The (new) Official PC building thread!

@schpoogle
That is what I usually Do...
The more memory you have...the slower the Overclock...this goes for number of sticks...as well as size of sticks...however...you want at least (2) sticks...so...you can run in dual channel mode...

@greensman
The deal on the EVO is a great buy...$119 after $60 rebate...The deal on the CM P/S is Ok...I still think the best buy is...the Corsair 550 for...$75 after a $15 rebate...you do not have to shell out as much money initially...nor do you have to wait for as much to come back...there is only a $5 difference between the (2) after rebate...You should also look at the Enermax Chakra...or...Uber Chakra...In my opinion some of the best cases for Cooling and Noise...they are an incredible cases for the price...

@Mort81

God...I would certainly hope not...LOL..

 

I'm looking and haven't found the Corsair for $75 yet. I like the Corsairs and I like the single rail system too. If I remember right the Chakra cases only have room for 4 ODD's right?? Looking on that too.

....gm

 

Since there are more people checking this thread out, you guys mind finding me better prices on my build? (try and include p&p like i have done)

System Specs Now -

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 S775 2.66ghz 4mb Cache 1333FSB

£109.90

PSU - Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

£64.45 (Ebay)

GPU - NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT

£163.19 (May be just under £200.00 due to the price here being from Amazon with a pre order time of 1 to 2 months)

RAM (Memory) - Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) 800Mhz

£38.90

Hard Drive - 400 GB Samsung HD403LJ Spinpoint T166, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms

£61.44

Optical Drive - LG 18x GSA-H66NBAL DVD±R, 10x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM

£17.74

Case - Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case

£68.40

MotherBoard - Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R

£71.45

Cooling - For CPU

Thermalright Ultra-120A

£25.83

Fan for CPU - 120mm Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F Fan 1600 RPM
£12.33

Total = £634.63

Without Cooling = £596.47


Im flexible on say the Hard Drive(but i want atleast 300gb)
Not sure about the Thermalright Ultra-120A, reviews said the fan was hard to mount.

 

firstly the HDD, is overpriced.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-036-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940

£62.?? for a 500GB spinpoint

and IMO LD drives are crap. go for this:

Samsung Super-WriteMaster SH-S203N / DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM Internal SATA Drive With Nero Software

£17.99
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/35162...+SATA+Drive+With+Nero+Software&searchsource=0

 

now what ya gonna do with all them(9) drives? cuz i wanna see them burn at once..lol

on the gigabyte board im getting it only has 1 ide/pata hookup. is there a pci card i can buy if i need to use my pata hard drives if i cant get the sata HDD right now? i know there is but i dont know what they are called?

as far as optical drives is the sata drive any better than the ide drives? what are the benefits to the sata ODD's?

 

Master/ slave issues?

 

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/699/90...t-PSU-120mm-Fan/Product.html?searchtype=genre

This PSU looks pretty good(besides the Corsair) with alot more connections than the Corsair i think.

 

so with sata there is no master or salve? that is cool there



this is kinda off topic here but will post a link for everyone to check out


http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_jump.cfm/597202/3609062

 

Schpoogle: Just running 4 sticks causes the issue to a certain extent. The fact that you run different size sticks shouldn't matter. The big performance hit, however, occurs when you only use three sticks. Never do that.
Greensman: An 850W Coolermaster? Call me a sceptic, but something tells me that unit would fall over and die long before 850W. I'm sorry, but I just don't think Coolermaster can reach that figure from a standard ATX power supply. The 1KW OCZ units fail and shut down around the 800W mark, and I rate OCZ above Coolermaster, without a doubt. Now consider that no PC will ever use anywhere near that amount. It just won't, full stop.
He_Man: Arctic silver is worth three times as much as it costs. You can use it on any heatsink (a friend of mine redid the peltier heatsink on his mini-fridge with the stuff, but of course you can also use it for GPUs, Motherboard chipsets and probably even MOSFETs) but CPUs is the main application.
The build loks awesome. I personally think the exact opposite of REAM on the DVD drive. LG drives are great, Samsung ones suck on certain body parts.

 

Deadrum, the case is awesome! The only complaint I would have is that there is no removable motherboard tray.

I'm still in the process, will let you know when done.

 

@Rob & Deadrum

No Big Ribbon Cable is what most people like about them...just the small SATA Cable...and faster transfer speeds...they just make for a all around cleaner build...

@greensman
The Corsair 550 was at Zipzoomfly...The Chakra is $29 at Newegg right now...I am ordering one Right now...best price I have ever seen on one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=chakra&x=0&y=0

Chakra
External 5.25" Drive Bays 5
External 3.5" Drive Bays 1
Internal 3.5" Drive Bays 4
Expansion Slots 7
The Uber Chakra is even bigger...

They just Raised the Chakra by $5...so...they just lost a sale!!!

@Rob

I think that thread is a Great Idea...however...I Swore...I would Never post in the Safety Valve Again...so...you will only see me posting Here...or in your shout box...

AD wants to kill the Safety Valve...and as we Found Out...AD Is Not a Democracy...The Rules will be Selectively Enforced...or Ignored...

 

OCZ PSUs are very good. and if i can remember they are made by PC Power and Cooling (IMO the best PSU manuafacturers)

 

I read this in a review of the PSU,

Even though OCZ paid to have its own UL number, this power supply is really manufactured by FSP. FSP name was printed on the power supply printed circuit board.

But… Wait a minute! This printed circuit board (FSP part number 3BS0110312GP) is exactly the same one used by OCZ GameXstream 700 W and Zalman ZM600-HP! Are they all the same product with a different name?

Tooken from,

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/451

 

OCZ owns PCP&C...OCZ P/S are made by Fortron...PCP&C has started subbing the manufacturing of there P/S out to Seasonic...however...the design is exclusive to PCP&C...so...you will not find a PCP&C P/S under any other name...

 

Thanks for that Lp. lol. Glad I read the updated thread before I posted.

Have you heard anything about the Corsair VX 550W Lp531? Other than the EGG that is. I might just have to pull the trigger on that one. I'm guessing that it'll do what I want it too. Remember it's gonna push at least 6 ODD's, 3 HDD's, a HD3850 gfx card or similar and at least 3 case fans not to mention a CM-TX hsf.....I might put a tv tuner card in there too. Can't wait for this thing to come together.

...gm

 

@Greensman
Corsair 550VX Spec's...
+3.3V@30A,+5V@20A,+12V@41A,-12V@0.8A,+5VSB@3A
I am not sure about the New 3850 power requirements...however...it should be fine...I do not remember them saying that the 3850 were any kind of Big Power Hogs...and...I cannot see all those drives in use at the same time...even though...you would have enough power if you did...

Just to Let you Know...I have never used a Corsair P/S...however I Have No Reservation in recommending them because...of all the Credible Outstanding Reviews that I have read...They use almost all the same internal components of PCP&C P/S's...with a Quieter Cooling Set-up...Which is a plus since you are looking to build what amounts to a HTCP computer...if that is what you are after...you might want to look at the Cooler Master CM-282 case...I really like mine for a HTCP build...I like it better then even the $300 Zalman cases...at half the price...and it is convertible to a standard tower...$140 at cesell.com

You also might think about an AMD fot a HTCP build...my next build will be around this M/B...MSI K9A2 Platinum...once someone has one for the suggested retail price...everybody snatched these things up...and are selling them for $100 over retail...

 

So everything went perfectly except for one little thing. My DVD drive turned out to be crap!

Is there any other way to install XP on a PC?

 

@LP531 you are so right about so many things.

F.I.D.O.

 

My Cheap CM P/S arrived...and it is Dented Badly...No Damage to Box what so ever...It had to come from Factory this way...Looks like the good deal is now a straight loss...I will not install it...and I doubt if the company I purchased it from...will do anything about it...Has anyone ever dealt with these guys?..
J&R Music and Computer World...

 

I bought my creative zen from them, as well as some etymotic headphones. I say you damage the box and say it came like that. Make them replace it.