jephree told me to redirect from this thread http://www.d-a-l.com/help/showthread.php?t=52794&page=3

so I am =]

I want to build a custom computer for gaming, multimedia, and networking

please give me what you guys think of as the best components.

theres only one brand I want to stick to for one subject and thats nvidia. All I care about is that I have an nvidia video card, anything any other components can be any brand. just no macs, I hate macs

id like to know the best place to buy it, online or offline, and brand comparisons. I want to know what you guys think is the best, not cnet or pcmag, because I think the consumer knows best.

price doesnt matter, im saving up for a computer anywhere between $3000-$10000. I prefer not to have it under because anything under maybe be insufficient for my needs or faulty hardware. Because of my multimedia, Id prefer a screen 24" or larger, from whatever brand is most reliable and has the best picture quality. ive noticed that dells tend to have incredibly good monitors, but im not sure if theyre the best. lastly, I need at least 1 TB of data with data security. thanks =]

Well with your budget you can build a really high end computer.

I recently put one together that ran @ $5,000 U.S. It had most of the best components money could buy at the time (6 months ago).

When I get more time I will post some ideas and hopefully others might post their ideas as well.

As a basic question: what country are you in?

OK. Just what I think of first:

Case. PSU. Cooling.

Your high end motherboards will take the latest Quad CPU and up to 8GB RAM as well as Dual SLi graphics cards plus a Physics card. Also most support at least 6 SATA/RAID ports if not more. 6 500GB SATA drives gives you 3T.

We can look at those details later.

1) Case: get a Full Tower. The more room to work inside the better. Assuming you are not planning on moving the beast. At least not often.

Get one you like the looks of but also have an intake fan (front) and also side (optional). Exhaust fan (rear and top optional). Many have hard drive "caddies" with attached fans as well to cool your drives. These are usually intake fans.

Get one with a side window. Not only because they look cool but the new motherboards have LED process and error readouts on the board that you will want to be able to read. Also if you are going high end you are going liquid cooling so you will want to have a good view of any flow problems in your lines.

Here is a good selection of what is out there:

http://www.xoxide.com/pccases.html

Next PSU and I have no question but this is the beast at the moment:

Enermax Galaxy 1000W

You will need that wattage if you go Quad Core/ dual SLi top shelf Graphics plus Physics and 6 500GB drives plus two independent liquid cooling systems.

The Galaxy also has an LED error readout plus its own intake and exhaust fans. Plus their wiring package is a work of art!

Last but not least in this first segment is cooling. If you are going high end you are going liquid and this is my current favorite cooler:

http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.p...ask=view&id=81

I cool my CPU and both GPU's as well as my Northbridge. I use the Freezone on my CPU and a more conventional reservoir/pump setup on the GPU's and Northbridge.

Anyway this is where I start.

thanks for all the info, from that site ive decided between 3 cases:

http://www.xoxide.com/water-cooled-x...rimochill.html
http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-mo...er-window.html
http://www.xoxide.com/koolance-pc4-1025bk-1kw-case.html

I know the first two maybe weird, but would there be any advantage to them? I like the last one because of the looks and LED temp gauge. I like the first box because it would probably be easier to upgrade/work on, right? plus it would be easier to carry. but the 2nd one - the "entertainment center" was interesting, would it be worth it? it has its own screen, its huge and would probably be the easiest to work on, it says it can hold up to 3 systems at once? am I understanding that correctly? it says atx, btx, and itx systems, what exactly are those? lol but its so huge. Id prefer to get the 3rd one, but im not sure if theres any disadvantages to that compared to the other two.

edit- Oh ya and I live in the US

The first one is for a micro ATX motherboard.

If you want state of the arts graphics as in dual 8800 or 8900 SLi there is no way they would fit.

Nor would I get a "kit" set up such as that with the water cooling.

The PSU would not work at 420W.

#2 I like!

In the third again I do not like the pre installed cooling components plus I don't think there is enough "head room" for a large PSU.

Out of those three #2 would be my choice of the three.

Here are some reviews:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...t+Center+Case+

I am not sure what the exact purpose of the "Optional" 7" Touchscreen is. It certainly would not compare to a 24" wide screen except as a backup or second display perhaps.

Here is Thermaltakes specs (pretty good details here):

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/produc...1000_index.asp

ATX/BTX/ITX/etc. are motherboard "form factors". As noted that first case is micro ATX which is a very small desktop format. You could not get any high end hardware in there. ATX is what most PC motherboards are. BTX is a newer form that changes the standard position on the motherboard of many components. As of now the BTX factor has not really "caught on". Most motherboards you would be interested in would be ATX. The mini ITX is what you could use as an optional second board in this case if you desired to run two system from this one case.

....edit:

I see now there is the possibility of installing a second motherboard (system) which would be a micro ITX board. Then the 7" display can be used in order to view both systems at once (plus other options listed in the Thermaltake link).


...

okay so apparently the entertainment center is the way to go, so I guess at this point id only use the ATX, right? also, if I get atx + btx, could I use two large monitors for them seperately? is there any advantage of btx over atx? as for the itx, could I use that as a backup type of thing incase my computer crashes again? also, what are expansion slots? would that be for hard drives or other components like sound cards or physics card? I have a feeling id probably have to hire somebody to put all the components in, im sure, because of the complexity of this thing.

edit - upon further inspection ive noticed it says it has a primary harddrive, and secondary motherboard.
ATX, Micro ATX, BTX, Micro BTX, Nano BTX, Pico BTX (BTX Based Form Factors Require Optional A2413 BTX Upgrade Kit)

or

Mini ITX

if this means what I think it means, it means that you can have 2 systems at once instead of 3... if so then why does it show about 4 sections?
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/xoxid...t-tx-all-4.jpg

it says it has the sections for independent cooling system, so the 4 sections are
7" device
5.25" device
3.5" device
primary system
secondary

ok so 5.25 are optical drives like dvd and cd, and 3.5 is harddrives right? what is 7? for the small screen only?

would it be possible to get more like 8 harddrives?

That case allows two motherboards. The main board would be either ATX or BTX (or one of their variations) and the second board would need to be Mini ITX.

ok so 5.25 are optical drives like dvd and cd, and 3.5 is harddrives right? what is 7? for the small screen only?

Yes.

would it be possible to get more like 8 harddrives?

Most high end motherboards and cases will take 6 internal then however many you want external. If you want more you would want a Server motherboard and Case.

I don't think you want to build a Server but at your budget it is certainly doable.

Expansion slots refer to the motherboard. As you note these are PCI_E and PCI slots on current boards.

If you get dual 8800 graphics SLi you will have the option of running 4 large screen displays simultaneously.

You are doing the hardest part of building right now. Once you get the pieces it is just plugging them together.

I'd suggest a perhaps more "straight forward" case. I use Thermaltake cases and they are good.

What do you think of their other cases?

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/produc...ssis_index.asp

As far as im concerned, I just want something that has a 1kw supply. looks dont exactly matter to me, as long as it doesnt look too gaudy or "tricked out" or w/e you call it. as far as the server motherboard, im sure I dont want that because im not gonna be running a server...

and for the 4 screens, how would that work? wouldnt the picture be split between the four of them? if so, I dont want that. but if you could like use each screen to do different tasks, Id definitely want that.

and between those fulltower systems, ive chosen
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/produc...va8004bws.html
or
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/produc.../vb5001sna.asp

I like the looks of the first one, and like the handles and wheels on the second one.

which one do you think would be better for me?

Here are all of Thermaltakes Full Towers:

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/produc...full_index.asp

They will all take the Galaxy 1000W PSU I linked earlier. My last build I used the Armor but I think I would want one with a few changes next time. I will look at the details in that link when I get time and give you my recommendation.

You can run multiple monitors in many ways. You can spread out a single application on 4 screens or you can run distinct applications. We can see this in more detail when we look at Graphics cards.

One note on monitors (I don't think I even thought of that in your budget ) but 24" wide screens are going to run @ $1,000 a piece.

I dont really plan on buying all of the monitors at once, Ill probably buy one and get the rest when I can save up more

speaking of monitors, which company (besides, dell and sony) have the best picture quality. the reason I say besides those two is because I hate sony and dell, and have had nothing but problems with them. Ive heard good things about samsung syncmaster monitors, what do you think?