AMD/Asus/Nvidia build

[David M]

I am putting together a computer for a buddy of mine partially with some parts that I no longer use. He said that he wants to do general work with the computer but it would be fun to do some gaming with it as well. He said it needs to be quiet because it will be in his living room and does not want to subject others to a bunch of fan noise. He does not want to spend lots of money but does not want to go super cheap either….so there really is no fixed budget, just something within reason. His computer will not be overclocked.


I am going to be providing the following parts:

-Motherboard, Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard

-Graphics cards, (2)Ge-Force 6800 Ultra graphics cards to be run in SLI

-CPU, AMD socket 939, 3500 (Winchester?) CPU


I have put together the following parts list:

-Case: Antec Performance I P180B, $115, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129017
I need a super quiet case. I’m open to suggestions on quieter cases even if they are significantly more in price. The case must be able to suppress the noise of the graphics cards I have which are some noisy buggers.

-RAM: 2 x 1 gig Cruicial DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR400 • 2.6V • 128Meg x 64, $295, Is there a better deal out there? I trust the Crucial brand but is there someone just as reliable but cheaper?

-PSU, ENERMAX EG851AX-VH(W) EPS12V 660W, $220
Although it is certified by Nvidia for SLI, is this amount of power overkill? The 6800 Ultra cards I have are less efficient than many of the newer and faster graphics cards and tend to draw more power. I also don't like having a barely adequate PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103438

-Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Are the new Western Digital drives unrelaible as some people seem to be saying? Is there a better alternative for a 500 gig drive?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136014

-Drive: LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5M Cache IDE ComboDrive, $26, Just looking for a fast and reliable CD burner and DVD player. http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827106992

-HSF: I will be placing the stock HSF that came with my FX-57 on the AMD 3500 with a fan speed controller to cut back on the noise if necessary.

[blue60007]

How quiet are the 6800's? I can't imagine dual video cards being quiet. Oh well, you can always pull one out if it's too loud.

I've heard that case is quiet and have heard lots of good things about it.

Here's the list of certified PSU's:
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone2_build.html#certified_powersupplies

Any on the "All other SLI PC configurations" list should be OK (provided it's a good brand). To be safe you could always go with one on the top two 7950/7900GTX/7800GTX lists. I'm sure that Enermax is fine, but if you wanted to look at a few cheaper alternatives, there's the list...

Here's probably the fastest 500 gig drive (granted it's more expensive):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148136

Here's some cheaper RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145579

[Mr.Ferrari]

I would choose the following psu's easily over your current choice:
Seasonic S12 650W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151028) $159.99
Silverstone Zeus 650W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817163108) $159.99
OCZ GameXstream 700W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341002) $124.99

Any of these psu's are gonna be MORE then enough to power your 6800gt sli build. Heck they would power highend ati crossfire or quad sli. Better internal components then the enermax for less too.