The (new) Official PC building thread!

From what I've heard premade water cooling isn't the greatest. To do it right you have to do it yourself.

 

Enermax Cluster PWM 120mm

Cooler Master PWM 120mm

Arctic Cooling PWM 120mm

Scythe Kama PWM 120mm

SilverStone suscool 120mm

RedRob check those out and see if you like what you read... ;0 I'm sure there's at least ONE that these guys agree on... lol. You really need some new fans?? You got 2 of the best 140mm that a man can ask for..

...gm

add: Boozer ... This guy ain't gonna get WATER near his beloved puters!!!!

 

cincyrob,

Problem is they only work that good in a Parallel Universe! LOL!! Seriously, they are junk! They vibrate and have a very short lifespan. I set the one 120mm I tried on the desk and plugged it in and it started scooting around. Same with the 40mm I had on my chipset. It was supposed to run at 3000 rpm at 14Dba to produce 6 cfm. Problem is it runs at 4500 rpm and is loud! It does move 6 cfm of air, but not at 3000 rpm! I finally had to replace it because it kept shaking the NB heatsink loose. The Antek I replaced it with does it's job nicely at 2200 rpm. It's rated at 6.5 cfm at 26Dba. It's actually a couple of Db quieter than that when mounted to the Enzotech NB Cooler at 24Dba Add the Silenx fans to your "Products not to buy" list, as they suck! Seriously suck! Oh! They seriously lie too! ROFLMSOAO!!!!!!

Russ

 

Hey Mr. Senility!!!! You look at any of those links that I posted?? I don't know fans that well and sammyboy is sleeping so you is the only "person" that can comment that I know. I'm sure that RedRob is sleeping by now as well so give your opinion on those if you can. thanks.

....gm

 

OK, you guys have been a great help and here is my final list:

1. ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219
224.99

2. CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
109.99-20MIR=89.99

3. CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5D - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145043
104.00-40MIR=64.00

4. Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Processor Q9450 Retail Box
http://shop1.frys.com/product/5539940?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
339.99-100 Gift Card=239.99

5. MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325
209.99-30MIR=179.99

6. SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S203N - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151154
28.99

7. Seagate - 500GB Internal Hard Drive
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8294632&type=product&id=1172880157923
129.99-110 Gift Card=19.99

8. XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
36.99

9. NZXT LEXA BlackLine Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146038
109.99

I added all of this up and if I add Vista O/S to the list, the total comes up to, w/ shipping and tax, about $1204. Ouch.
If anybody has ANY thoughts or recommendations about changing anything to make it better (or cheaper), feel free to say so.
Thanks for all the help!!!!!

 

greensman,

Yes I looked at them. Problem is the only ones I was interested in were non-ball bearing. I would be lucky to get 4-5 months out of them with the fine dust here. The Sony bearings for all their hype, are the worst! Dust stops them up very quickly! It clogs the magnetic seals!

Since I've only recommended 2 fans for over a year now, you know I love the SilverStones. My FM121-B 120mm is over a year old now and still works as well and is even a bit quieter than when I put it in. The FM83 80mm is about 8-9 months old and not a peep out of it. No squeaks, rattles or noises of any kind. The most amazing think about them is how vibration free they are given the amount of use I've given them, and you don't always get every bit out cleaning them. Put your fingers right over either fan hole out by the screws and the vibration is next to nothing. In a case like the "Lexa Blackline" which is known to be a very good cooling case. The rear 120 would be turning 800 rpm and pulling over 35 cfm of air! The 80mm will fit the top better than any square 80 ever could, thanks to the round frame and 92mm fan on the FM83. Take a look at this pic and you'll understand why!



See those open spots on the flat side of the fan? Notice the way the fan is mounted below the vent? They use the airflow through the vent to help pull more heat out of the case. With the round FM83 it will pull that heat 360 degrees around the inside of the case. It also puts less load on the fan itself as that air never gets compressed by the fan, but rather carried along with the moving air!

Talk about a perfect marriage! That's another 25 cfm of air blowing out of the top of the case case where it would be quietest, especially since my 80mm vent on my case now, is shaped like a stop sign so it restricts some of the airflow! The Lexa has a vent the size of the fan itself so it should be even quieter at minimum speed. I would leave the other fans alone and see what happens. It should cool anything you put in it pretty darn good!

Like my choices! They sound good to me! They better, as the "Lexa Blackline" will be my next case! I plan ahead! LOL!!

Russ

 

no i wasnt trying to start a fan war here..and NO i dont need any fans i have tons of them..lol even got a couple of them pretty red thunderblades...lol i was just commenting on that fan i saw there cause of the air it pushed at such low db(so it says) thats all.

instead of completely formating my sata drive and looseing everything i have on it again(for now) im formating my small 100gb ide hdd and gonna unplug my sata hdd and use this IDE and install xp on it like a new install and go from there and see if i get sound when i install my mobo and gpu install disc...if that work ill just keep my 250 sata as storage.....now can i have 2 HDD with OS on them and will it see the IDE as the master drive if i set the jumper as master????

 

Erm Russ, Fuel to your fire, that 80mm fan you posted a picture of? It's completely useless. It's very quiet, but so is not having a fan there at all, and there may as well be for all the good it does. That fan only runs at about 1000rpm, and for an 80mm fan that's pathetic. The bottom slot additionally does not have a fan, it only has a slot to put one down. Fortunately, in the UK at least it's only £6 to buy two Nexus Realsilent fans and they really get the air moving.

An interesting thing I found though, is that with the fan removed, the ventholes are surprisingly large and open, and if you leave the fan off the air can get through pretty well anyway. As it stands right now with my side fan exhausting rather than intake, I can feel a substantial amount of air being sucked down through that hole.



Regarding SilenX, this is one thing me and Russ agree on down to the bottom. SilenX are a very poor showing of a company in the marketing department at least, and probably in the quality department too. Their sound levels are complete bull, and their fans are very expensive, and get beaten hands down by the Scythes, Silverstones, Nexuses, Noctuas and in some case even Antec fans.


Greensman: You know those five fans you listed. Out of all of those, the Scythe and Silverstone are probably the only ones that are remotely any good. Enermax fans are rubbish, Coolermaster fans are rubbish, Arctic Cooling fans are pretty bad as well for not pushing much air.

As for watercooling, Abuzar's right on the money. It's only worth doing if you spend the time and effort doing it yourself properly, and doing so is expensive, and can be a bit of a trial. Very rarely is cooling performance that great required.

Mrk: Parts list looking good buddy!

Last but not least, Rob. You liked the silenx for the "air it pushed at such low dB" - actually it pushes a lot less air than it says it does, and is a lot noisier. An 11dB SilenX fan for example is actually 26dB. That's how bad their specifications are. Of course SilenX are not alone, Noctua are just as bad for it as well.

 

its not that i liked the silnex fan it was the idea of the amount of air it said it pushes at the low db. if you guys say its louder than it states i beleive you. i have never had any and dont really need any more fans.

well except this here. on the back of my mobo try. there is the air holes where the CPU is and then on the case there is air holes also. it looks like you can put a small 80mm fan right there on the back of the mobo tray. is this possible

 

I spotted someone at my LAN party who has an RC-690 and noticed this. I'm not entirely sure what it's for to be quite honest.

 

i think i can put a small 80mm fan in there. but it might have to be a thin one, im not sure if the normal sized one will fit

 

Yeah, they make 80x15mm fans in addition to the normal 80x25mm size. This is what I used for the top fan in my PC for a while - http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=22991

 

and did ya pick the red one just for me...lmao
im gonna look into these more maybe sucking some air directly off my cpu will help drop the temp some

 

Actually no, the red version is the one I bought. I asked for the UV version, but received the LED version. No matter though, still looks good!

 

ok now im reinstalling xp now. well im done with it and installing my gigabyte disc now. it is telling me i need SP1/2 to install my HD audio drivers. do i need to goto microsoft and DL these SP? and it is only seeing my HDD as 125gb not the 250 it is. i had this problem once before and forget how i fixed it. any ideas?

 

Hmm I think you might be able to expand it using DiskDirector or similar after having installed the service packs. if it's legit windows you could use windows update. If not, or if you'd rather not use windows update, go here: http://www.softwarepatch.com/

 

yea its a legit copy of XP home. old one from my other computer. i got sp2 installed now on it and yes i have sound. all is well now other than the loss of 125gb hdd space.. now onto that problem..lol

 

A disk manager program could probably get you the extra space back I imagine, but as to which one to recommend I'm not sure. I used Acronis DiskDirector, but that was over two years ago now...

 

I just thought I'd post this, primarily for the benefit of shaffaaf, but also anyone else from the UK.
I've placed six orders for PC parts in the last few months, four from Aria, one from Scan, and one from Overclockers. All five previous orders have arrived at pretty much the same time, 2pm give or take half an hour. The order from overclockers?

CMJ19857

Current Status: There was no one to receive the goods at the delivery point so a card was left.

Customer Reference: 2318697 WGT: 1.00KG Scheduled Delivery Date: 28/05/08

Tracking History
19:19 Tuesday, May 27, 2008 On route to delivery branch
04:19 Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Arrived at Delivery Branch
06:48 Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Goods loaded onto a van
16:45 Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Delivery point closed (Carded)




Oh really. I've been looking out my window for the last three hours. Based on a previous experience, this item has not even left the OcUK depot, and that can be proven because last time it happened, that information came up twice.

Overclockers UK really are an absolutely abysmal company, and you'd all be very wise never to give them your business.


I have since placed an additional order with Aria due for delivery tomorrow and am not concerned about whether it will arrive or not.

I couldn't also help but notice that posting anything on the OcUK forum relating to customer service at the shop gets you banned, and the thread deleted. Conversely, on all other shop forums, this is possibly the best way of getting customer service. I also found widespread complaints of racism from OcUK's manager about numerous shop-review sites.

I do not consider this advertising, I consider it an example of how to do business:

See here: http://forums.kustompcs.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=8

Aria sit in the same boat as overclockers for forum usage unfortunately, zero tolerance on customer complaints using the forum. However, their customer service is so many levels above that of overclockers, the need to use such a feature would be pretty rare. I've placed over a dozen orders with the company, and on the one occasion I've had issues, a bit of whinging got the job done.

 

firstly, the forum is their own, and they make their own rules.

secondly, if anyone badmouths kustomPC i will personally attack them, as they are nothing short of number 1.

and now. as one can see sam, they dispatched it on the 27th.

once that is done, it has nothing to do with them. they liek the others use city link. after they dispatch it, its is city links responsibility.

go complain to them.

as every time i have used OcUK, or Scan, or ebuyer, all 3 have been with city link, and city link for all three IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, have been superb. never a bad word from me.

they have obviously dispatched it. and to confirm it CALL them. every time i do i get through within a few minutes, and TOM particularly is very very helpfull.

yes i have had DOAs with them, but TBh thats the nature of this hobby, and they have been superb in RMAs with me.

something that i cannot say for scan. ebuyer have also been superb.

im osrry to hear sam, that in your experiance you have had bad one with them, as i have had only good.

and as the for the racist allegations. i have been a part of the forums for a while, and contribute daily, and have never heard any racist talk from spie, hell he hardly posts.

and many a person(inc me) have posted if something goes wrong, on the forum, and it get sorted ASAP.

once i went through a 50 DVD spindal, with non of them being recognized. i called them, and they said it must have been a bad batch, after doing some trouble shooting, so they sent me 3 50packs for free, unfortunately they didnt work. then i replaced my DVD drive, and all 200 discs worked fine.

thats the kind of serivce i have come to expect from them,a nd they have lived up.