Help Me Build a New Monster of a Computer

[El Stormo]

^ a RIG

That thing is built of win!

 

[mReEtTaIlRsEkD]

http://www.funmansion.com/html/fm-Sexy-Case-Mod.html

 

[Lord Foul]

A case shaped like a dismembered woman? That is sexy.

 

[Anvil]

if you can tell me what your budget is....i can come up with a computer around that that fits your needs...let me know Tyler

Budget isn't a concern. I just want a badass computer that I won't have to upgrade for a couple years.

 

[Lord Foul]

1 x Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB Retail Box

This seems like overkill for gaming - most games don't make use of multiple cores well anyhow. Possibly it has value for 3D rendering, but this is not my area of expertise.

1 x ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus ATX LGA775 DDR2 Nforce 650I + 570 SLI 3PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Motherboard

Seems fine, bonus points for not having one of those evil 40mm NB fans.

1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM

I am agnostic on coolers and thermal paste. I only buy super quiet/fanless ones myself but silence is my fetish, not yours.

2 x OCZ ATI Crossfire PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit

4GB of RAM (if I am reading this correctly) is a complete and total waste on any windows based system. The system is going to reserve most of the addresses past the 2GB space for the video card and system functions, so you'll never see the last 1.5GB

1 x EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GTS 500MHZ 320MB 1.6GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV HDCP DIRECTX10 Video Card

Why not a GTX? Spend more on the graphics card than anything else, that is what will keep your system current enough to play the new games for as long as possible. This doesn't mean you should spend double for a 5% performance boost though.

1 x Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan

I love Antec cases. I prefer the P180 line to the Sonata line, but again I am a silence nut.

1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
1 x Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Gamer 24BIT Sound Card 7.1 PCI Retail Box Bilingual

These seem fine

1 x BFG PhysX Card Ageia Physics Processor Card PCI 128MB 128-BIT GDDR3

I'm a bit dubious about this - never read a good review of these. Seems like the money could be better spent elsewhere.

EDIT: Make sure to post a source link and/or price, it'd help me out a lot.

I already have two 19" LG monitors, a G15 keyboard, and a optical microsoft mouse.

Updated

 

[Liverslapper]

well from your list..it looks like alot of money

 

[WhiteBeastofWotan]

i need a decent rig. Basically I'd really just like to be able to play Total War: Medieval 2, and Command&Conquer 3 on highest settings without any problem. Of course, I don't have very much money to my name, so it will be a while.

 

[ShadowsWithin]

I can't get you a picture, because A.) I'm lazy. B.) I'm retarded and can't upload pictures right. C.) I have a video of Silence Calls the Storm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5ciJcksiEU

awsome... a good left handed bassist.


^ive been trying to do the same with Medieval 2 also, but vistas fucking slowing me down. i got a GeForce 2600 GT, 3 gigs of ram and a decent processor. but vista just makes it shit.

 

[Anvil]

After looking through the PhysX cards a bit more... I realize that not many games are actually using the damn thing. So I probably will refrain from getting one for now. If in the future it becomes more widely used, then I will.

As for the quad-core, it will most likely boost my rendering abilities, and this way a few years down the road I won't have to upgrade when games start using it.

The graphics card of course is something I haven't researched enough to commit to any specific one. I'm still pretty open to it.

 

[ShadowsWithin]

if you have enought for the 8800 i suggest that deffiniatley probally the best out on the geforce line right now.

 

[Captain Beard]

Go for Dual 8800GTXs! SLI baby!

 

[Anvil]

Go for Dual 8800GTXs! SLI baby!

As much as I like to, you're spending at least a grand just on that.

 

[JBroll]

I have Ceramique, its worth it man.

And JB, you never had auto encoded dts pumped into your system either at 505 watts. You'd cry if you heard these and the HTPC card they're attached to.

No, actually I have. Again... two ears, sitting still, doesn't do anything for me. I have, however, been annoyed at having a single subwoofer and I'm considering getting a second one so that the channels aren't getting mixed together. Anyone try anything like this?

Jeff

 

[Captain Beard]

I wired two systems together yes. it just makes more boom.

 

[ShadowsWithin]

Go for Dual 8800GTXs! SLI baby!

those things must be like 10 pounds each and get hot REAL fast, he'd have to get a uber cooling system for it.

 

[JBroll]

I wired two systems together yes. it just makes more boom.

Does stereo separation down there help much? I'd be going for a balanced sound but I'd like to know if it's clearer with that setup.

Jeff