Building a new box, need recommendations

[[-n0s-]]

Let me start by saying this. If anyone can think of a reason for me to wait to build this please tell me. I don't want to build something and have to replace half of it in a few months. My main concern is Vista and DX10.

Secondly, heat has always been a big issue for me for some reason. I had planned to do a whole Koolance water cooled system (pretty much what Wraith built) back when the AMDx2's came out but I bought a car instead. Now that I have some money, I figured I would try this out again. I'm trying to keep this around $2000. A little bit more wouldn't kill me and less would be great. So far what I have picked out as far as water cooling goes.

Koolance PC4-1025BK, Black - CASE (http://www.koolance.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=28_43&products_id=273)
Koolance CPU-305-V10 - CPU BLOCK (http://www.koolance.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=29_44&products_id=210)
Koolance HD-55-L06 (HDx2) - HARDDRIVE COOLER (http://www.koolance.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=29_45&products_id=231)
VID-200-L06 - VIDEOCARD BLOCK (http://www.koolance.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=29_46&products_id=262)

All of that should come out to around $900 shipped, giving me around $1100 to work with the rest.

Next up is the computer. I already have some stuff I'll be using from my old box which consists of the following.

Antec TRU550 watt power supply (assuming this is compatible with the motherboard and it will be enough power)
Hard Drives (I have a 74GB Raptor I'll be using to install windows on)
X-Fi Fatality sound card
NEC 3540A DVD Burner
Floppy Drive

As far as the rest of the computer goes, I'm open to suggestions. As far as I know, the Core 2 Duos are leading right now and that is something I'd like to try (hence me picking that CPU block). Also if I remember reading correctly the E6600 was supposed to be great for over clocking (something I'd like to get into now that heat wont be a concern) so I would like to start with that as the processor unless someone can give me a reason not to. I would also like this box to have 2GB of memory. The last thing is I would like to stick with an Nvidia card (once again, the reason for my video card block) and an EVGA to be a bit more specific. I'll leave the rest up to anyone feeling bored or wanting to help me out.

[dakine`]

Your spending that much on your case? o:

[Karnage]

things to be aware of:

1. there aren't any dx10 cards yet. the water blocks that you buy now, might not work on those.
2. vista will use 1 gig of memory by itself. i haven't seen any three gig sets, so i'll assume that 4 gig will be the next big thing.
3. power supply will probably be ok for now, but if you get a top of the line dx10 card later, expect to upgrade that too.

personally, i would stick with like a 200$ vid card (without water cooling) and cheaper memory for now and expect to upgrade when you do your vista upgrade sometime next year. not saying to go the route that you layed out there, just be aware of what's coming up.

[Janus]

I have read quite a few reviews and Swiftech's offerings in teh Watercooling market are some of the best you can get. I would recommend buying between Danger Den and Frozen CPU. The system in my sig is wonderful.

[[-n0s-]]

Awesome sites Janus. I appreciate it. One of the reasons I'm going with the koolance stuff though is because I don't trust myself enough to build a custom case.

So far I'm looking at these as far as a motherboard, memory, and processor goes.

ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131031)
OCZ Gold Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227047)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003)

Anyone see any problems with anything?


Whats highy ironic is the fact that the nice 21" gateway widescreen (FPD2185W) that I bought a month ago tomorrow is actually overheating. My room can't be more then 75 degrees either. Pictures are showing up with random pixels that are random colors. If I turn the monitor off for a few minutes when I turn it back on the pictures stay normal for a while, then slowly the distortion comes back. I guess I just have no luck with computers :(

[Janus]

looks good. although from what I have read the P5B has the best OCing potential right now. I am waiting to see DFI's offerings.

Oh and I would check out the threads at www.ocforums.com under the different sections (memory/motherboards/cooling/etc) to make sure that you are getting good stuff.

Here is a thread that could be of some help:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=477532&highlight=conroe

[Dave]

I wouldn't bother water cooling a hard drive. There is no benefit, it won't last longer and it won't run faster.