Weird topic for this type of forum, but I figured someone here might be able to help me. I used to build custom computers, but that was a long time ago. Wanted to build a custom computer. Things I am looking at are:
Intel 6-core processor
Dual Video card
2-3 HDDs
Liquid cooling(if it’s really any good)
2-3 DVD drives(possible blueray drive)
Probable 12 gigs of RAM
Really just a high performance gaming PC. I know a site like newegg.com is good for finding the parts. Just wanted peoples opinions on brands for some of the components and what I need to watch out for when building one. Don’t know how much has changed over these years since the last one I built was around 1996 or so.
Thanks for the help. 
Whoa. No one replied in over a week. 
Exactly what price range are you looking to spend? Not sure if I can be too helpful though. Personally I’m more of a laptop guy myself, since I travel a lot.
Things like the Alienware M18x and Clevo X7200 are my obsessions. :o
I figured it might take a while for someone to respond. Wasn’t to worried and figured either someone might be able to help or no one would. 
I’m looking to spend anywhere from $3000 to $4000. I’d rather build it myself since it’s cheaper and other custom computer sites charge an arm and a leg for some of those pc’s.
And I have never had good luck with Alienware. Bought 2 computers through them. 1st was dead on arrival. Sent it back and took a month to get it back. Got it back and it was DoA again. Sent it back for another month wait. Got it back and the video card was dead. Had to send it back and wait a couple weeks to get it back. Got it back DoA. Finally after sending it back I received it and it worked. Of course knowing my luck something had to go wrong later on, and it did. A couple months into using it the video card died again. Lets just say that I was pissed. Second computer I bought through them had nearly the same problems so since then I stayed away from them.
Now, I would rather just build my own computer. I have a general idea of what I want I just want feedback from some people on what brand names I should go with over others. This might be a good topic for those who are looking to update or build a pc.
Sorry, I completely forgot about replying to this. When I first saw this topic I meant to reply. In any case, I have some questions for you. Do you have a monitor (or monitors) already? If you do and it isn’t a CRT (which I still use and prefer for the most part), what is the native resolution (or combined resolution if running a stretched display)? Is video performance your only concern, or is power usage also a factor? Regarding the hard drives, what kind of a configuration are you looking at using? For example, one drive for the OS and one to two for data? Also, are you planning on running a RAID array? If so, what RAID mode will you use?
Now for a few comments. First of all, getting a 6 core processor really isn’t necessary. There really aren’t any games that processor intensive to need it (and probably won’t be for some time), and no current or really foreseeable game is written to take advantage of that many cores (to my knowledge). Second, 12GB of RAM is also excessive. As with the processor, no current or foreseeable game needs or can adequately take advantage of that much RAM (to my knowledge). I would suggest getting 6GB of RAM (3x2GB in the first set of RAM slots) for now, and if you really want it or feel you need it you can get another 6GB later. Also, don’t trust the ratings RAM manufacturers give. As an extremely experienced overclocker explained to me:
Third, and I can’t stress this enough, get a high quality power supply. You might even need two if you really are set on more than one video card (especially if you go with Nvidia over AMD/ATI). Personally, I highly recommend PC Power & Cooling due to their long track record of high quality, and the fact that they stress test every power supply and include a report of how it performs.
Now, so you don’t think I’m just some fool, here is some info. I finished building a new machine just last year. Here are my specs:[list]
[]Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1200 (1200W, 1400W peak)[/]
[]Motherboard: MSI Big Bang XPower[/]
[]Processor: Intel Core i7 960[/]
[]RAM: Corsair TR3X6G1866C9DF (3x2GB)[/]
[]Video Card: Sapphire Vapor-X HD5870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE[/]
[]Sound: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio (I plan on getting a better card when I can afford it)[/]
[]Hard Drive (OS): Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB (10K RPM)[/]
[]Hard Drive (data): Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB (7200 RPM)[/][/list]
For the most part, even though it isn’t the most extreme machine, I can run just about run any game at suitable FPS with maximum settings at a resolution of 1600x1200. The only exceptions from the games I have that I can think of at the moment are Crysis (I have to turn down settings for the last level of the game) and GTA IV (I don’t have enough video memory to max out the draw distance).
Thanks for the reply MEIJI. As for some of the questions. I am using my HDTV to run this. It isn’t CRT unfortunately, I prefer them over LED, but I don’t have room for another separate monitor for a computer. It only runs at 1360x768 native for computers. I mainly want the new computer for video performance. My laptop is a couple of years old and went through Iraq, which screwed it up majorly, and doesn’t like to run most new games settings above Low to Medium settings. I talked to people about upgrading it, and they said it really wasn’t worth it. I can keep the laptop for college or work, but I want the desktop PC for high end gaming.
For hard drives I was looking at 2 separate hard drives. One SSD for my OS, and then one separate 1 or 2 TB hdd for data. No RAID configuration. After doing more looking around I did spot several forums that said a 6 core processor was unnecessary since games are still working on using 4 cores and won’t work with 6 cores for a while. How true that is I can’t say for certain, but looking at games that come out most only have recommended 2 core processors listed. For RAM I agree now after also doing some research on that. 6GB should be plenty. I listed 12GB originally as like a better safe then sorry, but most of the RAM would never be touched for 12GB and I can just save the money and buy 6GB. Good advice from your friend to and I will keep that in mind when deciding.
And I completely agree with you about the power supply. I have to, won’t get sucking up from me :lol: . I was looking around the military exchange and found a site which does custom configurations. Checked around with what they have and this is pretty much similar to specs I am looking at:
Intel X58 Core i7 Configurator
1 x Case ( CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full Tower Gaming Case - Black )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
1 x iBUYPOWER PowerDrive ( PowerDrive Level 2 - Up to 20% Overclocking )
1 x Processor Cooling ( Asetek 550LC Liquid CPU Cooling System (Intel) - ARC Dual Silent High Perfornamce Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow) )
1 x Memory ( 6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1600 - Corsair XMS3 Dominator w/DHX technology )
1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 - 1.5GB - EVGA Superclocked - SLI Mode (Dual Cards) )
1 x Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by ATI or NVIDIA )
1 x Motherboard ( [3-Way SLI] Gigabyte G1.Sniper )
1 x Power Supply ( 1200 Watt – Corsair CMPSU-1200AX )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 40 GB Intel X25-V MLC SSD - Single Drive )
1 x Data Hard Drive ( 1 TB HARD DRIVE – 64M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive )
1 x Optical Drive ( 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black )
1 x Meter Display ( NZXT Sentry LX Aluminum Fan Control, Clock, and Temperature Display )
1 x Sound Card ( Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series )
What are your thoughts on any of the brands listed in this? I am not ignoring what you picked, just bouncing things off of you :P.
If you, or anyone lurking this thread, want to check out the site that does the configurations and what I picked to mess around with what choices you might think are better you can go to: http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel_X5 … or/w/69046 .
I did go with some brands you mentioned, but some weren’t available. This configuration is what I would like my end PC to look like, whether I do end up buying from them or taking the parts that they mention and going to newegg.com and just buying them myself. Thanks for the ideas so far.
Edit: Did some corrections.
Their are only two comments on brands that I can think of right now. First about Nvidia. Nvidia cards are great (in fact, the 580 is the best around right now), but currently I find that their cards are way too power hungry and hot for my liking. If performance is your only consideration, then by all means get an Nvidia card, but if you care about power usage and heat as well, you might want to go with an AMD/ATI card. The second thing is that you might want to avoid XFX. While their factory overclocked cards have great performance, I’ve heard all kinds of stories from people about problems they’ve had with their cards because XFX pushes their cards to such extremes. I have no personal experience with their cards myself though. Other than that I don’t have much to say except that you might consider taking a look at Maximum PC’s “Best of the Best”. Their recommendations helped guide me when I built my machine last year.
My recommendation , for the bleeding edge:
CPU-Intel i7-990x
CPU cooler- Corsair Hydro H70 Liquid cooling
GPU-EVGA GTX 580 SC
mouse- Madcatz -Cyborg R.A.T. 7
keyboard-Razer BlackWidow Ultimate
motherboard- MSI 890FXA-GD70
monitor-HP ZR30W 30" IPS
hardrive- Get a SSD with as much as possible
soundcard-haven’t researched
power supply-same
Case -This is the tricky one because it depends on what you want there are four choices I would consider for mid-towers:
Lian LI PC-8FI – Is expensive and made of pure aluminum ;also can’t hold a Radeon 5970 and the GPU needs more air flow
Lantec Lanboy Air- This case probably cools better than the rest ,but Unless you have a very clean house ,I would worry about dust;not to mention hard drives are sort of hanging in hammocks.
NZXT phantom-very good although it needs a side fan and lacks a front panel USB 3.0 port
Corsair 600T- Very good as well ,but needs a side fan to hold down GPU temperatures.
Hope this helps.