Help building a new PC. (3k budget)

[jahrain]

Oh hey tech forums guys. So I like, need to build myself a new desktop PC for my work (primarily rendering and video processing) as well as some hard core gaming. I want something thats going to last me for years to come. I haven't built a PC in about 5 years so I'm a bit behind in whats new these days so I'm looking for some help along with some second opinions on what I have selected so far. I'm on a strict 3k budget for this machine, so I'm looking to see whats the best I can get under $3000 total.

Heres the main specs I chose so far:
-EVGA nForce 680i Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813188019
-Core 2 Quad core 2.4 ghz CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115017
-SLI with 2x EVGA NVidia 8800GTX 768MB GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130072
-3GB (3x 1 GB DDR2 1066) RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227181
-850w PSU
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817182070
-ATX full tower case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811144128
-1TB (2x 500GB) SATA HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822152052
-22" ViewSonic WSXGA LCD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824116076

I don't know if I may need some extra cooling devices for my SLI and quad core set up. I'm also considering overclocking and liquid cooling but I have no experience in that field. I might not get the dual 8800GTX and settle with 1 until some new games come out and get another when the price drops. Still thinking about it.

The grand total plus accessories, cables, input devices and shipping comes to $2,916.76. Shipping is expensive to where I live.

Any second opinions would be greatly appreciated. I don't know if I made any silly compatibility mistakes of if there is better yet cheaper parts available or any better deals. Like I said, its been a long long time since I last built a PC.

[et_cg]

Sucks.

Actually, Jahrain, your choices on a 3 thousand dollar budget look like a good choice, I'll review it later, not much time left this morning to be on the computer.

(I'm jealous of all you people, getting great builds this year.)

[FRain]

^ I know, all I have is 1 gig of ram, an ancient a7n8x and a X1650. My X1650 is terrible at H2V.

[Amit]

^ I know, all I have is 1 gig of ram, an ancient a7n8x and a X1650. My X1650 is terrible at H2V.

LOL have you cranked everything to the max? Maybe that's why. I tested H2V on my other PC and was able to run it on an X1600PRO at 1280x1024 with medium settings and 2x AA smoothly on a solid 30FPS. You barely notice the difference on medium and high settings so I use medium settings. On my current rig i use High with 4x AA at 1280x1024 and get around 30FPS again.

And BTW Flaming Rain, nobody really cares about what you have from what you don't have. This is a thread where Jahrain is asking for help, don't bother posting if it doesn't help.

Those specs are pretty solid Jahrain. I would check the PSU again, it seems a little cheap for so much power. Also the case is a little weird looking and expensive. When don't you get the Aspire X-Navigator? It's full tower, it's awesome looking, has interchangeable faceplates, and the thermometer. + It's only $94 as opposed to $129. When I build my next rig, I'll be using the X-Navigator or the Antec P180B.

I believe i was mistaken, the X-navigator is a Mid Tower case but hell, it's a lot larger than any other midtower case i've seen. It even has space for 2 120mm fans at the back. That's overkill for a midtower.

[TheGhost]

I agree with everything except your RAM. Get 2 x 2GB.

[leorimolo]

You could get a terabyte drive for less, also I would consider Liquid cooling so you can OC that system

[}_50Æ{_|ñeا†«O]

Sucks.

Actually, Jahrain, your choices on a 3 thousand dollar budget look like a good choice, I'll review it later, not much time left this morning to be on the computer.

(I'm jealous of all you people, getting great builds this year.)

And everyone laughed at me when I told them I was gonna wait to build a new rig.

Well who's laughing now, huh????!!

My new rig arrives in 4 days... The wait is draining my life energy.. lawl.

[jahrain]

Get a proven PSU like the ENERMAX Galaxy or something. They cost quite a bit, but have proven to be ungodly stableThanks for the suggestion, but damn those are too expensive, they make my purchase go over budget :/. The PSU I chose comes with a combo deal with my GPU so i get a $40 discount on it. Is the brand name not trusted or something? I don't know much about PSUs.


Those specs are pretty solid Jahrain. I would check the PSU again, it seems a little cheap for so much power. Also the case is a little weird looking and expensive. When don't you get the Aspire X-Navigator? It's full tower, it's awesome looking, has interchangeable faceplates, and the thermometer. + It's only $94 as opposed to $129. When I build my next rig, I'll be using the X-Navigator or the Antec P180B.

I believe i was mistaken, the X-navigator is a Mid Tower case but hell, it's a lot larger than any other midtower case i've seen. It even has space for 2 120mm fans at the back. That's overkill for a midtower.Yeah it is mid tower, which should be fine btw, but they all already come with PSU's which I don't want since I'm getting a separate one. It should be cheaper without it. Anyways, I like the way the one I chose looks.


I agree with everything except your RAM. Get 2 x 2GB.Any suggestions for a good deal? I was thinking of just getting 1x 2gb and a 1x 1gb, but I can't find any 2 gb memsticks with a +1000 clock speed for a reasonable price. I hear windows won't see more than 3 gb of ram, unless your running in 64bit mode. Don't know to much about 64bit.


You could get a terabyte drive for less, also I would consider Liquid cooling so you can OC that systemAny specific examples? I wanted 2 separate drives instead of one for back up purposes, but If I can find a 1tb driver for a better deal, I'd take it.

[Con]

I think 4GB of ram is a bit unnecessary, Ghost. I also heard that not a lot of programs are windows 64 bit friendly.

[jahrain]

Yeah, even 3 gb is pushing it. At my work place, the computers I do rendering on have 3 GB of ram, and while batch rendering massively complex scenes, the most amount of ram it ever used was on the rendering process 1 gb of ram. The computers (apple quad core G5 machines) still ran fast enough while rendering I can play games on them with little to no interference from the render process and the whole system was only using up about 2gb total of physical ram. So while gaming and rendering at the same time, I still had an extra 1GB of ram still available.

[Con]

Where do you work Jahrain?

[FRain]

Amit, I run Halo 2 Vista at 800x600 2xAA at low with major drops of FPS whenever I get into a fight. Drops of FPS means from 60-20 in about 3 seconds.

[TheGhost]

I think 4GB of ram is a bit unnecessary, Ghost. I also heard that not a lot of programs are windows 64 bit friendly.

Oh, I totally agree. I thought he was looking at getting a lot of RAM for some reason, so I was telling him a better config. Personally, I'd go with 2 x 1 GB, the best sticks you can find.

[jahrain]

Where do you work Jahrain?
I have 3 jobs actually. The one I was referring to is an animation studio that no one really knows about (yet). The pay is good, but I don't get much hours there. I only go there 2 days a week. If it wasn't for this job, I wouldn't be buying this system as my boss is the one who offered me a deal to do some rendering at home in exchange for some cash upfront to build this machine.

[et_cg]

That's a sweet setup. If you're going to be doing hardcore animation, get four gigs of ram, and two of those nifty 22" LCDs.

[jahrain]

That's a sweet setup. If you're going to be doing hardcore animation, get four gigs of ram, and two of those nifty 22" LCDs. Windows won't see more than 3gb >_>...I already have a decent 19" LCD plus 2 17 inch CRTs sitting around my room being unused.

[jahrain]

Could get this one if you wanted,

http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=120

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009&Tpk=TPQ-850

I was reading some user reviews on that particular PSU, saying some things about not sufficiently powering the 8800GTX, which I am getting 2 of for SLI so that has me sort of worried.

[TPE]

PSU isnt powerfull enough to run both 8800's


GeForce 8800GTX minimum power requirements:
Single card: 475w with >= 32a on the +12
SLI (Dual cards): 700w with >= 64a on the +12

Dual graphics card capability is noted in the individual PSU comments. Any SLI Certified PSU is capable of supporting up to 7900GT SLI and x1900 Crossfire.Let the flaming start :o

[Amit]

Amit, I run Halo 2 Vista at 800x600 2xAA at low with major drops of FPS whenever I get into a fight. Drops of FPS means from 60-20 in about 3 seconds.

Funny, maybe it's your ram or processor.

[Xetsuei]

Amit, I run Halo 2 Vista at 800x600 2xAA at low with major drops of FPS whenever I get into a fight. Drops of FPS means from 60-20 in about 3 seconds.

Turn off desktop composition.

[jahrain]

Xetsuei™;108103']Turn off desktop composition.
Lol who leaves that enabled? Its about as useless and intrusive as UAC.


Anyways, does anyone have any suggestions about a liquid cooling unit to buy? I'm a complete noob to that field, but I'm considering overclocking the machine after I build it.

[Xetsuei]

(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835108075)Swiftech H20-120 Premium (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835108075) or Swiftech H20-220-APEX-GT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835108076) <- This would probably be better with the quad core.

[jahrain]

Xetsuei™;108120']Swiftech H20-120 Premium (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835108075) or Swiftech H20-220-APEX-GT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835108076) <- This would probably be better with the quad core.
Thanks, that first one doesn't say its compatible with LGA775 though. Seems a bit pricy imo... Is it a complete set with everything I need for liquid cooling? I really don't know what all I will need. I was wondering about this one however, I have seen it at radio shack.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106077
Edit, nvm that one, It has some crappy reviews.

[jahrain]

I don't know If I want a bigger PSU. I don't want my PC to be competing with the water heater and stove for my electricity bill.

[paladin]

Go for the 8800 Ultras. I jsut got that cpu, very nice!

[TPE]

For cooling zalman (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118119) and scythe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185037) are the most reliable and not total shit like thermaltake and Coolmaster.

[Xetsuei]

For cooling zalman (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118119) and scythe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185037) are the most reliable and not total shit like thermaltake and Coolmaster.




No. The best air cooling solution would be a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109140).

[Atty]

For cooling zalman (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118119) and scythe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185037) are the most reliable and not total shit like thermaltake and Coolmaster.


Explain to me, someone, how such ignorance can live?

[TPE]

Explain to me, someone, how such ignorance can live?Alot more.

[Darkness]

For the PSU get one with 2x120mm fans they're less noisy, look around here (http://directron.com/powersupplies.html)

[Amit]

WTF? Thermaltake isn't shit. You probably used it in a way to make it turn to shit.

[InnerGoat]

Thermaltake doesn't really have good cooling products, save for the Big Typhoon which was the best thing you could buy ~2 years ago. Most of their PSU line sucks too, but they have recently put out some high quality products, being the Toughpower series.

[jahrain]

I saw some kingwin and OCZ +800w PSUs for descent prices. I'm happy with anything under ~$200.

[Cortexian]

I'm using an OCZ 850 Watt PSU and love it, only one BFG 8800 GTX atm, but I'll be getting another one in the future.

@ TPE:
It's spelled "A lot".