New build QX6700 Dual 8800 GTX help reqd

€>sense

Hi all,

Would appreciate your help in finishing specifying the following system, budget €3,600 max, excluding monitor and it needs to be very quiet:

CPU Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (read somewhere that a xeon option would give better performance for less?)

GPU Dual 8800 GTX in SLI

Hard Drives 2x WD Raptor X 150GB (Raid 0) & 1xSamsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ

Mobo Need help here, would like to overclock, need gigabit ethernet, loads of usb ports & firewire, 3 16X PCIe slots (might spring for a physics card later) and 2-3 usable PCI slots for sound card, TV-in and modem (do any desktop mobos come with integrated modems?) Passively cooled if possible.

RAM Need help here, 2 GB of fast overclockable RAM that will work with mobo chosen

Cooling Totally lost here. Last system was air cooled and horribly noisy. Would love a silent system, but doubt it can be achieved with this spec. Would also like a liquid cooled system, but only if it adequately cools both GPUS & the CPU. Would like to go without case fans too if possible but concerned about lack of airflow to HDs and Mobo.

Case Something nice and silver, I like the Antec P180, but ultimately the cooling solution will determine the most appropriate case.

PSU Looking for silent around 1000W

Optical Media Pioneer DVR-111 & DVD-Rom not too worried about these specs, but do wonder whether to go SATA.

Sound Card Clueless here, speakers are 5.1, and wouldn't want to make a mistake and prevent use for HDTV in future, will be used for music, DVD-movies, and most importantly games.

Modem essential - would like a solution that didn't take a PCI slot if possble and definitely not a winmodem

Card Reader would like an extensive range of cards covered, but would hope this can be integrated with a floppy or fan controller or something.


Thx in advance for any help offered.

plonk

You do realise that 2 raptors and 2 gtxs wont really give you a quiet system. Forget about the raptors and if you want quiet then watercool.

Anti

The 8800GTX is very silent witht he stock cooler. but as plonk said the raptors are stupidly loud. I shall go over this tomorrow whne im not half asleep and ill give more oppinions then.

Slutmonkey57b

May I be the first to say, you have my sympathy in your terrible dilemma. Woe, as they say, is you.

8T8

&#8364 wrote: »

CPU Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (read somewhere that a xeon option would give better performance for less?)

It wont stick with Core 2.

&#8364 wrote: »

Mobo Need help here, would like to overclock, need gigabit ethernet, loads of usb ports & firewire, 3 16X PCIe slots (might spring for a physics card later) and 2-3 usable PCI slots for sound card, TV-in and modem (do any desktop mobos come with integrated modems?) Passively cooled if possible.

Don't bother physics all hype you have a quad core CPU more than enough.
The Abit IN9 based on the nForce 680i comes the closest if you want all of the above.

&#8364 wrote: »

RAM Need help here, 2 GB of fast overclockable RAM that will work with mobo chosen

The Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator is the stuff you probably will be wanting.

&#8364 wrote: »

Cooling Totally lost here. Last system was air cooled and horribly noisy. Would love a silent system, but doubt it can be achieved with this spec. Would also like a liquid cooled system, but only if it adequately cools both GPUS & the CPU. Would like to go without case fans too if possible but concerned about lack of airflow to HDs and Mobo.

Tuniq Tower 120 is best air cooler on market & quiet. No water cooling plugin for GeForce 8 series yet I think but not 100% certain on that.

&#8364 wrote: »

PSU Looking for silent around 1000W

A Seasonic M12 700W is sufficient to power all that hardware still if you want more try a Tagan 800W.

&#8364 wrote: »

Optical Media Pioneer DVR-111 & DVD-Rom not too worried about these specs, but do wonder whether to go SATA.

Don't bother with DVD-ROM just get two NEC SATA DVDRW drives.

&#8364 wrote: »

Sound Card Clueless here, speakers are 5.1, and wouldn't want to make a mistake and prevent use for HDTV in future, will be used for music, DVD-movies, and most importantly games.

X-Fi Elite simply because it comes with the necessary outputs. Though if it's analogue 5.1 then the Xtreme Music version will do

&#8364 wrote: »

Modem essential - would like a solution that didn't take a PCI slot if possble and definitely not a winmodem

Really no broadband in your area ?? A USB modem is available on OcUK.

&#8364 wrote: »

Card Reader would like an extensive range of cards covered, but would hope this can be integrated with a floppy or fan controller or something.

Akasa card readers should do the job they also come with a built in fan controller find them on Komplett.

Anti

http://www.dangerden.com/store/product.php?productid=257&cat=89&page=1

8800gtx block has been out a short while now. Great reviews on it too.


Also, the tuniq is not quiet at full pelt by any means. It is without a doubt the most noisy fan in my whole system. Which includes, stock chipset cooler (nfd, dfi ) 2 x akasa amber, 8800gtx , and a akasa blue led fan, hiper psu, dominator ram cooling.

€>sense

plonk wrote:

You do realise that 2 raptors and 2 gtxs wont really give you a quiet system. Forget about the raptors and if you want quiet then watercool.

Not sure what you mean about the raptors, never having owned one, never minded a few clicks, it was the constant drone of fans I hated, so just how loud is it?

Anti wrote:

The 8800GTX is very silent witht he stock cooler. but as plonk said the raptors are stupidly loud.

Very silent, as in with 2 of them I'd barely know the computer was on sitting a couple of feet away at my desk? Getting worried about the raptors now, if I stick with the Antec P180 case they'll be on the floor at the bottom of the case, so sitting 3-4 ft away what will I hear and can anything be done about the noise?

Slutmonkey57b wrote:

May I be the first to say, you have my sympathy in your terrible dilemma. Woe, as they say, is you.

:-) like my nick more € than sense, but believe me I've earned this!

8T8 wrote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by €>sense
CPU Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (read somewhere that a xeon option would give better performance for less?)

It wont stick with Core 2.

Great that's the QX6700 settled on then.

8T8 wrote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by €>sense
Mobo Need help here, would like to overclock, need gigabit ethernet, loads of usb ports & firewire, 3 16X PCIe slots (might spring for a physics card later) and 2-3 usable PCI slots for sound card, TV-in and modem (do any desktop mobos come with integrated modems?) Passively cooled if possible.

Don't bother physics all hype you have a quad core CPU more than enough.
The Abit IN9 based on the nForce 680i comes the closest if you want all of the above.

OK 2xPCIe slots will be enough, is there space for TV-in and sound card on the Abit? I'll run with usb modem see below.

8T8 wrote:

The Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator is the stuff you probably will be wanting.

Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator it is then.

8T8 wrote:

Cooling Totally lost here. Last system was air cooled and horribly noisy. Would love a silent system, but doubt it can be achieved with this spec. Would also like a liquid cooled system, but only if it adequately cools both GPUS & the CPU. Would like to go without case fans too if possible but concerned about lack of airflow to HDs and Mobo.

Tuniq Tower 120 is best air cooler on market & quiet. No water cooling plugin for GeForce 8 series yet I think but not 100% certain on that.

Not sure on this, leaving it open for now, also looks big, will it fit in the case with everything else? This is my critical concern, and possibly the bit that will blow my budget. Water cooling looks like adding an extra €500, making it infeasible, while air cooling sounds noisy like my last build.

8T8 wrote:

A Seasonic M12 700W is sufficient to power all that hardware still if you want more try a Tagan 800W.

How silent are these? Have heard good things about enermax 1000W, from past mistakes would prefer to err with the 1000W. What's critical is noise again, I'll go for the quietest PSU that still has a bit of headroom in wattage.

8T8 wrote:

Originally Posted by €>sense
Optical Media Pioneer DVR-111 & DVD-Rom not too worried about these specs, but do wonder whether to go SATA.

Don't bother with DVD-ROM just get two NEC SATA DVDRW drives.

OK That's that settled then. How many SATA drives can I put on the Abit mobo? is there master/slave and channel concerns with SATA?

8T8 wrote:

X-Fi Elite simply because it comes with the necessary outputs. Though if it's analogue 5.1 then the Xtreme Music version will do

X-FI Elite it is then.

8T8 wrote:

Modem essential - would like a solution that didn't take a PCI slot if possble and definitely not a winmodem

Really no broadband in your area ?? A USB modem is available on OcUK.

Yes got broadband, but remember this is also a work computer, absolutely need the back up and occasional fax of the modem. In the absence of of an integrated modem, USB will be fine for occasional use.

8T8 wrote:

Card Reader would like an extensive range of cards covered, but would hope this can be integrated with a floppy or fan controller or something.

Akasa card readers should do the job they also come with a built in fan controller find them on Komplett.

OK, does the Antec case have these built in? if not what fans can the Akasa control? CPU/GPU/Case/PSU/mobo? I hope there are good instructions on how to do that sounds complicated.

Anti wrote:

http://www.dangerden.com/store/produ...&cat=89&page=1

8800gtx block has been out a short while now. Great reviews on it too.


Also, the tuniq is not quiet at full pelt by any means. It is without a doubt the most noisy fan in my whole system. Which includes, stock chipset cooler (nfd, dfi ) 2 x akasa amber, 8800gtx , and a akasa blue led fan, hiper psu, dominator ram cooling.

€200 euro for the GPU water blocks + CPU water block+pump+rads+reservoir+tubing sounds like a water cooling set up will cost in the region of €500, that pushes me well over budget, and I still will have case fans and PSU fans + noise of Pump!

Can anyone come up with a better solution for cooling?

Thanks most sincerely guys for your help.

€>sense

Just to recap where I'm at:

CPU Core 2 Extreme QX6700

GPU Dual 8800 GTX in SLI

Hard Drives 2x WD Raptor X 150GB (Raid 0) & 1xSamsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ

Mobo Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi nForce 680

RAM Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX

Cooling Still lost here. Provisionally have put in Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) & 2 x Zalman VF900-Cu

Case Antec P180 if everything fits including cooling solution

PSU Enermax 1000W

Optical Media 2 x NEC SATA DVDRW

Sound Card X-FI Elite

Card Reader would like an extensive range of cards covered, but would hope this can be integrated with a floppy or fan controller or something.

Problem is I'm at stg £2,800 on overclockers.co.uk for this spec i.e. about €4200, way over budget, and still no water cooled and possibly noisy.

Thoughts please guys.

8T8

In regards the motherboard it has 2 PCI slots, 3 PCI-e x16 slots and 2 PCI-e x1 slots so it will support a sound card and TV card but the modem would have to be external. You could go for another board with more PCI slots if you wanted.

In you want to cut this down to budget lose the Quad Core 2 you don't need it for games, very few support 2 cores as it is get an E6700 and your sorted for gaming.

Tuniq Tower 120 will fit in the case, most effective and quiet cooler on the market.

A 1000W PSU is a waste of money the Seasonic M12 700W will handle the CPU and dual 8800GTX in SLI just as well on top of that Seasonic are high quality and quiet.

What kind of monitor have you got as SLI is waste at certain resolutions and cutting out a second GTX will shave a big chunk off the cost.

€>sense

8T8 wrote:

In regards the motherboard it has 2 PCI slots, 3 PCI-e x16 slots and 2 PCI-e x1 slots so it will support a sound card and TV card but the modem would have to be external. You could go for another board with more PCI slots if you wanted.

I'm happy with the Abit suggested, so long as there's room for the 2 GTXs and the sound and TV in card.

8T8 wrote:

In you want to cut this down to budget lose the Quad Core 2 you don't need it for games, very few support 2 cores as it is get an E6700 and your sorted for gaming.

I understand that, I'd even go to E6300, hopefully oc it a bit and upgrade it to the quad-core when its a reasonable price, but I'm going for a dream PC here as a reward and for €4500 I can get a Dell 710 H2C with a 22" widescreen monitor, so the quad core is in for now.

8T8 wrote:

Tuniq Tower 120 will fit in the case, most effective and quiet cooler on the market.

Better than the Arctic Cooling? Which is quieter?

8T8 wrote:

A 1000W PSU is a waste of money the Seasonic M21 700W will handle the CPU and dual 8800GTX in SLI just as well on top of that Seasonic are high quality and quiet.

Sounds like a good PSU, but what about the 3 HDs? I'd definitely go for the Tagan @ 800W though, I'm very uncomfortable about under powering a PSU, did that before!

8T8 wrote:

What kind of monitor have you got as SLI is waste at certain resolutions and cutting out a second GTX will shave a big chunk off the cost.

20" LCD 1600x1200 Can play nothing on it at the moment at its native resolution. Am convinced that I need SLI to cover a few years ahead.

Thanks 8T8 for your knowledge and time.

L31mr0d

hmm... i'd listen to the advice that you've been given.

The Raptors are NOISY, and the Raptor X series are the noisiest. Primarily because they have a clear plastic top to see the platter spinning (something that will be useless in the P180) which cause them to be ~10dB louder. I'd recommend getting 4 lower capacity WD SE16 for the same price and RAID 1+0 them.

The P180 is not an "all-in-one" silencer solution. It certainly stops vibration noise, due to its weight and panel thickness (i'd get a back strap if you are going to need to move it around) you need to fill it with silent components for it to be truly silent (i.e. I replaced ALL of the 12cm fans in my system with Scythe Sflex fans, using one in my tuniq made it dead silent and dropped my idle temps by 5'c, the stock tuniq fan is a POS)

I'll reiterate 8T8, you DON'T need a 1KW PSU, BUT you MIGHT down the line if power consumption increases for PC's. I personally wouldn't waste the money now and put it towards a beast of a monitor and sound system (these 2 things are the REAL bells and whistles that will make you love your PC) Also SLI G80's really only come into their own with large monitors, the DELL 27" and 30" LCD's are highly reviewed. OR get 3x21" monitors and set them up with a DVI TH2GO like this

Also... erm, those VF900-Cu's AREN'T going to fit on your G80's. You'll need this, currently I think its the only after market air cooler for the 8800GTX

As regards the mobo. I've been reading and reading about mobos for the C2Q and after some advice from a quad core veteran I was recommended the ASUS Commando... it's not SLI though. For SLI, the DFI 680i LT is getting good reviews.

Also, for cooling you can't go wrong with the Tuniq. I'd recommend replacing the stock fan with a silent one though, like a Scythe Sflex. Another option would be to wait and get the IFX-14

For card reader. I use this 34-in-1 external reader. You aren't going to find much better than it.

8T8

With a 1600x1200 display you wont need a second 8800GTX SLI just look at the benchmarks plus if you really want to you can pick up a second 8800GTX later you don't need it now.

Your better off getting an overclocked 8800GTX instead.

The Tuniq Tower 120 is better than the Artic Cooling product just look up reviews of it.

Seasonic are very high quality and deliver on the goods no need to worry about power problems with it in place.

SwampThing

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB DDR3 PCIE Dual DVI XXX ED €364.52
Antec Nine Hundred/Ultimate Gamer Case no PSU €99.65
Asustek S775 nForce 680i ATX Audio Lan €306.95
Tagan 800W PSU - Dual Engine €196.63
Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX6700 S775 2.66GHz €926.53
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB S300 2 €264.14
Western Digital Raptor 150GB S150 16mb 10000rpm 2 €429.01

I haven't done any kind of comparison here but this is my shopping list from dabs.
I also got 4GB G.Skill PC6400 memory from memoryc.ie for €423

That all adds up to roughly €3,300. I know the gfx card is a) only one and b) not the same, but there's a big difference between this and €4,200.

Are you sure you're getting the best deal on the kit?

Anti

8T8 wrote:

With a 1600x1200 display you wont need a second 8800GTX SLI just look at the benchmarks plus if you really want to you can pick up a second 8800GTX later you don't need it now.

Your better off getting an overclocked 8800GTX instead.

The Tuniq Tower 120 is better than the Artic Cooling product just look up reviews of it.

Seasonic are very high quality and deliver on the goods no need to worry about power problems with it in place.

The tuniq may indeed be a good cooler indeed, but it makes one hell of a racket at full speed. I have just put a sflex in mine too, just like l31mr0d and it has dropped temps big time, and is silent. And yeah, the GTX are very quiet for a high end card. The need for 2 of them is pointless. Even though my setup is severly cpu limited i can still play any game at 1680*1050 with all settings on maximum with full aa and af. And it dosent slow down at all. So with a quadcore and a gtx, and 4gb ram you wont have a problem running any game. Sure you can pick up a second at some time later on.

Stay away from the raptors if you want silence. i got rid of 2 of mine as they made so much noise they could be heard downstairs :eek:

If you plan on a nice big overclock you would be best to go with the dfi board. They have alway been great overclockers. 4gb of ram is also a must especially if you are using vista, if its xp stick to 2gb, as anything more is a waste, and takes to much hassle to setup, and is ultimatly useless.

€>sense

L31mr0d wrote:

hmm... i'd listen to the advice that you've been given.

I am but I don't have to accept all of it, some of what I've been told here contradicts what I've read previously in magazines, web-sites etc. 90% of it makes sense and I've accepted it.

L31mr0d wrote:

The Raptors are NOISY, and the Raptor X series are the noisiest. I'd recommend getting 4 lower capacity WD SE16 for the same price and RAID 1+0 them.

OK! Convinced :-) Not taking that risk - raptors gone! Not 100% certain what Raid 0 + 1 is but if it spreads the data for speed and backs up for redundancy, then that's overkill for me, I've a good imaging back up routine. I'll also run with the Samsung Spinpoints in Raid 0, should be big and fast enough.

L31mr0d wrote:

The P180 is not an "all-in-one" silencer solution. (i.e. I replaced ALL of the 12cm fans in my system with Scythe Sflex fans, using one in my tuniq made it dead silent and dropped my idle temps by 5'c, the stock tuniq fan is a POS)

They sound like excellent fans, will run with tuniq and how many slfexs will I need for the case (3, 4 or 5?) and one for the tuniq.

L31mr0d wrote:

I'll reiterate 8T8, you DON'T need a 1KW PSU, BUT you MIGHT down the line if power consumption increases for PC's.

That was my logic, esp if I buy a nice cool case I may get a couple of systems into it. If I stick with the 1K PSU is the Enermax Galaxy a good choice?

L31mr0d wrote:

I personally wouldn't waste the money now and put it towards a beast of a monitor and sound system (these 2 things are the REAL bells and whistles that will make you love your PC) Also SLI G80's really only come into their own with large monitors, the DELL 27" and 30" LCD's are highly reviewed.

Have a very nice Dell Ultrasharp 20" 1600x1200 & an excellent 5.1 speaker set. The 27" - 30" is a couple of years down the line, so I'm still convinced by the SLI.

L31mr0d wrote:

Also... erm, those VF900-Cu's AREN'T going to fit on your G80's. You'll need this, currently I think its the only after market air cooler for the 8800GTX

Thx could have made a big mistake there, will 2 8800 GTXs with HR-3s fit in the P180? and leave room for sound card and tv-in card?

L31mr0d thx a million for your considered views.

8T8 wrote:

With a 1600x1200 display you wont need a second 8800GTX SLI just look at the benchmarks plus if you really want to you can pick up a second 8800GTX later you don't need it now.

Wow hadn't seen benchmarks like that before, very very unimpressed with what SLI will do on DX9, absolute crap bang for buck! The 2 8800s are still there by a thread and only on the grounds that I'll probably upgrade monitor in 2 years to 27-30" and I'm worried that I'll need extra grunt with DX10 games by that time. If I have to spring for a card & monitor it gets that bit harder and I'm flush now ... but then ??? I'm definitely wavering now.

8T8 thx for the post, will run with the tuniq, wavering on the PSU, if I drop from 1000w I'll run with the Seasonic.

SwampThing wrote:

Are you sure you're getting the best deal on the kit?

Thx SwampThing for running the quick basket, no I hadn't shopped around at that time just ran it quickly through overclockers.co.uk certain I can get a better deal and have done now, can get current list (see next post) from US & germany for €3300 now. I needed expertise to firm up on the spec before pricing it.

Anti wrote:

The tuniq may indeed be a good cooler indeed, but it makes one hell of a racket at full speed. I have just put a sflex in mine too, just like l31mr0d and it has dropped temps big time, and is silent. And yeah, the GTX are very quiet for a high end card. The need for 2 of them is pointless. Even though my setup is severly cpu limited i can still play any game at 1680*1050 with all settings on maximum with full aa and af. And it dosent slow down at all. So with a quadcore and a gtx, and 4gb ram you wont have a problem running any game. Sure you can pick up a second at some time later on.

Stay away from the raptors if you want silence. i got rid of 2 of mine as they made so much noise they could be heard downstairs

If you plan on a nice big overclock you would be best to go with the dfi board. They have alway been great overclockers. 4gb of ram is also a must especially if you are using vista, if its xp stick to 2gb, as anything more is a waste, and takes to much hassle to setup, and is ultimatly useless.

Thx anti, running with tuniq with sflex and sflexes in case, raptors finally gone, OK with 2GB until I get Vista. Heard good things online about Asus striker (& got very good price online for it) but keeping DFI in mind. 2nd GTX is still there by a whisker, will prob not run with it when facing that final click.

Please see new post with latest spec and thx again everyone for your help.

€>sense

Thanks to all the guys who have gotten me to this point:

CPU Core 2 Extreme QX6700

GPU Dual 8800 GTX in SLI currently priced at €429 ea - may lose one at final decision click

Hard Drives 2x Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ

Mobo Asus Striker

RAM Super Talent STT DDR2-1000 1GB/64x8 CL5 unless the
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX are worth an extra €30

CPU Cooler Tuniq Tower 120 with scythe s-flex fan (which rpm version?)

GPU Coolers 2xThermalright HR-03 Plus

Case Antec P182 SE if everything fits including cooling solution

PSU Enermax Galaxy 1000W good review on custompc and is only €50 dearer than seasonic 700w

Optical Media 2 x NEC SATA DVDRW

Sound Card X-FI Fatality FPS

Card Reader would like an extensive range of cards covered, but would hope this can be integrated with a floppy or fan controller or something. Would prefer internal solution if possible.

Currently with ewiz in US and hardwareversand in germany, this lot can be had for approx 3400 incl 2 8800 GTXs. So getting very close now. Thanks all for your help so far.

astrofool

Well, 2 x 8800GTX will be outclassed by 1 x whatever in a couple of years time when you do get a larger monitor. + they'll be noisy and make alot of heat compared to just 1 card. Also, nVidia still haven't got SLI working great with Vista, which rules out DX10 SLI for now.

I'd get a usb flash drive rather than a floppy, I still have a combo flash card reader/floppy drive by Mitsumi (was bought on ocuk), but wouldn't get one again (asus boards can update bios via usb drive AND Vista can load drivers from optical/USB drive during setup).

No point really in RAID 0+1 unless you're getting a hardware RAID card, software RAID isn't really reliable enough for it to be worth it.

If I was building a system now, I'd probably get what you have above, but with a single 8800gtx and 2x2Gig of RAM. I'd also get the X-FI with the breakout box, because I can plug my headphones in under the monitor

DirkVoodoo

Yeah, 2 cards in SLI with a 20" monitor is fairly pointless and hardly futureproof. Once DX10 takes off and ATI get their act together, the price of these cards will come down a bit. Plus, once you buy them they lose some value in addition to the depreciation over a year. So, by the time you get your larger screen, the dual cards are outdone by cheaper, better cards.

For a 20" monitor, one GTX will run any modern game at a very high level. I must also stress that in all benchmarking, SLI does not double your frame rate. The diminishing returns are more than beaten by the added cost, power consumption, etc.

Also, I have to comment on the dual raptors. I have a 75GB one I use for windows. Don't notice any really amazing improvements. Raptors aren't as iconic as they once were with larger cache 7200 rpm drives. And yes, the seek noise is by far the loudest component of my system, and I run the stock intel fan on full for most games. 2 raptors would be an audible nightmare and far too expensive.

Oh, and the tuniq is no longer the best, that title has passed to the Thermalright Ultra 120, of which I am a big fan. The Tuniq is still excellent though.

DirkVoodoo

Also, If you are building yourself, its far better to buy a good/great rig for 2,500 and continually upgrade it with midrange "bang-for-buck" hardware. Buying a top of the line system is costly and will still need to be upgraded, its just you will get far less for your second hand components in a years time.

Anti

ID have to agree. 1 8800gtx with my 22" is more then enough for any game. Even with a oevrclocked opty

requiem1

just to let you know the antec p190 is on preorder in overclockers.co.uk and should be here by the end of the month.

From my last build, i have a water cooled 8800gts using an ek block and it only cost me 50 euro on specialtech and a swiftech apogee wouldn't break the bank but it really is all the small things that add up in the end however considering money doesn't seem to be much of an option i'd say go for it.

Also if you get a decent pump it won't make a whole load of noise. I don't know much about the benchmarks on an 8800 ultra but it might be worth a look. I read this review on the 2900xt and it doesn't even seem to match up to 8800gtx or ultra so i wouldn't bother about ati's new cards if you're considering it.

I had two 150gig raptors in RAID 0 and i recently split them into two computers and didn't honestly notice a major difference speed wise so one is enough if you're going to get one but they are really noisy and would probably drown out any noise of the case when they're spinning.

I took the advice of custom pc on my last two builds and bought 2gigs of a-data viesta 1000+ RAM and its a great overclocker but so are these and they cost next to nothing. The review on the page tells the truth cause i got about the same with an asus P5B.

good luck:)

DirkVoodoo

God No, the Ultra is an awful card. Its an example of ridiculous excess, on a parallel with the german horsepower war in cars. Ridiculous amounts of horsepower that can't be transmitted to the wheel effectively. In graphics terms this simply translates as a €250 price premium (cheapest GTX on komplett, the PoV for €540 versus the PoV ultra for €790) in exchange for a 10% frame rate increase at 2560x1600 Ultra High Settings/16x AF in Oblivion. Overclocking a GTX brings it up to par with the Ultra, for far less than an Ultra.

Seriously, anyone who buys one of these cards does not just have more money than sense, they are bordering on mental impairment.

Anti

I agree, i got my EVGA from dabs for 553, the cheapest ont there. And it is well beyond its standard speeds. and i hevent even pushed it hard yet.

Slutmonkey57b

Was looking for this for a while, given your situation:

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=625&p=3

Puts the lie to the idea that you "need" ddr2-1000 at all, save yourself a few hundred quid and get some CL4 ddr2 which will overclock nicely at CL5 settings, given that DDR2 doesn't mind higher latency so much.

and

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=635&p=0

so you don't need a 1000w psu either.

Forum posts on those are quite interesting too.

dazftw

You dont really need that sound card.. I have it and I find no difference to games what so ever waste of a €142(what I paid) tbh

€>sense

Thx guys for all the help.

I'm pretty much settled on the spec now, am going to shop around to get the best deal on components, will let you all know how I get on.

€>sense

Still knocking in around €3400

I am waiting to commit until I see if I can get another H2C on the Dell outlet, I missed one while waiting to think it over the other evening. I didn't think I could get one in the outlet, and on a whim checked and there one was.

€3000 for the XPS 710 H2C looks a very good deal to me.

The other thread where I was wondering if I could get a similar spec than the new XPS for under €3600 is here.

L31mr0d

&#8364 wrote: »

GPU Dual 8800 GTX in SLI currently priced at €429 ea - may lose one at final decision click

where are you getting an 8800GTX for €429 :eek:

€>sense

$ 555 = €419 on ewiz.com, they ship to ireland and have a handy shipping estimator at the bottom of the page. Haven't committed yet so don't know how much western union would charge for a wire transfer, would probably use the bank anyway.

A bundle of about 5 products was about €100 shipping, but for just one item it's €70.

Its not a bad site, with it and harwareversand.de I knocked about €700-800 off my first attempt with overclockers.co.uk.

pricewatch.com is good too as it indicates the sites that will ship internationally in the details on the right after you do a search.

PeakOutput

depending hw they mark the package if customs know whats in it you will be charged vat

€>sense

PeakOutput wrote:

depending hw they mark the package if customs know whats in it you will be charged vat

What's the real risk of that peak? Has it happened to you? I was prepared to take the chance, considering it would be coming to a home not a business address.

PeakOutput

&#8364 wrote: »

What's the real risk of that peak? Has it happened to you? I was prepared to take the chance, considering it would be coming to a home not a business address.

i got a hardware sofwatre combo called serato scratch from the states for 450dollars instead of 600euro and that did not get stopped for vat but i bought a bike when i was much younger top of the range bmx for 1300dollars and that did(understandably so) which added about 300euro to price of thing i was not expecting

i reckon its 50-50 but i would say the business resident thing is the exact opposite seen as most business's would be registered for vat and therefore they dont pay vat themselves

JackieChan

I'd say the chances of been nabbed are even higher than 50-50.
Of the last three items that me or a friend has had shipped in from the states in the last month, 2 were subject to customs. The one thing that wasn't was a <10 dollar Nokia data cable.
I would assume +21% on those items and compare prices based on that....

Anti

ITs not worth the risk with customs. Unless you have a friend in the states who can take delivery for you and privatly ship it.

DanGerMus

i've had two packages posted to me in the last few weeks from US one worth $153 other was $69.55. Neither got caught. I did hear once from someone that if it's below a certain amount customs dont bother but that could just be pub talk bullsheiser. But it was a pretty low amount E50 i think. so they'd be gettin 10 from that. I'd say it depends on the size of the package a bit too, they just assume that small package = less value. I'm sure they have some kind of sampling system cos there is no way they could get everything. Even so it might be cheaper to get it shipped including the tax.

Flaccus

Not sure what mobo you went with but the only 680i mobo that does not have the 300-320fsb limit with quad cores is Revision A1 of the EVGA 680i. A bit pricey though. Only place that has stock I can see is Scan.co.uk and they charge 60euro to deliver.

Best heatsink is now supposed to be the Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme. After that the Ultra 120 and Tuniq are tied.

One other thing, the fan on the EVGA mobo is noisy, and those heatpipes are not worth a damn. Same on all 680i boards. I would replace the Northbridge sink with a Thermalrigh HR05-SLi and add a quiet 120x25mm fan, and I would replace the Southbridge sink with a Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II. Stil have room for sli. If you are going with an Asus 680i mobo, you could also look into replacing the rubbish mosfet sinks witha pair of Thermalright HR-09's.

Regarding RAM, the Crucial DDR2 PC5300 has pretty decent Micron DM9H chips and overclocks as good as the more expensive Corsair 8500 stuff. Cheap too.

SwampThing

€>sense, how did you get on with the build?

€>sense

Picked up a dell 710 H2C on the dell outlet for €3072 in the end.

More or less satisfied with it:

QX6700 oc-ed to 3.2 guaranteed factory overclock
dual 8800 GTX really quiet - can't hear them
2 x 150GB raptors in Raid 0 - (whatever dell have done these are as quiet- if not quieter - as any other HD's I ever had)
sound blaster x-fi extrememusic
dvd - rw, dvd rom (noisiest componenent in the system)
2 Gb Ram - don't know what type
nvidia 590 mobo

The 1000w psu makes a strange crackling noise under load - kinda like a bee buzzing or something - its not loud but a bit annoying. This is a known issue and dell are unlikely to do anything about it. Never kicks in while I work, only have heard it when a game makes it work hard! (Far Cry with everything maxed out at 1600x1200 is a thing of extraordinary beauty). So its tolerable.

The H2C unit is not silent - but it is quiet the oc-ed qx6700 is low 20s or low 40s depending on the tool measuring at idle, and low 40s to low 60s under load (gaming not all 4 cores loaded). It makes a funny sort of trickling gurgling noise combined with a low fan noise - but is not noticeable either at rest or while gaming.

I like the look of the machine its huge aggressive looking and very well built. The case actually appears to be double walled with some kinda foam in between, but I haven't pulled anything apart to really investigate.

It has a handy 13-in-one card reader in front and leds front and back - the back ones are very useful for connecting things while its under the counter. The case fans are powerful and jet engine noisy while on full, but you only hear the jet when you switch on for a sec, then the fan controllers kick in and they're barely audable.

A couple of nits - it had no floppy drive or modem, and the irish spec H2C had a 500GB storage drive but although this was supposed to be a cancelled order, the 500GB drive wasn't included. These are however small issues and Dell customer care may sort them for me.

There is 24/7 special XPS customer care, based in Derry, these guys are actually good and easily resolved driver and Raid issues for me.

The really big issue of course is the slower mobo and memory: the new 720 has addressed this with a 680i mobo and corsair oc RAM, afaik I can upgrade to these for a fee later and retain the warranty.

So on balance, I'm happy. I'm a non-buzzing PSU, modem, floppy and storage drive from happy, but reckon Dell will come good on most of them or at least €100 will go a long way to resolve them. The mobo and ram speed issue I'm trying to be philosophical about, yes I could have waited for a 720 on the outlet, but when would that come about? or I could have built an equivalent to the 720, but my pricing was heading way above €3200 if using european suppliers.

I reckon I've value for money, support and warranty and delivery of a finished system in 10 days that without upgrading will get me a couple of years gaming before the slower RAM and mobo are noticable!

Thanks guys for all your help.