Getting ready to build - parts picked

[ownage]

IMO, Dell monitors are one of the best monitors i have ever seen. They are top notch quality and performance.

 

[TRDCorolla1]

Ahh just one problem tho regarding that the viewsonic vx922... no site in canada carries it atm. worst case... ill get a samsung. and i plan on getting 5.1 speakers... that was actually my next question... I would get the logitech z 5500... but what am I gonna do with all that power? I am not too sure on that set yet.. but I was looking at the z5300e's and the x530. So far I am liking the z5300. The 5500 looks sweet but I am afraid it will be wayy too much power for me. I've read that the subwoofer can screw up hard drives and other electronics if its not kept at least 2 feet away. Oh and the dfi board I am probably going to get comes with a 7.1 onboard sound card. Not sure how good it is tho.

Ok, regarding the Z-5500 screwing up electronic stuff. That is a negative. I have no such problems at all and I don't think Jac006 has any problems at all with his too. The subwoofer is this HUGE mini refrigerator looking thing that hides on the ground. Well, I may have exaggerated a little, but it's big like a standard home theater subwoofer. For computer speakers, it's huge, but you get huge sound, like what Bose can give you. High quality for the right price.

I put mine like 2-3 feet away from the nearest electronic component. Actually, it's right at the corner of the wall under my window. Trust me, you won't have room to put it on your desk or anywhere near your PC so there's no way it can screw anything up. My monitor is at least 3 feet away from the subwoofer and 2 feet away from my cable modem. No problems at all. You can always turn down the bass if it's too much for you. It's not that bad if you don't crank if full volume on the sub part. Adjust the settings in media player and in the Control Panel and you can almost eliminate all that bass if you wish. Just like any home theater system, it gives you maximum bass if you want it. It's there for you in case you need it to watch movies, good songs, etc. Most of the time, I have it cranked down to like a quarter ways.

$200 some odd dollars for this is still a steal. I just finished watching The Amityville Horror tonight using the Viewsonic LCD and the Z-5500 speakers, OMG. Scared me half to death---all from the sound effects. The story was, eh, so-so. But the overall sound experience was just that of a high quality home theater system. The surround speakers did an excellent job capturing what it needed and a good sound card will help that too. I crank up the surround speaker level about 3/4 of the way and it's perfect. The center channel captured most of the dialogue along with the two front speakers and the rear doing the rest. There are 5 settings you can adjust to and it comes with a remote!! How cool is that?

 

[abowlofrice]

i think most the ppl that saw this thread already answered ur question, but ill do it for the heck of it:

1. if u partition ur drives it will show up as difference logical drives in my computer.

2. floppy = waste of money.

3. drivers are only required if ur mobo is not upgraded or didnt come with it, u can go to ur mobo maker's site and dl them.

4. if u dont oc then no additional fan is required.

5. the place whre u work it doestn matter

thats one hell of a computer , good luck ~

 

[EricM]

Ah ok... well Ive got some decisions to make now. I am not sure if I will be watching movies on my pc at all since Ive got a home theatre system already, but I do listen to a lot of music on my pc and when I finally build this thing I can finally get some kick ass games so do u think the z5500's are worth it? The sound card I think i may get the x-fi but I still want to know what the other port is and why it has less ports then the audigy 2? And finally I want to get the viewsonic monitor when its available here in canada. I'll look into dell monitors too. And when the prices go down on the 7800gtxs i am going to add another.. Do you think the extra bandwith is worth it? I am not a hard core gamer so I think I probably wont even notice any difference.. Plus i really like the dfi mobo. So I think Im almost ready to order. This is gonna be a kick ass computer. I was going to wait for m2 and all that but I kind of need a computer now and m2 is going to be expensive when it first comes out. So I just habe to decide on the speakers monitor and sound card and I am ready to build! Oh and I thought of one other thing... on the dfi board... there may be a problem with long graphics cards such as the 7800gtx since it may hit the chipset fan... how can i make sure before buying? Anyone else have this board with a 7800gtx? I know it depends on what manufacturer.

 

[TRDCorolla1]

Current video card design should be compatible with most or all motherboards today (besides the type of interface is concerned). I have a 7800GT and that sucker is suprisingly long. Much longer than my 6600GT. The end of the board hovers over one of my chipset fan, but it's not really obstructing anything because the video card is so thin. Thin but long and powerful. The only way I can see that it doesn't fit is if you were to install aftermarket heatsink/fan combo for the chipset. Then it may not fit depending how high the fan sits. I haven't seen the picts for that DFI motherboard you have in mind but stockwise, they're pretty low. I think they're just a fan with heatsink features slapped on a chip instead of an actual heatsink plus a fan on top.

As for the soundcard, here's my take on it. X-Fi soundcards are known for performance. They have to keep in mind that people want 5.1 surround capabilities so there's no way Creative Labs would make sound card that good and not be 5.1 compatible. So despite having just 4-ports, it's enough for every type of connections available. I guess I should break out my Audigy2 retail box with the manual inside to see what all 6-ports do, but it's tucked away deep in my closet. I'm using one right now, but only 3 of them are being used. An X-Fi has 4 and most of the time, you'll probably just use 3 of them instead so there's really no need to have more ports on it. Maybe Creative Labs found a way to streamline the card so it works best with just 4 inputs instead of 6.

 

[EricM]

Ok soo I may go with that... depends.. I am just gonna wait to see if prices go down.. as I am in no rush to buy everything right away. I am waiting to see if the vx922 is going to be available on canadian sites also. tigerdirect.com has it but tigerdirect.ca does not.. whats up with that. And I think I should downgrade by 250gb hard drive to something smaller like a 160gb. But the 250 is only 50 bucks (cdn) extra. I am not sure what I will do with all that space. And the z5500s... of course they are worth the extra 100 bucks over the 5300s. But they just seem too powerful. I am still debating over those.

 

[EricM]

I was just reading some reviews on the z5500s and I came across this...

Summary:
there is a reason why they dropped the price soo much, this set up dosen't even sound as good as the z53 set up. has twice the power but has really poor base sound and response. if you want a good system go with the 5300 it sounds great and way cheaper.

This is from the tigerdirect.ca website. Its only one persons review but I am wondering which speakers to get now.

 

[TRDCorolla1]

I had a hard time choosing too between the Z-5300's and the 5500's. I mean, it's $100 more!!! I was seriously going for the 5300, but decided to take the chance. I said, "screw it. It's only money." A tool we put to good use. Needless to say, I made the right decision. It sounds great. I find myself leaving the setting to Dolby Pro Logic II: movie setting the whole time. Even when I play games, I can hear it working. I've got this NBA Live 06 game running and you can hear the commentators on the center channel with most of the action focused on the front, but then you'll hear the rear bring up the crowd and the sound effects from the basketball arena. It's pretty neat.

That guys an idiot and obviously didn't know how to setup his speakers. My windows literally vibrated from the bass. Then again, if you play any hip hop song, they tend to do that anyways. I think if you read majority of the reviews on Newegg regarding the Z-5500, you'll see they're all positive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16836121120

Now THAT is a lot of positive reviews...more than I have ever seen for any computer product.

 

[jac006]

Ok soo I may go with that... depends.. I am just gonna wait to see if prices go down.. as I am in no rush to buy everything right away. I am waiting to see if the vx922 is going to be available on canadian sites also. tigerdirect.com has it but tigerdirect.ca does not.. whats up with that. And I think I should downgrade by 250gb hard drive to something smaller like a 160gb. But the 250 is only 50 bucks (cdn) extra. I am not sure what I will do with all that space. And the z5500s... of course they are worth the extra 100 bucks over the 5300s. But they just seem too powerful. I am still debating over those.

The z5500s are a way better choice. I have them. the z5300s are good, but power issue a main thing. If you want power, and have money, totally, the z5500s. But, if you really want to save that $100 or you don't have $100 more, then, the z5300s are good enough too. Make sure you have an adequate sound card though. You'll need a seperate connector if you plan to use integrated sound. There is a big difference between the two speakers... wireless remote, amazing control center, not to mention double the rms power.... it's up to your budget.

 

[EricM]

Budget really isnt an issue.. I am just wondering if it will be way too much power because I have read reviews where people have knocked things off the walls and broken glasses with the z5500s but that must be when they crank up the bass... I primarily listen to music and I will be playing games too...