need input on new C2D build. Money not a problem upto 3K

[Geekwannab]

Ok Here are the parts that I have come up with. My current PC is old Northwood 1.6.

I can also wait until like september coz I have my lappy (TM 8204WLMI)which i am playimg games now
(mostly CS,CS source,HL2,HL2-episode one)

CPU

C2D E6600 - Around $375

(or) X6800. Leaning toward E6600 for now.

Motherboard:
P5WDH Deluxe for now - $275
Eagerly waiting for the N590 boards. But have been hearing that
they dont overclock well. Heck the folks @ Maximum PC could not overclock at all on the n590 with the beta bios for their dream PC
Linky

HSF
ZALMAN CNPS9500 - $70

Any other better HSF


Memory
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail - $300

Case
Silverstone TJ07B - $267

Power Supply
PCP&C silencer 750 - $200
(OMG 60A on single 12 v rail)
Any other good (relatively silent) efficient PSUs??

HDD


4 X Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

in raid 5 - $400

Video Card

XFX PVT71UZDF9 Geforce 7950GX2 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Xtreme Video Card - Retail - $610

Sound Card
Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail - $210

Gaming Headphone
This is where I need a lot of help. I need a headphone not earphone(like the shure sound insulating stuff.. had bad experience with them)

DVD burner
Already have an NEC but might also buy the plextor 716 A-$125

Mouse
Logictech G7 cordless optical - $70

Keyboard
Microsoft Natural 4000 B2M-00012 Black USB Wired Ergonomics Keyboard - Retail - $50

LCD
Already have a Dell 2001 FP , but if budget permits might get a faster and if possible larger than the current (20'') .


What do you guys think


And BTW, u gius must already know this but today newegg had the E6600 @369 retail

 

[Geekwannab]

I am also planning to play Fear and Oblivion with the highest setting that the GPU can support. Also waiting on the X1950s to come out to do a comparison. I think the x1950s might be able to beat the 7950GX2 but at the expense of running hotter and hence louder than the 7950s

 

[Geekwannab]

bump

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

buy it.

 

[gobucks]

I realize that money is not a problem for you, but let me mention a few things that are kind of a waste of money.

go with the e6600. the X6800 is a complete waste of money, the e6600 will probably clock just as high for a third of the price.

Also, that x-fi fatality is a waste of money too. all core 2 mobos have HD audio, which has good sound quality and lower CPU usage than older integrated audio. I just bought the Gigabyte DS3 and the sound quality was good enough that i sold my x-fi xtrememusic. a lot of nicer mobos (some asus ones, the abit AB9 pro, and the Intel BadAxe) even have dolby digital live, which the x-fi doesn't. I recommend at least giving the onboard audio a try - if you don't like it, you can always buy the x-fi, but i kind of doubt you'll feel the need to.

 

[Geekwannab]

bump

 

[Geekwannab]

I guess nobody like me here . Please help

 

[The Boston Dangler]

It's tough to design a custom PC when I have no idea what you want or need in a PC. Are you spending money just to spend money?
That being said, Alternatives:
Case- Antec P180, Antec Solo
PS- Seasonic S12 500 or 600. Or wait until the M12 series is out.
Hard Drive- There is rapid change in the market, so pick a big one or two (Seagates are nice) for now. By the time it's full, HD capacities will grow again, price/GB will continue to drop.
Sound Card- Creative/SoundBlaster is dog crap. Consider the Auzentech cards.
Headphones- Sennheisers are pretty nice
DVD- If you want to replace the drive, get the SATA Plextor. Sexy.
Mouse- I love the mx1000. Try it in a store before buying. Same for kb.

My picks would save you big bucks for equal or better quality and performance. Roll that cash into a badass monitor.

 

[Geekwannab]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
It's tough to design a custom PC when I have no idea what you want or need in a PC. Are you spending money just to spend money?
That being said, Alternatives:
Case- Antec P180, Antec Solo
PS- Seasonic S12 500 or 600. Or wait until the M12 series is out.
Hard Drive- There is rapid change in the market, so pick a big one or two (Seagates are nice) for now. By the time it's full, HD capacities will grow again, price/GB will continue to drop.
Sound Card- Creative/SoundBlaster is dog crap. Consider the Auzentech cards.
Headphones- Sennheisers are pretty nice
DVD- If you want to replace the drive, get the SATA Plextor. Sexy.
Mouse- I love the mx1000. Try it in a store before buying. Same for kb.

My picks would save you big bucks for equal or better quality and performance. Roll that cash into a badass monitor.

I am planning to use this PC primarily for gaming and for some DVD authoring. Since I am a techie, I am also thinking about using the PC for learning(stuff like running oracle,java etc)...

I had already looked long and hard t the P180. It was one of the cases that I Narrowed down to.Eventhough I really liked the look of it and there are a lot of good reviews about it, I wanted a Full tower coz I am planning to go Water cooling my C2D.I am kinda not happy with TJ07 either as its to noisy(referenece silentpcreviews.com). Does anybody know of a good and (relatively)silent full tower case which is good for air cooling and having an option of turning off fans when I go Water cooling.

As far as the PSU, The S12 600 was what I had picked before I read this month's maximumpc. I was like wow, a PCP&C that's rated 750W for $200, i got to get myslef one of these lol.

HDD- I wanted the performance of a raptor and the reliablility of a Raid 1 and also tons of space. Hence the choice of 4 seagates in raid 5. But I am still thinking about getting 4 of them though.

Your point about the soundcard noted, but I have a question though.. is it good for gaming .


Mouse- I think I totally agree with you. I picked it blindly coz maximum pc had picked the G5s. I didnt see that the mx1000 had 8 buttons . If I had seen that that would have been my choice. Imagine what I can do with my thumb aor other fingers playing Cs .lol


DVD- Point noted and well taken.


Thanks for your suggestions ..

 

[The Boston Dangler]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article249-page1.html
A massive and thorough review of the P180. It is a huge case that can accomodate water cooling. Full ATX towers can be tough to live with. Who wants a PC the size of a file cabinet?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133171
Then there's this thing...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page1.html
SPCR's reference-quality PS guide.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp
Thanks, GalvanizedYankee

The S12-600 is so solid, I would take that over PPCC any day.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre...605522&page=1&pp=30&highlight=xplosion
Mega-thread on the X-plosion

 

[Geekwannab]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article249-page1.html
A massive and thorough review of the P180. It is a huge case that can accomodate water cooling. Full ATX towers can be tough to live with. Who wants a PC the size of a file cabinet?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133171
Then there's this thing...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page1.html
SPCR's reference-quality PS guide.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp
Thanks, GalvanizedYankee

The S12-600 is so solid, I would take that over PPCC any day.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre...605522&page=1&pp=30&highlight=xplosion
Mega-thread on the X-plosion

Howz the HRTF implementation in X-plosion. Is it comparable to CMSS3D in the x-fi.
Remeber that I play a lot of CS and CSS. So positional sound is really important for me.
I am also planning to get the SD595 or the SD600(if I could a good price around 350$ for the 600) and now doing my research on a good head amp for the SD at headfi.org

Also, thank for the power calculator that you had posted. I calculated for the wrost case scenario,(With Quad SLI and OCing and Water cooling) and it looks like I will need more than 600W . Is there any other good PSU with a good effeciency and an 120MM fan. I would actually take the noise if the PSU is a good performer, that why I chose the PCP&C with 750W and its relatively quite too with a 92MM fan.


As for the case, I can kinda leaning toward the P180 , but about the stacker 830 or the Lian Li. I would like aesthecially pleasing good spacious case for the OCing as well for the WC.I can scarifice the sound for the performance any day.


Again, thanks for the links and the posts. I am getting no love here @AT forums :brokenheart:

 

[1N0V471V]

For the case, I just got done watercooling my Lian-Li PC-V2000B PLUSII and I love it!

I'll post some pictures for you tomorrow

 

[Hanfkeks]

I like the decisions you made on the processor, motherboard and graphiccard - these are excellent components, especially the E6600 is fantastic for overclocking with the P5WDH as the guys of anandtech have already shown...

But if money is not really the problem here, I would recommend 4 Western Digital Raptor HDDs (or 2) that with there 10.000 rpm are even faster than a pair of 7.200 HDDs in raid.
I am not sure about the ram - you should refer to the article in the memory section on this site perhaps - the AData modules did very well there if I am not mixing up anything...

I do not know that specific psu, but I have made good experiences with the Enermay Liberty (500W or 600W), that allow you to keep your case tidy and as empty as possible.

The mouse might be a disappointment for you because paradoxically it is not very useful for gaming, although the other Logitech mice are - I am very happy with the G5 that is not wireless and therefore faster in transmission.

Concerning the cpu cooler I suggest the Verax Square ZCJ002 that is much more effective (and louder ) than the Zalman Cooler, but in order to overclock the E6600 on air it should be the better decision...

 

[Geekwannab]

Originally posted by: Hanfkeks
I like the decisions you made on the processor, motherboard and graphiccard - these are excellent components, especially the E6600 is fantastic for overclocking with the P5WDH as the guys of anandtech have already shown...

But if money is not really the problem here, I would recommend 4 Western Digital Raptor HDDs (or 2) that with there 10.000 rpm are even faster than a pair of 7.200 HDDs in raid.
I am not sure about the ram - you should refer to the article in the memory section on this site perhaps - the AData modules did very well there if I am not mixing up anything...

I do not know that specific psu, but I have made good experiences with the Enermay Liberty (500W or 600W), that allow you to keep your case tidy and as empty as possible.

The mouse might be a disappointment for you because paradoxically it is not very useful for gaming, although the other Logitech mice are - I am very happy with the G5 that is not wireless and therefore faster in transmission.

Concerning the cpu cooler I suggest the Verax Square ZCJ002 that is much more effective (and louder ) than the Zalman Cooler, but in order to overclock the E6600 on air it should be the better decision...

The RAM is based on the micron fatbody chips(as far as i have read) and get upto DDR2-1000 speeds easy @4-4-5-12.

As for the HDDs even though the raptors might be compartively faster(supposedly.. a link to benchmarks comparing the 7200.10s in raid 5 to the raptors would be nice), I am looking for the most bang for the buck(even though I said money not a problem). Yes, the raptors might be faster than the 7200.10s in raid 5, but I dont think the 7200.10 might lag behind a lot. I am saying this because the 7200.10 are perpendicular recording ones, which means more data/platter which means higher read speeds.Also, they more heck of a lot more noise than the 7200.10 and run heck a lot hotter too. To me it's not worth the extra money plus the heat plus the noice for a little bit of extra performance. But defintely a good thought.. thanks

As far as the PSU.. I think I am kinda torn between the s12-600 or the silencers(Darn it..why have they not released the M12s yet) and as far I have the 750 silencers OEM is the same as Seasonic. Its a no brainer IF the M12 are out there..(More silent than the 750 silencer as it has a 120MM fan). So I think at this point I would really like the higher wattage of the silencer.. plus the reliablity of PCP&C for $200, hence leaning toward the silencer. Once I have the silencer, might trade the silencer for the M12 .Anyone...

Mouse I think I am switching over to teh MX1000.. thanks to "The Boston Dangler".


For the HSF I think i might go with the Sycnthe Ninja rather than the Zalman and the P180 and the run the ninja without the fans.. Working on doing some(more) research..


Thanks for all you help guys.

 

[Geekwannab]

Originally posted by: 1N0V471V
For the case, I just got done watercooling my Lian-Li PC-V2000B PLUSII and I love it!

I'll post some pictures for you tomorrow

Eager to see... Thanks

 

[jose]

I'd get 4 - 150g Raptors.

And a OCZ 700w psu.

My friend just got the 9500 heatsink and he had to place his side blowhole fan on the outside of his case. He has this case I modified for him.

Look at the Silverstone pic. w/ the dragon on the side.

http://www.relsyscon.com/projects.htm

Regards,
Jose

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'm getting kinda sick of these "rate my C2D setup" "how is this C2D system?" when clearly you can get enough component advice from browsing the 200 topics already floating around here.

 

[Geekwannab]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
I'm getting kinda sick of these "rate my C2D setup" "how is this C2D system?" when clearly you can get enough component advice from browsing the 200 topics already floating around here.

People are asking these questions not because they don't have time to read the all the threads nor they are complete noobs.. people are asking because they want bang of their buck with all different components available in the market. If you do not wish to put in your thoughts/input please don't flame those persons that are putting in their input nor flame the person that orginated , you have the option of ignoring these threads.. again , please refrain from flaming if you do not wish to help

 

[Geekwannab]

Ok the Mobo,Memory and one of the HDD is on its way.


As for the HSF and the case I think I am going with the P180 and the Scynthe Infinity. I am looking into the extreme system forums and some people had trouble mounting it on the P5WDH.. but doing more reading on it... my alternative is the Ninja

 

[vhx]

Looks good to me. However I don't know why you got a $210 awesome sound card and then use headphones. If thats the case, just use onboard sound, save yourself some money. However if you get some 5.1 speakers, that'd be good to have.

 

[EROEIone2one]

I added up all the parts the original post cited a dollar value for, that adds up to $2,952. Without tax or shipping.

Now, when you said *not a problem up to $3k*, does that mean you have about $3k of cash onhand and not a lot more? Because if that's the case, you will have to cut somewhere. I had that situation myself speccing a new gaming rig for a friend. He wanted to game and he wanted most of the components to last a while before feeling the need to upgrade. Here's what we did-


CPU

C2D E6600

Seems to hit the sweet spot of the market. Self-explanatory, really.

Motherboard:

P5WDH Deluxe

Cookie-cutter early adoper build. Again, self-explanatory.

HSF

Silverstone Nitrogen V2.0

We went with this because of our case selection. See below.

Memory

OCZ Ti Alpha PC2-8000 VX2 (2 x 1GB)

Expensive, fastest DDR2 RAM produced by OCZ as of now. OCZ recommended by a gaming friend. User specifically asked for two sticks, so that's what I specced for him.

Case

Silverstone Temjin 6 (SST-TJ06-BW)

Looked slick, great reviews on most sites, 3rd on SPCR's rec list and first full tower listed there. I have it now and I must say, the build quality is very good. Looks a lot better in person without artificial lighting and glare. Oh, and my friend liked the side window and the wind tunnel when he saw it, so he chose that. He wanted to use the tunnel, so I went with that HSF to be on the safe side for size and fit issues.

Power Supply

Seasonic S-12 600W

Went with that after reading comments here and perusing reviews. 600W is definitely in the realms of overkill, but leaves plenty of room for future upgrades. Plus the S-12 has a bottom feed fan, which is kind of mandatory for use in this case (see SPCRs review and their diagram of air flow in the TJ-06). We picked up the Silverstone PSU extensions for about $5 because of some issues indicated in various reviews of our case.

HDD

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

Again, reviews and other comments lead to this. We're only using one, your needs may be different.

Video Card

eVGA Geforce 7950GX2

eVGA being recommended because of various reasons, we went with them. User wanted the GX2, so that's what I got him.

Sound Card

ASUS P5W-DH Onboard Sound

Originally posted by: gobucks
Also, that x-fi fatality is a waste of money too. all core 2 mobos have HD audio, which has good sound quality and lower CPU usage than older integrated audio. I just bought the Gigabyte DS3 and the sound quality was good enough that i sold my x-fi xtrememusic. a lot of nicer mobos (some asus ones, the abit AB9 pro, and the Intel BadAxe) even have dolby digital live, which the x-fi doesn't. I recommend at least giving the onboard audio a try - if you don't like it, you can always buy the x-fi, but i kind of doubt you'll feel the need to.

Sound System

Klipsch ProMedia 2.1

Klipsch being a known high-quality make from my car audio system days (unlike Blows®), I was pleased to see that they catered to the PC gaming market as well. Given that the end user is going from a POS Dell laptop with equally rubbish speakers, I felt that this was one of the areas we could downsize from (as in, not go for the big 5.1 system).

Accessory Drives

SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write and LightScribe
SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive
SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive

Not much to say here other than the last item - user is in school where they sometime use floppys. Didn't have one on the laptop which occasionally pissed him off.

Mouse

Logictech G5 Laser

Rec'ed, good price IMO, nice features for gaming.

Keyboard

Logitech Ultra X 2-Tone PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard

Looks and feels very nice. I don't like ergonomic keyboards and neither does my friend, if that's your cup of tea than go with the one you specced.

LCD

SAMSUNG 204B 20.1"

Along with the sound system, this was another area that I could safely downsize from. A lot of people suggested 24" in my original build critique post. To my friend and I, this would have cutted too much elsewhere or we would have blown the budget by an unacceptable amount. Plus, some other posters here guessed right in my original thread - this guy is going from a POS laptop with 800x600 rubbish fps (really, I've seen games on it in person) which he has tried to game/live with for 3 years. Do I think he'll mind playing at 1600x1200 with all the graphical goodies cranked way up and silky-smooth FPS? Not a chance. And he concurred.


The above, with a few extras such as thermal grease and IDE cables and zip ties and the like, ran to about $3,000 with tax and shipping. And I do mean $3,000 plus or minus about 1%. You may do better by browsing froogle extensively prior to making purchases. Oh, and we have a microsoft buddy who is very generous with his company software. If you're buying software you'll have to take that into account. Friend plans to upgrade in two years after he's out of law school with a 24" to run 1920 x 1200, and possibly a sound card/5.1 system. Your results may vary.

 

[Geekwannab]

Ok finally I have ordered the parts and it's on its way

CPU-E6600 retail
MOBO-Asus P5WDH Deluxe
RAM-Corsair XMS2C4 - 2GB
HDD-320 GB seagate 72100.10
PSU-Seasonic s12-600W(Thanks "Boston Dangler")
GPU- EVGA 7950GX2

The problem is that I was planning to get the Scythe Infinity for the HSF, but after seeing a
thread @ Xtremeforums am kinda a bit sceptical about getting it, eventough a lot of other people on the same forum don't have any problems. Can anybody confirm that it works on the
P5WDH.My second choice HSF is the Ninja

Also I am planning to get the P180(Thanks "Boston Dangler", again). Does anybody know the difference between "SPCR" P180 and the "regular" P180

 

[markymoo]

glad you changed the ram ocz has issues on asus boards

you bought good

 

[MrUniq]

Plextor is excessive....I'm not a hypocrite(sig) I like their drives but I've had one fail on me....you're just as good getting sony, toshiba, benq..