Building a computer for my Senior project. (Please comment)

[overclockroc]

Building a computer for my Senior project. (Please comment)

Okay for my senior project I'm building a computer in a acrylic case so that everyone will be able to see it. My paper was on how computers work and the basic history of them.

The computer I'm building is going to be the product for my project.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811166033 (Have already)

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...817148030#spec

That’s the one I wanted, but convinced otherwise. (Recommend me some)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341018
Also looking at that one. Tell me what you think. (Modular is preferred)

Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=P450-9124

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-131-_-Product

Older Pentium D for now.
Later Q9400 or different quad. (Must require VT) (Might get off ebay)

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150316
Got it off ebay used.
(Plan on geting a top of the line Nvidia card next year if I get my way. Then I plan on using the 9800gt as a Physx card.)

RAM: OCZ Reaper 4x 1gb sticks at 1200mhz with cs of 5.
Got off ebay.

HDD: Old 150gb windowed rapter. (Have)

Sound card: Creative X-FI Pro with out front bay (Have)

Tv tuner: Dual cable tuner (Have)

DVD Drive: 2 IDE ones from old computer. (Have)

Monitor: 20 inch Dell ultra sharp (Have)

Speakers: 4.2 surround sound (Have)

Other things: 1 120mm case fans, fan grills (case only included one fan grill).


Later things: A lot of cold cathode lighting, another 120 mm fan, 1 80mm case fan, UV green wire tubing.

Tell me what you think. I’m trying not to spend too much money. That’s why I can’t get the cpu right now.





Finished it:
Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKVQlerd_bc

[spottedzebra]

well what is your budget for starters because "not trying to spend too much money" is relative.

and that is a sick case!

[overclockroc]

Thanks...

My budget I'm not really sure of. I've already spent $160 for the RAM and GPU, and I need all the other parts to at least get it working. My mom won't let me spend all the money now, but I don't want to have parts sitting around that I can't use.

I'm going to say a total of $400-$500.

The case is not included in the budget, but the gpu and RAM are. They were were bought for $160.

[Mr.Scott]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341023
Decent PSU, keeping it cheap, and providing you a little bling that your heart desires.

[overclockroc]

Originally Posted by Mr.Scott

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341023
Decent PSU, keeping it cheap, and providing you a little bling that your heart desires.

Since no clear PSUs are good I'm just going to forget caring about how it looks. Just on how well it performs.

What would you choose out of these. And would the 750 watt be over kill for a future 300 series card and the 9800gt?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341023

[spottedzebra]

Here use this to figure out your PSU:

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...2&page=1&pp=20

[LMHmedchem]

The Corsair is the best of the three with little competition. The OCZ is also a nice unit at a very nice cost. It is not quite at good a unit as the Corsair, but more than enough and solid quality. If you want a little light show, it's not a bad option.

Since the Corsair is only $10 more, there is not much of a contest as far as top quality goes. The 620W HX Corsair Modular is also a steal at $80 right now. I have never seen it for less than $100, let alone $80. There is a big rebate, so you would have to come up with some $$$ up front. A modular PSU will let you keep the inside of the case nice and clean, since you only hook up the power cables you need. The 650TX will have like 4-6 cables you don't use, and you will need to find a way to manage them in your case. Generally you just zip tie them and stuff the somewhere in the bottom of the case. That will still work for you, but since this is a clear case that you are trying to show off, it might be worth the extra to have less mess to deal with. I almost never build with any PSU that is not modular any more.

For your information, the 650W Corsair has more 12v amps than either of the 700W PSUs on your list. You can't just judge a PSU by the number of watts. It is also true that not all companies measure the output in watts by the same method. When some say "700W", they mean the peak output, which can only be sustained for a short period of time, while others mean the continuous output. It can be important to know the difference.

I don't think the system you are talking about really needs more than about 450W, if it is a good brand. One of these is probably just fine,
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ($45)
but you should use the power supply calculator to be sure. Take the number you get and add 30-50% for overhead.

Since you don't have the CPU or MOBO yet, you might think about an AMD setup. They are less expensive than Intel, perform well, and unlike your socket 775 choice, can be upgraded in the future. You should be able to get a nice motherboard and a dual core processor for a total of $130-$165 or so. If you live near a microcenter, they have the best prices on CPUs, so you might do even better.

LMHmedchem

[overclockroc]

If I were to get this one of these...

Originally Posted by overclockroc

Since no clear PSUs are good I'm just going to forget caring about how it looks. Just on how well it performs.

What would you choose out of these. And would the 750 watt be over kill for a future 300 series card and the 9800gt?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341023

Would I be able to (for now) power a gtx285 and a 9800gt?
The psu calcualtor at www.extreme.outervision.com said I would need 625 watts. I used the q9400 overclocked to 3.6ghz and did gtx275 in sli beacause I could not do two separate graphics cards.

[LMHmedchem]

This is the modular version of the OCZ PSU,
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W Modular ($40 AMIR)
It's only 550W, but that should be enough for what you have in mind.

The 550W above may not be enough for a GTX285, I was reading a 9800.

If you want a 285, than I would get 600W+ from a good brand. I am not sure about using two cards that are not in SLI. I am not sure how much they are used at the same time, so I will let someone else comment. The 9800 is a much lower power card, so you will be nowhere near 600+W, unless you have 40 hard drives or something like that.

LMHmedchem

[overclockroc]

Thanks for your help. I'm thinking I should get the Corsair 750 one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006

For right now the system I plan on building is only going to use 411 watts by the psu calculator. Later on I might add more hdds, blueray burner, a 300 series nvidia card (using a 285 for reference power).

Would the 750 watt Corsair be overkill for this? (for the 300 series card and a 9800gt)
Or would the 650 watt work just as good, but be a little cheaper?

And again thanks for your help.

[Hickeydog]

The 750 watt would definitely be overkill, but it will last FOREVER. I'd get the 620 watt modular because of the clear case. Cable management is going to be a bee-otch in that thing.

[overclockroc]

So the 620 watt Corsair would power a gtx285 for reference and a 9800gt just fine?

[Hickeydog]

I did not see that you were going to use a 285. You won't have a whole lot of room to upgrade with the 620, but it will handle 285 and a 9800GT fine and dandy.

[Turtile]

Originally Posted by overclockroc

So the 620 watt Corsair would power a gtx285 for reference and a 9800gt just fine?

Yes. You'd only need a 450w for the 9800GT.

I did the same thing for my senior project except I made a website that shows step-by-step instructions on building a computer.

[overclockroc]

Originally Posted by Hickeydog

I did not see that you were going to use a 285. You won't have a whole lot of room to upgrade with the 620, but it will handle 285 and a 9800GT fine and dandy.

This is just for future reference. I want to add a gtx 300 series card (probably the fastest one.) to it later probably next summer. I will then use the 9800gt for a physx card.

I want to get one that will last until then and be able to power any new things I get.

[LMHmedchem]

I did your system on the PSU calculator with a q9400 overclocked to 3.6GHz and a GTX 285, and I come up with 360W. If you SLI with 2x GTX 285, it is 460W. The 620W PSU will be fine for any single card, and any SLI, except for something like a 2x GTX 295, which is really 4 cards (and costs $700+). That particular PSU is one of the best that has been made recently and is considered world class.

If you plan on doing both SLI and adding a water cooling setup, then I would look at 750W+ because you would want 60+ 12v amps. Anything short of that, and the 620W Corsair HX will do just great.

LMHmedchem

[overclockroc]

Thanks, that's what I needed to know. I think I found a winner!

Even though my system got 585 watts for gtx 285 sli, I forgot to add things like sound card and tv tuner. Will add those now.

Also what voltage did you put for the overclock?

[LMHmedchem]

Originally Posted by overclockroc

Thanks, that's what I needed to know. I think I found a winner!

Even though my system got 585 watts for gtx 285 sli, I forgot to add things like sound card and tv tuner. Will add those now.

How in the world did you get 585 for a GTX SLI? I only got 460W. Are you running 20 fans and 40 hard drives or something.

You shouldn't look at 100% CPU, 100% system load. Unless you run specially designed software, you will almost never see your CPU > 50%, most of the time it will be between 25-30%. 100% system load is really only achieved by servers with lots of connections running, and those don't use much of a video card. Stick with the recommended options for CPU% and system load.

I used 1.3v for the OC voltage. My q9550 runs at 3.5GHz 1.26v, so 1.3 should be in the ballpark. Every 0.1 of vcore you add will boost you about 20W.

LMHmedchem

[simplistic]

A little extra wattage will never hurt anyone. Good looking build imo. Now, you should consider a good lil monitor. I have not purchased one yet, but Im getting this one before its no longer available.

http://www.buy.com/prod/hannsg-28-wi...205114923.html

Ive read and read, It is the one for me! Im not a fan of dual monitors, untill they make border-less monitors available at a reasonable price

[overclockroc]

Originally Posted by simplistic

A little extra wattage will never hurt anyone. Good looking build imo. Now, you should consider a good lil monitor. I have not purchased one yet, but Im getting this one before its no longer available.

http://www.buy.com/prod/hannsg-28-wi...205114923.html

Ive read and read, It is the one for me! Im not a fan of dual monitors, untill they make border-less monitors available at a reasonable price

I never posted it, but I already have a 20 inch dell ultra sharp. I will add that as well.

Additional Comment:

Originally Posted by LMHmedchem

How in the world did you get 585 for a GTX SLI? I only got 460W. Are you running 20 fans and 40 hard drives or something.

You shouldn't look at 100% CPU, 100% system load. Unless you run specially designed software, you will almost never see your CPU > 50%, most of the time it will be between 25-30%. 100% system load is really only achieved by servers with lots of connections running, and those don't use much of a video card. Stick with the recommended options for CPU% and system load.

I used 1.3v for the OC voltage. My q9550 runs at 3.5GHz 1.26v, so 1.3 should be in the ballpark. Every 0.1 of vcore you add will boost you about 20W.

LMHmedchem

I had it at 85% cpu and 90% system load.
I had 1.35 for voltage
dvd rw and dvd rom
4 stick ddr2
gtx 285 sli
high end motherboard
sound blaster card
tv tuner
3 usb / 1 firewire
fan controller
media card reader
1 80mm led fan
5 120 mm led fans
1 high speed rpm drive