P182, SLI + Thermalright: Initial questions on new system

Ernest · Post by **Ernest** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:42 pm

I'm just beginning the process of putting together a new system. Mainly gaming/entertainment so performance vs quietness may be a bit of a trade-off. I've been reading quite a lot but I'm hitting a wall of confusion over a few things.

At this point I'm pretty much sold on the following:
Antec P182 case with nexus 120mm fans and maybe some damping
Seasonic S12 Energy+ 650w PSU
Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 CPU
EVGA nForce 680i SLI 775 A1 motherboard
2 or 4 GB ram (probably Corsair TwinX something)
2x 300-500 GB SATA hard drives (Seagate probably: only because I've never had a problem with them and they seem pretty quiet)
Sound card (Creative or something else: more research required here)

What I'm not sure on are GPU(s) and cooling.

I want to push this thing pretty hard but I don't want to go crazy spending money like its going out of fashion. I'm considering going for 2x 8800GTX in SLI but that will potentially introduce problems with cooling and space. I like the Thermalright cooling gear but would want to use Nexus 120mm fans with it. I'm concerned that there just wouldn't be enough room in the case for 2 cards in SLI with heatsinks, fans and a soundcard. Can anyone suggest a suitable quiet(ish) cooling solution?

It's all a bit of a blur atm. Its a matter of whether all this is going to fit in the case and what is the best (quietest/most efficient) cooling solution. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:18 am

Hello Ernest,

SLi is not what it is cracked up to be -- a single faster card is often better.

I would go for a Scythe Ninja (with a Thermalright backplate) for the CPU, and the new Arctic Cooling S1 or S2 Accelero for the GPU(s).

You could also consider the Solo: hard drive suspension is built in, and it costs less.

cowsled · Post by **cowsled** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:50 am

I'd say go for a U120 for CPU cooling and HR-03 for GPU. Why not wait for the Ge9 series rather than getting 2 GTX? Coming out in february I think.

Ernest · Post by **Ernest** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:39 am

cowsled wrote: Why not wait for the Ge9 series rather than getting 2 GTX? Coming out in february I think.

That makes a great deal of sense and is probably what I will do. As I said, I'm just in the early stages of planning this thing out. I'm not in a massive hurry. It's been a few years since my last build so there's a lot to catch up on. My worst nightmare is having a heap of beautiful components that don't fit together.

Really I think the HR-03s are going to take up too much space (with fans) so maybe Neil's Arctic Cooling suggestion is a better solution should I go the SLI route. I'll give it some more thought and probably wait and see what the Ge9 series brings. Thanks a lot for your replies.

zorrt · Post by **zorrt** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:39 am

i thought the s1 took up as much space as the hr03. The s1 works better passive than the hr03, or so I'm led to believe.

The hr03 has the option of bringing the HS over the top of the card.

mttcrlsn · Post by **mttcrlsn** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:00 pm

Got the same parts excpet for graphics I have a pair of EVGA GTS-640 cards, if building today I would go with the 8800GT SSC 512MB (may even just save money and not SLI). The next generation probably will not be here till around May.

Mainboard wise I would use 780i so that I might be able to use the 45nm Quad CPU (the 680 does not support it)

Oh the sound card I have is a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer.

P182, SLI + Thermalright: Initial questions on new system

P182, SLI + Thermalright: Initial questions on new system

Re: P182, SLI + Thermalright: Initial questions on new syste