new build...7 years in the making!

[Zzyzx85]

First off, here's a little background:

Up until March, my "newest" system has been a P4 2.4GHz system (see sig) that I've upgraded over the years while in school. Started out with 512mb (lol) of RAM, a GeForce3 Ti500, and a 17" CRT. Currently, it's as spec'ed in my sig.

Late March, I bought my first laptop and boy was I in for a shock. It's an Asus N61JQ-A1, somewhat high-powered laptop with a i7-720QM processor and a dedicated ATi 5730 mobile GPU.

I was hooked. I needed to upgrade the desktop...bad.

Fast forward to the beginning of this month. For the past few weeks, I've been reading up on reviews and hanging out here to get ideas for my next computer.

These are the parts I've ordered so far:
- i7 930
- 6GB Corsair Dominator
- eVGA X58 FTW3
- Asus 5870
- Asus VW266H (1900x1200)
- C-M HAF X
- Corsair HX1000
- 2x 750gb WD Caviar Black for storage

planned:
- 80gb Intel SSD
- watercooling ?
- Blu-Ray drive ?

Overkill much? I figured I might as well spend more now and worry less in the future. Hopefully this computer will last as long as my last.

I'll mostly be using this for gaming and some work involving Solidworks and AutoCAD.

Still not sure on what I want to do with cooling. I'm planning on sticking with the stock cooler for a while since I won't be overclocking during the summer and moving on to a water-cooled system later on.

Suggestions/constructive criticism welcomed.

 

[Bobnova]

Wayu more PSU then you need.
A corsair 650 would do you just fine.

Beyond that, it all looks quite good!

 

[Zzyzx85]

Yeah, I found the PSU wattage calculator after I ordered it. Don't you hate it when that happens?

I figured I'd upgrading to CrossFire later on but that still won't make a dent in the capacity.

Aren't some/most/all watercooling pumps powered by the PSU? They probably don't draw a whole lot of power though.

 

[Bobnova]

Couple more 5870s and a lot of OCing.

Actually, you should join the benching team, we'll show you how to use all that power

 

[Zzyzx85]

thanks for the invitation.

So everything I ordered arrived yesterday except the LCD and PSU. I got around to assembling and installing the parts I have in hand. Installation was actually pretty easy. Lots of space in the case and a lot of things are tool-less. Color scheme might be a bit boring (pretty much all black) but it's stealthy , if a massive 2'x2' case can be considered stealthy . But it's -worthy compared to my old computer. Photo(s) of build progress after work.

One thing that's ticked me off was Amazon has an even better deal on the PSU. Same price but better rebate ($40 vs $10) 2 days after I ordered mine. Now I'm just going to have to play the order and flip game. I'll probably lose a few dollars shipping it back but $30 is something I just can't brush off.

 

[Zzyzx85]

alright, the system is up and running. I've got win 7 installed on the 80gb ssd and boy does it fly.

completely forgot to take photos of the system. I'll get them...one day .

I neglected to setup RAID for the 2 WD drives so I'm letting Windows 7 take care of the RAID. Is it still possible to set it up to be motherboard controlled without having to reinstall windows? I still want to have my SSD as boot and the two 750gb as RAID 0 or 1.

 

[Zzyzx85]

Since last update:
- RAIDed using Intel Matrix (thanks to whoever who wrote that sticky in Storage)
- added an additional 200mm fan to top exhaust.
- apparently making enemies in the water cooling thread by not having read enough for them

Finally, photos of how it looks (for now):

 

[Moneyless]

Are those two 750 GB drives in RAID 0? If so, are you using them for storage and backups? Using a RAID 0 array for storage isn't a very good idea. If you aren't forget I said that.

Otherwise, awesome rig man.

 

[Zzyzx85]

oh, i know RAID0 for storage is a very bad idea.

I should clarify: I'm using Intel Matrix Storage on the 2 750g so that 100GB is RAID0 while the rest is RAID1.

But honestly, I don't know what would happen to the RAID1 if say the RAID0 got corrupted.

I'm sure someone will for this.