My Next Rig, thoughts? (now with SLI)

hoxbox · Post by **hoxbox** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:52 pm

Pretty much based on the SPCR Model One from Endpcnoise except with Samsung hard drives.

Hard drive Samsung 500gb x2 (suspended)
Mobo Asus P5B Deluxe/WIFI-AP Motherboard
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz 4MB CPU
Case Antec Solo P150 Black Tower Case
Power Supply Antec Neo 430 Watt Quiet Power Supply
Video card XFX 7950GT 512 Meg 2 DVI PCIE (Fanless)
CPU cooler Scythe Ninja PLUS Rev.B CPU Cooler SCNJ-1100P

Thoughts?

Alternative SLI model with beefier power supply. Changes in bold

Hard drive Samsung 500gb x2 (suspended)
Mobo Asus P5N32-E SLI chipset: NVIDIA nForceÂ® 680i SLI
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz 4MB CPU
Case Antec Solo P150 Black Tower Case
Power Supply CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W
Video card 2 x XFX 7950GT 512 Meg 2 DVI PCIE (Fanless) in SLI
CPU cooler Scythe Ninja PLUS Rev.B CPU Cooler SCNJ-1100P

geforce1 · Post by **geforce1** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 7:41 pm

That looks to be a fairly powerful gaming system. Just be sure to keep an eye on the 7950GT's temps should you choose to get this setup.

kater · Post by **kater** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:51 pm

you'll also need case fans. i assume you will definitely need an intake fan to supply a little air to the vga. makes sure your hdds are not too much in the way as your vga will need some wind - it's a strong gpu and may reach hi temps in games. nexus, noctua or scythe fans are safe bets, whatever size you need. think about ducting your psu - it should help keept it quiet

Beyonder · Post by **Beyonder** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 3:23 pm

Looks like a monster. Do you have a good monitor to go with it?

hoxbox · Post by **hoxbox** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 4:42 pm

Yeah I was going to do 120mm Nexus in the back and 1 or 2 92mm Nexus in the front.

My monitor is like 9 month old BenQ 19 inch LCD.

I'll assemble as soon as Windows XP Ultimate is officially out. http://www.campustech.com/c/campust/OEM ... LD1PK.html has it for $209 shipping "mid January."

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 1:49 am

Don't do a front fan,maybe do 2 in back,seal up excess air leaks and allow air in where you want it. A front fan is twice as close to your ear. a front fan at 800 rpm may be louder than the same fan in the rear or floor at 1200 rpm.

kater · Post by **kater** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:50 am

ronrem wrote:Don't do a front fan,maybe do 2 in back,seal up excess air leaks and allow air in where you want it. A front fan is twice as close to your ear. a front fan at 800 rpm may be louder than the same fan in the rear or floor at 1200 rpm.

a front fan will help him get some air for his dual hdds and - most importantly - for his passive & hot vga card
also, with p150/solo little noise esacpes from the fornt fan - a v low rpm 92 mm, soft mounted, should not be a major concern - best thing would be to install it & try if it really helps and if it adds to the overall noise
also - only one 120 fan in the back in solo

hoxbox · Post by **hoxbox** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:58 pm

kater wrote:
ronrem wrote:Don't do a front fan,maybe do 2 in back,seal up excess air leaks and allow air in where you want it. A front fan is twice as close to your ear. a front fan at 800 rpm may be louder than the same fan in the rear or floor at 1200 rpm.
a front fan will help him get some air for his dual hdds and - most importantly - for his passive & hot vga card
also, with p150/solo little noise esacpes from the fornt fan - a v low rpm 92 mm, soft mounted, should not be a major concern - best thing would be to install it & try if it really helps and if it adds to the overall noise
also - only one 120 fan in the back in solo

Yep planning on using the Zalman ZM-MFC1 fan voltage controller for all 3 fans.
Almost about to pull the trigger. Now if only my old comp would die so I'll be forced to buy....

pyogenes · Post by **pyogenes** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:00 am

kater wrote: a front fan will help him get some air for his dual hdds and - most importantly - for his passive & hot vga card

Some ducting can easily solve that problem, though I agree a front case fan is a viable solution.

hoxbox · Post by **hoxbox** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:06 pm

( Bump for newer SLI config )

I'm liking SLI more and more. Would I have heat/noise issues with the new SLI setup? Again with 2 front 92mm fans and 1 back 120mm fan...

SLI setup: changes in Bold:

Hard drive Samsung 500gb x2 (suspended)
Mobo Asus P5N32-E SLI chipset: NVIDIA nForceÂ® 680i SLI
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz 4MB CPU
Case Antec Solo P150 Black Tower Case
Power Supply CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W
Video card 2 x XFX 7950GT 512 Meg 2 DVI PCIE (Fanless) in SLI
CPU cooler Scythe Ninja PLUS Rev.B CPU Cooler SCNJ-1100P

kater · Post by **kater** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:48 pm

ok, can you say why you like the sli mode better? i mean - you sure have a reson, right?

personally, i'd be careful with sli

it's true you'll see peformance increase - by ca 40%
it's also true you'll get much higher temps inside the case with two passively coolde 7950gt cards - can't say how they'll build up, but my guess is that two strong cards with passive cooling *may* be a serious thermal issue

you'll probably need the two front fans and that will make the system audibly noisier - i tried that, even at lowest speeds it makes a difference

thermal & noise issues aside, try to cool down

and consider the sli in terms of $$$ to performance ratio - pay double the price, get 40-50% increase in performance - i think that your money can be nicely spent somewhere else

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/12/12/ ... the_money/

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/12/12/ ... the_money/

the first one is a general guide thru cards with attention paid to buck/performance ratio

the second link lets you compare various cards head to head

all i mean is - there must be is a reason why v few ppl use sli

hoxbox · Post by **hoxbox** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:34 am

I wanted to get the most bang out of the buck and still want to stay passively cooled. And the new SLI Mobo is only $50 more than the none SLI one I was looking at.

The only catch right now is I don't know how DX10 will play out in Windows Vista in terms of 7900 series (it's natively supported in 8800 series but those will not be able to be passively cooled.) Also I'm not sure the Geforce 8800 will be able to fit in a P150 case?

Edit: after reading http://forum.ncix.com/forums/index.php? ... &subpage=1

seems like it will fit in a P150 case. Perhaps the Geforce 8800 will be a better choice once prices drops to the $300s. I will have to deal with an extra video card fan thought..

kater · Post by **kater** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:07 am

there was a discussion somewhere here about fitting a 8800gts in a solo and the conclusion wa pretty much the same - barely makes it and hdds might have to be arranged

afaik the only vga cards supporting dx10 at the moment are 8800xxx so you have to go with them

and don't worry about the noise - they are said to be v gentle with your ears - check the forum here, there was a topic like "8800gtx not loud at all" - given the size of fan i'm not surprised they're quiet

my 7900gtx with 92mm fan and stock heatsink is also v quiet - i only need to crank it up a bit when gaming and that's the only time you start to hear it - otherwise, it's effectively inaudible

with a strong gaming rig you just have to compromise - all in all, such a rig will still be much quieter than all other systems not tailored for quietness in the first place

to get some better prices you might want to wait until the new radeon is launched - i think february (?) or sth like this - one should expect to see better prices for 8800xxx then. waiting until other 8xxx cards hit the market might be too long :/