Help Build My High-end Desktop

Deltaupsilon · 06-25-2007, 12:36 AM

(Check out Page 4 for pics!)

My old PC just ain't hackin' it today. Time to reinvest in some new technology! Here's a list of what I've complied so far, suggestions would be great. The goal is a non-flashy, low-noise, high-performance desktop. If you have time, please look over this post and throw me some of your comments or suggestions!

Case: Antec P182 Gun Metal Black (ordered)

I will remove that top spoiler thing so it is flat..more on that later...

Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad [Updated from Zalman 600w](ordered)

This is a 750w PC&P single rail PSU. Upgrading from a 600w to a 750w (800w+) gives me more flexibility in HDDs and video cards. Thanks for the advice!

Mainboard: Asus P5K Deluxe/Wifi-AP (ordered)

45nm technology supported as well as high-end DDR2 RAM. No DDR3 support, but I don't think I'll have any problem with my RAM config. I have also looked at the ASUS Striker series, but I need to find boards without connected heatsinks so I can cool at the least Northbridge. [update]. The new Intel Bad Axe 2 may fit the bill

CPU: Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.4GHz

MEMORY: 4GB(2x2GB,) Mushkin DDR2 800 (PC 6400)(ordered)

5-4-4-12 timings, great reviews. I ordered Vista Ultimate (32 & 64-bit OSes) and will eventually upgrade to Vista once Nvidia's drivers are stable and Crysis comes out. Games like Supreme Commander are already crashing on 2GB, 32-bit systems because of memory limitations. I RMAed my Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB kit for this one.

GPU: eVGA 8800GTX (ordered)

Hard Drives: x2 WD Caviar SE16 500GB 7200RPM(ordered)

1 Terrabyte to start is a big difference over the 110GB I currently have. Plenty of room for expansion if needed. I haven't decided if I'm going to have them in a RAID configuration.

Sound card: Motherboard outputs have served me pretty well in the past. I have a 2.1 system, but do my gaming with headphones.

Optical Drive: Lite-on SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe (ordered)

I'll be returning this to newegg.com because the lightscribe media is expensive, and I already have a DVD burner.

Fan Control: Silverstone Thermal Controller

I won't be using a fan control since the P182 comes with variable fan controls already.

Water Cooling!

Exos-2(ordered)

I have some concerns that the radiator is aluminum and some cooling blocks are copper. Koolance has a thin gold layer on their copper to preven corrossion, but I'm looking at other options as well. Also, most everyone agrees the EXOS-2 is pretty much THE best external LCS on the market. It only has 3/8" nozzles, but those should be sufficient.

From the EXOS-2, we get to:

CPU water block: CPU-330(ordered)

GPU water block: Koolance VID-282 (ordered)

Northbridge water block:
CHC-120(ordered)
The CHC-120 is a very capable northbridge water block and will have 3/8" fittings.

Southbridge water block:
Southbridge water-cooled chipset on hold for now. For $7 I picked up this Zalman passive heatsink

(ordered) that I think will do a decent enough job. This eliminates another water block/restriction on the system and if it doesn't work...I'm only out $7.

Memory: RAM packs deleted. Not enough performance gain vs. price/flow restrction. Without them, everything runs at 3/8" ID lines and I have one less restriction on space.

Voltage Regulator: Deleted for a passive solution from Thermalright(ordered)

$15 cheaper than a water block, and keeps another waterblock restriction off my system.

Flow chart:
From the Exos, 3/8"(10mm) will feed the CPU->NB->GPU and the back to the Exos. I won't be doing major overclocks right off the bat, so I may just stick with the K.I.S.S system first and see how my temps are. I'd like to keep only an intake/exhaust fan running in the system, and even those are low RPMs to mainly cool the HDDs and Motherboard. With the components chosen, the entire system will be 3/8" tubing with no 90* angles or splitters.

I'd appreciate any suggestions to my system, other hardware recommendations, or just a Thumbs-up. This is my first liquid system so I'm trying to keep it relatively simple and not too much D.I.Y. Thanks!

[update]After more consideration, I've decided to ditch the Southbridge & Voltage regulator water blocks for simpler passive designs. With decent heatsinks, I think they will be adequately cooled. This also reduced the numbers of water blocks from 5 to 3, reducing restrictions on the water flow and amount of tubing required. If for some reason I don't have stability during overclocking, I can add another 120mm to the case and since it is already designed to reduce noise, it might be an easier solution.

Update 7/17:
RMAed Crucial RAM for Mushkin 2x2GB set

Update 7/8:
Nixed Silverstone fan controller
Lite-on DVD getting returned
Added CHC-120 northbridge block

Update 7/4:
Deleted Southbridge water block in place of passive heatsink
Replaced Voltage regulator block with passive heatsink

Update 7/3:
WD HDDs replaced Seagate

Update 7/2:
Changed 3GB to 2 GB dual channel RAM

Update 6/30:
Q6600 chosen as CPU
8800GTX chosen as graphics card
Vid-120 cooler chosen for GFX card
ASUS P5K Deluxe/wifi-ap board chosen

Update 6/26:
Deleted Koolance RAM packs
Added CHC-120-V06 Chipset cooler as an option
RAM changed from 1200Mhz to 1066Mhz for uniformity on system bus
Added Bad Axe 2 motherboard

Updates 6/25:
Changed PSU from Zalman 600w to PC&C 750w
E6700 CPU to E6600, QX6600 possibility
Changed water blocks to Koolance blocks for anti-corrosion properties
Simplified coolant flow for least resistance
Went with Northbridge/Southbridge blocks to disspate heat for overclocking/ internal temps
Altered 3GB RAM from 3x1GB sticks to 2x2GB & 2x512MB
Deleted 8800 GTX as an option and added 8800 GTS 640MB & 2900XT 512MB as options

Thanks for all the great comments so far! Keep them coming!

ViciousXUSMC · 06-25-2007, 12:42 AM

Looks great so far.

What I may add:

Nvidia has announced MAJOR price drops somtime soon, to compete with the new ATI cards on the market, the Ultra 8800 may go down to 600$ and all the other cards are due to go down soon, so if you can sit tight a month, you can save probably 100$ or so on the video card.

Also Intel has price drops scheduled for the end of july, the quad core is going all the way down to 266$!! thats what Id toss in a new machine. Or alternatvily get one of the new 45nm core cpus and a P35 chipset mobo.

Your right at the peak of the old tech before the new stuff comes in, so you want to wait and get the new stuff, or ateleast get the old stuff after the price drop.

My other recomendations... save the money and hassle with water cooling.. I have it in my current system and its been the single worst thing I ever did. The performance is not any better than with air cooling, there are high end air coolers out there that are just as good, but every time I have had to do a mod or repair on my system its always the water cooling thats in the way that made it 100x harder.... plus its a matter of upkeep.

I never had issues with it causing damge to my system with a leak or somthing but thats always possible too.

So everything else looks good!

illmatic2609 · 06-25-2007, 12:55 AM

Looks very nice man. I can't say I woulda done anything different, except building an identical machine for a certain someone else *cough* me *cough*

Jeff · 06-25-2007, 12:59 AM

pretty much the same as above.

Water cooling is a lot of effort for not that much better results.

maybe go a 700w psu

If you want to oc, just get the 6600 or wait for price cuts and get a quad core.

for Mobo, the new p35 chipset would be your best bet.

ViciousXUSMC · 06-25-2007, 01:06 AM

I like that case alot too I think thats the one my next build may be in. Im done with the flashy clear side panels and neon lights look. Im ready for somthing that works well and looks sleek like that.

lixuelai · 06-25-2007, 01:20 AM

For one thing build your own water cooling setup. Off the shelf stuff are generally all expensive for what you get. Also be aware that with that memory water sink you got there you can only mount 2 sticks in a 4 stick bank. Its not necessary unless you just want it for bragging rights. As for the PSU its good but not stellar, however if you like it then go with it. As for E6700, E6600 is better bang for the buck.

p.s. Those memory sticks are way too expensive for what they are worth. If you want truely sexy ram for a good price the Crucial Ballistix Tracers are like on sale pretty often, uses the same memory chips as those HyperX and comes with awesome LED lights. Get a 8800GTX and mount a block on it yourself. I remember there is a better block than the DD one, cant think of it on top of my head.

edit: I would seriously do more research on water cooling. Browse Xtremesystems for some advice or Hardforums when they are up again. Generally it is not a very good idea to be mixing aluminum with copper like you are doing there...lets just say bad things happen -.-"

ViciousXUSMC · 06-25-2007, 01:50 AM

I was lucky enough to snag one of the top end switech kits for 200$ because it was on clearance as they changed out the storm block for the new apogee block.

It was a steal for sure.

Id never put ram on your water circute thats alot of heat to add for no real reason, it will definitly raise the temps of your cpu and gpu but the ram has no real benifit for being cooled. Point a fan at them if you want to have them cool but keep it off your water setup..

nbaumann · 06-25-2007, 05:47 AM

You are blatantly wasting money for no reason. You don't need those waterblocks for the RAM or chipset, it's just pointless. Having more waterblocks in a water cooling circuit to cool more components will considerably decrease the cooling system's efficiency. And you are also putting copper and aluminium together, this should already set off a few alarms. You are also buying a pre-installed waterblock on the 8800 which is also a waste of money, by a normal card and add your own water block. Also you should not buy these off the shelf cooling systems. I would go with a danger den or swiftech custom W/C setup just for the CPU or the CPU and GPU for less than 200$. For me all this water cooling is just a stupid waste of money which will only worsen the performance of your machine and increase the chances of a leak happening.

So dude, knock yourself out with all that useless junk that will not change the performance of the system at best, but I am telling you, this money would be better spent in a new monitor or a new 8800 so you can have an SLI setup.

Deltaupsilon · 06-25-2007, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nbaumann

You are blatantly wasting money for no reason. You don't need those waterblocks for the RAM or chipset, it's just pointless. Having more waterblocks in a water cooling circuit to cool more components will considerably decrease the cooling system's efficiency. And you are also putting copper and aluminium together, this should already set off a few alarms. You are also buying a pre-installed waterblock on the 8800 which is also a waste of money, by a normal card and add your own water block. Also you should not buy these off the shelf cooling systems. I would go with a danger den or swiftech custom W/C setup just for the CPU or the CPU and GPU for less than 200$. For me all this water cooling is just a stupid waste of money which will only worsen the performance of your machine and increase the chances of a leak happening.

So dude, knock yourself out with all that useless junk that will not change the performance of the system at best, but I am telling you, this money would be better spent in a new monitor or a new 8800 so you can have an SLI setup.

"It is often cited that aluminum and copper should never be mixed in a cooling system. Koolance uses both of these materials in abundance (see why on the next page). However, all Koolance copper components are gold-plated, which avoids corrosion.

Gold also resists the oxidation process, forever retaining its luster and transfer properties. In contrast, bare copper quickly oxidizes and becomes blotchy." http://www.koolance.com/technical/cooling101/003.html

I think you may have missed the goal of this build: low-noise, high performance. Adding SLI 8800s means double the heat, double the price, double the cooling, and for my 22" LCD, maybe a 10%-15% gain for in-game performance. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please use the attached links to make an informed post.

Quote:

The Exos-2 LX expands performance by tripling the coolant flow rate over the standard Exos-2. This also better assists systems with multiple blocks, splitters, and other components that naturally reduce flow and pump pressure.

http://www.koolance.com/shop/product...roducts_id=375

Quote:

You are also buying a pre-installed waterblock on the 8800 which is also a waste of money, by a normal card and add your own water block.

"This version of the 8800 series is quite awsome. I was going to buy a 640mb 8800 GTS and add the liquid cooling block myself, but this was only about $30ish more than buying the block seperate and doing it myself." http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143099
On a ~$2500 build, $30 for an OEM-installed, warrantied, block is a good investment.

ViciousXUSMC · 06-25-2007, 07:22 AM

Quote:

The Exos-2 LX expands performance by tripling the coolant flow rate over the standard Exos-2. This also better assists systems with multiple blocks, splitters, and other components that naturally reduce flow and pump pressure.

This is one thing I dont have to do research on to know its wrong.

When I was a member of the overclocking forums and was really into this stuff, we had topic after topic test after test to disolve the myth that faster moving coolant = better cooling and every time and every test came to the same conclusion... NO it doesnt.

With the exception being if you had a very below par sysem to start with that had slow water movement.

The reasons behind this are pretty self explanitory, but I man they dug in deep we had phisics professors and stuff in on it.