Building the Beast

[Tracer]

I'm going to start slowly building a beast of a PC soon. I don't have thousands of dollars to throw at it and I hate buying pre-builds (again, I don't have thousands of dollars to throw at this thing at one chunk). I do expect to spend upwards of 4 grand on it over time however.

I want everything to be new and as top of the line as possible. In the past I've gotten away with salvaging parts here and there and cutting corners but now I want to go all out.

I want to start with the case. Since this will take months, I don't want the first part to be the CPU or GPU or anything that becomes less-than-the-best in a matter of months.

Right now I am looking at the Zalman TNN 500 case. I'm altogether impressed with it but price vs benefit is kind of a concern and aesthetically - it's shite. There's some nice Temjin cases out there that are cheaper and nicer looking but this is the only case that acts as one huge heatsink. If anyone has any recommendation on this - I'd be happy to hear them. Expandability, Aesthetics, Cooling and Size are all factors. Assuming I don't go with Zalman for the case, I will be going with them for all other cooling and heat channeling needs (IMO, they're the best).

I'll also need 500W or greater power supply recommendations. Factors I look at are of course warranty and how quiet the unit is. I've seen some fanless models but I am unsure how well they work and if they last. Not having a fan in there scares me.

Then of course there's the GPU, CPU, Mainboard + Chipset, Sound (often included in mainboard w/ ethernet), speakers and monitor. As far as KB/M goes; I want wires unless someone can provide convinceing testimony on a wireless mouse and/or keyboard that has been 100% without exception reliable as well as comfortable while supporting at least 5 mouse buttons. Fancy keyboard shortcut thingies aren't nessisary but are nice.

[MechDeus]

I'm not sure if you saw but for that case:

For ATI Radeon 9800 or Faster models and nVidia geForce FX5800 or Faster models, the separately sold VGA Heatpipe-D Set(ZM-VHPD1) must be used.

You'll have to spend even more for whatever vide card and CPU you're getting. But then, I don't see a price blatantly listed anywhere (not that I really looked very hard) so I'm not sure what it even is normally. That is a damn nice case though and I'm kinda tempted myself considering the heat issues I usually have.

For a mouse I swear by my Microsoft Trackball Explorer. My roommate uses a similar one except it's a thumb-ball, and considering the button layout it might ultimately be better (My thumb is really the only finger with access to both normal mouse face buttons and the scroll-wheel + that button). My problem is that his isn't a 5-button like mine and it takes about a week to get used to a trackball and I know he wouldn't want to give his up for that long for me just to try it out. In either case, the only flaw with them is the constant cleaning that must be performed and that a couple of my buttons are starting to feel a bit flimsy after three years of use (but then, three years is a long time). Not sure on your feelings regarding trackballs, though.

[Tracer]

I loathe trackballs personally. It's more a, "I'm really not used to them at all," kind of thing though. From what I have seen, that case isn't 100% tops for cooling, but it's incredibly neat in that it requires NO fans and is thus VERY VERY quiet. The biggest drawback is it comes with a fairly proprietary PSU at 300W. It also has no fans, but 300W is painfully average. The cost is high on it, the benefit is basically a long lasting system that is average in power and cooling but as quiet as you can get (to my knowledge). If I went the Zalman route, I'll want to go for whisper quiet disk drives as well (something that DVDRW drives are seldom known for). The only reason why I still consider it the #1 option is this: I smoke around my computer and the fans take a lot of that in. The result is dust mixed with cigerette smoke, which ends up looking like a gross fuzz coating all of the fans. Perhaps I could always do that "quiting" thing I've heard so much about, but that would be like summiting Everest.

[Fe 26]

that case is awesome

[Tracer]

that case is awesome

Yeah, I use Zalman fans and sinks right now but they also make awesome watercooling systems and heat pipes for just about everything in a computer that might generate heat. Their fans are remarkably quiet too (I can't hear the ones I use). I'd use them in my car engine if I could.

UPON Further investigation - $1,400 means cost > benefit, and the killer is that this chasis isn't condusive to overclocking. Next!

[007bond]

You are really going to spend 4 grand on a computer? A $2,000 computer with properly chosen parts would probably be nearly as fast and either way the system will no longer be cutting edge in a few months.

[Dyne]

there is absolutely no reason for that case other than bragging rights. why not better invest the money into a cheaper case and a dual pci express 6800 setup? that would be more akin to a "beast".

[Tracer]

there is absolutely no reason for that case other than bragging rights. why not better invest the money into a cheaper case and a dual pci express 6800 setup? that would be more akin to a "beast".

I've already decided against it, in my last post. I'll likely go with a Temjin model or some such. Anything but Antec.

About spending 4 grand - I'm not looking to spend that much but I'll go that high. You might be forgeting some more costly parts such as monitor(s).

I've already decided that a dual SLI PCIe video setup is the ideal way to go.

Any recommendations on current parts? What would the ideal set up be? Chipset, CPU, Video, RAM et al?

[Dyne]

definately an athlon 64 based cpu if your using it for gaming. and id go for some ocz 3200 ram. a lot of it overclocks to pc4000 speeds. dont know if you can push the athlon 64's that high or not but the headroom is there. get a gig. no more, no less. also look at lian li cases. a little over $120 but theyre simple and cool. finally id get a 480watt modular psu. then you dont have all the unneeded cables taking up case room. these are also a bit over 100-150 bucks. finally if you have the cash a 10000 rpm hdd is the way to go (the 15000 are a bit too expensive for what they offer). the space they offer is usually small for an affordable one (like 74 gigs) but id use that as my main drive and get a cheaper 7200 rpm sata "data/storage" drive.

[Tracer]

definately an athlon 64 based cpu if your using it for gaming. and id go for some ocz 3200 ram. a lot of it overclocks to pc4000 speeds.

The AMD 64 is a clear winner I think, but isn't there faster ram on the market?

dont know if you can push the athlon 64's that high or not but the headroom is there. get a gig. no more, no less.

The better the cooling the higher you can push it I think. I'd probably shoot for more than a mere gig of RAM too. If I'm dealing with a mainboard that has 4 DIMMs then I'll go 4 Gigs. Easy. I'm wondering if an nForce 4 based board is the way to go. Gigabyte makes a solid board built around that (AMD of course).

also look at lian li cases. a little over $120 but theyre simple and cool. finally id get a 480watt modular psu. then you dont have all the unneeded cables taking up case room. these are also a bit over 100-150 bucks

I'm not keen on Lan Li cases. They're too... meh. The Microcenter here has some sharp looking cases with lots of places for fans - the Temjin being one. They're about the same. The reason I hate Lan Li is because they ARE so simple. They're the OCers Antec... you see them everywhere. I remember playing Q3 and posting on clan boards and each person had pictures of their cathode tube-tricked Lan Li case with bio-hazard fan plates and such. I'm wanting to avoid that. I would like something monolithic, subtle, but very expandable and condusive to cooling. Black is an ideal color (that way I have no problem with the optical drive bezels matching). Superfulous cathode tubes, leds on the fans, clear plastic molding and all that jazz can stay in the discount isle at CompUSA. I do like your suggestion on the PSU, I'm definitly considering it.

. finally if you have the cash a 10000 rpm hdd is the way to go (the 15000 are a bit too expensive for what they offer). the space they offer is usually small for an affordable one (like 74 gigs) but id use that as my main drive and get a cheaper 7200 rpm sata "data/storage" drive.

The 15000 RPM is what I've my eyes on. In fact, I've my eyes on two for RAID 0 configuration. They don't need to be any greater than 40 GB, they'll be for OS, sys files and critical program installs (ie, Photoshop, games et al). For general storage, 7200 SATA is what I'm looking at indeed. Seagate probably, at 400 GB. Failing SATA... I'm not too adverse to using plain jane eide for storage. Access times aren't too bad and it's more for just storeing miscellanious files.

I have a really legitimate question: Are there any flat panel LCD displays which can go up to 1600 x 1200 (or 16:9 equivelent thereof).