Guten_Raynor

Alright so I have a full tower case already (Cooler Master Centurion, came with a 350W PSU)

I want to build a fast gaming rig that's just under the curve (IE -> above average performance with minimal added cost). The idea is for it to be upgradable (so that I can add/swap single components in a year or two and still have a fast rig).

Currently I'm looking at buying from ClubIT.com. Any comments on them (price, customer service, etc) would be greatly appreciated.

The Basics:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor Retail BX80562Q6600 SLACR
$277.99

MSI P6N Diamond LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard Retail
$211.99 (181.99 after Rebate)

EVGA Geforce 8800GT 512MB 256bit GDDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 HDCP & SLI Ready Video Card Retail 512-P3-N801-AR
$249.99

2x Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5 Gb/s Hard Drive OEM WD1500ADFD
$339.76

2x OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-12 Dual Channel Kit Retail OCZ2G8002GK
$95.98 (39.98 after Rebate)

COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro 650W Active PFC NVIDIA SLI & 80 Plus Certified ATX Power Supply Retail RS-650-ACAA-A1
$139.99

Total cost:
$1313.70 (1231.70 after Rebates)

Now for the questions:

1) The graphics card I picked, EVGA 8800GT 512mb is a good card. It seems that from there you nearly double the price to get a good performance boost (GTXs run $400+) Any other suggestions? I intend to buy one now and a second to SLI in a year or two.

2) Is the PSU large enough to handle my current and future needs setup (RAID 0+1 harddrives and SLI'd graphics and overclocking). I want an efficent PSU so >80% is pretty much required. I'm willing to pay a premium for that (Knowing that in the long run I'll make it back). Should I go larger?

3) 4x1GB sticks seems a good choice (esp. @ $10 a stick). Am I going to regret buying this ram or is it good enough to get me through a few years. (To last be until 1066/1333 sticks are $50ish for two high performance sticks)

4) Overclocking. I know the Q6600 G0 can get to 3.6Ghz seemingly without breaking a sweat... I was thinking of going for 3.2Ghz and calling it good for now (hopefully that'll extend the processors life, since it's gonna be a kickass processor for awhile). Any tips/suggestions in that regard?

5) Cooling is obviously going to be an issue with the OCing. Any suggestions on aftermarket cooling? Ideal solution would be low noise/low power/low price (pick two, I know). I have a full tower case so i've got space but I'd like to not have a massive heatsink ontop of the processor. Water cooling is for my next computer... my first one I wanna keep it simple.

Any general tips appreciated and i'll be lurking for awhile to respond and chat. I'm hoping to purchase Sat/Sun so I'm just throwing it out for the geek community to see and hopefully call BS if I screwed something up

And now the tl;dr version:

Budget: $1000-1500 maybe higher (key words : bang for my buck)

Brands: Not really. I'd like to stay with name brands (good customer service... DOAs happen and I don't want hassles)

Multitasking: Nothing extravagant but I think my rig could handle it.

Gaming: Lots and it needs to be able to run the latest and greatest (although decent framerates are fine. I don't need 100fps in Crysis)

Calculations: Needs to be capable of number crunching.

Overclocking: I'm intending to OC my Q6600 to 3.2Ghz to start and maybe bump it up to 3.6Ghz later on (I've heard the G0s are stable at 3.6)

Storage: My build includes two WD Raptors. RAID 0+1 them with a 300Gb backup (in case of Raptor failure). I already have a 320Gb external with eSATA so I'm set for data storage.

Legacy Support: Old support is nice but not required.

Operating System: I'll be running XP Pro (Hooray MS Playtest) MAYBE Vista. I intend to dualboot with Linux (although I'm a noob with it so I doubt I'll do much)

Case: Already have a full tower Cooler Master Centurion which came with a 350W PSU (not enough)

Accessories: All those I can salvage.


Recycled Components: Will you be reusing any components you already have?


Monitor: This is a big open void in my plan. I want 19W or bigger but I don't want to spend too much. 19-22W is probably the right range and i'll leave the rest in your expert hands.


Stores: ClubIT seems to have a better return policy (over newegg) but I'm open to good suggestions. Again I stress good customer service. I'll pay a small premium for it (to avoid the hassles)


Location: Good Ol' US of A.

I'll be lurking for the next two days :D

Guten_Raynor

UPDATED LIST: This is my current list of parts.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor Retail BX80562Q6600 SLACR
$277.99

Foxconn MARS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$186.99

EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$259.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$119.99

Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
$114.99 (89.99 after Rebate)

ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply 90V~265V (Auto Adjusted) UL, cUL, TUV, CB - Retail
$114.99

Total cost:
$1074.94 (1049.94 after Rebates)

Jtsou

That psu will not run that system, i suggest an Antec trio 650W or a OCZ GameXstream
700W power supply. Thermaltake toughpowers are good too in the 750W.

Also im not a big fan of FoxConn Motherboards, thats just my opinion though.

The rest looks good to me if you dont need a case or monitor.

Guten_Raynor

The PSU calculators i've seen have said anything from 350-620 when I give it 4 sticks and 4 harddrives and overclock my q6600 at 1.5v and 3.6ghz.

Dropping the overclock on my CPU the high end goes from 620 to 453 (still with double the current ram and 4x the harddrives)

Not to mention the 500W liberty has a excellent reputation.

koala

1) I'd stick with the 8800GT 512mb, but shop around for other manufacturers. Some are factory-overclocked, some come with a free game, and some use higher quality cooling systems. Check out the ATI HD3870 or the 8800GTS 512mb, both similar performance. If you're planning on waiting a year or two before going SLI, whichever card you choose will be out of date by then for the latest games.

2) 650W will be ok for your current setup, but adding more drives and a second graphics card will need more power from a quality unit.

3) Those sticks are fine. Anything better, like 1333 DDR3, will be a waste of money at the moment.

4) Start a new thread when you've got the system built. We can give more detailed overclocking advice when we can see your temperatures and voltages.

5) If this is your first build, I would avoid water cooling until it becomes necessary through overclocking and increased temperatures. The stock fans should be ok if your case has good airflow. You could replace them with Zalmans which typically drop the temperatures by 5-10C.


Nice choice on the Barracuda 7200.11. I bought the 250gb version recently and it only has 16mb cache. 32mb should improve multitasking and game loading times.

Are you adding 30% to the total on the power calculators? This is to allow for PSU inefficiency. Most are 85% efficient, but some can be only 70%. Also, the power output decreases over time.

TheMatt

For the motherboard look at the P6N Diamond though over the Foxconn or better yet get the Gigabyte P35-DS4 or the Asus P5K-E.

Right now the HD 3870 is falling behind the 8800GT 512MB so stick with nVidia if you are into the high end gaming market. Look at the PC Power & Cooling 610W because that rating is continuous power at 40 degrees C and goes up to 690W PEP (peak power output) I believe.

For the power supply calculator I usually do 30% capacitor aging and then multiply the result by 1.3 to account for up to 30% inefficiency.