The PC Builder's Guide

[SinsWage]

Thoughts on this?

Case: *CoolerMaster Storm Sniper Mid-Tower Gaming Case
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Maximum 120MM Color Case Cooling Fans
Power Supply Upgrade: *800 Watts Power Supplies (CyberPowerPC XF800S Performance ATX 2.0 Power - Quad SLI Ready)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-860 2.80 GHz 8M L2 Cache LGA1156
Cooling Fan: Asetek LCLC 240 Liquid Cooling system w/ 240MM Radiator and Dual Fans
Motherboard: [CrossFireX/SLI] Asus P7P55D Deluxe Intel P55 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB2.0, SATA-II RAID, 3 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI
Memory: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 PCI-E 16X 1GB DDR5 Video Card [DirectX 11 Support]
Hard Drive: Single Hard Drive (1TB (1TBx1) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Optical Drive: LG 22X DVD±/±RW + CD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive (BLACK COLOR)
Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
Network: Killer Xeno Pro Gigabit High Speed Online Gaming PCI Network Interface Card
Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
IEEE1394 Card: None
USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)

[Xyvik]

I've got about $800 for everything. That includes the operating system.

That lowers your options on what to buy by $100. I prefer to give customers rigs below their stated price, but that's just me.

1: For gaming, an X2 is just as good as an X4 in this price range
2: by getting 2gigs of ram for now, it saves him money now and lets him upgrade later.

Either way, both lists have excellent items in them. I recommend either one, depending on if he can convince his wife to go higher than $800. I've had that talk...it's not an easy one, hehe!



/edit @SinsWage: You'll be spending a heck of a lot of money, but that's one heck of a nice rig for it. Just make sure you know what you're doing with the liquid cooling. Come to think of it, the Intel chips don't overclock all that well so there's no real reason to water-cool them. A nice, far cheaper fan will keep them running just fine.

[spychi]

Thoughts on this?

Cooling Fan: Asetek LCLC 240 Liquid Cooling system w/ 240MM Radiator and Dual Fans

Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

you've ever had a liquid cooling? if no, don't even think about going for it, besides the CPU coolers are nowadays quiet and very well done
the Noctua one I recommended will do

Sound it's a no go, disable it at BIOS and buy yourself an additional sound card
Asus Xonar (the one I recommended) will do
the onboard sound codecs will downgrade your system in games
I was using a Realtek onboard codec for some time and when I realized that when I've changed the sound default format to higher quality I noticed a big drop of FPS and I didn't want to lower the sound's quality either. I strongly advice a PCIe sound card

[Xyvik]

Definitely with spychi on this one. Onboard audio has given me a lot of grief in the past. If you can afford it, definitely get an after-market card. The Xonar is an excellent piece of hardware. I would like to emphasize the part about the water-cooling: If you've never installed it before, don't even think about it. The only real reason to have watercooling is when you want silence (and newer fans can do that real nice for cheaper) or when you are a very serious overclocker.

[screw_ball69]

If you really have your heart set on water cooling and are brave you could make one yourself.

I made one ages ago out of computer tubing a old cooler and a water pump, I could probably make a simple tutorial on how to do it if your interested

[Xyvik]

If you really have your heart set on water cooling and are brave you could make one yourself.

I made one ages ago out of computer tubing a old cooler and a water pump, I could probably make a simple tutorial on how to do it if your interested

you have to make that video, just because I want to see it lol.

Anyhoo, back to the previously scheduled programming...

[screw_ball69]

Holly fail on my part, I put computer tubing...I meant copper tubing.

[Pandonetho]

Hey Xyvik, what are your opinions on this pre-built computer?

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...27037(ME).aspx

I have a friend who needs a new computer and he's not looking to build it himself.

[screw_ball69]

Pre built computers are generally not a good value. you can use a site like NCIX that will charge a extra 50 dollars to assemble the computer for you and you still get to pick your parts.

[SinsWage]

I don't have my heart set on liquid cooling but they're throwing it in for free and it's self contained so they claim there's really no difference from putting a fan on. As far as sound goes, if I put the card on will it just override the onboard, or do I have to do something complicated?