Help with new pc I hope to get soon

[gial 2]

NZXT Tempest is what I have. Their slogan is "The Airflow King" although there is no spec on cfm. And it's huge. Room for up to 10 drives inside, if you are so inclined, although more than 4 and you begin to obstruct the front fans.

 

Here it is at newegg:

NZXT Tempest

[Silearth 6]

NZXT Tempest is what I have. Their slogan is "The Airflow King" although there is no spec on cfm. And it's huge. Room for up to 10 drives inside, if you are so inclined, although more than 4 and you begin to obstruct the front fans.

 

Here it is at newegg:

NZXT Tempest

 

Again....another contender during my search. And again, it was the price.

 

What I ended up with >click<

 

And this is what I was lusting after: Soldam Jazz

[Knuckles 904]

I'm thinking of getting this case http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=Njkz

 

What do you guys think ?

[Silearth 6]

Unless you are planning to put in a lot of drives, I would go with the 900.

[Timotheus 416]

I agree with Sil, the cases are about the same, only diff is size from what I see. If you're not using all the space, just get the 900.

[Knuckles 904]

tbh didn't really look at size, just saw all the big fans At what point is too many fans too much? Was thinking 2 inflow and 2 outflow should be plenty. Also noticed some cases mount psu on either top or bottom but I'm assuming top mount is better for heat dissipation. What I did like about the case is it did have mounting tabs for liquid cooling if I ever decide to go that way later on. Will have to check if the 900 case has it also.

 

When poking around I saw something about a 3-way SLI - time to go check that out

[gial 2]

Asus M3N-HT has 3 way sli. A couple others too, if I recall.

 

And I think psu at the bottom is better. All the ram sits near the top. Power supply at the bottom moves it away from all of the heat generating components.

[Timotheus 416]

tbh didn't really look at size, just saw all the big fans At what point is too many fans too much? Was thinking 2 inflow and 2 outflow should be plenty. Also noticed some cases mount psu on either top or bottom but I'm assuming top mount is better for heat dissipation. What I did like about the case is it did have mounting tabs for liquid cooling if I ever decide to go that way later on. Will have to check if the 900 case has it also.

 

When poking around I saw something about a 3-way SLI - time to go check that out

 

3-way NVIDIA SLI-Ready GPUs:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

 

As you can see over at Newegg, 3-way SLI would set you back about €400 for the cheapest option (9800GTX), without a motherboard and a PSU to support it, that is.

Also, SLI performance scaling with 2 cards is roughly at 70% or something, so you may want to think about price/performance. 3 way SLI is just E-PEN** to me.

 

Asus M3N-HT has 3 way sli. A couple others too, if I recall.

 

And I think psu at the bottom is better. All the ram sits near the top. Power supply at the bottom moves it away from all of the heat generating components.

 

Yup, PSU at the bottom would be the best place to put it. You need some dust filter down there though, otherwise it'll overheat in no time. And a fan near the top of the case or ON/IN top of the case is recommended.

[gial 2]

Note about SLI: Not every card of the type listed is SLI capable, or at least when I bought, they weren't. Some still don't list the capability (e.g. Asus EN9800GT does not say "SLI" at newegg). Make sure you verify the particular model number.

[Knuckles 904]

I'll have to find an article I read on 3-way SLI. I thought some of the newer Nvidia gfx cards wouldn't work in 3-way. Also have to check if I get a 3-way SLI capable mobo, can I only use 2 gfx cards and it'll still work. I want the mobo to have extras I may not use right away....again I'm looking at how easy I can upgrade everything in the future. I'm pretty much going 'top shelf' on it so it's not obsolete in a couple years. Money really isn't an issue (as long as I don't get too crazy and unrealistic )

[Timotheus 416]

I'll have to find an article I read on 3-way SLI. I thought some of the newer Nvidia gfx cards wouldn't work in 3-way. Also have to check if I get a 3-way SLI capable mobo, can I only use 2 gfx cards and it'll still work. I want the mobo to have extras I may not use right away....again I'm looking at how easy I can upgrade everything in the future. I'm pretty much going 'top shelf' on it so it's not obsolete in a couple years. Money really isn't an issue (as long as I don't get too crazy and unrealistic )

 

1) As I posted: 3-way NVIDIA SLI-Ready GPUs:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

That rules out 9800GT and below, 8800GTS and below. So yeah, most would not work in 3-way SLI. And remember, just as Gial said: not all actually have to support 3-way, as they are only 3-way ready. It's up to the manufacturer to put that option in their product. Also, about the upcoming 2xx series, I'm unsure.

 

2) Yes, that's entirely possible. I run an SLI capable motherboard, but it doesn't require me to go SLI Hard to do with ATi anyway

 

3) Top shelf, yeah if that's your flavour, go for it I'd rather keep my money in my pocket and do some upgrading once a year or something.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Timotheus

[Silearth 6]

2) Yes, that's entirely possible. I run an SLI capable motherboard, but it doesn't require me to go SLI Hard to do with ATi anyway

 

I am running a Crossfire / Hybrid Crossfire capable board. It seems that there is a penalty for only using one video card in that it runs at 8X rather than 16 unless you plug an included card into the second slot. I'm planning to buy a new video card in a couple months--god help me if I misplace that little card.

 

I tend to stay away from the top shelf. I shop from the 3rd or 4th shelf where price and performance meet. But you better believe that I had a few thoughts of 3.2 Ghz quad core running through my mind before I settled on my 2.6 Ghz dual core.

 

I guess I could have justified the extra money if I built the entire rig in a shopping bag.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Silearth

[gial 2]

Not all motherboards have that limitation. Mine runs x16 with 1 or 2 and x8 with 3-way SLI -- only 2 of the 3 PCIe 2.0 slots are 16x. I suppose I could use the wrong slot(s) and force a slowdown.

[Silearth 6]

How is Sacred 2 with SLI? I thought I remembered reading that it does not support SLI, but I found Sacred 2 in a list of SLI enabled games.

[gial 2]

Let me rephrase that - my motherboard is capable of running. I only have a single 9800GT so no SLI here. Sorry for the confusion.

[Knuckles 904]

After mulling it over I've decided I'm going to go with 2-way SLI with GTX line of gfx cards. I was looking at mobo's and tbh most of the tech specs leave me baffled. I know I want the i7 technology and DDR3 memory. I think I only need 4 PCI-E slots (2 for SLI, 1 for Sound and one for something else ). I've seen some issues people have had with fitting SLI cards on mobo's and looking for help on this also.

 

I've also seen several different styles of cpu heatsinks and wonder if I should stay with stock or go and get an aftermarket one

[Schot 407]

Stock CPU fans seem to be generally quite reliable. They have to be in fact. Rather than changing the stock fan I'd suggest finding an ideal way to exhaust heat from inside the case. For example those cases you can buy with the giant fan on one side pulling air out of the case. Or one of those new fandangled cases that are a completely open concept like Antecs skeleton case. No chance of heat build up on that one and it looks pretty cool. I saw one at my local store and nearly bought it. Still want one.

 

 

Get major air with the Antec PC Skeleton Case

[Knuckles 904]

I saw that case and it looks really cool......just get nightmares thinking what a spilled drink could do to it

[Schot 407]

If I bought that case I would put it up real high. But man the temps would be so easy to manage.

[gial 2]

Yeah, but what about dust? You'd need a deionizing environmental air filter for the room, too.

[Silearth 6]

I don't know....

 

I am all about the fancy computer cases. I fell in love with Soldam for their stair-step designed jaz. The skeleton....I could learn to love it--in time. It's just so.....strange.

[Timotheus 416]

Stupid that they marketed the skeleton as an OC'er case though... Because if there's one thing that's a complete hassle with the skeleton, it's replacing hardware lol

[Silearth 6]

Here is a review of the Skeleton

[stubbie 21]

I find it strange that there is no mention of noise levels from the skeleton case.

 

In my experiences when I remove just one side panel from any pc case the noise level increases.

[Silearth 6]

In my quest to revive threads..........

 

I was at Fry's Electronics this Saturday. Anyone who has ever been there knows that you can't just go in and get what you want. You've got to browse the isles. Fry's is not Best Buy. They have a bigger selection of....everything. So before browsing the big wall of video cards I passed by the case section.

 

They were pimping out Skeletons--had a tower built out of the boxes. I looked at the floor model and my son said "I think it's broken, daddy". My answer: "No, it's supposed to....look....like....that."

 

I never really got the idea of the Skeleton. In person it looks even cheaper.

 

They had the 900 there as well. Once again my son spoke up. "Daddy, that is cool--it's just like yours!" Cool, yup. Like mine? No. Looking at that bad boy in person, seeing that massive fan on top.....I was hit with a massive attack of case envy. And the thing is soooo heavy, the way a real case should be.