Planning a gaming rig

[Stumpycr0c]

Hi all, could do with a bit of advice as I'm new to building a pc. Have a Dell Dimension 4600 atm (pls don't laugh, its my first pc). I'm currently favouring the Antec p180 for the case, unless you have a better option. The main question I'm debating though, is the mobo. I'm thinking along the lines of
Core 2 duo e6600 (for the 4mb cache)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2
8800GTX x2 in SLi

I already have a Netgear WG311T wireless network adapter, and will try the onboard sound before I buy an x-fi card.

So I need a mobo that will support 2 8800GTX's if possible with true 16x PCI-e slots, that also has at least another 2 pci slots available for my network card and possible future purchase of a sound card. As well as the possibility of space for a physics card at a later date if it ever takes off. I would like to have the options to overclock as my knowledge increases. Am I in cloud cuckoo land or is this possible ?

Oh, and was thinking of getting 2x 150GB WD raptors in RAID, which is why I wanted a nice quiet case.

I kinda had my eye on a EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR NF680i SLI, S775 ,but since then a friend told me it had been slated in some forums he subscribes to, and also wondered if all the bits would fit, considering the size of the 8800's. I may be way off the mark but any advice would be appreciated.

[zashark]

Hello

well congrats on your first build mate, it's pretty easy putting it together, its just when you fire her up and nothing much happens is the frustrating part, but thats a different story.

Cant really see anything wrong with what you want,

As for the motherboard i would go with an asus sli one, got one myself and i know many othe people use the asus boards, never had a problem with em so far, i know some people use evga and say they are quite good, but i have no experiance with em yet. But those 8800 cards are quite big so i am not sure you will get the extra two pci slots you are after, But why 2 8800 gtx in sli? you planning on using a very big monitor? if so go for it or one should do the trick, at least for now.

[DecomposingStar]

Asus are a good make, maybe the Asus Striker?

To be honest though, Why would you need 2 8800's? Maybe wait 'til the R600 comes out (unless you're a nVidia person) and see what happens? The 8800 will be a high end card for a while now, if they get the drivers sorted out for it, so i don't see the reasoning in 2 of them.

[simonfitba]

The 8800 will be a high end card for a while now, if they get the drivers sorted out for it, so i don't see the reasoning in 2 of them.

Yeah I agree. One of those beasts is plenty.

[Max Tractor]

What monitor?

[Steve B]

monitor size and driven resolution would be a bonus

also consider the power supply as a vital component, as we're not talking a small amount of watts here

[DecomposingStar]

monitor size and driven resolution would be a bonus

also consider the power supply as a vital component, as we're not talking a small amount of watts here

yeah, get a galaxy, will last you ages.

[Stumpycr0c]

Thanks for the quick replies all Well my current monitor is a LG M2343 23" widescreen running @ 1360x768 (which was a mistake tbh) I don't like the contrast, as it struggles with the darker maps in Project Reality and BF2. I'm thinking of trying a 22" crt, which I can pick up cheap on ebay, to try out @ 2048x1536. I'm also trying to build in a degree of future-proofing. But I don't have to go SLi, however would like to have the option at a later date without having to swap mobo. Was thinking of the Enermax Galaxy 1000w psu. Expensive I know, but saves buying a new 1 in the near future.

[chuckskull]

Personally I'd drop the second 8800GTX for now(one GTX is a huge amount of power still), and spend the money on a decent monitor. It'll make a huge difference to how the PC 'feels'. Which when you're spending this amount of money is important.

A nice Dell one like this http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna...dhs1&sku=59233
would go perfectly with a 8800GTX I reckon. The 22inch CRT will handle 2048x1536, but only at 60hz which will look horrible, I've tried it on mine.

As for a motherboard, any 680i board will do you nicely. the first batches had loads of problems, but they seem to have settled down now.

If you want Raptors in RAID, get 2 74gig ones and some drive silencers like http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=533399 and another 250/320gig drive for storage. You'll never need more than 80-90gig for your windows partition so the 150's are a waste of money, 2, 74's will give you loads to play with and bigger drives are cheap as chips now.

[staffsMike]

I would advise against the asus striker as it has just as many if not more annoying..quirks..as the EVGA does.

There is a new revision to the EVGA according to a thread by Clunk on here so I would say that is your best bet. With two GTX's in it you will just about fit two more pci cards in there is enough room for it.

GTX is SLi is going to be an extreme overkill in my opinion and comparing CRT to LCD these days goes in the LCD's favour in my opinion.

I'd swap the extra GTX for a dell 2407WFP that will blow you mind for gaming experience and the single GTX will handle anything you have to throw at it.

Of course that means you dont need the SLi board really..although you may want to go for the 680i as it offers very easy overclocking (unlinked). It was my first OC and i found it stupid easy

[Stumpycr0c]

Great response, and fast, thanks for all the advice. I think I'll drop the second GTX, but still get the evga board, although I'll be checking the part number Also the advice on the 74GB raptors makes good sense. So I think I'll go for that. I'll have to come back and ask about cooling when I decide about trying to overclock. So I suppose I wasn't that far off the mark, which is encouraging, seems all the reading I've been doing has paid off.

As to the monitor, your prolly right, but I'll never be able to offload this lg at a fraction of the price I paid, and as a yorkshireman, the idea is anathema to me. So that'll have to wait.

I'll post back how it turns out.

[DratUK]

A GTX is gonna be around £360 for the lower cost ones, dont bother with the higher ones there all the same.
A Dell 24 you can pick up for £450, keep/flog the 23 inch as it wont do justice to the GTX.
On my 24 inch I can run all current games at full res and all eye candy on and no deficit ie stutter. The Dell is a beaut of a monitor.
I can appreciate your loath to dump the 23 inch, I am a Yorkshire man my self , but to play at 1900 x 1200 is a joy.

Eiether way I hope your first build goes well. I would also check the Galaxies will fit into the P180, hopefully the guys with P180's can comment.
Good Luck

[chuckskull]

Use the old LCD as a second screen, stream movies to it, stick messenger on it etc.

[Clunk]

I would advise against the asus striker as it has just as many if not more annoying..quirks..as the EVGA does.

There is a new revision to the EVGA according to a thread by Clunk on here so I would say that is your best bet. With two GTX's in it you will just about fit two more pci cards in there is enough room for it.

You not happy with your EVGA680i anymore?

[Reapsy]

A Dell 24 you can pick up for £450

Um where coz at that price I'd be tempted too buy one

[Steve B]

http://www.autdirect.co.uk/acatalog/...FT_Panels.html
2405 for 430 bought mine from there back in may of last year, cost me 525. Best thing i've ever bought