Help plan my new high budget AMD rig

[spworley]

I'm planning to put together a new dualcore Athlon64 system. I have a large budget so I'm pretty free to choose top line parts.
Here's my current very tenative parts plan:

CPU: Athlon64 X2 4800+
MB: DFI Lanparty
RAM: 2 X 1GB DDR400
Video: Nvidia 7800GT
HD: 74GB 15K RPM Raptor (system disk) + 400GB Seagate barracuda
PSU: PC Power + Cooling Silencer 470 ATX
CD: Generic? Plextor?? dual-layer DVDRW
Case?
Cooling?

I may play a game or two, but this is mostly a workstation, so I don't really need the crazy power of SLI. I was planning on getting a 7800GTX, but I just ordered the 7800GT today after reading the glowing reviews and also getting the tip on ordering for only $371 delivered including tax!

I also considered, very strongly, a dual dual-core Opteron system.. (I'm a rare user who can actually USE four cores, since I do 3D rendering for a living.) I decided against it mostly because the top end 275 Opteron is slower than the X2 4800+ (2.2 GHz vs 2.4 Ghz) and the X2 will likely overclock much more easily. Plus the Opteron 275 costs $350 more despite being one speedgrade slower. But feel free to convince me back to the Opteron route, maybe I'm unaware of latest Opteron overclocks..

I'd like to go for 1GB simms so that I have the option to move to 4GB in the future.

I plan to install a dual boot of WindowsXP and XP64.

Now my questions:
Case? I have several old ones I could scavenge, including a nice but old PC Power and cooling full steel tower. But maybe I should get a new style case.

And biggest question: COOLING.

Should I go for air or water? I'd love the quiet AND power of water cooling. I've built a dozen PCs over the years, but never done water yet.
I have no problems with paying for a semi-prebuilt cooling rig like a Koolance PC3 . And the new Thermaltake Symphony really really makes me happy to think about! But it's not available yet.

Are there any PSUs that are water cooling friendly? Even if it's a block strapped to the underside, keeping tubes away from the high voltages inside.


So, parts, case, and cooling recommendations? Quiet, I like very much. Cool, always very good, since I'll do an easy overclock. Price, heh, I have free reign since it's the company's money, so it's OK to spend extra $ if it helps.

[Daveburt714]

SP... I'm Jelous!! That would be a WICKED machine!!

As far as cooling, I'm on water (home made, Thanks to Chevette for the heater core.. hehe)

I did see this though, looks pretty sweet for air cooling although I can't speak from experience.

http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-blc-213.html

As for the Case.... This would be my preference...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133143


I Actually have this Power Supply, and I'm VERY happy with it, Stable V's
plus the Pluggable connectors keep things real clean!

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=ULT31562

Good Luck Bud, Benchmarks would be real nice when ya get it all together!!

[spworley]

I did see this though, looks pretty sweet for air cooling although I can't speak from experience.

http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-blc-213.html

As for the Case.... This would be my preference...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133143

The vapochill micro looks very promising, even in a cramped motherboard.


While it's an always-volatile subject, the current heatsink winner is likely the Thermalright XP-90, or its big brothers the XP-90C and XP-120.

Here's a vapochill vs XP90C comparison:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getart ... rticID=348

And an XP-90 review. Google will get more..
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/revi ... -90_1.html

Case wise, it's tougher. I love the look of the Shark case you linked!
Other options might be that PC Power and cooling tower,
or perhaps a Sonata, always well reviewed for sound:
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/sonata.ars

Or, combining with watercooling, maybe a Koolance case..
This one looks KILLER:
http://www.koolance.com/shop/product_in ... cts_id=199
But no reviews anywhere. But some forum discussion on hardOCP shows that koolance uses weak pumps, bad for GPU cooling. Hmmm.

The planning of this rig is half the fun, I think..

[Daveburt714]

SP, Ya seem to be a Night Owl... Like me

The performance vs price, of the Koolance case..... No Way!!

Over Priced, and underperforming!!

BTW, that VapoChill cooler looks dead on the Frozen CPU.... I'm sure VapoChill is the real Mfg... I've actually heard of them!

[Starfalcon]

Off to system builder forum....