New Gaming Rig - Building Advice??

[Tiger69]

Hey. I am new to the forum and im hoping to get a new system. I was hoping that people could give me some advice as whether to build it myself or not. Bear in mind that i have never built a computer before but i do study A-Level ICT aswell as A-Level Electronics, and im generally very good with computers. Additionally i have a brother who works for Intel and im sure he could help. The reason i ask is because i live in Northern Ireland and i got a system built for me 1 1/2 years ago by (what i thought was) as reputable company - who couldnt get it working and hadn't a clue what was wrong, so i ended up getting a refund. As of now this company has went bust and i dont know of any good system builders around Belfast. I dont wanna buy a pre-build computer coz i wanna choose my own parts, and i dont wanna buy from the likes of alienware or mesh because i prefer to deal with people face-to-face rather than people in another country over the phone. Custom building is the only option.

Im pretty sure i am capable of reading a few step-by-step guides and component manuals and putting the system together, its just installing all the drivers and configuring the system to work properly that i think would pose a problem. I was wondering if i am at the right forum for asking setup questions about stuff like that, would i be able to find help with problems i encounter?

I hope that i havent bored people with my essay - but ill prolly be spending £2000+ on this system and i dont wanna go ahead and buy the parts, screw it up and not be able to find any help.

Any advice would be appreciated. Here is the list of components i hope to get. I hope people can help me initially by maybe spotting any possible compatability issues etc with the components i have chosen:

PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express / SLI
ASUS A8N32 SLI Deluxe
AMD 64 X2 4400
Zalman CNPS9500 LED
Corsair TwinX 2048 - 3500LLPRO
2x XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB (SLI)
Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Extreme Music
NEC ND-4551A
NEC DVD-ROM
NEC Floppy
Maxtor Diamondmax 10 80GB SATA II
Maxtor Diamondmax 10 300GB SATA II
Windows XP Home SP2

Finally, can anyone recommend any descent cases? Also does anybody have a website address for any people suppling the PCP&C Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express / SLI in the UK?

Thanks every1
Tiger69

[Thorsson]

Maxtor Diamondmax 10 80GB SATA II
Maxtor Diamondmax 10 300GB SATA II

What's your reasoning behind this choice? A RAID array or using a Raptor for the system files would make some sense, but I can't see what you hope to get from this setup.

[nvening]

its very easy, just plonk them together

its the wiring which can get tricky.

I wold get the Cm stacker or AKASA the blackbird or whatever its called now

[Nox]

Finally, can anyone recommend any descent cases? Also does anybody have a website address for any people suppling the PCP&C Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 Express / SLI in the UK?

in reverse order:

extreme prometeia and savrow both stock that PSU, savrow are pricey though!

re case: your choice really, my taste is completely different to yours I bet. I would recommend browsing the case section of kustompcs and scan until you see one you like the look of, and then look for reviews of it to make sure its good, or post here. The Gigabyte Aurora comes well recommended, though I don't own one personally, or the Lian Li V series.

Nox

[Tiger69]

the 80GB will hold all my system/program/game files and the 300GB will be for storage.

Tiger69

[Tiger69]

thanks Nox, now i wont have to get the PSU Shipped the whole way from America =D

[Noni]

Made a few adjustments!


Seasonic S12 600W

ASUS A8N32 SLI Deluxe

AMD 64 X2 4400 OR OPTERON 165 if your into overclocking.

Thermaltake Big Typhoon

OCZ PLAT- 2x1GB 2-3-2-5

2x XFX GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB (SLI) (wow, I would get one now and another later)

Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Extreme Music

NEC ND-4551A

NEC DVD-ROM

NEC Floppy- Why? Lol.

Raptor 10K 74GB- For all your programs

and whatever 300gb for your storage.


Windows XP Home SP2

[RavenNight]

Okay I own a couple of the things you have got listed (what I'd do for two 512mb 7800GTXs...) I can throuroughly recommened the Zalman CNPS9500 cooler very impressed, Noni mentioned using a Thermaltake Big Typhoon, firstly their hard to get and secondly their very heavy, my best mate found this out, he dropped his case about 6 inches putting it down, normally no prob but the Big Typhoon was so heavy that it actually cracked his mobo and then damaged his GFX card. He wasn't pleased. Everything else there looks awesome I'd also recommend keeping the floppy in, I always use one in my systems, sooo useful for raid drivers/boot disks etc. On cases, my Gigabyte 3d Aurora is awesome I cannot recommend it enough, it doesn't look crazy but it is definitaly cool, in both senses. The rear twin 120mm fans make this one of the coolest cases for its size. I've persuaded a couple of friends to get them for their systems and they've been amazed. Good Luck whatever you choose!

[Tiger69]

Hey RavenNight, no worries about the Heat Sink, thats my choice and im sticking by it. Because i prefer the design of the 9500 over the older Zalman Heat sinks design because it sits up, therefore not being as restrictive with the heights of surrounding components. And most importantly - it lights up blue!! LOL!

Im Defo keeping the floppy in, coz like their what £5, may aswell coz like u say their handy for boot disks + drivers.

Ill have a look at that case aswell.

Thanks m8

[BUFF]

Anyone know where you can actually buy an ND-4551 in the UK?
Worth considering a Mitsumi FA404 for your floppy needs if you also have a digital camera & indulge in Photoshop/Paint Shop Pro or whatever.

[Tiger69]

Yeah, Komplett have added it to their website and they hope to have stock for 07/12/05. Here's the link:

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?s...9-C615391841FE

[Nox]

FYI the OCZ 2x1GB 2-3-2-5 do not clock well, you'll have to run a divider with them. Mine go to around 215 at those timings.

I would also be tempted to go for BFG cards, they have a lifetime warranty and are only pennies more.

Opteron or X2? hmmm, I was under the impression they are pretty much the same chip. The opterons *may* be better quality as they are server chips, so *may* clock higher.

Nox

[Thorsson]

the 80GB will hold all my system/program/game files and the 300GB will be for storage.
Tiger69

What I thought, so I stand by my original recommendation - either get the 74Gb Raptor, or get two identical disks and RAID them. Both will see performance improvements above using a standard 80Gb disk.

[project187]

erm on the gfx front,why would you want to spend over 1000 pounds on the cards??
at the moment and for a while there is no performance gap i dont think visually ok maybe a few more fps but for the sake of like 300-400 pounds i would go for two pre clocked standard gtx`s, i mean i have seen css on a single 7800 gt and i cant seem to think that it can look much better bar monitor upgrades so save yourself alot of money and go for two gtx bfg mayb,i know you may want the best at the given time which malkes sense but ths particualr case here isnt much point plus they cost the earth and require a good case and cooling and a moster psu.
just a thought

[Nox]

Anychance you can make your sig a little larger Project - I couldn't see it from the other side of our 40 acre site

Nox

[project187]

how i make it smaller?
lol