Upgrade advice....

[b0redom]

Hi All,

I'm in the process of retiring my Shuttle system. To replace it, I'm thinking:

Intel E8600 C2D

along with:



and 2 8800GTXs in SLi.

I know that there are faster solutions for the graphics, but I already have one, and have just picked up another for £100 including a waterblock.

The whole thing will be cooled with the Zalman Reserator - hence the need for a pretty beefy PSU.

Can someone recommend me a motherboard for all this to plug into?
Can someone recommend me a case to put it all in?

If it's possible, I'd like the headphone jack on the top of the case so I don't have to keep fumbling around under the desk....

Cheers....

[Infinite]

How much do you want to spend on each?

[b0redom]

Haven't set a budget.

[richieuk]

As you're going for watercooling, I take it you want to put a window in to show it off... so a coolermaster is out of the question. I think you will probably want somethign like an Antec 900, thermaltake armour, or my personal favourite, SilverStone TJ07B-W. Although the latter doesn't have top speaker inputs, its still frontside.

Mobowise, you'll need an SLi board so its an nVidia chipset for you. At least you went for DDR2 memory, so its not silly there, you can look at something along the lines of 750i/780i from Asus, but tbh, I don't know how far any of these boards can be pushed. The Striker II Formula however has popped up a few times before in discusion, and the Striker boards have a good heritage. But that said, there are still other options.

[b0redom]

Not particularly bothered about a window, the watercooling is just to keep things quiet and enable me to eek out a bit more overclocking performance

I'll take a look at those cases anyway.....

[richieuk]

Links added to above post, but heres a pic of the Silverstone in action



Purty Would do your SLi and WCing some well deserved justice

[b0redom]

Looks nice, but really - nearly £250 for a case?

[Infinite]

Asus Striker II Formula probably your best bet.

How about a Silverstone TJ-09, with or without window. I think the black one matches the Zalman perfectly, so you can place it on top.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=487766

[Infinite]

Looks nice, but really - nearly £250 for a case?

Haha, would you like to set a budget now?

[b0redom]

Well say £100 for the case, unless it really offers something special. I don't need a window for example - and it doesn't need fantastically good cooling as the reserator will pull most of the heat out of the case anyway.

[richieuk]

Maybe then


Only a modest £155


EDIT// You posted same time as me



at £70

P:S Thanked Infinite for best laugh i've had all day

[Hydro Powered]

Well if you set on a Zalman Water cooling how about



Includes the XT

Looks really nice in RL. Shame it costs an Arm and a Leg (£350-£400)

[b0redom]

Will the Antec900 take 280 GTX cards? Is there enough space in there? Not planning on one just yet, but I'd like to have the space just in case

[Infinite]

Haha, no problem , i didnt think it was that funny tbh.

Will the Antec900 take 280 GTX cards? Is there enough space in there? Not planning on one just yet, but I'd like to have the space just in case

I think you have to remove the hdd cage to make it fit.

[richieuk]

I think you have to remove the hdd cage to make it fit.

Yup, some chap form another forum i was reading on a while ago bought a coolermaster because it was difficult to wire around. Saying that though, the WC jiggy thing is quite big too, so including that it might be more trouble that worth.

Would maybe a 192 Antec work?

If that Zalman insludes the resevator, it might be your best bet aside from the Coolermaster.

[b0redom]

Yeah, it does look like a good fit to my requirements. The only reason I was going for the Zalman cooling is that I don't want the hassle of mounting the pump etc in a normal case.