The (new) Official PC building thread!

@mort81
Never thought you or Sam bashed it...It looks like the Corsair is a Absolute Top notch P/S...So...I am sure you will be Happy with your purchase...I hope you did not think I was Bashing the Corsair P/S...Let us know your impression of it once you get it...I know you like to OC...so...I was just letting you know about the PC Power & Coooling 750 Quad...since the price has come down to affordable levels...
I really like that PC Power & Cooling took a stand...and did not play the Multiple Rail Game...They knew what worked Best...and stuck to their Guns...I just Hope OCZ let's them continue doing business the way it should be conducted...So Far it has been a good merger...

@sammorris

Absolutely Not.....The Seasonic's are Top Notch P/S...As I am sure the Corsair units will be...I have always been Impressed with Corsair as a Company...I am glad that they are expanding their product Line...I always assumed that the Corsair P/S were Out Sourced...Manufacturing P/S is not something that you just jump into...I do not think out sourcing is a Bad thing...It saves the consumer $...and does not necessarily produce inferior product...Lets face it...Most things are out Sourced today...actual Manufacturing is becoming Centralized...Maybe thats why I like PC Power & Cooling's Products so much...They actually Design & Build their own P/S...For 22 years that is all they have done...They have been one of the premiere builders of Ultra High End Power Supply's...With a Reputation for Quality in all there products...and now with OCZ's help they are becoming affordable for Average High-End Builds...

The Power Supply Market is Finally getting noticed by consumers...There are Lots of New and exciting Ideas Coming out...Like Liquid Emulsion Cooling that look quite promising...Wouldn't it be nice to eventually have...No Fans...Just Liquid Emulsion Cooling for the entire PC...It has already started in the P/S market...It will be interesting to see if it can be transferred to all P/C Cooling needs...

 

What's your opinion of single rail power supplies? Bear in mind a lot of 'modular' power supplies like the Toughpower are actually 4 wires soldered to the same rail. A good multiple rail power supply I think has uses, but at the end of it all, if one rail works, why do we need more?

 

I prefer the single rail concept...however I use Multiple rails as well...with out ever having any problems...The Multiple rail is more a marketing plow...a way to play with the output numbers...If you have enough power on one rail...you don't really need multiple rails...

Here are a couple more links to helpful articles on Multiple Rail P/S that are informative...
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=521
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/single_rail_versus_multi_rail_power_supplies
http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/glossary/power-supplies/multiple-power-supply-rails-explained/

 

I agree, one of the problems with multi-rail power supplies is them not providing enough power to any specific rail, whereas if there was one big rail that'd be no problem. E.g. a Three rail unit that puts out 12A on each rail, a 15A load on one rail would cause a problem. If it were one 36A rail, not an issue.

 

back up n runnin. no other damage to any other components that I am aware of and all apears to be working A-OK. I like the corsair p/s overall but I have to admit the modular cables are not as nice as those on the hiper and it doesn't provide as many different lengths or adaptors. my side panel isn't clear so no big deal. it is quiet and I'm sure it's a better overall p/s than the hiper.

I'm tickled pink that no other components were effected or damaged.

 

Mort81 the PINKMAN!!! hehehe. Glad to hear that you are "damage" free Morty. Always a relief when something goes like yours did to find out it's just one component and not MORE.

@mikeh0303,
Sorry for not getting with you sooner. If you already purchased something, I hope it's going well. Just in case you didn't, here's a list that follows.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 $375 shipped

PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad $199 delivered

CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower $139 delivered (I know it's steel but it moves air REALLY WELL)

HDD: WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA $109 delivered per unit (times 4)
and the Raptor for your OS ... Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM $164.99 delivered AFTER $30 MIR

MOBO: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI $199.99 + $7.52 after MIR
or
ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX $299.99 + $7.52
or
ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX $209.99 + $7.52 delivered

RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit $83 delivered after MIR (times 2)

GPU: EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 $349.99 delivered after MIR
or
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 $486.99 + $6.33 after MIR

DVD DRives: LITE-ON Black 20X SATA $36.99 delivered
and/or
Pioneer Black 18X $29.99 + $5.84 delivered

card reader: Rosewill RCR-102 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader $9.99 delivered

OS: Window XP Pro $139.99 delivered

floppy drive: Samsung floppy drive $6.99 + $4.99 delivered

CPU cooling fan and heatsink: ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink $49.99 delivered
or
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm $34.99 + $5.84 delivered

mikeh I think that I have covered everything at this time. If you want to run SLi then you can buy 2 of the GPU's but I don't think you will need it IMO. NOW if you're running something huge like sammorris does then you might consider a SLi rig.

With shipping, MIR, and labor (no taxes at this point) the GRAND TOTAL comes to: $2427.27 using the "cheaper" choices on this system on the high end NOT including SLi the TOTAL would be: $2679.76.

I hope this may answer some of the questions you were having. As you see I didn't shop around. That takes time and if you want to you can do that on your own. Most of the time it saves you big money, especially on a rig like this. Good luck to you and your computer building. May I suggest that you go with round IDE cables if you go with IDE DVD drives. I would order one for the floppy drive anyway. They provide better airflow.

btw I would think this rig would do anything you wanted!! GAming or just net surfing. LOL.

...gm

 

Well now my people you've never really answered dash32 questions? which really relates to my machine? there are those who have or had my mobo? PLEASE get to the heart of the issue? And beleive me and dash has gone though the SH_t? reformTTED THE THING? MY PCIx16 SLI so gone ....why?????

@ greensman
Just got your PM...

 

That's lucky Mort. I think the Corsair unit is better, it's certainly quieter, and although the modular cables don't look as niced, they'll probably last longer.

 

thanks for the list it looks really good, I was not doing this for my own buid (i dont think i will ever have more then $1000 to spend


I wanted to do this to see what some people would spend more on and other spend less on.

 

I just finished purchasing the final pieces for my new computer. I have all the pieces but no one ever mentions the little stuff that you need. When I sit down to install, are there any little things like static wristbands that I need to have on hand? I am a newbie but every computer I have purchased has ended up lacking in a lot of areas, hence, I am trying it myself. I have 2 books on hand but they don't cover the little stuff either. Did manage to find New Intel Core 2 Quad for $269. I had been drooling over it for weeks.

 

using an anti-static wrist band is a bit over kill, i just touch the case/power supply. If you need any help just ask

 

I like to keep a set of screws (in case any go missing), and Arcticlean and Arctic silver on hand, to get the best performance with heatsinks.

 

mphsbelle,
What are you wanting to know? I think the wrist-strap is ok but not necessary. It's really cheap insurance tho. If you bought retail items, especially mobo, case, cpu, and gpu then you shouldn't have a need for anything really. Most mobo's come with the necessary cables and the cpu should come with a heatsink/fan. I think the most difficult thing is hooking up the case wires. I have large hands so I have to use "needle nose" pliers sometimes. (be careful with that too, metal pliers!!) NOW, the installation of an OS can be difficult too. You'll have to "set" your bios maybe or update possibly too. Did you include a floppy drive with your build. They come in real handy with bios updates and such. And they are cheap. (learned the hard way on that one... ) Is this helping? If not ask a more direct question.

....gm

 

@herrick & dash

What question did you have...that has not been addressed?..

 

@LP531

Lower pci-e slot does not show in device manager. Does not show video with either video card. Both cards work in top slot. Is there a software diagnostic or reset for this slot? How else can I troubleshoot?

 

So...we know both cards work...and its an SLI board...
New Build?..
Was it working before and you did something?..
What are the details and specs?..

 

OS-XP PRO[ver.5.1]/Case- Thermaltake Armor/Processor-AMD 2.2 Dual-core 4200+/AC Freezer 64 Pro cooler/motherboard-Asus A8n32-SLI Deluxe/PSU-Hiper 580 watts 630 max/Sound Card-Creative Sound Blaster X-FI FATAL1ty/Cables-Thermaltake Rounded IDE ATA & ATA2 uv sensitive/Memory- 2 Gig Crucial PC3200 unbuffered NON-ECC DDR400/HDD-WD 320GB 7200rpm Sata/Drives- 3ea. Benq 1655 DL Lightscribe/52in1 card reader&Writer&USB/ Video cards- 2ea. NVIDIA Geforce XFX 6600 512 MB PCIe-SLI/Monitors- 2ea. ACER AL2017 LCD 20 in. ea

been working fine for 7 months. seem to just stop working.

 

So...nothing happened...other then one day the display was dead...
I would be looking at the M/B...
Have you checked your settings?..

 

Fresh windows installation. Meaning all drivers as well. Does not even show in the device manager. Flashed bios to original that motherboard shipped with. Still nothing. In other forums others have had this slot fail as well. Since others in this forum use this board hoping someone had a similar experience.

 

I've had an A8N-SLi board before, but that was only the standard SE version, which doesn't use an additional chipset to control the second PCIe 16x slot. That board did, however stop working (crashes, USB ports not working, and not supporting the use of any network adapter) so I changed it for an A8R-MVP. So far so good on that one, but it reboots 6 or 7 times before POSTing when you first turn it on. No idea why...