Advice needed - New PC spec

[Tobeman]

Right, Im looking to build my next PC. I need you guys and your expert knowledge and opinions to inform me of anything glaring I've missed out.

Case: Coolermaster Stacker RC-830
PSU: Enermax Liberty 500w Modular
Motherboard: Any RD580 based chipset board that doesn't have a silly layout, I'm aiming to fit an X-Fi and a PhysX card in there somewhere along the line. Any suggestions? They don't have to be available at time of writing
CPU: I was thinking about getting an Opteron 165 and doing some mad overclocks, or atleast getting it to 2.4ghz 2.5ghz. Is that possible with any of the steppings? FX-60 is way out of my price range, unfortunately
Memory: I have a 2gb kit of OCZ performance 2-3-2-5 stuff, no need to replace that yet.
GFX: Any X1900XT-X based card, whatevers cheapest, as I want to fit an Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 to it
HDDs: 1x 150gb Raptor for installs and 1x250gb SATA Samsung or Seagate for storage.

Comments? I'm really interested in going watercooling, especially to get the temps down for overclocking. However it needs to be fairly portable, as it'll be moved alot over the next few months, be it going to mates, the inevitable house move thats on the horizon, uni. Is portability and water-bility an option to combine?

I'm aware the case is a huge heavy beast, but it has handles

Off you go!

[ExceededGoku]

I doubt that PSU will cut it, Here

[dave87]

if you are going for a single x1900 then why have an rd580 board?

[Tobeman]

I doubt that PSU will cut it, Here

I can't see a Hiper PSU () being suitable for overclocking, I know the Enermax Liberty series have rock solid rails, and I think should be more than enough for a single graphics card. Correct me if I'm wrong though..

if you are going for a single x1900 then why have an rd580 board?

I can't afford two ..yet

[dave87]

The new DFI rd580 board would be worth a look then, i would consider a 600w psu from ocz or something if you really want to overclock, as their rails have a 1% tolerance compared with 3% for other makes, arguably making them more reliable.

otherwise, nice I'm jealous

[Tobeman]

The new DFI rd580 board would be worth a look then, i would consider a 600w psu from ocz or something if you really want to overclock, as their rails have a 1% tolerance compared with 3% for other makes, arguably making them more reliable.

otherwise, nice I'm jealous

Yeah, thats the board I had in mind. I do get a bit scared () by the DFI BIOS, so I'm also holding out fot he Abit AT8 32X, having used an NI SLI GR the other day at work, I quite liked the BIOS and found it relatively straight forward.

Never really considered an OCZ PSU, probably because they tend to be a bit thin on the ground in the UK, at least at my normal e-tailers of choice, I haven't bothered branching out too far

[dodgybob]

Is it worth paying the extra for an x1900xtx? Since there is very little difference in the clock speed between an xtx and an xt it might be better to get the cheapest xt you can find and overclock that a little bit. Might also want to check out some reviews to see how the new zalman vf900 coolers compare to the artic x2's performance and noise wise.

[Tobeman]

Its a shame how both Zalman again have produced a cooler that doesn't exhaust heat, and how Artic Cooling, in my mind, have worsened their product from the Silencer series as this (the Accelero) just pumps the heat straight towards, on the majority of boards, the chipset Bah humbug!

[K22]

I would consider a 600w psu from ocz or something if you really want to overclock, as their rails have a 1% tolerance compared with 3% for other makes, arguably making them more reliable.

I am happy to second this, you could go with the ModStream or the PowerStream route, whichever takes your fancy really. The ModStream is 'only' available up to 520w as opposed to the 600w of the PowerStream, but I feel that either would be perfectly up to the task of powering that system. They're also very quiet, so if you don't want your PC to sound like a hoover, then they might be a wise choice

K22

[ExceededGoku]

Is it worth paying the extra for an x1900xtx? Since there is very little difference in the clock speed between an xtx and an xt it might be better to get the cheapest xt you can find and overclock that a little bit. Might also want to check out some reviews to see how the new zalman vf900 coolers compare to the artic x2's performance and noise wise.

the X1900XT-X is a much better overclocker than the XT and in general a more powerful card, I would happily pay the extra £100 odd just to get a small increase in performance and I think Tobeman is the same.

[trojan698]

Is it worth paying the extra for an x1900xtx? Since there is very little difference in the clock speed between an xtx and an xt it might be better to get the cheapest xt you can find and overclock that a little bit. Might also want to check out some reviews to see how the new zalman vf900 coolers compare to the artic x2's performance and noise wise.

Apparently the cores used in the xtx's are cherry picked resulting in better overclocks. The ram used is also different, xt's use 1.4ns, xtx's use 1.1ns iirc.

[Jinx]

Its a shame how both Zalman again have produced a cooler that doesn't exhaust heat, and how Artic Cooling, in my mind, have worsened their product from the Silencer series as this (the Accelero) just pumps the heat straight towards, on the majority of boards, the chipset Bah humbug!

This is in line with the BTX spec, which exhausts the heat through the centre of the case, from front to back.

[htid]

Comments? I'm really interested in going watercooling, especially to get the temps down for overclocking. However it needs to be fairly portable, as it'll be moved alot over the next few months, be it going to mates, the inevitable house move thats on the horizon, uni. Is portability and water-bility an option to combine?

Nobody seems to have answered this....does anyone have any comments, as im also interested in hearing the answer to that.

[nvening]

Whay the hell do they produce btx spec coolers when the only place which does btx is dell???

[Noni]

I doubt that PSU will cut it, Here

The enermax is the best, I'd rather have one over 2 hipers.

[ExceededGoku]

ye enermax are ownage but the price premium is not for everyone, i got one because I don't plan on changing/upgrading my PSU for quite some time 620W should cut it for a crossfire system in around 10montsh (roughly R600 release date )