Widescreen Gaming Forum

I built a new computer on newegg, i'm looking for feedback on it from people who know a bit more than i do.

1st of all i'm going to use my 250 gb hardrive and 540 watt psu from my old rig...at least for now :) (money)

and my newegg wishlist looks like this:

Heatsync-$53.99
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

Video Card-$134.99
GeForce 8800 GT

Case-$219.99
Cooler Master Cosmos S

Motherboard-$239.99
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Processor-$179.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor

RAM-$68.99
OCZ Reaper HPC 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (currently out of stock so i may need to find something else)

Fans-$49.95 (5 of these)
Scythe DFS123812-3000 "ULTRA KAZE" 120 x 38 mm Case Fan

Total:$970.88

i also am looking for a good dvd burner for around 20-40 dollars, as long as it works i'll be happy.

Any suggestions/feedback would be much appreciatedi want to keep this in the 1000 dollar price range, but maybe i'll spend more if it would be something i wouldn't regret.

Q6600 is a good choice of CPU and I am assuming you are going to overclock it as you have chosen a 3rd party hsf. G0 stepping Q6600s are good overclockers.

If you are not going to do SLI, suggest you not to get a 780i based mobo and get a P45 based mobo instead.

Granted Cosmo S is a great case and ventilation is important, but your case+5 fans combined cost you about 25% of your budget and I think that is too much proportionally. I would trim off $60, at least, and use that amount to get a better graphic card (granted again that 8800GT is a good card itself), like HD4850 or 9800GTX(+). (I am assuming this is a gaming rig.)

Like p2987 said, ditch the mobo for a p45 such as either one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

With the money saved get any one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000380048%201305520549%20106792627%201067940677%201068310557&name=512MB
(VisionTek has lifetime warranty but that would cost $10 more opposed to getting the ASUS branded card)

Go with 4GB ram aswell at this point, theres no reason not to.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

As for a DVD player you cant go wrong with any of these top rated ones:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000100005%201038406820&bop=And&Order=RATING

yes this is going to be a gaming rig, i dont plan on running crisis on full settings in a crazy res (although it wouldn't hurt) most of the games i play probably won't be terribly demanding (red alert 3, tf2, kanes wrath)

I plan on using SLI on my video cards in the future, but i'm going to need a new psu 1st because 540 watts just isnt enough to support dual video cards. So if i'm going to SLI eventually would i still want a P45 mobo?

and if 5 fans is too many, how many do i need?

DaFox is the man,

Swap out that out of date 8800GT and go 4850. At least 4Gb's of RAM and a non-NVIDIA chipset with Intel.

Toss in (my personal favorite) DVD-RW by Samsung and you got a sweet rig.

Regardless of GPU choice, which is often swayed by chipset brand preference, I agree that the case is proportionally too expensive, and it doesn't even have a fan with direct flow of the HDs.

Also, even if you do plan on SLI, that MB is rather spendy too. I would look for a more affordable case and MB and put the money saved on an SLI ready PSU if you're sure you want to go SLI.

Besides that if this is a dedicated gaming rig with no plans for multitasking, video editing, etc, you could even save by getting a decent dual core CPU and foregoing the quad, which aren't supported in many games yet.

Basically if you shop carefully you may even be able to afford SLI up front, rather than adding a second card later, or at the very least going with something like one GTX 260 for now, which do better in SLI than their older GPUs.

i've been considering many of these ideas,
i think i'm going to stay with the quadcore (just because) but im now planning on the 4850:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129112

and the ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

im gonna get the 4 gigs of ram and the samsung dvd drive.

lastly i'd like to know what case would be more efficient for my wallet. After i decide if i want to switch cases or not i'll put up a nice list of the hardware again and probably look for the wsgm seal of approval. :)

Personally I would suggest a P180, but that's just my opinion.

you guys think this case would be a better move?

NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

Don't know what prices are there but I built this for $1000AUD here in Australia.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3GHz/45nm/1333FSB/6M)
ASUS P5E-X38 (X38) Mainboard (Rampage Formula BIOS)
4GB Kit (2x2048MB) Kingston PC6400 800MHz DDR2 RAM
HIS 512MB ATI/AMD HD4870 H487F512P (725/1800MHz)
Western Digital 500GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB HDD
Pioneer 215D Black SATA 20x Dual Layer DVDRW
Coolermaster Centurion 590 Midi-Tower ATX Case
Corsair HX-620W Modular ATX Power Supply Unit
Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme Heatsink


This is inclusive with PSU and HDD though so without them, less than $1000AUD.

you guys think this fan would be a better move?

NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

Hmm, that seems like a rip off of the 900:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=antec%20900

I have this case, and if noise isn't an issue for you it works great.

This is the one I was referring to earlier:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129154

Yea, that nzxt case is basically a knockoff of the styling and fan orientation.

I have heard wiring the p180 cleanly is a total PITA as is just getting wires from point A to B.

If the 900 isnt big enough there is the 1200 too which is 900 with 12 front bays and a few other things.

Imho, Antec 900 ($99.99 US) is a good case too even though some worry that it tends to suck in a lot of dust (if your room is dusty and you are too lazy to do regular interior cleaning, then it might be a problem.)

As for the Antec P180, there is the 'improved' version P182 which is on sale ($109.99 US) at newegg and is currently cheaper than a P180 ($134.99 US)

This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025

Imho, Antec 900 ($99.99 US) is a good case too even though some worry that it tends to suck in a lot of dust (if your room is dusty and you are too lazy to do regular interior cleaning, then it might be a problem.)

As for the Antec P180, there is the 'improved' version P182 which is on sale ($109.99 US) at newegg and is currently cheaper than a P180 ($134.99 US)

This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025

I have the 900, and I would have to say that dust isn't really that much of an issue. It does build up on the front bays, but that's most aesthetics than anything else. The dust buildup doesn't seem any more significant than other cases I've seen.

But then again that's just my experience. YMMV.

Dust build up is due to how you have fans setup, if you have more exhaust fans than you do intakes then you're more likely to have dust settle int he system, those with more intakes will find dust has less of a chance to settle.

A tip to everyone: Womens Pantyhose

Cover all the holes in your case with some pantyhose and you will never have dust in your case. Excellent filters on the cheap, and you can pretty much mod any case to use them.

I have an antec P180. It's a monster to route cables normally, much less cleanly.

It's a 'full tower' or claims to be yet you're cramped for space even with minimal parts (no floppy, no optical, only 1 hdd, etc).

I'd say stay away from the p180 and generally antec, their stuff lacks build quality, same for thermaltake.

I'd go for coolermaster for best bang for buck, or lian li with money to burn.

But... the P180 is so sexy.

the P180 is a GREAT case. As far as quality, its not bad...not a lian li...but I don't have $200 for a case.

The P182 has great cable routing systems. The P180 lacked that, but with a few Mods it makes it like the P182.

But... the P180 is so sexy.

Thought so too, it was my 2nd 'not a beige box' case.

Then I got a lian li, and saw how crappy most cases are made. Even Lian Li use too much plastic though.