Well, I've been around the block a few times. I need some advice, and I couldn't think of a more expert place to ask. Blanks to fill in, decisions to make. The usual. I think I've included a couple details for you guys.
Items needed are in bold. Items in italics are chosen, but not bought. Anything else I've already got.
Section 1: Core items.
1. Power supply
Corsair TX850.
2. Case
NZXT Khaos.
3. Motherboard
Unknown.
4. CPU
Intel Core i7 920
5. Heatsink/fan for the CPU
CoolIt Systems ALC Domino
6. Memory
Corsair Dominator DHX+ DDR3 1600MHz 6GB /or/ Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC3-12800 (1600) 6GB
7. Primary hard drive
OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD /or/ 2 150GB Velociraptors in RAID 0.
8. Primary optical drive
Unknown, needs to be a SATA DVD-RW.
9. Video card
2x Gainward GeForce GTX 285 2GB /or/ 2x MSI N285GTX SuperPipe 2G OC
10. Monitor(s)
Let's omit this from the build. It seems trivial given the similarities between the video cards.
11. Mouse/keyboard
None. I detest mice; always have. I have an assortment of various versions of Logitech trackballs, and I love them all. G11 Keyboard.
12. Operating System
Vista Ultimate 64, which will be moving to Win7 in hopefully just a few month's time.
13. Snacks
Iskaffe. Lots of damned Iskaffe (Ice Coffee). I tend to avoid other 'snacks', since I can't get Cheez-Its here, and while I can get Doritos, they are imported and costly.
Section 2: Optional stuff:
1. Additional hard drive(s)
2x 320GB Seagate Barracuda, RAID 1.
2. Additional optical drive(s)
SATA Blu-Ray Burner. Wanted, but clearly not a neccessity.
3. Memory-card reader
No thanks.
4. External hard drive
No thanks.
5. USB flash drive
No thanks.
6. Audio card
Creative X-Fi Elite Pro. Neccessary.
7. Video-capture card and/or TV-tuner card
No thanks.
7.1. Additional Graphics Card
Gainward GTX260
8. Speakers
Logitech z4.
9. Headphones
X-Fi Fatal1ty.
10. Printer
A what?
11. Scanner
Huh?
12. Graphics tablet
No thanks.
13. Uninterruptible Power Supply and/or surge supressor
Someday.
14. Pizza
San Diego, med 'masse kjøtt', fra Hem Grillen.
Section 3: Required information.
"PLEASE when you POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us..."
Okay.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming, music composition.
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
High, but not extreme. If you really need a figure, I'm allowing about 20,000nok for the components in bold and italics, or about $3,000 USD.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Norway. However, due to Norway's size of just over 4 million people, available hardware is severely limited (read: f'n gimped) here. Available hardware is limited to primarily what sells most, and naturally, what sells most is hardware that the average, technologically clueless, budget-minded consumer would buy. I don't count myself among that number, therefore I am not opposed to importing parts from Germany and France, and have done so in the past. Ideally I'd love to import from Sweden, but Sweden is restricted by certain (EU?) export regulations and does not ship to Norway. The worst part about importing though, by far, is Norway's 25% customs tax on imported technology products. What this equates to is that I pay 25 to 35% more for PC parts than you lucky SOBs in the rest of the world, when shipping and tax are factored in.
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
Intel & nVidia. Previously an AMD fanboy, but the times (and company) are a' changing. Always been loyal to nVidia though.
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Noted in Sections 1 & 2.
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Hell yes, I have. I haven't gamed a lick in two weeks; been too busy trying my damnedest to catch up on all the current tech. As for specific, prolonged study, I've sought information on Graphics cards, motherboards, power supplies, and created topics of discussion on these elements elsewhere. Of these three subjects, only the motherboard struggle continues.
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I'm not a monster, but yes, I overclock. I stick to "safe" limits, which I tend to estimate by averaging stock speeds with maximum overclocks obtained by other users, settling on a middle ground.
8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Late June, when tax refunds and vacation pay hit me simultaneously.
Section 4: Special Notes on Listed components.
1. Motherboard
This is a damn tricky thing. You see, ideally I'd like to run two GTX285s in SLI, one GTX260, and my PCI X-Fi interface card. But there are only a few motherboards on the market right now that can do this: The Asrock X58 Deluxe, the Asrock X58 Supercomputer, and the MSI Eclipse. Call me skittish, but I just don't know if I trust Asrock. The Eclipse appears to be the answer, on the surface, but after looking into it more and more, I'm not satisfied with its ram clock abilities.
The reason these are the only three boards that will work, is because I would be running three double-slot graphics cards, and these boards are the only ones which have a layout where the PCI slot(s) isn't completely blocked by the VGA coolers. There are of course other drawbacks to these boards, such as the PCIx16 operational lane limitations. I could run the 285s in SLI at x16, but the moment I plug in that 260, the second lane gets dropped to x8. Meh.
(Before any "Classified" fanboys speak up, no, the Classified will not work. Pay very, very close attention to its board layout; the PCI slot gets buried. It's the PCIe x4 slot that's open. Sorry. I've had several people immediately scream "Classified!" without ever bothering to really look at the layout.)
Anyway, much as I'd like to run that 260, after days of looking for a solution, I've concluded that it isn't essential. It would push the limits of my PSU anyway. The PCI soundcard however, is essential. I bought that soundcard for its Midi interface.
That leaves motherboard suggestions wide open, as long as they meet my other requirements, support x16/x16 SLI, and have an open PCI slot.
2. CoolIt Systems ALC Domino
Think what you will. The reason I finally decided on this was due to the current lack of 1366 air coolers. There are like, three, and I wasn't satisfied with any of them. The problem here is that, yes, there are two dozen air coolers that *can* fit on the 1366, but none except those three are *made* for the 1366. They all use 1366 adaptor brackets to mount their insufficiently-sized small bases. I want a proper cooler, not one I can *make do* with. (Also the sheer size of the damn things is a huge turn off.) The CoolIt comes with several plates, one of which is machined for the 1366 specifically. It is also completely internal, self-contained, and quieter than most air coolers.
I did look into other LC kits, but most share two turn-offs: They aren't internal, or they have a drive-bay unit that blemishes the front of my case. No thanks. I bought the NZXT Khaos for it's unobtrusive, subtle style. I'd hate to have crap hanging off its rear or jutting from its front panel.
3. Ram
Well... I'm torn. Part of me wants the Dominator specs (not GT, mind you), but the other wants the Ballistix' flashy dancing lights. Yes, I'm embarrassed. I'm having a tough time seeing big differences between them, performance-wise.
4. Primary Hard drive
Gah, another toughy.
OCZ Vertex: Fast, but tiny. OS and games on this drive. Error reporting and logging disabled, page file moved to another drive, to minimize hits on it. Tempting... Wish they'd fix the entropic lifespan on these damn things.
Raptors in RAID 0: More costly than the single SSD, but larger, and less headaches. Still, they're slower.
5. Primary Optical Drive
I've got a pair of IDE DVD-RWs here, one with Lightscribe. It's time to move on to SATA. With Lightscribe. Any thoughts?
I listed Blu-Ray burner in Section 2. Love to have one, but no way would I use it as my primary optical drive. Too much wear and tear.
6. Video Cards
Both brands have non-reference coolers, both have 2GB of ram. That's what appeals: Better cooling, less noise, semi future-proof. I won't be using anywhere near four gigs of video ram, now, but in two years? Maybe. Which of these should I go after?
I was originally going to go with BFG, but then I actually took the time to properly read their warranty. 10 years in the UK... wow. But, 1 year on the fans. Yes, 1 year. So if a fan dies in 13 months, I have two options: 1) Send it back to them, at hideous shipping rates, pay them to fix it, and spend several weeks without my card. 2) Fix the fan myself and void the warranty. No thanks.
Section 5: Case mods.
External mods? None.
Internal (switched off by default):
1x Scythe 140mm Kasa Maru
2x Akasa AK-274CR Red LED fans, lightly spray-painted to dim them, to replace the nasty Blue LED fans in the Khaos. Blue is so boring.
2x Color Flash RingPuk (Red)
2x Logisys MDLED5RD Red 5 LED kits
The internal lights will be tied to a discreet switch on the back of the case, so I can turn them on at will.
Akasa Paxmate Plus sound dampening material for the side panels.
The emphasis is on a balance of performance and sound levels, but neither to the extreme. A quiet, sophisticated exterior, with a beast lurking inside.
Ok, that should be almost enough information for you to start with. Help me fill in the blanks and choose between those bolded items. Thanks guys.
Items needed are in bold. Items in italics are chosen, but not bought. Anything else I've already got.
Section 1: Core items.
1. Power supply
Corsair TX850.
2. Case
NZXT Khaos.
3. Motherboard
Unknown.
4. CPU
Intel Core i7 920
5. Heatsink/fan for the CPU
CoolIt Systems ALC Domino
6. Memory
Corsair Dominator DHX+ DDR3 1600MHz 6GB /or/ Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC3-12800 (1600) 6GB
7. Primary hard drive
OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD /or/ 2 150GB Velociraptors in RAID 0.
8. Primary optical drive
Unknown, needs to be a SATA DVD-RW.
9. Video card
2x Gainward GeForce GTX 285 2GB /or/ 2x MSI N285GTX SuperPipe 2G OC
10. Monitor(s)
Let's omit this from the build. It seems trivial given the similarities between the video cards.
11. Mouse/keyboard
None. I detest mice; always have. I have an assortment of various versions of Logitech trackballs, and I love them all. G11 Keyboard.
12. Operating System
Vista Ultimate 64, which will be moving to Win7 in hopefully just a few month's time.
13. Snacks
Iskaffe. Lots of damned Iskaffe (Ice Coffee). I tend to avoid other 'snacks', since I can't get Cheez-Its here, and while I can get Doritos, they are imported and costly.
Section 2: Optional stuff:
1. Additional hard drive(s)
2x 320GB Seagate Barracuda, RAID 1.
2. Additional optical drive(s)
SATA Blu-Ray Burner. Wanted, but clearly not a neccessity.
3. Memory-card reader
No thanks.
4. External hard drive
No thanks.
5. USB flash drive
No thanks.
6. Audio card
Creative X-Fi Elite Pro. Neccessary.
7. Video-capture card and/or TV-tuner card
No thanks.
7.1. Additional Graphics Card
Gainward GTX260
8. Speakers
Logitech z4.
9. Headphones
X-Fi Fatal1ty.
10. Printer
A what?
11. Scanner
Huh?
12. Graphics tablet
No thanks.
13. Uninterruptible Power Supply and/or surge supressor
Someday.
14. Pizza
San Diego, med 'masse kjøtt', fra Hem Grillen.
Section 3: Required information.
"PLEASE when you POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us..."
Okay.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming, music composition.
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
High, but not extreme. If you really need a figure, I'm allowing about 20,000nok for the components in bold and italics, or about $3,000 USD.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Norway. However, due to Norway's size of just over 4 million people, available hardware is severely limited (read: f'n gimped) here. Available hardware is limited to primarily what sells most, and naturally, what sells most is hardware that the average, technologically clueless, budget-minded consumer would buy. I don't count myself among that number, therefore I am not opposed to importing parts from Germany and France, and have done so in the past. Ideally I'd love to import from Sweden, but Sweden is restricted by certain (EU?) export regulations and does not ship to Norway. The worst part about importing though, by far, is Norway's 25% customs tax on imported technology products. What this equates to is that I pay 25 to 35% more for PC parts than you lucky SOBs in the rest of the world, when shipping and tax are factored in.
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
Intel & nVidia. Previously an AMD fanboy, but the times (and company) are a' changing. Always been loyal to nVidia though.
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Noted in Sections 1 & 2.
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Hell yes, I have. I haven't gamed a lick in two weeks; been too busy trying my damnedest to catch up on all the current tech. As for specific, prolonged study, I've sought information on Graphics cards, motherboards, power supplies, and created topics of discussion on these elements elsewhere. Of these three subjects, only the motherboard struggle continues.
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I'm not a monster, but yes, I overclock. I stick to "safe" limits, which I tend to estimate by averaging stock speeds with maximum overclocks obtained by other users, settling on a middle ground.
8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Late June, when tax refunds and vacation pay hit me simultaneously.
Section 4: Special Notes on Listed components.
1. Motherboard
This is a damn tricky thing. You see, ideally I'd like to run two GTX285s in SLI, one GTX260, and my PCI X-Fi interface card. But there are only a few motherboards on the market right now that can do this: The Asrock X58 Deluxe, the Asrock X58 Supercomputer, and the MSI Eclipse. Call me skittish, but I just don't know if I trust Asrock. The Eclipse appears to be the answer, on the surface, but after looking into it more and more, I'm not satisfied with its ram clock abilities.
The reason these are the only three boards that will work, is because I would be running three double-slot graphics cards, and these boards are the only ones which have a layout where the PCI slot(s) isn't completely blocked by the VGA coolers. There are of course other drawbacks to these boards, such as the PCIx16 operational lane limitations. I could run the 285s in SLI at x16, but the moment I plug in that 260, the second lane gets dropped to x8. Meh.
(Before any "Classified" fanboys speak up, no, the Classified will not work. Pay very, very close attention to its board layout; the PCI slot gets buried. It's the PCIe x4 slot that's open. Sorry. I've had several people immediately scream "Classified!" without ever bothering to really look at the layout.)
Anyway, much as I'd like to run that 260, after days of looking for a solution, I've concluded that it isn't essential. It would push the limits of my PSU anyway. The PCI soundcard however, is essential. I bought that soundcard for its Midi interface.
That leaves motherboard suggestions wide open, as long as they meet my other requirements, support x16/x16 SLI, and have an open PCI slot.
2. CoolIt Systems ALC Domino
Think what you will. The reason I finally decided on this was due to the current lack of 1366 air coolers. There are like, three, and I wasn't satisfied with any of them. The problem here is that, yes, there are two dozen air coolers that *can* fit on the 1366, but none except those three are *made* for the 1366. They all use 1366 adaptor brackets to mount their insufficiently-sized small bases. I want a proper cooler, not one I can *make do* with. (Also the sheer size of the damn things is a huge turn off.) The CoolIt comes with several plates, one of which is machined for the 1366 specifically. It is also completely internal, self-contained, and quieter than most air coolers.
I did look into other LC kits, but most share two turn-offs: They aren't internal, or they have a drive-bay unit that blemishes the front of my case. No thanks. I bought the NZXT Khaos for it's unobtrusive, subtle style. I'd hate to have crap hanging off its rear or jutting from its front panel.
3. Ram
Well... I'm torn. Part of me wants the Dominator specs (not GT, mind you), but the other wants the Ballistix' flashy dancing lights. Yes, I'm embarrassed. I'm having a tough time seeing big differences between them, performance-wise.
4. Primary Hard drive
Gah, another toughy.
OCZ Vertex: Fast, but tiny. OS and games on this drive. Error reporting and logging disabled, page file moved to another drive, to minimize hits on it. Tempting... Wish they'd fix the entropic lifespan on these damn things.
Raptors in RAID 0: More costly than the single SSD, but larger, and less headaches. Still, they're slower.
5. Primary Optical Drive
I've got a pair of IDE DVD-RWs here, one with Lightscribe. It's time to move on to SATA. With Lightscribe. Any thoughts?
I listed Blu-Ray burner in Section 2. Love to have one, but no way would I use it as my primary optical drive. Too much wear and tear.
6. Video Cards
Both brands have non-reference coolers, both have 2GB of ram. That's what appeals: Better cooling, less noise, semi future-proof. I won't be using anywhere near four gigs of video ram, now, but in two years? Maybe. Which of these should I go after?
I was originally going to go with BFG, but then I actually took the time to properly read their warranty. 10 years in the UK... wow. But, 1 year on the fans. Yes, 1 year. So if a fan dies in 13 months, I have two options: 1) Send it back to them, at hideous shipping rates, pay them to fix it, and spend several weeks without my card. 2) Fix the fan myself and void the warranty. No thanks.
Section 5: Case mods.
External mods? None.
Internal (switched off by default):
1x Scythe 140mm Kasa Maru
2x Akasa AK-274CR Red LED fans, lightly spray-painted to dim them, to replace the nasty Blue LED fans in the Khaos. Blue is so boring.
2x Color Flash RingPuk (Red)
2x Logisys MDLED5RD Red 5 LED kits
The internal lights will be tied to a discreet switch on the back of the case, so I can turn them on at will.
Akasa Paxmate Plus sound dampening material for the side panels.
The emphasis is on a balance of performance and sound levels, but neither to the extreme. A quiet, sophisticated exterior, with a beast lurking inside.
Ok, that should be almost enough information for you to start with. Help me fill in the blanks and choose between those bolded items. Thanks guys.