Current new Build idea.

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Frit0z

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I dont have the cash now to buy all this stuff but i am going to start getting it as i get the money. Im going for a 3x 40" HD monitor in Eyefinity on this one. Im shying away from my typical nvidia GPU for an AMD Radeon HD 6970. The reason im doing this is because im going with an AMD Phenom II x4 again and the mobos with nvidia chipsets are kinda of lacking and cramped. So im going with an AMD chipset and it will mesh better with an AMD GPU. Also going liquid cooling on RAM, CPU, and GPU. This will be an OC system so im not skimping on the cooling. What do you guys think of the build.

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ980FBGMBOX
Newegg.com - ASUS Crosshair IV Extreme AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996981
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100311SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity Contacting Sapphire tech to make sure they follow AMD reference layout on the board so i can liquid cool it. Heard back from Sapphire. They said it does follow AMD reference layout.

Case- To be determined
Power supply- To be determined
Optical drive- To be determined
HDD- To be determined

RAM-33 (Single DDR/DDR2/DDR3/SD) [no nozzles] - Water cooling systems, pc liquid cooling kit, cpu, video card, hard drive
CPU-370 (CPU), 1.5mm Midplate [no nozzles] - Water cooling systems, pc liquid cooling kit, cpu, video card, hard drive
VID-AR697 (Radeon HD 6970/6950), Rev.1.1 [no nozzles] - Water cooling systems, pc liquid cooling kit, cpu, video card, hard drive
Reservoir and Pump, RP-1000BK, Black [no nozzles] - Water cooling systems, pc liquid cooling kit, cpu, video card, hard drive
Radiator/Fans/Shroud Assembly Kit, 3x120mm, Aluminum [no nozzles] - Water cooling systems, pc liquid cooling kit, cpu, video card, hard drive

Havent done any price comparing yet to see where i can get the stuff cheapest. Just doing research on the components i want. If you know of a better liquid cooling setup let me know. Im going with 1/2" fittings and tubes with low-conductive liquid. I didnt like the liquid cooling selection on newegg so i went to koolance because i used them in my first build many years ago.

Trying to keep total cost under $2000. I want to buy the graphics card asap though because the board configuration may change after its been out for a bit and that would screw me for liquid cooling.
 
From what I can tell, it's looks like a fun project and a good build .I wish I had the motivation you do on a new build. It has lost it's thrill as of lately I think mainly due to me being in Iraq. But, I plan on picking up the Phenom II also, for under $200 is worth it. However I am waiting on the GeForce 590 to lower in price($700) or a newer card to come out since they support 3 monitors directly now. Just food for thought.
 
well after some though im going to do a complete build so i need to add a power supply, case, optical drive, and HDD to it. Any suggestions on that? i was looking at the HAF X case but since im going almost 100% liquid would it be worth it? Im not going to dive into the SSD world yet either. They are impressive but ill wait for more reliable tech to come out.

I was looking at the Geforce 590 but i think the components i have right now compliment eachother nicely.
 
You should seriously consider getting more than one video card for triple monitors. From what I've seen one GPU runs slower than hell with 3 monitors.

Im not going to dive into the SSD world yet either. They are impressive but ill wait for more reliable tech to come out. They are impressive but ill wait for more reliable tech to come out.
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Like what? SSDs are very reliable, more so than traditional HDs in my experience. Of course, that relies on the individual somewhat. SSDs should never be used with "sleep" mode and every other idiot I read about complains that they lost their data while using sleep mode. Other than that though, I personally have run into one problem with the first generation SSD controller but that was updated quickly and I haven't seen those problems since then.

Also, water cooling DDR these days seems like a serious waste of money as they don't need it. The voltages have come down from DDR2 to 1.35-1.5v in most cases.

Other than that though, everything looks good but I'd seriously consider getting another video card if you're doing 3 monitors.

Edit: I still have the first generation SSD from May, 2008 and it has not slowed down at all. I've done one firmware update about a year after I got the thing and that's it. You can't ever get me to consider a traditional HD any more :)
 
I was the same way with SSD's, until I got mine. They've come a long way :). Once you get an SSD, you'll be wondering how the hell you survived without one :P.
 
Sixer: I was considering doing crossfire with the 6970's. I came up with this build after only an hour of research so theres alot more to come of it im sure. Also the SSD's are to expensive even if they have become more reliable i dont simply have the coin to throw at 1 right now. The RAM i selected from Mushkin is running at 1.65v the cooling components for them would be about $100 so if i could save there that would be a big help, and would allow me the extra money to cool another GPU.

Soulzz: I will eventually get into them. But for now im not concerned.
 
The RAM i selected from Mushkin is running at 1.65v the cooling components for them would be about $100 so if i could save there that would be a big help,
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Even at 1.65 you shouldn't need to cool them at all unless you live in the desert somewhere with no A/C! Save the money for that cooling definitely.
 
Yea just got word back from Sapphire and they do follow AMD reference layout so i can definitely watercool the gpu. cost for that is about $135 per gpu. total cost at newegg and koolance for gpu+cooling gpu is around $1000 for a dual 6970 setup.
 
If your going AMD why don't you just go ahead and slap the 1100T x6 in there and call it a day. This platform isnt exactly getting an upgrade path mind as well do it now. Base clock is lower but with any decent cooler which I know you already run you can run 3.7 all day.

Its the same price.

We can have the argument that began with Solo versus Dual, Dual Versus Quad. But looking at BC2 on an i7 and then obviously BF3 you will have at least 2 apps that can make simultaneous use of all 6 cores. The thing everyone always forgets is you dont have to have ANY multi threaded apps (just an os) to make use of as many cores as you can buy, since if a core is loaded windows is supposed to send the task to a different one. I made use of my dual core for a single threaded app by splitting the work in half and running 2 copies.
 
Even with liquid cooling I would still go with the Haf 932 series cases. Plenty of room and options. Fans are dead quiet and if you don't need them get rid of them.
 
if you can give me proper reason to buy an x6 for a gaming centered machine then sure i may go that way. but games are just starting to take advantage of 4 cores nevermind 6. and the 1100T if im not mistaken has a turbo that if 3 cores or less is being used then it will increase the speed to around 3.7GHz. However if i get one of those games that utilizes 4 cores its going to be about 3.3GHz. Yes i can OC it which is what i plan to do with the x4 that im getting. Right now i seen no point except for bragging rights. Mind you i generally build a new computer every 2 years or so.
 
Anyone who wants to have the discussion can't be given a reason. Thats actually why I don't have them anymore. Is there any real reason to replace your current Phenom II x4 in this build or are you keeping the old machine up.

If you put it to 3.7 in OC you would probably be disabling the turbo anyways just like we tend to do on intels. AMD has cores ready to sell at 3.7 baseclock 4 turbo but if they are going to its gonna be a last hoorah sale from upper binned chips.

Bad Company 2 isn't actually designed for any amount of cores at all. This should be the way of any app that can split its particular workload into separate threads. One thing we noticed is BC2 on level loading eats up as many threads as you can give it since file loading can be split up on a per file basis. Some thing as you know can't be split up or need to be processed sequentially.

You will have the possibility of not pushing more than 4Ghz with the X6 so that would be a downside versus the X4. You can make use of it now or build an entirely different machine in 2 years like you wish. Personally I have been stung with the regret of having bought a core 2 duo and not a core 2 quad. Mind you the C2Q's couldnt be had at C2D speeds which is always the classic argument.

Stick with the quad so long as you dont see yourself loading all 4 cores 100% at any given time before the next build. The possible OC limitation with the x6 is a real downside.
 
im doing a complete build. 1 corner of my room will house this machine and the other will house the other with the 3 monitor setup. it was going to be an upgrade to my current machine but i kind of want to have 2 gaming machines, albeit 1 will be aged slightly but it should still hold its own for a year or 2 more.
 
not sure on the case yet. bob suggested the Haf 932. i gotta look into it more.
 
That case is pretty nice. but it doesnt support E-ATX mobos from what i can see.
 
Yeah, that's it's only downside. AN EATX might fit in there but would use all available space which is too bad since it's got everything else.
 
That case is very nice too. That HDD dock on top would come in handy.
 
yea that dock along with not needing to run the USB 3.0 wires out the back would be nice also.
 
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