Dream machine... any advice?

[beophil]

I’ve been hooked on computer games ever since I started playing Zork and the Bard’s Tale as a kid. I’m usually on budget: I buy inexpensive PCs and play the games on kinda low settings. But right now I’ve got about $3500 or so to spend and I really want to build an awesome gaming rig (I’m not including a monitor in the price). Since I haven’t built my own system before, I was hoping that some of you would be willing to help out. I’ve listed the parts I plan to buy below. My main interest is in building a high-performance machine that won’t overheat; since I’ll only be playing a couple games at a time, I don’t need a very big hard drive. I’ll probably be running Vista (64 bit). Any advice would help – here are some questions I’ve been wondering about:

(1) The parts looked compatible to me. Is that correct?
(2) Are there any parts I should substitute that would noticeably enhance performance (like a 15000 RPM hard drive)?
(3) Are there any parts that I have listed which I could get rid of because they don’t add that much performance?
(4) The i7 and 295 are really new. Should I wait to buy them? Will the prices fall dramatically in the near future?
(5) I’m planning to buy everything from Newegg. Is that a good idea?
(6) Should I buy an extended warranty on the more expensive parts (like the CPU)?


CASE: Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+) VH6000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case – Retail $204.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133056

MOTHERBOARD: ASUS Rampage II Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard – Retail $398.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131352

CPU: Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 Nehalem 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601965 – Retail $1019.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115200

HEATSINK: COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler – Retail $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103055

HARD DRIVE: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive – OEM $229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136260

MEMORY: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D – Retail $229.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145224

VIDEO CARDS (x2): EVGA 017-P3-1291-AR GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card – Retail $504.99 each
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130449

POWER SUPPLY: CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply – Retail $269.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139007

DRIVES: SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16821103116
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136152

Thanks in advance!

[glc]

Got a problem there - that motherboard isn't SLI, it's Crossfire. You will have to choose a motherboard with a Nvidia chipset or use ATI video cards if you want to run 2 cards. Also, if you use those 295's, that power supply is not certified for 2 of them. There's only 4 power supplies in the world that are, and that ain't one of them.

I'd probably go Crossfire with ATI cards because I hate Nvidia chipsets with Intel processors. Power supply certification applies here too, gotta do your homework.

[jdeb]

I just built one of these, totally amazing but good luck finding one (motherboard). If you can hold off a little it is worth the wait. Plus I talked to foxconn and it sounds like they are going to be doing a bloodrage gti if thats your game... doesn't matter though this thing rocks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186163

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115200

memory
http://www.pcnation.com/web/details....06&item=V08639

video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127376

power supply http://www.pricebat.ca/Corsair-CMPSU...ly.p_10067947/

computer case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...20Full%20Tower

the rest of what you are looking at tis fine.
This motherboard is off the charts for gaming. go with the lian li case, incredable case to sat the least.

[shadowpr]

I was under the impression that x58 will allow either sli or crossfire: http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles...?cid=6&id=2760

[beophil]

I had thought that the Asus Rampage was SLI compatible, because some of its reviewers said that their rigs used 2 gtx 280s. If that's in doubt, I may go with the Foxconn motherboard instead -- it looks pretty awesome in it's own right.

As for power supply, is this one of the 4 or so certified to handle 2 nvidia cards?
ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ ERV1050EWT 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817194039

I'm thinking about using a Lian Li case now:
LIAN LI PC-P80 Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112159

Thanks for all the help so far!

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by beophil I had thought that the Asus Rampage was SLI compatible, because some of its reviewers said that their rigs used 2 gtx 280s. If that's in doubt, I may go with the Foxconn motherboard instead -- it looks pretty awesome in it's own right. As for power supply, is this one of the 4 or so certified to handle 2 nvidia cards? ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ ERV1050EWT 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817194039 I'm thinking about using a Lian Li case now: LIAN LI PC-P80 Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112159 Thanks for all the help so far!

looks good to me, even better, you will love that case! my best freind has one of those and it is a thing of perfection

the power supply looks very good as well

[shadowpr]

For power supplies: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Look at the list there.

[tomtoon]

Dude do you really need SLI anyway?
There isnt that much improvement plus the 295 will be able to handle any game out today with ease.
I would just stick with one and save a bit of money.

[glc]

Maybe I'm mistaken - I haven't even started to research i7 builds yet, I want to let the technology mature a bit. If you can find for sure that the Rampage supports SLI, go for it. The only PSU that Newegg carries that's certified for two 295's is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703012

That Enermax you found is not certified for a pair of 295's.

Another option is the FSP Booster. This is certified.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104019

That way, you could use the Corsair you originally speced out.

EDIT: reviews on the booster aren't that good - go for the PC P&C PSU.

[liambl]

300GB really won't go far, trust me on that. Consider a WD6400AAKS, its hardly any slower than the VR and costs much less.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by glc Maybe I'm mistaken - I haven't even started to research i7 builds yet, I want to let the technology mature a bit. If you can find for sure that the Rampage supports SLI, go for it. The only PSU that Newegg carries that's certified for two 295's is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703012 That Enermax you found is not certified for a pair of 295's. Another option is the FSP Booster. This is certified. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104019 That way, you could use the Corsair you originally speced out. EDIT: reviews on the booster aren't that good - go for the PC P&C PSU.

The new version of the FSP Booster has pretty good reviews and only costs a bit more than the one you linked to: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104054

[jdeb]

the bloodrage is now available at newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186163

[glc]

liambl:

My main interest is in building a high-performance machine that won’t overheat; since I’ll only be playing a couple games at a time, I don’t need a very big hard drive.

Masaki:

The new version of the FSP Booster has pretty good reviews and only costs a bit more than the one you linked to:

It's not in the cert list.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by glc liambl: Masaki: It's not in the cert list.

If the FSP Group Booster X3 is certified and has only 400W , the FSP Group Booster X5 which has a lot of improvements over the X3 including having an extra 50W. I'm sure you can easily power one of the GTX295 with the Booster and the other with the main PSU without issues. Certification isn't always that great of a thing to have, I've had many experiences when something that wasn't certified worked better than something that was certified.

[glc]

The point is, I would not trust an expensive pair of cards to something that is not certified, for whatever reason. Good chance it just hasn't completed testing yet, but I'd wait.

[liambl]

If you're getting all high end components why only have 300GB of space, which as I said before doesn't go far. At least get the VR and another large storage drive. The 640GB or 1TB drives are only a small expense and save you running out of space later on.

[glc]

Storage drives can always be added when needed.

[beophil]

Thanks for all the helpful advice! I'll be ordering in the next few weeks and I'll let you know how the build turns out.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by beophil Thanks for all the helpful advice! I'll be ordering in the next few weeks and I'll let you know how the build turns out.

were you able to order the bloodrage before they ran out?

[beophil]

Nope -- I wasn't fast enough. But I put it on auto-notify and it's my new homepage... I don't want to miss the next one! I've ordered everything else, so I'm just waiting on the motherboard...