its another build! 2500-3000

[spartan015]

So I'm about to build an SLI comp for my friend, budget is around 2500 but can go a little bit over. perferably lower for him.

I have no idea what motherboard to go with right now, I'm looking at the EVGA T1 680i SLI board
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813188012

but I was looking at the LT and I really don't get the difference besides price. So I was wondering if anyone can recommend me a solid stable motherboard for SLI 2 8800GTX.

My other question is what to do about power supply, I've been looking and looking, reading about it in all sorts of places, and I'm still clueless. I just don't know what I'm trying to find.
Cooler Master 1000w Pro psu
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817171022

RAM i think is going to be either G.skill, mushkin, patriot or corsair. what ever has cheap but stable, 2gb.

i got the cpu its a e6600 C2D, (probably should subtract that from the budget already)

hard drives, raptor and a 400 gb western digital or seagate.

i don't know if his sound card will fit, if not what ever.

a thermaltake armor case (huge thing with lots of fans, i'm not going to go water cooling yet)

So right now I just need an opinion on a motherboard (SLI) and a power supply.

thanks in advance.

oh this rig is for gaming if i haven't mentioned that.

[Mavrick813]

If your going with the EVGA 680i you want the A! Retail version so you can get all your wires and what not, The black pearl is for water cooling and all other EVGA 680i are either refurbed or OEM type without all the wires and what not. Try this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188013

For the PSU, Silverstone, Coolermaster 850W+ PSU SLI certified, IE:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256007

I don't see an optical listed, Check this. And check out the combo Rosewill with it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151154

As for Ram, Crucial, OCZ, Mushkin are all good.

G/L

[spartan015]

i heard rosewill isn't really a good brand. optics yeah i'm prolly going samsung or lite-on with lightscribe.

so silverstone is a solid company?

[Mavrick813]

Yeah Silverstone is Solid.

I have the Mitsumi 8 in 1 reader, but haven't had any trouble with the rosewill one I put in a friends build... The Reviews on the Rosewill look as solid as the Mitsumi one as well.

Only two Media readers I have found as of yet that also have Floppy A drives with them. And I know I know Floppy is so outdated. But guess what? So many things still utilize it... IE: Raid drivers for the 680i board needs floppy during the windows install.

Mike

[Masaki 7-11]

There isn't too much of a difference between the 680i and 680i LT. The LT version has the same performance as the 680i, but removes many of the additional features that aren't necessary, like 3 pci-express slots. Also if you are going with 8800GTX, you might want to take a look at the 8800GTS 512MB (G92) since it's cheaper and performs about the same, as well it runs cooler and draws less power.

[spartan015]

floppy??... uh oh... i haven't put those in my comps in 3 yrs

[spartan015]

now the 8800 gtx and gts is a conterversy. what comes down to is personal choice and lol if that extra performance does anything. according to tom's hardware there is a significant increase in performance on the GTX side. but hey, if i need to cut down on money somewhere i'll prolly go with the GTS

[Katreat]

Check out this review for PSU requirements. Which video card you use will determine your power needs and two GTXs will need alot.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

I am not sure tomshardware has the NEW 8800 GTX (512) (G92) on the list yet. But from other reviews it is just a little slower than the GTX for a much lower price. So it comes down to how much you are willing to pay for the last little bit of speed.

Kat

[spartan015]

quick question is it worth it to go Q6600 instead of the E6600?

[Cricket]

quick question is it worth it to go Q6600 instead of the E6600?It's worth it if you do a lot of multi-tasking. For gaming I'm not sure if it'll make much of a difference.

:) Cricket

[Masaki 7-11]

now the 8800 gtx and gts is a conterversy. what comes down to is personal choice and lol if that extra performance does anything. according to tom's hardware there is a significant increase in performance on the GTX side. but hey, if i need to cut down on money somewhere i'll prolly go with the GTS

Actually the G92 version or the 512MB version performs about the same as the 8800GTX in both benchmarks. The 8800GTS (G92) has the same amount of Stream Processors but all the clocks (ie Shader, Core, Memory) are all higher than the 8800GTX, however the memory runs as 256 bit vs. the 8800GTX's 384 bit. This site has a whole review on it with comparisons to the 8800GTX: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/3635-xfx-8800gts-512mb-g92-alpha-dog-edition-review.html

[Katreat]

Since you have the e6600 I would say that moving to the q6600 should be a future upgrade. Currently there is very little that truely takes advantage of quad processing so your duel core processor will perform about the same. I personally passed on the chance to go quad with my last build and went with the e6750 just for the speed. I figure I will upgrade to quad in a year or two when more software is available that really uses it and prices have dropped.

Kat

[spartan015]

I see, well probably going to go with the 8800 GTS then since thats like saving 200 a peice. What about those new processors coming out? are they the same socket? I have another build I'm going to do soon and I'm wondering about them, whether they are worth it or to stick with the Q6600 or the E6600

[Masaki 7-11]

Same socket but don't work with the 680i chipsets unless you buy from Asus or DFI which have updated the bios to support them. If you won't be using sli, it's better to buy a motherboard with intel chipset. Regarding the new processors, they are a decent amount faster clock for clock and cost about the same as the old processors, so it's probably a good idea to get them if you find a compatible motherboard.