New Rig

Hello AI…
I ran across this forum while researching for my new rig and I was really impressed with all the knowledge swarming in this joint. It has been a little over 3 years since my last build and I am ready for an upgrade.

Case Chieftec ATX Tower Model BX-03B-B-
PSU Antec P4 ATX12V 450W PS with 2 Fans : Model "SL450"
Case Fans Vantec 80mm x 4
Motherboard Asus P4C800-E DELUXE
CPU Intel Pentium 4/ 3.2C GHz 800MHz FSB, 512K Cache, HT
Paste Arctic Silver's Premium Silver Polysynthetic Thermal Compound
Heat sink Thermalright SLK-948-U
Heat sink Fan Vantec Stealth 92mm
Memory Kingston ValueRAM Kit 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 x 2
Video Card Asus Radeon 9800XT 256MB VIVO (Retail)
Sound Card Sound Blaster Audigy 2 PCI Sound Card, Model "SB0244"
HDD 0 - os WD 74GB 10,000RPM SATA #WD740GD
HDD 1 - os WD 74GB 10,000RPM SATA #WD740GD
HDD 2 WD 160GB 7200RPM SATA #WD1600JD
HDD 3 WD 160GB 7200RPM SATA #WD1600JD
Optical Drive 0 Plextor PX-708A/SW-BL Black 8X DVD-/+RW
Optical Drive 1 Plextor PX-Premium/SW-BL Black 52x32x52 CD-RW Drive

This ran great without problems until the PSU died. It was mainly used for work (and of course my hard core gaming nights) running acad, vectorworks, photoshop, bf2 and source. I will replace the PSU, grab a large hd and give this to my kids to play with. I will reuse the 4 hds, the optical drives and the soundcard in my new setup.

Here are the specs so far:

Case Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
PSU Thermaltake W0131RU ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply (Modular)
Case Fans Tricool 120mm x 3
Motherboard ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
Heat sink Thermalright SI-128 CPU Cooling Heat sink
Heat sink Fan Tricool 120mm
Memory Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) x 2 for 4 gigs total
Video Card ASUS EN8600GTS/HTDP/256M 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI E16x SLI x 2 for SLI

I am a huge fan of ASUS. I have read a lot of the complaints and issues of the Striker boards but I am willing to take my chances. I need a board that can stripe my raptor drives for my os and mirror my 160’s for working files. I also want to SLI my vid cards @ 16x and need esata for my backup drives. I would prefer to go Crossfire but can’t find a P775 ASUS board that has all the functions of the Striker Extreme.

It has been 3 years since I have had the need to research anything so it is almost like learning all over again. It is amazing to see how much has changed. If you see any conflicts or have ANY suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. Nothing has been purchased yet and I would make changes / upgrades if the price for performance makes sense. Currently the build price is at @ $1600. I guess my budget is @ $2000 but could spend more. I can’t wait to put this together…the anticipation is killing me but I want to get the specs right.

Thanks for your time,

kozzi

Personally I'd get a single 8800GTS or GTX instead of 2x8600GT's in SLI..If you don't need SLI the Intel chipsets P35 and the upcoming X38 are better IMHO..

paulzig...
thanks for your advice...I think i will go with one video card but would prefer ati over nvidia...I am still researching all the asus boards available and can't wait for the x38 boards to come out. Could you recommend a ASUS p35 setup with compatible ram?

thx

kozzi

I'm using the Asus P5K Deluxe, but they have new ones out based on the P35 chipset like the Blitz and Formula...I have Crucial Ballistix 8500 RAM, I like it but theres other good stuff around like Team Group or High end Corsair. As long as the RAM is Micron they all perform quite well.
If you want an ATI card you can't really go past the HD2900XT I don't own one but if I was going to upgrade I'd go that way, The P35 intel chipset supports ATI crossfire too.
The X38 is still a couple of months away from hitting retail I suspect, but until I see some benchmark results for it I'm not gonna get too excited.

Cool Case owns 2 ATI 2900XT's.. he might chime in here soon, he might even sell you one lol..

Appears I didn't give Intel enough credit, rumours abound that the new X38 is already sampling and that it should be released in 3-4 weeks.. Then again the 'eaglelake' chipset is coming out shortly after... Bear in mind that the bugs (if there were any) have been ironed out of the P35 chipset..

Thanks again paulzig...

Here is what I have so far:

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
I really like the way this case looks and I am pretty sure everything will fit

Thermaltake Toughpower W0156RU ATX12V / EPS12V 1200W Power Supply
I know PCPC are the best but I really want a modular PSU...1200W for future dual video cards...can I do better?

ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
You were right...It has everything I want except 2 pcie x16 slots (wish I could run crossfire @ 16x)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
big upgrade from my previous CPU

Thermalright SI-128 CPU Cooling Heatsink
The side fan on the 900 case will fit with this heatsink and a 120mm fan

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) x 2
4 gigs of ddr2 800 micron ram for $220...can I do better? I am willing to pay more for better ram

ASUS EAH2900XT/G/HTVDI/512M Radeon HD 2900XT 512MB 512-bit GDDR3
I hope I don’t have to clip my hd cages...may eventually get a second card and crossfire but what an upgrade from my Asus 9800xt

Again I will reuse my 4 drives: stripe Vista on the raptors and mirror the 160s
Total build is @ $1700

With your advice...this is where I am at. Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

kozzi