hey Guru,help me pick the parts for my new supercomputer ;-)

[spud]

Well, my call for assistance is not just to Guru, but he is the most likely to spend hours helping me out

I will shortly (in about a month) be buying a new PC. I will have a budget of about $5000 so I'm going all out. Here's what I want some aid in deciding:

Motherboard: I'm thinking about a 680i but goddamn they are expensive! I have read a fair bit about people having major issues with them as well. Got any further news Guru? Care to recommend a good 975?

Definitely 2x8800GTX (the 768MB ones). Probably Gainwards.

2GB of RAM.

probably an E6700. Will I need an after market fan? I'm not going to bother with overclocking because I consider it a waste of time.

Probably a 74GB Raptor for HDD unless there is something faster out there?

The reason I'm going all out with these parts is that I already have all the other hardware I need. I have ~400GB of secondary storage, an Audigy2ZS, monitor, keyboard, etc. So I guess the main recommendation I'm after is on a good stable motherboard, but all recommendations welcome

[GURU]

well just off the top of my head seeing as u have all that $$$$$$ -

firstly around middle of this year AMD are releasing their Quad core. now i wouldnt be all that fussed EXCEPT they have been doing an Intel and sprouting off about how it will be 40% faster and much more energy efficient than everything else , so it would be worth the wait if u could possibly hold out till then! it may or maynot prove to be faster all though i would be willing to bet that it will be, seeing as their financial lives depend on this cpu. if they lie about it then the they will feel a large backlash from the hardware community. even if it isnt faster than Intel ones, intel stuff will be cheaper by then n e ways !


secondly more waiting i know i know but there is some really good shit to wait for - ie Nvidia 8900GTX x2 . now i have been readin that these babies will have faster core and memory speeds and more shaders as well! and they of course will be at current prices. als0 interesting is that the 8900GTS will be faster than the current 8800GTX version. these are all aimed at keeping ATI on their toes. also around end of March ATI will have released the R600 completely new vid cards now called the X2xxx series. it will be very interesting to see how they all stack up!

for $5G fuk it will be a monster!

seeing as u have all the other stuff , i dont really know how u could waste/spend that much on a motherbaord, vid cards and ram?

well if u want to run "Intel" SLI, nvidia style, then u will be stuck with an Nvidia motherboard! u have no choice but they have diff chipsets to choose ie 680i 650i etc

teh 975 boards only support ATI crossfire not nvidia SLI !

i will have to do some research on hte 680i m/bs and see what people say . ill get back to u on thta !

bit of a shame about the "no overclocking" seeing as these 680i m/bs are excellent overclockers!

most of teh reviews i read about teh 680is a while ago, seemed to suggest they are slightly faster than 975 for games and are on par with most other stuff! but as u said damn they fkn expensive!

i know they also had some hdd data corruption under some circumstances although that is supposed to be fixed with later bios updates!

[BUSTER]

I don’t think you really need to spend that much spud. You could get an awesome system for less. A $5k system as you no will be worth a lot less in 6 months. Just a suggestion to maybe spend less and build a system that will play any thing for now that you can upgrade for cheaper down the track.

[spud]

I don't like the chances of me waiting until mid-year, I've done well to hold out this long. It was about 7 months ago I decided to get a new PC, nd now I have finally saved enough disable income to cut sick, I'm pretty keen! Plus I just ordered a new PC for a mate last night and I have PC fever!

Yeah, I know it'll be worth heaps less in 6 months, but thats what happens when you buy any computer part. I want something screamingly powerful so that I don't have to upgrade for a couple of years, and i figure a fast dual core cpu and some top end SLI video cards will do the trick

Thanks for the info Guru, I'll keep reading and see if I can come up with anything

[BUSTER]

You gona run vista?

[spud]

no, I want to enjoy my new computer!
I'll stick with XP for a year at least because I know it'll do the yards. Will go to Vista when it has drivers and a couple of service packs under it's belt. I don't have anything against Vista, I really wish it had been fully ready at launch, I was sort of looking forward to it. But just like it any new OS, it'll take a while for the rest of the software world to catch up, so I'm going to wait until they do.

[spud]

btw, any recommendations on cases? I've been seriously considering the Coolermaster stack 820, it looks sweet with heaps of fans (9!), but am open to suggestions. It has to be a tower case though, I like my PC to have room to breath

[Leone]

9 QUIET fans?

[Rusty]

Well I've never really liked Lian Li Cases before at all but I am impressed with the PC-201A they have.

If you have lots of hdds it might be something to consider... 7 x 5.25" and a Massive 12 x 3.5'' .... I know its expensive but if I had the spare CA$H I buy one yesterday.

Don't know if this mob are the cheapest but I just know they got pics of it n it will give you some idea of the going price for one.

[BUSTER]

Iv been running one of these for about 9 months. It’s got 3 120mm fans that arnt noisy after 3 months; it’s really well made and strong.








http://www.i-tech.com.au/products/3439_ ... A_570.aspx

[Sammus]

I can't really help you out a great deal spud but I would suggest checking out www.staticice.net it will show you where to find the cheapest prices in your state.

[Kamikazee]

[spud]

I'll be buying from auspcmarket, they aren't the cheapest, but after you factor in shipping and cc surcharge, they are pretty competitive. I know it goes against the super nerd ethos, but I'll be getting them to build it because I just can't be fucked doing it anymore. So after you include building and burn in testing I think they offer great value.
Obviously this limits me to their stock, but they have a pretty massive range.

Pretty much decided on everything except motherboard and RAM. I'm thinking about going for 4GB RAM. I know XP won't be able to use it all, but it's nicely future proofed for Vista. Also motherboard must be SLI, not crossfire (thanks for pointing out about the 975 Guru ), and if the 8900 arrives shortly I may just go for that!

Really like the look af that Lian-li Rusty, but it is a bit of overkill in the drive bay department. Still definitely on the list though. The gigabyte case looks a bit gimmicky Buster, maybe my nerd quotient has dropped too much in recent times, but I'm after the sleek lines. The CM Stacker is now pretty much off the list and Lian-li seems likely but I would still appreciate any furhter suggestions

[GURU]

have u thought about the antec p180?

it is very quiet although it has the psu down the bottom ! [u will need to get a psu with a long enough main wiring harness]
if u type in antec p 180 reviews ther are heaps of them to give u a better idea and look at, to see if it is spud worthy! hehe

4gb of ram is a good idea 4 vista! the only downside is that their will be heaps more ram to choose from and it will all get faster with lower latencies and alos cheaper as time goes by! nature of the tech beast!

[spud]

P180 is a mid-tower case, I want something with some space that the air can circulate around in comfortably.

I'm looking at teh Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus, seems pretty solid. Do you know much about it Guru? Are the reports all good?