New System

[Chucky Cheese]

i decided to build myself an new pc...this one is nice but getting long in the tooth so i started buying parts and pieces last week and have been shopping and reading reviews online and locally...there is almost to much info to digest in order to make an informed decision given all the variables to consider. since i wanted to get as much stuff at local stores around me, that put me paying for retail parts at retail prices...it hurts...but hey, i can afford it at this time...so why not!

here is what i have now...

Motherboard - Intel D975Xbx2
Video Card - ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB
TV/PVR - ATI TV Wonder 650
System Memory - ocZ Technology DDR2 PC2 6400 High Performance Memory(4-4-4-15)-4GB(..four 1GB sticks)

here is what i have coming towards me...

Case - Cooler Master RC-830-SSN2-GP
PSU - ocZ 700 WATT(..pn OCZ700GXSSLI)
Processor - Intel Core 2 DUO Extreme 775 4MB Sared L2

i still haven't decided on hdds, dvds and display(s)...i going back to the store on saturday and look around.

...any suggestions for a good cpu cooler(..non liquid)?

[Admiral]

Thermalright Ultra 120, Zalman CNPS9500 and CNPS9700, Scythe also has good coolers (Ninja Plus, Infinity, Mine, Shogun...).
Personally I went for Thermalright

[Mehen]

Thermalright has always been great. I have an SI-120 on my Prescott and it manages to keep it quite cool (for a prescott).

Just make sure you get something with a 120mm fan, the airflow vs. noise ratio is much nicer than a 80 or 92mm.

[Mehen]

Most of the dual layer dvd burners out right now are good, I have the LG one and it's been great so far.

As for HDDs, I think Seaggate and WD are the best choices right now. Make sure you get something with 16mb cache. If you are going for the best of the best, thatd be the 150GB Raptor by WD (besides $$$$$$ flash drives....), but even that will cost you a pretty penny.

As for Displays, people seem to like the big widescreen dells.

[Chucky Cheese]

...i have a zalman on my current rig and it seems to work very well...i'll check out thermalright

...i don't plan on stressing this system that hard but i do want to play some first person shooter...witch i'll be shopping for on saturday as well

i was looking at that raptor drive(150GB @ 10K rpm /w 16mb) - that will wind up being my vista boot drive

what i want to do is buy 3 exatly the same size and mfgr. for a small raid drive for some video stuff i want to do with my hi-def camcorder and i actuall seen a wd 500GB drives at newegg(oem) @ $154 usd

...wow...i just talked my self into that !!

cc

[Mehen]

I've been really impressed with HDD prices lately, especially on the massive drives (500gb).

(for FPS's, try FEAR, Quake 4, Half-life 2, FarCry)

[Chucky Cheese]

sweet...thanks M...i was totally addicted to hl

hey between the thermalright ultra-120 and the thermalright xp-90c which is better? for some reason i like the idea of copper

[Admiral]

The fan on the Ultra blows sideways, combine that with the back case fan and you can get lower temps from that air flow.
What I can say is that on my system the difference between the XP-120 and Ultra-120 was 10C. But let's bear in mind that the XP-120 is a large cooler and on the ASUS P5B-E mobo I have it barely fit due to a cap near the socket, so I'm not sure if it made proper contact.

Anyway, reviews put the XP-120 on top of the XP-90C, with the XP-120 winning by a couple of degrees.

[Mehen]

They say the copper will conduct better but aluminum actually radiates the heat off of the heatsink better, thats why they are switching back to aluminum, or using copper core/aluminum fins.

[Chucky Cheese]

i am concerned about the size of the 120...will it interfere with my 1st pci-e slot?...i won't know until i have it in hand i guess. i know it is big because i went their website and looked at the installation guide and they showed the heatsink in the guys hand...wow!!!

cc

[Admiral]

I just had a look at the Intel D975Xbx2, I don't think the first PCI-E should be a worry but more like the height of the north bridge or mosfets heatsinks (depending on how you mount it).

here's how it looks on my system:

[Chucky Cheese]

thanks for having a look see...i wonder what the height from the botton of the cpu pad to the bottom fin is??

i got may case, cpu and ps today!

cc

[Chucky Cheese]

question...if i buy the "cross flow fan" option for this case...could i get away with using the stock fan?

[Chucky Cheese]

system assembly day is coming soon...

here is what i have now...

Motherboard - Intel D975Xbx2
Video Card - ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB
TV/PVR - ATI TV Wonder 550
System Memory - ocZ Technology DDR2 PC2 6400 High Performance Memory(4-4-4-15)-4GB(..four 1GB sticks)
Case - Cooler Master RC-830-SSN2-GP
PSU - ocZ 700 WATT(..pn OCZ700GXSSLI)
Processor - Intel Core 2 DUO Extreme 775 4MB Sared L2

i fitted the power supply to the case last night...that case is very nice. i will "gig" them on the sharp edges on some of the braces...you have to be careful when routing wires so as not to "skin" the insulation.

i am going to order the hdds if the store does not have them when i go saturday

cc

[Chucky Cheese]

went to the store saturday...to my surprise they had the hdds and the dvd that i wanted so i picked those up

i now have :

Motherboard - Intel D975Xbx2
Video Card - ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB
TV/PVR - ATI TV Wonder 650
System Memory - ocZ Technology DDR2 PC2 6400 High Performance Memory(4-4-4-15)-4GB(..four 1GB sticks)
Case - Cooler Master RC-830-SSN2-GP
PSU - ocZ 700 WATT(..pn OCZ700GXSSLI)
Processor - Intel Core 2 DUO Extreme 775 4MB Sared L2

Boot Drive - WD1500ADFDRTL (10k*16MB*150GB) - SATA 1.5
RAID 5 - 3 x WD5000KSRTL (7200*16MB*500GB) - SATA 300
Optical Drives - 2 x PX755SA - SATA

oh...i forgot...the maddog high-performance multimedia 3.5" floppy drive...lol...what ever!