Vincenzo Locs

Here is what i have so far...

E8400
G.Skill 2x2 gb ddr2-1000
PC P&C 750w silencer

leaning towards...

WD6400AAKS HDD
OCZ Vendatta2
Visiontek 4850 or 4870 (can't beat the price of the 50, but I really want a 70)

Need a motherboard...eventually i plan to go crossfire and i would like the full
16x16 bandwidth.

Thoughts on my current build?

XFreeRollerX

Get an X38 or X48 motherboard (Im no guru here so Ill leave it at that)

your RAM, CPU, and PSU are the best you can get AFAIK

I would switch to two 250-320GB HDDs instead and RAID-0 them for speed but thats just me

Also I would get a slightly better CPU cooler... What can you afford?

__________________
Coming out of my closet *sale*

<-- Click
Future upgrades:
Motherboard WC'd:INSTALLED!
AEM Cold Air on my car: ~INSTALLING TONIGHT!
Ultra X3 Modular PSU: $250 ~ INSTALLLED!!!!..

KmK

what would you recommend over the vendetta 2?

XFreeRollerX

The recently loved Ximatek HDT or the TRUE120 if you can afford it - Its still the best air cooling - The higher CFM you put on it the more cooling you get from it. Ive tested this before

__________________
Coming out of my closet *sale*

<-- Click
Future upgrades:
Motherboard WC'd:INSTALLED!
AEM Cold Air on my car: ~INSTALLING TONIGHT!
Ultra X3 Modular PSU: $250 ~ INSTALLLED!!!!..

Brythe

almost all of the x38/48 have good rep when it comes to OCing, as long as you stay away from the intel,ecs,msi,etc models. stick to gigabyte,asus or dfi. the dfi's are the cheapest and have killer looks. i think HD4850 is enough, as there is nothing out now that you cant max out (well except for crysis). and when the time comes you can add another 4850. everything else looks good. and the vendetta2 is better than the xigmatek i think. doesnt matter, the true,hdt and vend2 are all at the same level.

__________________

Muhahahaha

You forgot about Abit which is also good.

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Vincenzo Locs

I cannot use a TRUE because my case is a CM 830 SM, which as 4 slots for side window mounted fans on the inside. Unfortunately the TRUE, being the massive beast it is, will not have enough room for me to have 1 of the fans installed.

Second best coolers are ok, 8400's are 45nm and really don't push out that much heat.

As for the HDD's, I have heard really good things about the WD 640gb and I have never done raid before, so naturally I am tentative to set one up.

XFreeRollerX

Screw that 4th fan what the hell good is it going to do you?

You realize you are ditching top cooling over not being able to fit an extra fan out of the 20 fans that already fit into that case......

Ive had that case dude, its huge, its got lots of fan options like you could not believe. Let that fan go.....

__________________
Coming out of my closet *sale*

<-- Click
Future upgrades:
Motherboard WC'd:INSTALLED!
AEM Cold Air on my car: ~INSTALLING TONIGHT!
Ultra X3 Modular PSU: $250 ~ INSTALLLED!!!!..

Vincenzo Locs

LOL, it is big and it does have lots of cooling options, its just hard to let go of that 4th fan.

If I get the TRUE, then I will need to lap it and the cpu...damn this is turning out to be a bigger job than I expected, but more work yields better results.

Btw, can the x38/48's support 2 x 16 bandwidth for CF? OCing the cpu is not a top priority since most games are limited by the graphic cards and their bandwidth.

XFreeRollerX

OCing the CPU will 100% guaranteed yield better FPS in 75 percent of today's games.

And yes, the X38 and X48 run full Dual x16 PCIe speeds (I think some support 2.0 too)

And getting the TRUE120+lapping the heatsink is all thats needed. Lapping CPU is optional and not guaranteed to give results depending on the condition of your stock IHS

I have had the case before man... Trust me. The gains in cooling by ditching that 4th fan and say... putting it on both sides of your TRUE120 will be far greater settling for a Tuniq Tower that has limited upgrades

I strapped on Dual 133 CFM 38mm thick fans and Shrouded them with a 1 inch buffer..... I ended up not needing to have the fans past 60% because my temps were so awesome.... but get this.... that 60%... leaves room for benchmarking runs when you decide to crank it up for quick runs, or if your room gets a tad hotter, or if you decide you want to oc more like I do all the time


Trust me man. Don't compromise, you will end up looking at your computer and spending more money selling off the old crap and buying better stuff. I was happy with my TRUE120 (Only went WC due to the retarded fact that during the day my room sits at 90*F because outside gets like 120*F where I live)


EDIT: Just to make it clear: I am not joking about what I said earlier regarding the Stacker 830 and fan count.... I had 16 fans on mine and it was basically circulating enough air to turn off the ceiling fan in the room it was in.... 16 fans man.... Most of which were 38mm - the only ones that were thinner 25mm were the ones sitting on top, and one on the door because of my CPU cooler

__________________
Coming out of my closet *sale*

<-- Click
Future upgrades:
Motherboard WC'd:INSTALLED!
AEM Cold Air on my car: ~INSTALLING TONIGHT!
Ultra X3 Modular PSU: $250 ~ INSTALLLED!!!!..