opinions please!

[stopthekilling77]

cool cool cool then, i'm ordering my parts monday or tuesday!!!!!!!!!!

[Major_A]

Skip the Zalman and get a tower cooler. Currently the best one you can get is the Thremalright 120 Ultra Extreme. The thing that sucks though is you have to order a fan for it, or two.

Not your cup of tea then see if something else tickles your fancy...
http://www.frostytech.com/
http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsu ... spx?i=3032

[MakubeX]

Before you make your purchase, please consider this parts. This is what I recommend:



Newegg wishlist: https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wi ... ekilling77

It's IMHO a better rig for about the same price.

PS. I forgot to do so, but remember to add a 120mm fan for the CPU heatsink.

[DMB2000uk]

While some things on there are better you have had to skimp on others.

The replacement PSU is not as good as the original Corsair (DiCecca has posted proof of its awesomeness).
You've dropped the Raptor (I know the 500GB will give similar performance, but its still not a Raptor )
Further options would be to consider dropping the second drive to give a bit more cash to play with.

The step up to a DVI monitor is good.
The U120x cooler is definitely better ^_^
I'm undecided on if the memory improvement is worth it, but it might have to be cut back anyway to keep the better PSU and drive.

@STK77: If you are planning to go SLI at any point, stick with your choice of the 680i, but if not then the P35 is worth a look. Although in gaming tests the 680i board did have a better average FPS by a couple of frames over the P35 in most games (but honestly, you aren't likely to notice that at all).

Dan

[MakubeX]

While some things on there are better you have had to skimp on others.

The replacement PSU is not as good as the original Corsair (DiCecca has posted proof of its awesomeness).
You've dropped the Raptor (I know the 500GB will give similar performance, but its still not a Raptor )
Further options would be to consider dropping the second drive to give a bit more cash to play with.

The step up to a DVI monitor is good.
The U120x cooler is definitely better ^_^
I'm undecided on if the memory improvement is worth it, but it might have to be cut back anyway to keep the better PSU and drive.

@STK77: If you are planning to go SLI at any point, stick with your choice of the 680i, but if not then the P35 is worth a look. Although in gaming tests the 680i board did have a better average FPS by a couple of frames over the P35 in most games (but honestly, you aren't likely to notice that at all).

Dan

I disagree in that what I did was skimping. The Silverstone PSU IMO is better. The Corsair might be good too, but it's still a less powerful PSU for more money. The Silverstone is also an awesome PSU, just check jonnyguru's review.

As for the HDDs, I have two raptors, and I would gladly trade them for a couple of 500GB HDDs, again IMO DEFINITELY not skimping here. One 150GB Raptor vs two HDDs that make up 750GB of storage, not even close competition to me. I would take the 2 non-Raptor HDDs in the blink of an eye. The storage capacity gain will be much more significant than the speed gain (which you won't even notice unless you time every operation you make on your HDD with a watch), especially when that's the ONLY drive you're purchasing. If he had a very big budget, then sure get a couple of raptors for the OS and games and get a 500GB or even a 750GB for storage, but since that's not the case I would highly recommend him getting those two hard drive over a single $200 150GB raptor.

The memory improvement will probably be worth it if he plans on overclocking since these sticks carry D9GMH chips. If he's not, then this is definitely the component to start skimping with.

@ stopthekilling77 - If you are looking for SLI then I would most certainly recommend a 680i board. More specifically I would recommend the DFI 680i or the eVGA 680i A1. If you're not interested in SLI then go with a P35 board.

[odie2190]

looks good. look at the q6600 good price for a quad core.

[stopthekilling77]

quad-cores pump out WAY too much heat for the fact that most programs dont utilize the extra cores, so i'm getting a faster, cooler dual core CPU with that in mind.

okay now i am getting a 22" monitor but honestly i i'm suprised it hadnt crossed my mind about the 7800 and the monitor's compatibility.

as far as the raptor's speed versus space, dont worry, i'm getting this one for my OS and programs, and on my next paycheck i'll be buying a 500Gb WD HDD, but its not essential to me to have that during the setup. believe me i have my reasons for wanting all 150Gb's of space in my primary HDD.

okay all i gotta say is that i've done the research on the Zalman, and i'm NOT can i repeat NOT going to be doing massive overclocks, the most i think i'll go is 3.0 or 3.2, if and when i decide to take overclocking to another level, i'll be going to watercooling but thats not in the cards right now.

Dan, i am planning on 2 8800 GTS's eventually, and i'm an ASUS fanboy, so what can i say?

another thing, my board only supports up to DDR2 800, so the memory upgrade would be quite a moot point, right?

one last thing, whats good about DVI versus HDMI, snicker if you want but i bet you'd remember a time when y ou didnt know squat about pcs either

i'm in a rush right now so sorry if i come across terse! thanks!

[MakubeX]

quad-cores pump out WAY too much heat for the fact that most programs dont utilize the extra cores, so i'm getting a faster, cooler dual core CPU with that in mind.

okay now i am getting a 22" monitor but honestly i i'm suprised it hadnt crossed my mind about the 7800 and the monitor's compatibility.

as far as the raptor's speed versus space, dont worry, i'm getting this one for my OS and programs, and on my next paycheck i'll be buying a 500Gb WD HDD, but its not essential to me to have that during the setup. believe me i have my reasons for wanting all 150Gb's of space in my primary HDD.

okay all i gotta say is that i've done the research on the Zalman, and i'm NOT can i repeat NOT going to be doing massive overclocks, the most i think i'll go is 3.0 or 3.2, if and when i decide to take overclocking to another level, i'll be going to watercooling but thats not in the cards right now.

Dan, i am planning on 2 8800 GTS's eventually, and i'm an ASUS fanboy, so what can i say?

another thing, my board only supports up to DDR2 800, so the memory upgrade would be quite a moot point, right?

one last thing, whats good about DVI versus HDMI, snicker if you want but i bet you'd remember a time when y ou didnt know squat about pcs either

i'm in a rush right now so sorry if i come across terse! thanks!

Oh, well if you're getting a 500GB for storage later, then by all means get the Raptor.

Even if you're not doing any massive overclocks I still recommend the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme cooler over the Zalman. If you want to save some cash then get the none Extreme version, or the Tuniq Tower 120.

Since you will be overclocking getting, memory faster than 800MHz is not a moot point at all. However, if you are running tight on cash then start by skimping on the memory.

HDMI and DVI are both superb digital interfaces. DVI can only carry video and HDMI can carry both sound and video. Since you only need to carry video and most video cards do NOT come with a native HDMI interface, I suggest you get a monitor that has at least one DVI input. Yes, you can use a DVI to HDMI converter but what's the point? It's usually better to not use any converter.

[DMB2000uk]

I disagree in that what I did was skimping. The Silverstone PSU IMO is better. The Corsair might be good too, but it's still a less powerful PSU for more money. The Silverstone is also an awesome PSU, just check jonnyguru's review.

OK, my bad, skimping wasn't what you were doing there ^_^

I checked out the relevant JonnyGURU reviews for each PSU and they got the same score, I'll not grasp at straws trying to prove one better than the other, but my personal preference would still be for the slightly more efficient Corsair one.

Dan

[MakubeX]

I disagree in that what I did was skimping. The Silverstone PSU IMO is better. The Corsair might be good too, but it's still a less powerful PSU for more money. The Silverstone is also an awesome PSU, just check jonnyguru's review.

OK, my bad, skimping wasn't what you were doing there ^_^

I checked out the relevant JonnyGURU reviews for each PSU and they got the same score, I'll not grasp at straws trying to prove one better than the other, but my personal preference would still be for the slightly more efficient Corsair one.

Dan

Yeah, they are both great power supplies. Personally, strictly between those two I prefer the more powerful Silverstone. However, in reality I wouldn't get either, I would spend a little more and get something like the PCP&P 750W PSU. Making sure to have enough power for future upgrades without spending an arm and a leg. Would consider others too, but that would be one of my top choices.

PS. For anyone interested, you can get the PCP&P 750W directly from PCP&P for less than at newegg even after shipping.

[stopthekilling77]

hmmm i had a little more time to look around online, and for $5 more than the zalman i'd chosen, that Ultra-120 Extreme really does seem to be more effective, but if i get it, i'm wondering if it'll fit in my Antec P-180 case with that motherboard... and how on earth would i put a fan or two on it??

[DMB2000uk]

Ive read someone had a P180 with it. It fits, but there are only a few mm of clearance. The fans go on the side so dont effect clearance that way.

Dan

[stopthekilling77]

does it have a mount for fans on the side?

[DMB2000uk]

Comes with some little wire clips that attach the fan to the side of the fins.

Dan

[stopthekilling77]

ahh okay, think 2 Antec 120mm fans would do the trick?

[MakubeX]

ahh okay, think 2 Antec 120mm fans would do the trick?

Sure, even only one would work very well. You don't really need two, unless they were really weak fans. Besides, the heatsink comes with just enough clips to install only one fan. If you want to install another one on the other side, you'll have to improvise.

[stopthekilling77]

alrighty then, i'm not too too worried bout that seeing how the case i have has 4 120mm fans in it, so i'll order just one fan for the Ultra-120...

hmm now onto the monitor! on newegg, almost all the 22" monitors are about $250, give or take a few bucks, so i'm really trying to figure out which one to go with... the 7800 is a dual dvi-port card, so i'll want to get a DVI monitor (did some reading)

currently looking at:
Chimei @ $249.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824252008

ViewSonic @ $239.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824116076

Hanns G @ $259.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824254020

i'm actually REEEEEEEEEEEAAAALLY leaning towards the Hanns G... opinions?

[MakubeX]

Well, you know which one I recommend.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wi ... ekilling77

PS. That Hanns monitor you linked is pure bs. There's no way it can do 1080p if its native res is 1680 x 1050.

[DMB2000uk]

I thought that too >_<

But there is a possibility that it is like lots of HD TV's in that it has a lower naitive resolution and used image processing to make the picture look good on the res. But I'm sceptical that that kind of tech is included in a computer monitor.

Apart from that the Hanns-G is a solid monitor, and the USB replicator is an added bonus for easy USB access.

Dan

[MakubeX]

I thought that too >_<

But there is a possibility that it is like lots of HD TV's in that it has a lower naitive resolution and used image processing to make the picture look good on the res. But I'm sceptical that that kind of tech is included in a computer monitor.

Apart from that the Hanns-G is a solid monitor, and the USB replicator is an added bonus for easy USB access.

Dan

All it does is downscale the picture to its native res, which is not 1080p. Nothing special about that. Personally, I just wouldn't go with a Hanns monitor.