Well, I did find that one on Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130442 It shows up as $394.99 , then $379.99 , then $349.99, but try adding it to the cart. In the cart it goes down to $330.00, which might be a glitch, but it seems to go all the way to the order screen as $330.00, so I would say order it ASAP if you want this one. Also, at the price that the 1080p monitor is available, wouldn't you rather just have the higher res monitor? Scaling doesn't look too bad, and I really haven't had trouble with any games not running at that resolution. Then again, I've only really played Source games, Crysis, and Mass Effect on my monitor, and they all use pretty decent engines.
So, using the Enermax PSU may cause unstable results when using the SLI or Crossfire setup? Is there a notable difference in performance when using SLI or Crossfire as opposed to just the single card setup? Are two GTX 260 - 216s better than one GTX 285? Is it not a good idea to use the SLI/Crossfire setup for the GTX 285? Ahh, so many questions!
As u can see on many benches here in Bit-Tech, the SLi setup for the 280 GTX rox hahah so the 285 should rock too, the fact is that for the price of one high end 4870x2 u can almost get 2x260 GTX Anyway for the prices ATM u could get a 280 GTX SLi if u stretch a bit and with that ull have a long lasting rigg hehe
Oookay... 1) The Enermax is quite equipped to handle two cards in the general sense - what's at issue is how much power said two cards would draw. The only reason it would buckle under the weight of two cards would be if those cards had the power draw of 280s or 285s, but it can probably handle two 260s. Two 280s/285s, especially coupled with a high-power draw CPU like the Core i7, would probably warrant something more along the lines of 750-850W from the PSU. 2) Two-card SLI or two-card Crossfire generally gives between an 80-90% performance increase over a single card. More than two cards, and that margin of increase drops off pretty quickly. (Tri-SLI can be worth it in some very rare cases, such as Crysis, but anything outside those rare cases and the performance to price benefit just isn't there). 3) Two GTX 260-216s are better than one GTX 280/285, yes - but that leaves you with basically no upgrade path outside of Tri-SLI. One GTX 280/285, on the other hand, will give you less performance, but allows you to get another one if you find you actually need the extra power down the road. 4) Two GTX 280s/285s in SLI will yield the best two-card performance available right now, no questions asked. But it will require a beefier PSU than the 625W recommended earlier - something that will require a price boost in its own right. The Silverstone ST85F is a nice choice, as is the Zalman ZM850-HP if you end up with a case that can fit it (it's somewhat long). - Diosjenin -
Ok. I think I'm gonna go with the GTX 285. Just one for now but would like to have the option for a second for SLI. Also, I was advised on another site to go with a PC Power & Cooling S750B 750 W ($119) for my PSU and a Zalman heatsink (not sure which model) to cool down the i7 a bit more. What do you think about these recomendations?
The PP&Cs are excellent models so long as you don't mind the lack of modular cables - i.e. any cables you don't use will be sitting on the case floor, or wherever else you can manage to tuck them away. If that doesn't bother you, go with the Silencer version (still 750W), as it has some improvements on fan noise not present in the standard model and only costs $5 more. As for the heatsink... frankly, Zalman's CPU offerings used to be a lot better than they are now. It's not that they've gotten worse, it's that they've failed to keep pace. Today, the Noctua or the TRUE will beat the Zalman every time. Come to think of it, the PP&C recommendation sounds like it's probably a bit... old, as well. What other site were you looking at? - Diosjenin -
I posted on the forums at computerforum.com (I just picked a random site and posted). Here's the link if you want to see what others are saying over there: http://www.computerforum.com/142487-first-time-builder-help.html I used your recommendation and docodine's as my build. Is 750 W gonna be enough power?
OK. Let me know what you think of this build. Here's what I have come up with: CPU: Intel Core i7 920 ($295) MB: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P ($260)($20 rebate) RAM: OCZ Platinum 3x2GB DDR3-1600 CAS7 ($181) GPU: EVGA GTX 285 ($335) ($30 rebate) HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB ($95) Heatsink/Fan: Noctua NH-C12P plus free Core i7 Mounting Kit ($65) ODD: ASUS DVDRW DRW-2014L1T OEM ($28) PSU: Zalman ZM850W-HP 850W ($170) Case: Lian-Li PC-7B Plus II ($80) OS: Microsoft Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit ($100) Monitor: ASUS VH226H 1920x1080 21.5" ($180) Soundcard: ASUS Xonar D1 ($90) Total (before rebates): $1879 Grand Total: $1829 It's a little more expensive than I was hoping but that's alright. Now I have a few questions: 1) Will the case work out alright? I know the Zalman and the Noctua are big and somewhat akward. 2) I didn't see the Noctua - C12P advertised with a free Core i7 mounting kit. Will I need to get that? Also, the Noctua NH-U12P was $5 less and it had better reviews on Newegg. So, could that heatsink be an option? 3) Will the monitor have issues with some games? Let me know if you see any mistakes. Thanks for being so helpful thus far. Nick
Well ull need to check the following that case for 80$ i dont know if it is a full tower, but if it aint, with the mobo, the CPU and the aftermarket CPU Heatsink ull have like 16-19cm from the plate. The 285 is a long big GPU ull also need to check length IMHO i dont like mid tower, since usully it gets all stuffed in, there isnt any nice way to get ur cables tidy, the airflow sucks since there aint much space to move around all the cables components etc etc and in the end its much easier to work on The noctua C12P is a good option too and its a good solution for a mid tower since ull have much more space Just dont be wanting to go for 4.0Ghz because things gonna get hot in there heheh To tell u the truth, u going for a ultimate rigg , why u going cheap on the one thing that is going to make safe all ur components stretch a bit ang get a nice decent case
my opinion : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043&Tpk=antec 1200 Youll Fit Everything in there and there will be no drama with space, airflow and cable management BTW there is no real need for a sound card X58 mobos come with nice integrated sound system
My case suggestion is the Antec P182. It has sound damping panel, large case, excellent air flow, washable air filter, lots of HDD space, great cable management system, and also has HDD vibration reduction pads to significantly reduce HDD vibration, which means a quieter computer as the vibration don't shake the metal support system as much (and doesn't do metal to metal contact). Sure it's a bit more expensive, but sure worth it. Never buy cases with grid/mesh. They are terrible. They attract more dust which reduce fan efficiency and prevent proper air flow. Also, noisy.
Case: ^^ Undercloaker is a fan of full-tower cases. While they're certainly nice for airflow, I'm not as big a fan of them because they tend to be quite large - and a modular PSU (which the Zalman is) takes care of any cabling issues you possibly could have had anyway. That being said, I finally bothered to read up on some of the specific reviews of the PC-7B Plus II, and it turns out some people have in fact had problems with long graphics cards (like the GTX 285) running into the hard drive cage - so switch the PC-7B out for the PC-K7B (also $80, so no price worries), which not only has much more room for the graphics cards, but also has three 120mm fans built in for extra airflow. Noctua/Mounting Kit: The free SecuFirm 2 mounting kit is free if you get it through Noctua themselves on this page. They require proof of purchase of both one of their coolers as well as an i7 CPU and/or motherboard, which can be a screenshot of the invoice, so this would have to be your last step in the purchasing process. Do be aware, though, that "delivery may take up to 2 weeks depending on your location" - and if your location isn't where they are (Austria), two weeks is probably a decent estimate. If you need/want it a bit more urgently, you can buy it for about $4 at Moddersmart.com. The C12P got worse reviews on Newegg because of one guy who apparently got a bad sample (he remains the only case I've seen anywhere of anyone getting a bad anything from Noctua). That being said, since it's a top-down cooler (as opposed to the U12P's upright position), it does end up with a degree or two Celsius higher temperatures than the U12P. On the other hand, it has no clearance issues whatsoever and thus doesn't force you to spend another $60+ on a decent full-tower case... Monitor: It will probably have some issues, yes. 1920x1080 is a very new resolution as far as gaming goes. It wouldn't be so big an issue were it not for the fact that it's a 16:9 aspect ratio, as opposed to the far more common (for widescreen computer monitors, anyway) 16:10. Newer games will have support for it, sure. Some recently released games - and every Valve/Source-based game - already have support for it. But there's a lot (and I mean a lot) of games out there that just don't have that built-in. If you'd rather have the extra screen space, there's certainly nothing preventing you from using nVidia's control panel to set games that don't work with 1920x1080 to run in the center of the screen (see here for an extreme example), and then setting the game to run at 1680x1050 (the highest possible 16:10 resolution that fits within the bounds of 1920x1080). It's really more a question of whether the black frame would be unnerving to you or not. Sound Card: I'm not personally very sure about the objective quality of integrated sound on X58 boards, but I certainly do know that unless you have a pair of headphones that cost at least $80 or more, that sound card won't make anything sound any different to you - and as such, you can consider it an optional component. If you upgrade your speaker/headphone system later on and find that you can start to hear artifacts in your MP3s or whatever, then get the D1 - but feel free to save your money in the meantime if you so choose. - Diosjenin -
Ty ill take that as a compliment heheh (In love with my full allu 23Kg full tower case haha) IMHO i have the same impression on what sound cards are atm. Maybe im not into sound editing, and that why i havent taken much into account that issue But you can save some money there and invest it in another thing, lets say....Stickers for ur Case hahahah
Hold the phone. CBA to read all the posts in this thread but from his OP it sounds like he wants a PC for multi-tasking and occasional gaming. Surely a Q6600, 4GB, 4870, 1TB F1, HX620W type setup would be more than enough? Unless he's planning to get a 30" display for gaming on? And for a first build, the idea of keeping it a bit simpler than SLi, tri-channel etc is surely more sensible?
I already laid out an alternate setup like that for him. In fact, it even included components such as a Q6600 and 4GB of RAM, along with a component-by-component price differential between that and an i7 platform. After some back and forth, zuzu seems to have decided that the flexibility slash increased future upgrade paths offered by an i7 platform are worth the extra cost of entry. Though of course you may feel more than free to correct me if I have in fact misread this entire thread. - Diosjenin -
Still, it would make more sense to have the higher res one with the ability to play lower res games, than the one that's stuck in a low res. Anyway, I've never used a Gigabye motherboard, but everyone else raves about them. Go for it. The Asus with 6 PCI-E slots that I recommended would probably be the most future proof though, even though there is a price premium. So... Go ahead and order, everything is A-OK. Make sure and check for RAM compatibility though.
What I meant in my OP was that I didn't want a $3000-$5000 beast of a PC. I think what I have chosen is what I'm looking for. I would rather have flexibility/increased future upgrade possibilities even though it costs more. I just finished up with school and now have the time to develop the gaming and PC building hobby that I didn't have time for. That being said, I don't want to be in over my head when actually building this. This would be the only reason I would want to shy away from this build. Let me know if it will be too difficult. Docodine, what do you mean don't forget to check for RAM compatibility?
Sometimes specific sticks of RAM have issues running correctly with specific motherboards. Motherboard mfr's can put out 'compatibility lists' of RAM that has been tested to work correctly with specific boards. I checked the one for the UD4P, and the list for DDR3-1600 and above isn't very thorough. I did check reviews for the RAM, and it seems it has no problems running on the UD5 (at above rated specs, too - DDR3-1866 CAS 7-7-7-20 at 1.64v), so I wouldn't worry about it. - Diosjenin -
