New gaming computer

[Tom Penno]

My son wants to build the following computer mostly for gaming

1) case = Thermaltake Xaser III V1420CU Chassis, 12-Bay, ( BLUE ), ATX
Super Tower. Aluminum Front Panel and 1.0mm SECC Japan Steel Body.
With 7 fans and Lock + (W0009)420W Power supply.

2) Motherboard = Gigabyte GA-8IK1100, Intel 875P chipset Canterwood
for Intel P4 ATX motherboard Retail

3)cdra drive = Artec CDRW 52x24x52x IDE RETAIL W/ Nero Software

4) CPU =Intel Pentium 4 / 3.0CGHz 512k socket 478 Hyper Threading
Technology 800 MHz FSB - OEM

5) CPU FAN = Thermaltake P4 Spark 7+ (Xaser Edition) for Intel P4 478
FMB2, 3 GHz and higher.

6) System Memory = GEIL 1GB(2x512MB) PC-3200 (400MHz) Dual DDR RAM, 6
Layer Lower Noise PCB Copper Heat Spreader, Dual Channel SPD Enhanced
Model#GL5123200DC

7)hard drive = WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM EIDE
HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1200JB -

He still hasn't decided which video card to put in yet. I'd really be
interested in your opinions on this set up.

Thanks in advance.
tom penno

 

[WooduCoodu]

1. it's going to be very loud
2. the 875p boards are a complete waste of money unless you plan to use ECC
RAM, that't the only thing the 875p boards have you can't find on an 865pe
board.

 

[jeffc]

My son wants to build the following computer mostly for gaming

1) case = Thermaltake Xaser III V1420CU Chassis, 12-Bay, ( BLUE ), ATX
Super Tower. Aluminum Front Panel and 1.0mm SECC Japan Steel Body.
With 7 fans and Lock + (W0009)420W Power supply.

I really don't see the point in 7 fans - it's overkill, it's more expensive,
it's loud, and you're likely to get uneven air pressure in the case. It's
best to keep it simple, get a good design with good airflow that you can
understand for best cooling. In general, blow air in from the bottom front,
and blow it out from the top back. You might want one extra fan on the
bottom side. Then with a fan in the bottom front, and one in the rear top,
plus the power supply fan, that makes 2 blowing in and 2 blowing out. You
can easily imagine the airflow from this design. Make sure there aren't
other holes open to suck air in inadvertantly. You want the air coming in
from where you say. Having said all that, with all those fans, it might not
be optimized, but it will sure be better than 90% of most stock cases in
terms of cooling.

Regarding the power supply, it depends on which brand. I've seen some
quality 350w power supplies that give more power than some 500w supplies,
because manufacturers fudge the numbers.

 

[VIC]

I really don't see the point in 7 fans - it's overkill, it's more expensive,
it's loud, and you're likely to get uneven air pressure in the case. It's
best to keep it simple, get a good design with good airflow that you can
understand for best cooling.

I agree with the post as good advise except the part on air pressure.
Kindly explain. Might you have ment air flow instead?

 

[Dave Hull]

My son wants to build the following computer mostly for gaming

1) case = Thermaltake Xaser III V1420CU Chassis, 12-Bay, ( BLUE ), ATX
Super Tower. Aluminum Front Panel and 1.0mm SECC Japan Steel Body.
With 7 fans and Lock + (W0009)420W Power supply.

Not sure about this particular case, but, as the other posters have said,
it will be loud. It might have great cooling, which is good for gaming, but
make sure that the fans are oriented correctly.

2) Motherboard = Gigabyte GA-8IK1100, Intel 875P chipset Canterwood
for Intel P4 ATX motherboard Retail

I would reccommend he get an 865PE chipset which will provide all of the
features, performance (because Intel made a mistake and left a back door to
their PAT technology), and he will save money for a better video card (i.e.,
the most important
component in a gaming computer).

3)cdra drive = Artec CDRW 52x24x52x IDE RETAIL W/ Nero Software

Antec? If he just wants to burn CD's really fast, then that is a great
drive, but with
dual format DVD burners at just over the $100 mark, he might want to add
such
funtionality.

4) CPU =Intel Pentium 4 / 3.0CGHz 512k socket 478 Hyper Threading
Technology 800 MHz FSB - OEM

Great choice, but if money is an issue, I would suggest the P4 2.8c or 2.6c,
which are about $50 to $100 cheaper and both, reportedly, can be OC'd to
3.0+GHz (with a faster FSB speed to boot!). I've had my 2.4c to 2.8 GHz
with the retail heatsink. The $50 - $100 is enough to spend on faster
memory, so that it is within spec when overclocked using a 1:1 ratio; or an
even better videocard.

6) System Memory = GEIL 1GB(2x512MB) PC-3200 (400MHz) Dual DDR RAM, 6
Layer Lower Noise PCB Copper Heat Spreader, Dual Channel SPD Enhanced
Model#GL5123200DC

I have the exact same memory in an 865PE board and it works flawlessly.
With the memory timings backed off a bit and the voltage increased, I've had
it running stable to 480 MHz. I would try the GeiL 512MB PC-3500 433Mhz
Ultra Platinum for only $30 more for a Gig (or get even faster memory if you
get the 2.6c) You'll have some extra headroom for the future.

7)hard drive = WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM EIDE
HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1200JB -

Can't go wrong with that. Maybe add two WD Raptors in RAID 0 for the games
to run on.

He still hasn't decided which video card to put in yet.

The ATI 9800 Pro's are turning into a great deal.

Cheers,

Dave

 

[SteveH]

1. it's going to be very loud
2. the 875p boards are a complete waste of money unless you plan to use

ECC

It's not that loud actually. The Xaser III has got Thermaltake's quiet fans,
and quiter still if you turn the speed down a bit. The loudest things in
mine is the Enermax PSU (as the fans are worn out!) and my SCSI HDD.
Another advantage of the Xaser III is that it's unlikely ever to get stolen,
it's so damn HEAVY!!

SteveH

 

[Roger M]

ECC

It's not that loud actually. The Xaser III has got Thermaltake's quiet fans,
and quiter still if you turn the speed down a bit. The loudest things in
mine is the Enermax PSU (as the fans are worn out!) and my SCSI HDD.
Another advantage of the Xaser III is that it's unlikely ever to get stolen,
it's so damn HEAVY!!

^^^^^^^^

You mispelled *ugly*!

 

[WooduCoodu]

I didn't just mean because of the case but 7 case fans certainly won't help,
especially since all these "quiet" fans are never that quiet.

the PSU, CPU and case fans are the most obvious but these little northbridge
and video cards fans make a lot of noise and WD probably makes the loudest
hard drives.

www.silentpcreview.com if any of that matters to the OP.

"WooduCoodu"
It's not that loud actually. The Xaser III has got Thermaltake's quiet

fans,

 

[jeffc]

I agree with the post as good advise except the part on air pressure.
Kindly explain. Might you have ment air flow instead?

I did mean to say air pressure. Let's say you have one fan blowing in and
one fan blowing out, and the 2 fans are the same size and design and running
that the same RPM. Then there will be exactly as much air flowing in as
flowing out, and the pressure inside the case will be the same as the air
pressure in the room. Now let's say you added another fan blowing in. Now
the air pressure in the case will be higher than outside. Or instead, make
the second fan blow out. Now the air pressure in the case is lower than
outside. (To make it more clear, imagine 2 fans blowing out and none
blowing in - you will be trying to create a vacuum, i.e. low pressure.)

Uneven pressure is not *necessarily* a bad thing. If anything, you want the
pressure in the case to be slightly high. If the pressure is low, then you
get a scenario where air is being sucked in from all the holes and slots
wherever air can possibly come in your case. Dust will get sucked in (there
are no grills or filters on all these air holes.) If the air pressure is
slightly high, you will have a little air leaking out the miscellaneous case
holes, which causes no problem at all. When using 7 fans, it's virtually
impossible to get even air pressure (equal to the outside). So I might have
4 fans blowing in and 3 blowing out. But like I said, it just gets too
complicated to really know how the air is flowing. So...

I think a good design is 2 fans blowing in and 2 blowing out (or on many
systems, 1 and 1 are fine), with the fans blowing in being at least as
powerful as the fans blowing out. In my experience, power supply fans tend
to be a bit less powerful than good 80mm case fans. So one simple, good
design is to put one fan blowing out right below the power supply, and put 2
fans blowing in from the bottom front, or 1 in the bottom front and 1 in the
bottom side. Plenty of cool air blowing over your entire system board, and
plenty of warm air blowing out the top of the case, with a slightly high
pressure. If your hard drive runs warm, you might consider putting a small,
quiet fan blowing in over that too.