Planning a PC

**Minions** · 2009-05-16 00:55

I'm planning to purchase all of this between now and the end of the first week of June (2 paychecks from now)

So far I have figured out the following

MONITORS: $100 (got a deal last week) + $0x2
2x 2ms 3000:1 19" lcd monitors that a friend was using but he got new widescreens so hes letting me use them. (however they are not widescreen)
1x Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1
Newegg.com - Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1 (ACM) - LCD Monitors

CPU: $279
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

CASE: $204 no tax, free shipping

Spoiler: show

Spoiler was previous choice, but found the 1100 for a few dollars more, and I'm liking that case better.
COSMOS S HIGH AIR FLOW ALL TWR ALUMINUM - RC-1100-KKN1-GP
http://www.buy.com/prod/cosmos-s-hig...208292184.html

MEMORY: <$200
????? Compatible with future water cooling

VIDEO CARDS: $330(-30MIR) + $110 + (-10MIR +10? S/H)
EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 - Main 2 Monitors
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS - Second 2 Monitors (yes i'm aware i'm still 1 monitor short)
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

MoBo: $204.99 (-30MIR) $10 S/H
EVGA 132-YW-E179-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg.com - Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1 (ACM) - LCD Monitors
not 100% on this, I have about 250-300 to spend on a MoBo, that ones not in but ETA in a few days

Total sets me around $1436 or so... thats assuming the S/H is $10/ea on that card/mobo. Also i'm going to raid 0 a couple of 500gig HD's.

I'm looking for suggestions on the Mobo/Memory( you can comment on anything else as well ). From what i've read the first card is good, in the future I could buy a second and SLI them, however I got the 2nd card to support 4 monitors. I am also aware that by putting them in SLI I will be lowered to 1 monitor. I'm looking to do water cooling in October, so I'm looking to prepare for that (as far as components compatible with that) Also thinking about getting another widescreen for the fourth. 2 wide 1 on each side and 2 standard as the center screens.

**kyamei** · 2009-05-16 08:51

Originally Posted by Minions

CPU: $279
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

MoBo: $204.99 (-30MIR) $10 S/H
EVGA 132-YW-E179-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Total sets me around $1436 or so... thats assuming the S/H is $10/ea on that card/mobo. Also i'm going to raid 0 a couple of 500gig HD's.

I'm looking for suggestions on the Mobo/Memory( you can comment on anything else as well ). From what i've read the first card is good, in the future I could buy a second and SLI them, however I got the 2nd card to support 4 monitors. I am also aware that by putting them in SLI I will be lowered to 1 monitor. I'm looking to do water cooling in October, so I'm looking to prepare for that (as far as components compatible with that) Also thinking about getting another widescreen for the fourth. 2 wide 1 on each side and 2 standard as the center screens.

That mobo is a LGA775 board, wont work with Core i7 cpus. Gonna need a socket LGA1366 board.

**Minions** · 2009-05-16 09:38

good to hear that was just a board my friend recommended for ocing. If anyone has any suggestions for a mobo let me know.

**Vic** · 2009-05-16 13:05

I recently made a similar purchase (parts for an entire desktop). For the motherboard you'll need an intel x58 board to support the lga1366 socket for the i7 cpu. Since you're getting the evga card, I'd recommend the evga x58 board, which ranges from 269 to 400+ usd. What are you going to do about a psu? With those two cards you could prolly get away with an 850w psu but I would still recommend a 1000w psu, especially if you plan on two-way sli with the 285s.

Regarding water cooling, you're statement is kinda ambiguous. Do you plan to do water cooling for the cpu or for the ram, or both? In either case I would recommend doing neither because it 1) costs a lot 2) if it fails or leaks it can ruin you're entire desktop. For ramI wouldn't pay more than $100. You can easily find on newegg 6gb ram with low cas latency for ~$100.

Also at frys today the gtx 285 is on sale for ~$260, if you live in the bay area (CA)

**Avanarius** · 2009-05-16 13:06

I dunno if you want the cosmos either, it's a fucking huge case and really only under extreme watercooling sli circumstances would you need something that big. It's probably the biggest case I've ever seen....

Also any x58 board would work relatively fine. Just go with asus or gigabyte unless you want to pay an extreme premium for an evga board.

**Minions** · 2009-05-16 15:53

I plan to do both, and me/my friend have done 4 pcs with watercooling already. As far as being expensive, the Amount you overclock would have you paying the difference for a higher cpu regardless, honestly its a preference. I,ve seen people breaking 4ghz on this cpu but the heat from the p with fan cooling (aka the entire room) was unbarable w/o constant ac and that costs a hell of a lot more than water cooling. Ad far as to why I,m waiting till october for the cooling;its my birthday so I hould have cash sitting around to do it.

Thanks for the suggestions keep them coming. Im always up for changes as far as to wh I,m purchasing.

posting from my phone so its a huge wot lol will check back after work in a couple hours.

**Minions** · 2009-05-18 01:27

Gonna stick with the case, size is not really a problem for me (other than "problems with possible air circulation" before I get my water cooling in a few months), and I am looking at motherboards. Went back to Frys to see if it would be cheaper to get a card there than to order it online. Pretty much impossible to find something cheaper in stores these days... with so many sites offering discounts/no tax (at least here) / and free shipping.

Still taking advice, however ordering parts soon, (within the next few days to 2 weeks), prolly order all at the same time to save on shipping.

**Olo401** · 2009-05-18 09:10

Originally Posted by Minions

good to hear that was just a board my friend recommended for ocing. If anyone has any suggestions for a mobo let me know.

I'd go with the Asus P6T SE or MSI X58 Pro. Gigabyte's board lost me because it has four memory slots (the fourth slot is almost useless b/c of tri-channel).

Haven't seen any reviews on Foxconn's new i7 boards yet, but from what I can see they only have 3 memory slots - that's fine but if you upgrade memory you'll have to change out all your DIMMs.

**Minions** · 2009-05-18 13:34

Originally Posted by Olo401

I'd go with the Asus P6T SE or MSI X58 Pro. Gigabyte's board lost me because it has four memory slots (the fourth slot is almost useless b/c of tri-channel).

Haven't seen any reviews on Foxconn's new i7 boards yet, but from what I can see they only have 3 memory slots - that's fine but if you upgrade memory you'll have to change out all your DIMMs.

First MoBo appears to be for ATI cards according to the comments. (at least one persons) and it says you cant SLI cards on it, so its a no-go. I don't know about the second MoBo, but it kinda sucks that all the ratings on MoBo's are all over the place.

Edit(s)

Been eyeing this board lately.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188046
actually not liking some of the comments.

So I've moved on to looking at the ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131365
Also i've very glad to see that the manufacturers actually monitor the reviews on newegg, kind of nice, even provide tech support in comments as well.
Damn...
Cons: 1. THIS BOARD IS RATED TO HANDLE DDR3 MEMORY AT 1333. THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU HAVE 1600/1800/OR 2000 MEMORY MODUELS YOU ARE RUNNING THEM IN WHAT IS CONCIDERED "OC" STATE, AND YOU MAY NOT HAVE A STABLE SYSTEM. What that means is even though you have premium memory say the OCZ 1600 Platinum 7-7-7-24 @ 1.65 tripple channel DDR3 kit, you may experience stability issues, even with ZERO OC on any of the hardware, if you set your mem clock to 1600 with correct timings etc.

Thats kind of a let down.... also says anything more than 1333 was crashing his system v_v

Might just bite the bullet and pay $400 (or $450) instead for the EVGA E758
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188048 400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188047 450

Not many reviews however. At least the normal memory speed is 1600+ instead of 1333

Oh and for those saying the case was the largest evarrrrrr
look at this bad boy LOL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811215012

**Olo401** · 2009-05-19 08:52

Originally Posted by Minions

First MoBo appears to be for ATI cards according to the comments. (at least one persons) and it says you cant SLI cards on it, so its a no-go. I don't know about the second MoBo, but it kinda sucks that all the ratings on MoBo's are all over the place.

1) Never trust Newegg reviews. They're usually posted by people who don't know SHIT. Like the guy who posted about running 1600/1800/2000 memory on a 1333 board - the dude is correct on the memory running OC'd but if he couldn't figure out how to change the memory timings (or OC the CPU so that it matched the memory) on a board designed for overclocking then he didn't read the goddamn manual (and most likely didn't update his BIOS).

2) No motherboard limits you to the brand of video card you can use in a single GPU setup. The only thing that limits you is you.

2) You're actually planning to do SLI? You know you can't do that with video cards that aren't identical right? And I don't <i>think</i> you'll be able to run more than two monitors if you do SLI either since it'll see the two cards as a single unit and limit you to two outputs..

**Cephius** · 2009-05-19 09:08

Originally Posted by Olo401

2) You're actually planning to do SLI? You know you can't do that with video cards that aren't identical right? And I don't <i>think</i> you'll be able to run more than two monitors if you do SLI either since it'll see the two cards as a single unit and limit you to two outputs..

This used to be true, but not anymore. The newest Nvidia drivers allow you to run multiple monitors while running SLI.

**Olo401** · 2009-05-19 09:10

Ahh ok didn't know they had fixed that issue. And yea gogo html-not-bb-codes!

Edit: Just noticed the OP was looking at the EVGA Classified boards. Great choice there.. I usually don't pick the high end stuff (since I'm usually recommending for the budget conscious) but that's one of the best X58 boards you can get. I also like the DFI LanParty one with the modular cooling unit that hangs out the back of the case.

**Minions** · 2009-05-19 14:44

Yeah really leaning toward just spending a little more and getting what I really want. I know you need the same card, (thus why i'm getting a cheaper one in the mean time).

People do not seem to understand that you do not have to buy everything at once, but over time. I'm choosing the /best/ or close to it on parts that will be more expensive, or harder to swap out. Stuff like the second video card will come later on in the year, probably when I get my watercooling set up.

The motherboard can limit how you can SLI (2 way SLI vs 3 way SLI) some ways the boards are set up make it so its impossible to SLI unless you have small cards. So you can't really say that the motherboard has nothing to do with it. Other than that I agree.

So this PC's turning out to be around 2k + water cooling v_v. A little more than I was planning, but will have better results. Thanks for the info.

**Minions** · 2009-05-20 02:40

There is currently a good deal on memory DDR3 1600.
Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Memorial Day Sale Just started, use the promo code: EMCLSMX33 for an extra $5 off. Thinking of getting 2 sets of that... costs $190 before MIR and about 150 after. Memory is pretty damn good too.12 gigs for $150, and its the Platinum not the gold.

Sale ends on 5/25/09, Anyone that hasn't should honestly register to receive emails about their sales. They don't post their promo codes/sales on the site, just via emails.

**Avanarius** · 2009-05-20 02:59

Originally Posted by Cephius

This used to be true, but not anymore. The newest Nvidia drivers allow you to run multiple monitors while running SLI.

**Correction** You can use up to two monitors in SLI-Multiple monitor mode. The limitation used to be only being able to use one monitor with SLI.

You can also add a third card, not connected in SLI to support additional monitors.

**Minions** · 2009-05-20 15:22

So I was snooping for PSU's last night, and come to find out, Every PSU thats 900~1000W between 100-200ish bucks is a complete pos. Lots of people reporting they die in <4 months, apparently the failure rate is hella high..... So I looked a little higher and found
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies

Which appears to be the only PSU that has not been having /tons/ of problems... but it comes at a cost of more than I planned to spend. (by about 60 bucks). Should I just bite the bullet on this as well? Am I overlooking other good PSU's? Going to need the power for the water cooling, 2 way SLI (in the future) and ocing though. Please let me know what you guys think. I know corsair does good with their PSU's and Memory where it seems Antec has been slipping up lately.

Edit-

Wow the price dropped $20 over night, I guess I'm more encouraged to get it now.

**Olo401** · 2009-05-20 17:36

Here's the deal with power supply reliability in general..

- They're all made in like China, Taiwan, etc. in many different generic factories. Some factories turn out good quality product, some turn out pure shit, some are in between. Unfortunately these factories don't put out any one particular brand - they'll sell to several different companies around the world who then put their brand label on.
- Likewise, brand-name companies will buy from more than one factory, depending on who makes what they want to sell to their customers and how many different lines they have. A few brands will contract to one or two factories though, and some brands will even contract to other brands.

There's a tracking website that sorts all this out (I forget the link, can probably dig it up on Google or looking on tech websites) but in general, the two best quality brands that work direct with the factory are Seasonic and PC Power & Cooling. Corsair contracts to Seasonic, which is why their PSUs are rated fairly high. There's a few others that have a mix of direct-factory and cross-purchasing like Enermax, Athena Power, Antec, Silverstone, OCZ, Thermaltake. The other well-known brands I'm not sure about (need to check), and the lowere end ones like Rosewill or Sunbeam tend to be pretty bad.

BTW Antec supplies Dell and I think Gateway, if it matters.

**Minions** · 2009-05-20 18:07

Interesting stuff. Also kind of odd that Seasonic's highest power supply on newegg is 850. Other than a buzzing noise when it starts using over a certain amount (which i've also read about on some of other larger psu's). Overall PC is gonna cost a few hundred more than I had previously planned, but a lot of room for future expansion, instead of limiting myself with a weaker psu/mobo.

So the current setup looks like this:

MONITORS: $100 no tax, free shipping (got a deal last week) + $0x2

Spoiler: show

PURCHASED

CPU: $279 no tax, free shipping
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

CASE: $204 no tax, free shipping

Spoiler: show

Purchased

MEMORY: $180 (-40 MIR = $140) no tax, free shipping

Spoiler: show

PURCHASED

VIDEO CARDS: $330(-30MIR= $300) + $79.99 (-20MIR= $59.99) no tax, free shipping

Spoiler: show

PURCHASED

MoBo: $450 no tax, free shipping
EVGA E759 CLASSIFIED LIMITED EDITION
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188047

PSU $239.99 (-30 MIR = 209.99) no tax, free shipping

Spoiler: show

PURCHASED

CD/DVD COMBO $26.00 no tax, free shipping
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118030

HD $120.00

Spoiler: show

PURCHASED

Total sets me around BEFORE MIR:$2,006.96 AFTER MIR: $1,886.96

Going to purchase the Memory, and other things with MIR first (the MIR's must be purchased before the end of the month), Memory deal is only till the 25th.

**Minions** · 2009-05-21 16:01

Overnight the price of the PSU went down by 50cents, and a new promocode appeared that takes $10 more dollars off. What luck :D Ordered the memory, first vid card, and PSU, so I can fill out the MIR for them and send them in.

**SamanosukeShiva** · 2009-05-21 20:03

well i'd personally get the 1200w or 1300w psu, just in case u'd wanna upgrade to more beast vid cards for SLI say dual gtx295 or something haha

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