a new rig

davidacorddavidacord Humboldt CA
edited January 2008 in Hardware
Im planning to build my first rig. I want it to be Bad to the Bone, Kick Ass, Top Notch. I read a few reviews in Maximum PC. And I'm thinking of starting with this:

Mobo: ASUS P5E3 Deluxe WiFi [EMAIL="AP@N"]AP@N[/EMAIL]
Case: A Gigabyte Mercury Pro
Graphics: EVGA3 e GeForce 8800 GTX

Any suggestions or tips or hekp would be appreciated.

Will this mobo support a quad chip?
What kind of power supply will I need?
Is water cooling all its cracked up to be?

Comments

  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited January 2008
    I'd recommend the Thermaltake Toughpower 700W. It's quiet, it runs cool and has a combined 72A. The manual says that no single 12V rail can exceed 56A, but since the PCI-E connectors have their own rail...You're good to go.
  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    edited January 2008
    1) That board will support the current and next-gen quads, don't know anything else about it though
    2) I would recommend the PC Power & Cooling 610W Silencer over just about anything at this point. After drooling over them for a loooong time I finally picked one up a few days ago and cannot say enough good things about it, I'm a convert for life.
    3) High-end air cooling trumps mid-range water cooling. High-end water rocks the casbah, but will cost you >$300USD.
    Your Amish Daddy wrote:
    I'd recommend the Thermaltake Toughpower 700W. It's quiet, it runs cool and has a combined 72A. The manual says that no single 12V rail can exceed 56A, but since the PCI-E connectors have their own rail...You're good to go.

    That's a combined load of 56A across all 12V rails, no single rail on that PSU will deliver more than 18A, or atleast that's my understanding of it.

    EDIT: also Davidacord, I'd save your money and buy the 8800GT over the GTX, with just a little OC it will perform about the same for 1/2 the price and consume less power.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2008
    Before you start posting proposed specifications, you need to ask yourself some questions. Also, by answering the questions, you can advise us so that we can advise you.

    - Budget?
    - How long do wish to keep the computer close to stock before major upgrades or rebuilds?
    - How do you anticipate using the machine? Gaming? Gaming heavily on latest, most demanding games? Office applications? Heavy multitasking/light multitasking. Internet/email. Multimedia manipulation and rendering?

    No sense in blowing big chunks of money for no reason. Don't build a sports car for pulling heavy loads up logging roads. Don't build a heavy truck for twisty mountain passes. Money saved is money that can be plowed into games, software, a new monitor, or upgrades down the road.
  • RichDRichD Essex, UK
    edited January 2008
    Personally I would avoid Asus at the moment. My last rig was entirely Asus and it ran solid for three years and it have no problems playing the latest games at high res. Only thing is the Chipsets werent supported under Vista.

    I went for Asus again and had nothing but problems. the MB lasted two weeks before it finally gave up. A lot of people have been complaining about Asus for a while now.

    As for a case... Almost everyone here will say Antec 900.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited January 2008
    Do you want to overclock?
    I presume that you will let this rig fold 24/7.
    Are you looking for dual video cards?
    Which OS? (only Vista 64 will support over 3GB of memory, but it doesn't game as well)

    I haven't built a machine in the last 9 months, but I have been very impressed with the new Gigabyte offerings.
    An MIS mobo will run rock stable, but don't expect to push the settings.
    The Abit IP-35pro also looks good, but I don't know anyone running one.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited January 2008
    Please give us a budget, and we'll give you the best components for the dollar.
  • davidacorddavidacord Humboldt CA
    edited January 2008
    Well let's see... my budget is around $3000 US. My uses folding, heavy multi tasking, 3D modeling and animation, audio, video, and some gaming. I want 4 gigs of RAM. I heard the mercury pro case was excellent for water cooling. As far as the mobo, should I wait for the x48 chipset? What about SLI support?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited January 2008
    $3000 is going to get you one holy hell of a computer. :D
  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited January 2008
    Man, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." needs to be tattooed all over that guy. Three grand...I wished I had HALF of that to build computers with. I could get two badass rigs out of 1500 dollars...
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited January 2008
    We will be able to put together an absolutely top-of-the-line machine with that kind of relaxed budget. Watch this space :D
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited January 2008
    With your given budget and proposed use of the computer, I recommend the following general specifications:

    - X38 chipset motherboard
    - quad core Intel CPU - Q6600 now or wait a couple months for a 45nm Yorkfield. For your intended use, quad is the way to go.
    - single, upper mid-range or high-end video card (SLI/Crossfire will add only about 10% or less gaming advantage over a high end solo card setup - wouldn't make much difference unless you are really an advanced gamer.)
    - dual monitor! For your intended use of the computer, you'll get much more enjoyment and real world advantage out of a dual monitor setup than from the dubious value (my opinion) of SLI or Crossfire.
    - 600 - 750w PSU: Corsair, PCP&C, OCZ, Hiper...

    If you won't be overclocking, why mess with water cooling? You can build a very quiet, air cooled system if you won't be pushing the CPU way above default settings. A large, quality CPU heatsink fan with the right fan and carefully selected video card with will put out very little sound if installed in a case with several low RPM 120mm or larger ventilation fans. In my opinion, water cooling is only for two reasons: extreme overclocking and the hobby in and of itself of water cooling.

    I'd definitely save on not going dual video card and not going water cooling. Use that money for dual monitors.
  • ThelemechThelemech Victoria Icrontian
    edited January 2008
    IMHO Go Quad 6600 or Quad Xeon(?); get yourself an excellent board(a good overclocker), a high end Psu, some good cooling(not necessarily water cooling) and over clock the living $*(T out of it :)
    With that kind of cash you should be able to get one mean machine, with plenty of Ram and one beautiful GPU.
  • GappleageGappleage
    edited January 2008
    You should just get the 8800 GT they are better than the 8800 GTX in performance and the price is lower.
  • XantenXanten
    edited January 2008
    Gappleage wrote:
    You should just get the 8800 GT they are better than the 8800 GTX in performance and the price is lower.

    The 8800 GT is not better then the 8800GTX but it is very close and with some oc'ing they come to about the same but with his budget i would go with a 8800GTX
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