Watercooling my Rebuild

[s162217]

Isn't S/PDIF what you have?

Well it seems like you're left with two options: Finish building this old rig or start a new one with an aftermarket sound card.

I will compromise then and do both.

Looking around, a possible new build next year could be a:

• An AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Processor ~£150
• ASUS M3A78-T AM2+ motherboard ~ £120
• Gainward GTX275 Graphics Card ~£200
• 3gb Crucial DDR2 ~£40
• A suitable soundcard with DD live encoding ~£50
• The watercooling system I said about above~£150
• Antec Solo Case~£90

So at this years prices thats about £650, but as that stuff will get older in a year, it will proberly drop IMO to about £450.

What do you think of that build? Anything I could improve?

Watercooling may not be the best option though, a good air cooler only costs £50 or so so that would reduce it quite a bit.

 

[rohan23]

A watercooling kit would be useless for you. The Phenoms overclock like crazy on air cooling. Unless you really need to go from 3.6 to 3.7, watercooling is a waste of money. Get a nice aftermarket heatsink and you should be good. A GTX 275 is overkill for you. You're only working on sound stuff, right? A 9800XX(X) or a ATI 4850 or lower should be good enough for you. That will also give you more money to spend on other parts. Remember to get at least 1066 RAM.

 

[Cabbs]

Rohan's advice is good. That build should hold you up just fine. I'd skip the liquid cooling and get yourself a nice heatsink and spend the rest on a full tower case. The extra space makes them easier to work with.

 

[worshipme]

Agree on a high end air cooler.

And the GTX 275 is a big increase in price over the GTX 260/HD 4870 but not a big increase in performance. If you have anything less than a 1920x1200 monitor, a GTX 260/HD 4870 (Whichever's cheaper) will be fine. If you have anything less than a 1680x1050 monitor, the HD 4850 or 9800GTX will be fine.

 

[rohan23]

Agree on a high end air cooler.

And the GTX 275 is a big increase in price over the GTX 260/HD 4870 but not a big increase in performance. If you have anything less than a 1920x1200 monitor, a GTX 260/HD 4870 (Whichever's cheaper) will be fine. If you have anything less than a 1680x1050 monitor, the HD 4850 or 9800GTX will be fine.

If he's not gaming, he could even go with a 9600GT or a 4830.

 

[s162217]

If he's not gaming, he could even go with a 9600GT or a 4830.

Actually I do want to have great graphics as well, the only reason I don't play up to date games is the lack of hardware. My monitor is 1680 x 1050 so to get good FPS I will need a good card anyway. How much cheaper per performance is a GTX 260 compared to a 275?

What sort of air cooler below £50 would you reccommend?

 

[rohan23]

I would recommend the Xigmatek HDT S1283 or the Xigmatek Dark Knight. Some of the best price to performance air coolers out right now. A GTX 260 Core 216 would be a better deal than a 275 by a huge margin.

 

[worshipme]

Actually I do want to have great graphics as well, the only reason I don't play up to date games is the lack of hardware. My monitor is 1680 x 1050 so to get good FPS I will need a good card anyway. How much cheaper per performance is a GTX 260 compared to a 275?

Here's a GTX 260 Core 216 for £140 and here's an HD 4870 1GB for £140.
Take your pick.

The GTX 275 is no way near worth the £60 jump in price over these two cards.

 

[s162217]

I will proberly get the 265 as I have always had a better experience with Nvidea.

However as I predict it will be at least a year before I get this stuff, do you think the price will drop that much as the GTX 300 series is susposed to be coming out next year, so that could make all the older cards lose value. What sort of price would you spend on the graphics, if for say I could get a 285 for £175?

 

[worshipme]

If you're purchasing in a year it's useless to choose parts now. The situation will be completely different next year.