Building New Computer

[Tidane]

I recently shipped my computer across the country and UPS managed to mangle the case chassis and break the DIMM slots and at least one PCIe slots. I haven't been able to get the computer running long enough to see what else is broken, but a visual inspection tells me that at least one of the LAN ports is broken and one video out from the graphics card has been broken. In other words, nearly every part has at least some damage and I don't know what's repairable/salvageable. The package was, however, insured. I have the insurance representative coming out on Monday to assess the damage.

No matter what the outcome, I'm going to need replacement parts. If I'm going to start replacing parts, I want to make sure that they meet some requirements I had in mind for when I started upgrading. My current system is:

Motherboard: Asus P5N32-E SLI, nForce 680i SLI chipset (Probably needs to be replaced)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850, 3.00Ghz, 9x Multiplier (Appears functional)
Memory: 2x 1G DDR2 (Appears functional)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX, 768MB (Unsure of extent of damage)
Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy SE (Probably salvageable)
Case: Not salvageable.

Of the computer pieces, the memory is the only one I'm sure is functional, but I've been looking at adding 2-6GB of additional memory for awhile. I've been told I should buy all the memory together, but I'm not certain how valid that advice is. I've also been told that I should stick with DDR2 because DDR3 isn't worth it, but I've found competing ideologies and decided to figure that out after I found a new motherboard (though any advice about DDR2 vs DDR3 would be helpful).

My first concern is the case and the fan volume. My current case and fan setup (CPU fan, GFX Fan, 3 case fans, power supply) is extremely loud. When building this new computer, I want to be sure that it will make less noise. I'm hoping that someone might know of a website that's done comparisons on fans for their quality and truthiness. I don't want to buy another "quiet" fan that sounds like an airplane is taxiing. I've never really shopped around for a case, so I'm not certain what a good case usually cost (or the best place to buy one). I've been using NewEgg and reading customer reviews about cases, but I haven't found anything yet.

My second concern is the CPU. I was looking at Intel's i5 and i7 series, but the information I've gathered so far has told me that the i7 series won't be a large improvement over my current CPU. I'm hoping to get some additional input/benchmarks/websites that will help me be sure about this comparison. If the i7 isn't a large improvement, I'm not sure getting an expensive motherboard and DDR3 is worth it.

The last piece is the GPU. I've usually looked at nVidia products, but recently everyone has been suggesting the ATI cards. Is Tom's Hardware's GPU guide a good one to use when looking for a new card?

At this point, I know the motherboard will need to be replaced, but the question has become "what else will be replaced and what should I replace it with?". Depending on what the information says about the i7, I believe that replacing my motherboard and overclocking my current CPU may be the best option (I've heard of someone overclocking this CPU to 5.2Ghz, so 3.6Ghz should be no problem).

[sruon]

Motherboard: Asus P5N32-E SLI, nForce 680i SLI chipset (Probably needs to be replaced)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850, 3.00Ghz, 9x Multiplier (Appears functional)
Memory: 2x 1G DDR2 (Appears functional)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX, 768MB (Unsure of extent of damage)
Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy SE (Probably salvageable)
Case: Not salvageable.

Of the computer pieces, the memory is the only one I'm sure is functional, but I've been looking at adding 2-6GB of additional memory for awhile. I've been told I should buy all the memory together, but I'm not certain how valid that advice is. I've also been told that I should stick with DDR2 because DDR3 isn't worth it, but I've found competing ideologies and decided to figure that out after I found a new motherboard (though any advice about DDR2 vs DDR3 would be helpful).

You're indeed better off buying all memory together, for dual-triple channel sake and not being limited by one or another DIMM. But the biggest point here is that if you're going to upgrade to an Intel (i5-i7)build, you will be forced to use DDR3. Pretty sure only AMD offers DDR2 build compatible with latest CPUs.

My second concern is the CPU. I was looking at Intel's i5 and i7 series, but the information I've gathered so far has told me that the i7 series won't be a large improvement over my current CPU. I'm hoping to get some additional input/benchmarks/websites that will help me be sure about this comparison. If the i7 isn't a large improvement, I'm not sure getting an expensive motherboard and DDR3 is worth it.

Indeed you have a fairly veloce CPU currently, I couldn't find it in my 5 minutes search compared with an i7. Realistically there won't be much difference for gaming, 5-10 FPS maybe. However on benchmarks, and apps making good use of additionnal threads you may see a difference of up to 75%~

The last piece is the GPU. I've usually looked at nVidia products, but recently everyone has been suggesting the ATI cards. Is Tom's Hardware's GPU guide a good one to use when looking for a new card?

I think so, I'm a Nvidia fanboy but ATI has been making some very good card lately.

At this point, I know the motherboard will need to be replaced, but the question has become "what else will be replaced and what should I replace it with?". Depending on what the information says about the i7, I believe that replacing my motherboard and overclocking my current CPU may be the best option (I've heard of someone overclocking this CPU to 5.2Ghz, so 3.6Ghz should be no problem).

Your current build is pretty good, you can probably get away with buying just a new motherboard and throwing some more RAM.
Graphic card is due for an upgrade in my opinion.

[fishstix]

I put my computer through airport baggage once, also a big mistake -_-; if anyone else is traveling with their pc anytime, take it apart and static bag/bubble wrap everything. Insurance thing is kinda interesting if it pays out... sort of like throwing your warranty-valid laptop into a tub. :D

I've heard things both ways, that DDR3 is and isn't worth it. I think if you're buying a new motherboard and cpu, you might as well go with DDR3 though. If you're keeping the CPU, DDR2 is fine for that socket. While I find my quadcore totally sufficient to what I use it for, if I were to build a new system, I'd probably go i5/7 with ddr3 just to be future safe etc

[Dmitry]

If you do decide to get DDR3 memory, just make sure you don't try to put it in a DDR2 slot, for if you end up with the same motherboard or anything.

The thing about buying all your memory at once is most likely so you get the same speed on everything, so you don't for example decide to buy really fast memory at a later time, but in turn have it only run as fast as the slowest stick in that bank.

For your fans being loud, I have three 200mm fans and two I believe 120mm fans in my PC, all Coolermaster, and I can't even tell when it's on, even with the stock i5 fan

[Olo401]

If you just want to get a new motherboard and use the same CPU, check out this board.. It's the newer version of the board I have - adds DDR3 support and USB/SATA 3.0 capability. This way you'll be able to still use all the parts you currently have, and still be able to upgrade to faster memory when the prices come down.

You could build a new system, but since you dropped the cash on a Core 2 Extreme CPU you might as well get as much mileage out of it as possible.

[Tidane]

You could build a new system, but since you dropped the cash on a Core 2 Extreme CPU you might as well get as much mileage out of it as possible.

That was my thought. I'll keep the board you linked in mind.

I put my computer through airport baggage once, also a big mistake -_-; if anyone else is traveling with their pc anytime, take it apart and static bag/bubble wrap everything. Insurance thing is kinda interesting if it pays out... sort of like throwing your warranty-valid laptop into a tub. :D

The packages shipped to me fine when I first got them and I (wrongly) thought that having nearly $10,000 in insured goods would keep things safe. Every box I got was trashed, but the computer was the only thing that destroyed.

For your fans being loud, I have three 200mm fans and two I believe 120mm fans in my PC, all Coolermaster, and I can't even tell when it's on, even with the stock i5 fan

Maybe you can help with this, then. I think that I have smaller fans that you, yet anyone within three rooms can tell when my computer is turned on. These are the fans and what information I could find about them:

Power Supply: 120mm Ball bearing fan
Case: 3 x 80mm (front, rear, side)
GPU: Whatever nVidia has in it.
CPU: A big blue Intel fan. I believe that it is the D748830-001, but I was unable to find any helpful information about that.

I guess the first thing to do is to identify which fan is making the most noise. Should I simply unplug fans, boot, note noise level, and shutdown, or is there a more elegant solution?

[Tidane]

I've been trying to test components to see what's broken (but my computer has been locking up about once an hour, so it has been difficult). While I do that, I've been searching for a new case. Is there a good site for case browsing? I know my current case had an issue about being too small for all the components I initially wanted to put into that, so I wanted to be certain I could avoid the issue in the future.