all of these features will be $100 – 200. I don’t spending up to $200 as long as it’s well built, and will last me a long time.

A few cases that have good reviews from what I’m reading our…

Ultra m998
Ultra Aluminus
Soprano DX Black
NZXT Lexa Black/Silver

The one thing that has also prevented me from attempting building my own the most is not knowing anything about cooling, so I would really need some advice on what to do there.

What tools (tool kit) should I have to built this computer?

Please suggest / make comments on all of the above, and I will keep checking back. Also if there is anything else I’m forgetting to add please let me know.

Thanks

Eric
New Builder

Print this out:

http://www.corsair.com/systembuild [...] t_id=12472

Critique:

An overclocked gpu will produce more heat than a stock one and maybe noise since the fan needs to be running at a higher speed.

Look at ASUS dvd writers.

Is the pc going to be overclocked? How much?

Your primary objective is to achieve the highest FPS possible?

PSU looks like overkill to me, but I guess not if your looking to OC with 3x 8800s

heard EVGA board aren't the greatest.

I'm all for removable mobo trays. dont cheap out on the case. I prefere a small case with clean lines, but it sounds like are tastes may be different

dust filters are good if you don't like cleaning

a pair of 9800gx2 is about the same price as 3 8800gtx, but I dont think most games scale up to quad GPUs

for tools; philips screwdriver and maybe plyers to install standoffs

in my experiencce, a DVD burner is a DVD burner.

sounds like you might want to look into watercooling, for the OC and the eye candy. research it before you start buying.

Looks like a helpful reference for when i'm building it thanks

ok well that's good to know, maybe i will stick with not overclocking it, since i would rather the noise, and heat be lower then, it be slightly faster. Once i have it built I may try to overclock it to see what the difference is then make my decision.

ok i will look into them. Also something i forgot to mention in my first post, Blue-Ray drive is not something i'm looking to get right now.

I would like to overclock my CPU, but i'm worried about making it unstable.
what are your thoughts about the CPU choices I listed

Q6600 2.4mhz or the Q6700 2.66mhz?

how much can / would you remmond overclock both of them to?

would i be able to find a guide for the specific CPU i choose to get for overclocking?

yes my primary goal is to have the highest FPS possible, with still being stable, cooled properly, and close to silent.

The reason i chose this one over others is because of the high rating, and because it's modular which should make it easier for me to use, and reduces the clutter of unused wires in the case.

i have heard mixed reviews on most of the companies that produce them, but have no personel experience with them, what ones would you suggest, based on experience or reviews etc?

for size I do want to try and get a mid-tower ATX, but if it wont give enough room for everything etc, I still will go with a bit bigger one. For weight doesnt really matter to me, since I wont be taking it to a LAN party or anything. What would you think I should be looking for as for approximate price for the specs i'm looking for in my case?

I think i will stick with the two 8800 GTX's for now, with the option of adding a third down the road, when the prices drop a bit more, and/or i feel i need the added boost in speed.

that sounds easy enough to get, but in your opion is it worth getting a small kit, that includes a few extra tools, along with the anti-static strap etc?

watercooling would probally be best since it should run quieter then an air cooling system, but I would want something that's easy to maintain, and setup aswell. I dont know what I would need for my setup, i assume, CPU and Video Card cooling, but is there anything else? Watercooling also seems to be fairly expensive in comparison to air cooling. So not sure if my spending limit of $3000 CDN would be enough...

For buying my components where do you suggest I buy from?
I have been looking as TigerDirect for the most part but is there anywhere else I would be able to get them? I looked at newegg and some prices are slower, but the fact that they dont ship to Canada would be a problem

Is buying OEM for some parts, such as a Burner, CPU, and Hard drives a smart idea?

Before you build go to the Tweak Guides site and download the Vista Tweaking companion which has good information on BIOS optimization and driver installation order. The tweaking Companion is a free PDF file with a ton of valuable information.

thank you Whiznot, that definatly sounds like it will be perfect for that part of my build, i'll go download that now

I've had good luck with Abit, and heard good things about Gigabyte, MSI, DFI. I hear Asus if sliding. biostar makes some good boards, but they strike me as cheap from my limited experience with one of thier vid cards.

if you want to watercool. there are some cases made specificly for watercooling, any case can be watercooled.

I've built 2 computers. one in an Antec case, one in an Ultra case. the Antec was higher end, and easier to work with, but I wanted a micoATX cube for my second build (weight wasn't my concern, it was size and looks), so that realy restricted my choices. it hard to say what will be good, and what will be junk. try to stay away from cheap plastic pannels and doors, and you generaly get what you pay for.

an old boss of mine needed an antistaic strap just to keep from frying his laptop, but a vast majority don't need them. be sure to touch the case of the computer to discharge any buildup before you touch the electronics, and you should be fine.
I keep some cheap tweezers in my "kit" for dealing with the little plugs and the like, but I've also got realy fat hands.

I've looked into watercooling alot, but never took the plunge. lots of people say thier loops are good for years after they are set up. dont get a premade kit, as all thier stuff is cheap and overpriced.

don't bother watercooling HDDs, northbridge, or memory. Vid cards are optional.

the more heat going into the loop, the bigger the radiator you need.


I buy everything from Newegg. ZipZoomFly and Mwave have similar prices. there is also Amazon, Fry's.
Tiger has been around forever with decent prices, but not good prices.
for WCing, look at some of the more specialty stores. Ask the WC nerds, they are helpfull

have any friends in the States?

OEM is fine for a HDD. a retail burner usual comes with Nero (that burner only license), OEM usualy not. OEM CPUs come without coolers (fine if your using aftermarket cooling) and a shorter warantee (thats probably voided by OCing or aftermarket cooling). I've purchased both types of all 3 components. ask youself if the money savings of OEM is worth it to you. I haven't had any computer component fail on me in the last 15 years apart from fans.

the point of OCing is to make cheap components perform like expensive components. there is no garantee that a q67000 will OC higher than a q6600. there is no garantee that either will OC at all. general concencios is get the 6600.
maybe put some of that money toward you water cooling.

you never mentioned what resolution screen you were planning to use. I could not recomend any SLI unless your running high resolution. I wouldn't spend that kind of coin unless I was a 24" or greater screen.

Well if i did use watercooling I would use it for my video cards aswell. How hard are they to setup compared to air cooled consider i'm completly new to it with very little knowledge about it?

Thanks for the tip about discharging any build up of static, by just touching the case, ill keep that in mind

Tiger direct seems to have a few good deals but on some parts i can get cheaper other places, not all of them ship to canada... has anyone bought or heard of infonec? they ship to canada and prices are pretty good on the few thing si have checked so far, but i have never seen them mentioned when people buy parts...

I probally will overclock some but not to extreme, not worried about the HDD or Burners etc since if they fail they are relativly cheap to replace, but a CPU I'm undecided still.

i will consider that, since i was originally going to go for the Q6600 , but there is a deal on TigerDirect 780i motherboard, and OEM Q6700 bundled for $500 which is less that what i found the 780i , and thr Q6600 selling for...

1280 x 1024 is what i'm currently running on my 19" but i plan to get a 24" in the near future so the resolution will be higher.

Here is a list of the componets i have somewhat decided on now, to get a general idea on price.

$280 --- Vista Premium DVD

$500 --- EVGA 780i Motherboard & Intel Q6700 Quad Core OEM

$415 --- Ultra X3 1000w Power Supply & 4GB Corsair TWINX DDR2 RAM
- 40 Rebate

$110 --- Seagate 7200.11 500GB Hard drive OEM

$171 --- X-FI Xtreme Gamer Fatality sound card

$531(1062) --- BFG 8800 GTX OC2 (Duel)
-35(70) rebate

Total $2539
- 110 rebate
-------------
2429 (no taxes or shipping applied)

the lowest i could get it down to using infonec for a couple parts...

$110 --- Seagate 7200.11 500GB Hard drive OEM
-10 rebate

$142 --- X-FI Xtreme Gamer Fatality sound card

$429(858) --- BFG 8800 GTX OC2 (Duel)
-50(100) rebate

Total $2306
-150 rebates
------------
$2156 (no taxes or shipping applied)


Both of these do not include yet...
- CD / DVD Burner (max $50)
- Case (max $200)
-air cooling / water cooling (not sure the cost, and what i would need going either method)

It's not a good idea to buy from the States to Canada as you'll be charged import tax for total over $20. Yup. 20 bucks. Possibly provincial tax.

The best place to buy parts are your local stores. ncix.com is a good source for light parts. Price-match directcanada.com for lower prices. For cases and maybe psu's, get them from your local stores. canadacomputer.com is a good start. Their service is another story. Otherwise, the shipping may kill the deal.

Q6700 is 600-700 bucks. E8400 for half the price beats it out. E3110 is the same as E8400 for less. If FPS is your goal, then go with a dual core as they can generally overclock higher than quads.

Unfortunately, nvidia chipsets don't overclock as well as Intel ones. My buddy's Q6600 on X38 overclocked to 3.2ghz on the 2nd try. Prime/orthos stable. His previous nvidia chipset would crap out at anything higher than 3ghz. I'm not saying it can't be done on nvidia. I didn't have enough time. Just one day a week minus time for shopping & meals. If I have access to the pc 24/7 for 1 week, I can o/c Q6600 on 780i to at least 3.2-5-ish with either H2O or TEC (see my sig).

True that the overclocking isn't guaranteed. It's luck of the draw. Sometimes you o/c higher, sometimes lower. Don't expect to use the same bios settings for the same o/c on the identical setups.

A good H20 loop costs $300-ish. If you're cooling only the cpu, get a TEC. It cools better than H20.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling
http://www.coolitsystems.com/index [...] &Itemid=26

Click where to buy & buy direct. The manufacturer in canada sells refurbs for less than half the retail at $150 US + shipping. I got my refurb. Works like a champ. Reason for refurb is that if you send the new one to them for repair, they'll replace it with a refurb. $250 US down the drain. You can google for reviews. Some good some bad reviews. The Freezone takes time to be effective. At power-on, it cools like an air cooler. After 5-30 mins, your jaw will drop as you compare the low temp to that of an air cooler. The peltiers (blue blocks on both sides) are as cool as the fridge in the kitchen. I think some reviews failed to wait for the cooler to be effective or it wasn't installed optimally. The cpu fan can be plugged in the circuit board for max speed.

My 4.2ghz cpu idles at 19'C right now & loads at 45'C tops. How? I turn on energy-saving features in bios so the cpu runs slower at idle. You say the E8400 temp sensors are forked up. Sure. How do you explain the even lower temps on my buddy's Q6600 which doesn't have faulty sensors? 11'C lowest. At 3.2ghz it's 21'C idle & 35'C load. His TEC is modded with 2 Delta fans & a new coolant. Mine is modded with a Vantec Tornado fan at half speed.

Oh, I forgot to mention tools. Don't, I repeat, don't buy cheap tools. They can harm you. Get MasterCraft from Canadian Tire. They're comfortable to hold and are quality. Pick up a small pack of screw drivers, a pair of tweezers (for jumper caps, standoffs), plier and a toolbox. Throw the accessories & screws, etcs in the toolbox.

I wouldn't bother with 2 vid cards until you upgrade your screen.

TECs are a good idea for subambient, but just waste energy for warmer than ambient. there are also TEC waterblocks, the easiest way to go subambient, but subambient has its own problems.

If you want easy, good CPU only cooling the Freezone is a decent option. I'd considered it myself, because of my limiting case. but its TEC and therfore an energy waster.