penpan08

Greetings. The last time I custom built a PC was about 8 years ago. As such, I've been out of the hardware "loop" for a while now and I'm completely lost as to what is good anymore. I've thrown together a rough idea of what I'm looking for in a few lists below. Hopefully they give a good impression of what exactly I'm shooting for but feel free to post if I need to fill any gaps.

Major Concerns:
1. Overheating - I'm in a large, fairly well ventilated room that hovers around 72F in the hottest days of summer. I had a computer overheat on me once due to a faulty fan. Obviously not a direct fault of my own, but overheating has always been something I try to be cautious of.
2. Incompatibility - Nothing irks me more than snagging a bunch of new gear only to have it not be compatible with each other.
3. Running multiple video cards - I've researched it plenty and I feel confident I understand it all, but as I've never set it up before I'm still a tad weary.
4. Leaving something out - I check and recheck everything OCD style but I always get the feeling I left the burner on.

Quick breakdown from the PRBP sticky template:
1. Budget: < $2000 (willing to go over if its worth it)
2. Brands: No Preference
3. Multitasking: Yes. I play many online games and often work on other projects in the background during idle times. (common programs include: 3ds Max, Photoshop, Sony Vegas, and other various editing tools.)
4. Gaming: Yes. I do a lot of gaming and would like a rig capable of playing on the higher settings.
5. Calculations: Will you be doing any intense calculations or media encoding? Yes.
6. Overclocking: One of my biggest fears of custom built PCs is over heating, as such I will likely not overclock anything.
7. Storage: 500GB minimum
8. Legacy Support: No
9. Operating System: 32-bit Windows Vista Home Premium
10. Case: See Below
11. Accessories: See Below
12. Recycled Components: Maxtor 120GB External HDD, Logitech USB Optical Mouse.
13. Monitor: See Below
14. Stores: I've used TigerDirect and Newegg in the past and have been pleased with both.
15. Location: USA

Listed below are components I have selected as a guideline as to what I'm looking for. Most items link to TigerDirect. The current total sits at $1,554.88 so there is plenty of wiggle room.

Case:
Ultra Black Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower Case
PSU:
Ultra X-Pro ULT40029 750-Watt Power Supply
Mobo+CPU
EVGA nForce 780i SLI Motherboard CPU Bundle
CPU Fan
Cooler Master Hyper TX2 CPU Cooling Fan
Video Card
(2) EVGA GeForce 8800 GT
Memory
OCZ SLI-Ready Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory
DVD Drive
Lite-On LH-20A1S SuperAllwrite SATA DVD Burner
Case Fan
(2) ThermalTake Smart Blue 120mm LED Case Fan
Monitor
Acer 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor
Hard Drive
Western Digital 640GB SATA Hard Drive
Keyboard
Seeking input-something comfortable and good for gaming.
Sound Card
Seeking input-Onboard sound should be sufficient for my needs but open to other options.
Speakers
Seeking input-I don't need anything too fancy as long as the sound is clear and crisp while watching movies and listening to music. A simple 2 speaker setup will do fine.

Thanks in advance for any input, it's truly appreciated.

Tumbleweed36

Frankly, you can get an excellent power supply for the money you are spending on that Ultra, which is not an outstanding supply. Why not take a look at a Corsair power supply, or a Seasonic, or a Thermaltake "toughpower", a silverstone, or even a PC Power & Cooling unit.

For what you want, I would consider the Asus P5K-e WI/FI and either the e8400 or e8500 CPU, because the quad core while a great chip just won't use all the capabilities that it has. Too many applications aren't set up to make the best use of a quad core.

penpan08

Thanks for the input. How does a CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W sound for a power supply? Would I be better off springing the extra $20 for the PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W?

About the Dual Core vs Quad Core. While many programs do not take advantage of quad core now, would it be safe to say that more will in the future, making the quad core a more future proof choice? Or would you say, by the time most programs utilize quad core I will be looking to update most of my setup again?

After snooping around some more I'm wondering if I would be better off going with a EVGA GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB instead of the dual 8800 GTs but I'm curious about the heat issues it could cause as well as the size of this monster in the case.
1. Would the current motherboard and CPU still work well with the 9800 GX2?
2. Do I need a DDR3 motherboard to go with the 9800 GX2 or is that something completely different?
3. Should I get the normal 9800 GX2 or go for a KO or Superclocked version?
4. Will the 2 120mm case fans be enough to keep things cool?
5. Is there a case better suited to handle the heat or will the current one work?

It has also come to my attention that it would be wise to pick up a copy of the 64-bit version of Vista to take full advantage of all 4GB of RAM, is this correct?

Tumbleweed36

BTW, be sure if you go with the P5K-e series that you consider the P5K-e Wi/Fi version. It is only a few bucks more and would have that extra feature that might future proof you in different locations.

I would spring for the PC Power & Cooling as a personal choice, but the Corsair is also top-of-the-line and right up there in quality with PCP&C supplies. Those two and Seasonic are as good as it gets.

By the time most programs take advantage of the quad core like they were designed for, you will be looking for a new rig, and by then, the quad cores will be developed beyond what the Q6600 has to offer. That is my opinion.

My personal preference would be the 8800 series, but you might want to chat with one of the gamer people on the forum and see what they have to say about that issue. I am not an avid gamer. If I come across one of the guys over there, will have them take a look at this thread and give you some more imput on that issue.

The motherboards you are looking at with either handle the video card selection you are looking at.

DDR3, while great offers nothing that a good DDR2 offers, plus much higher priced.

Oh, forgot to mention, if you go with the P5K-e Wi/Fi series, might take a look at the Crucial Ballistix 1066 memory. That was my choice when I purchased my rig. I know some other techs on here are also using that memory with that setup.

If you are going to be gaming, you most likely will need to get a Zalman or other after-market CPU cooler in there to keep things nice an cool.

The case looks fine to me. I will now go and see if I can find a gamer enthusiast to take a look at your video card suggestions.

pharoah

at this point the next gen nvidia cards are very close to being released.if ya can wait do so.the new ones are supposed to be absolute beasts.ive heard of alot of problems with that gx2.so i dunno if id go that route,or not.your original idea of 8800gt sli would be nice,but only in games that support sli.in games that dont support it it wouldnt have any advantage.

Aus_Karlos

Play it safe.. go with a 1000W PSU. Ive just brought a Corsair HX1000W and works perfectly with my system.

The 9800GX2 does run hot. Idles at 50-60c and can get up to 90c on full load. Get Riva Tuner and manually increase the fan speed if you like. The 9800's fan can get quite loud if its over 70% but at that speed it takes off 10c-15c.

1. Yes
2.No, DDR or DDR2 will suffice.
3. Normal version and if you like OC yourself (But you wont need to). They charge i think $25-70 for every 50hmz they increase.
4. Yes but make sure they are top of the range. 120mm fan that have a rpm of 2000 may not do much.
5. The bigger the better i say Thermaltake Armor (Full) case is quite good. The more room your case has the better heat distribution there is. also the potential to have a larger airflow.

For the OS try and find XP 64-bit. It out performs all the Vista platforms.