What do you think of the computer I am building? Any Suggestions?

[philodox]

I understand that you don't like Thermaltake, but can you explain to me why the "Armor - VA8000BWS" is piss poor quality? I'm not talking about their lower end cases or their fans or CPU coolers, just this one.

Thanks for the info on the heatsink, I think if I go with this case I will get the Zalman that I originally picked out... or maybe the SilenX version that seems to weigh in a little less and is quieter.

Anyone know anything about 'Ultra' Power Supplies? I think the modular approach looks like a good feature, but they seem to cheap to be true... are these crap?

As for the TT case being a Coolermaster ripoff... I don't really see why. They both have lots of slots, that is where the similarity ends. From what I can see the TT has way more features than the Coolermaster.

 

[mightyacorn]

Both Tiger Direct in Canada and Canada Computers have low ratings on Reseller Ratings (strange how Tiger Direct has bad service in Canada, but much better in the US). You should also factor in the shipping costs from two suppliers, it adds up.

I've used NCIX.com and really like them. Sign up for their newsletter, they have weekly sales. NCIX will also do price matching on legit vendors.

Do you have a video card that you can use with the system? If not, you should wait to buy the system. The price of parts can change weekly (sorry if this has been answered, I skimmed through your post).

 

[philodox]

Canada Computers is down the street from where I work and with the new system that I am pricing out now, it looks like they have better prices for everything anyways. Thanks for the info though.

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox I understand that you don't like Thermaltake, but can you explain to me why the "Armor - VA8000BWS" is piss poor quality? I'm not talking about their lower end cases or their fans or CPU coolers, just this one. Thanks for the info on the heatsink, I think if I go with this case I will get the Zalman that I originally picked out... or maybe the SilenX version that seems to weigh in a little less and is quieter. Anyone know anything about 'Ultra' Power Supplies? I think the modular approach looks like a good feature, but they seem to cheap to be true... are these crap? As for the TT case being a Coolermaster ripoff... I don't really see why. They both have lots of slots, that is where the similarity ends. From what I can see the TT has way more features than the Coolermaster.

The Armor sucks in typical TT fashion. The plastic 'awesome toolless' drive installation is a joke. The screwless PCI slots are HORRIBLE, they work half of the time. Check out the fan grills on the back - WHERE'S THE AIR SUPPOSED TO GO OUT? Add on top of that the shoddy worksmanship of the previous Xaser line, and you've got a genuine piece of crap.

Yes, the Ultra line of PSUs are crap. Lots of them have blown.. which is a very bad thing. If you want a modular PSU (but still noisy), check out the new OCZ line, or the Antec Neopower. But the quietest PSU with the highest efficiency on the market would be the Seasonic S12-430. I would not hestitate to purchase this PSU, ever. Best PSU I've used in many years. Check out www.silentpcreview.com, it's their PSU of choice - I have three, and love them all to death.

How is TT ripping off CM? The front ventaliated drive bays (all of them, an INNOVATION for the Stacker), the same internal layout. The three stackable 120mm front bays. They added a bit of 'bling' to appease their little '1337 computer g33k' fanbase. Like honestly, what extra features are there?


Here's something I wrote on another forum a while back.
Quote:

Originally Posted by akwok That's because ThermalTake steals their ideas off of their competitors. I will attempt to list some of them but time is of the essence! => Denotes stolen from Soprano => Wavemaster Armor => Stacker Tenor => Silverstone HTPCs Rocket Watercooling (penis tower!) => Zalman Reserator New Purepowers => Coolermaster RealPower => Seasonic Tornado Beetle HSF => Asus StarIce Silent775 => Coolermaster Vortex TX Fanless VGA Cooler => Coolermaster Coolviva => Zalman ZM80C (old generation) SilentTower => AeroCool HT101 BigTyphoon => ThermalRight XP-120 Fanless PSU => SilenX Luxurae CircleFire => Coolermaster Musketeer That's it for now. It just pisses me off to no avail that Thermalcrap is still selling products! THEY RIP OFF EVERYTHING. Nor do they improve on the copied products! SHAME. Name me ONE INNOVATIVE PRODUCT that THERMALTAKE has ORIGINALLY thought up! I've been screwed over by Thermalcrap three times now; 3 years ago, I bought a Volcano 7 (ripoff again of the Aeroflow) and it sucked - extremely loud and poor performance. Then I forgave them and purchased the Xaser III. Another disappointment; the paint started chipping the first week I got it! I immediately sold it after a week or two of using it. Then finally, and the last straw, I purchased the Purepower 560w last year due to rave reviews; HORRIBLE. I just purchased a Seasonic S12-430 to swap, but the Purepower gave me nothing but trouble this past year. It has an emminent clicking sound (Silent my ass), extremely bad motor noise from TWO 80mm fans, and has <70% efficiency, overheating my CPU right under it.

Oh yeah. I forgot to add that I eventually gave the Xaser III to my cousin. Since then, the paint has chipped almost everywhere (tends to flake without you doing anything), and the reset button broke off due to the ****** door.

 

[akwok]

Oh, and Canada Computers is the east-coast version of NCIX. They're fine if you buy in store.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by akwok The Armor sucks in typical TT fashion. The plastic 'awesome toolless' drive installation is a joke. The screwless PCI slots are HORRIBLE, they work half of the time. Check out the fan grills on the back - WHERE'S THE AIR SUPPOSED TO GO OUT?

The Coolermaster seems to use a similar tooless drive installation. I can see how the screwless PCI slots would be a pain, but as long as you are carefull this shouldnt be a problem. Umm... It think the air goes out those little holes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by akwok Yes, the Ultra line of PSUs are crap. Lots of them have blown.. which is a very bad thing. If you want a modular PSU (but still noisy), check out the new OCZ line, or the Antec Neopower.

Cool, thanks. I will check those two PSU's out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by akwok How is TT ripping off CM? The front ventaliated drive bays, the same internal layout. The three stackable 120mm front bays.

It is true that all the drive bays are ventilated on the TT, but they do not seem to be on the Coolermaster from what I am seeing.

The airflow layout seems to make more sense on the TT... that crossflow thing on the Coolermaster looks like it would just bugger up airflow. I agree that it does look like the stackable 120mm fan bay thing was a ripoff.

As for new features, I think that the TT has integrated liquid cooling options better and as I've said their airflow seems to be more efficient. I like the window [I know, geek bling... whatever], but I wish they would have gone with a solid square one instead of these three blobs.

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox The Coolermaster seems to use a similar tooless drive installation. I can see how the screwless PCI slots would be a pain, but as long as you are carefull this shouldnt be a problem. Umm... It think the air goes out those little holes. Cool, thanks. I will check those two PSU's out. It is true that all the drive bays are ventilated on the TT, but they do not seem to be on the Coolermaster from what I am seeing. The airflow layout seems to make more sense on the TT... that crossflow thing on the Coolermaster looks like it would just bugger up airflow. I agree that it does look like the stackable 120mm fan bay thing was a ripoff. As for new features, I think that the TT has integrated liquid cooling options better and as I've said their airflow seems to be more efficient. I like the window [I know, geek bling... whatever], but I wish they would have gone with a solid square one instead of these three blobs.

The crossover fan is met with great acclaim. It cools the mosfets easily, most importantly - a great asset for overclockers.

The Stacker's front bays are swiss-cheesed. They were the first to do this for all the bays, in a large tower. It was a huge breakthrough in cooling, hence why so many people have the Stacker.

And uh. Thermaltake put in support for THEIR -HORRIBLE- water cooling kits. HORRIBLE. An XP-120 with a SILENT Nexus 120mm at 7V will outperform the shoddy watercooling kits they put out.

 

[akwok]

Ehh. Back on topic.

I suggest you go with something like this if you want silence (cooling supplies):

-Antec P180 Chasis
-Thermalright XP-120 w/ Coolermaster S12 Sleeve bearing 120mm fan (can be had for $9 each, same performance as a Nexus 120mm, but with LED's)
-Zalman ZM80D + ZM123 fan bracket + Coolermaster S12 120mm fan
-The P180's case fans all replaced with the Coolermaster S12 120mm fans
-Seasonic S12-430 PSU


And 5volting all of the fans in the case!

You will end up with a dead silent computer.

 

[philodox]

That Antec case is really growing on me the more I read about it and see it.

After all the negative comments on the TT, I guess I can't really go that way.

Boy, you really have a lot of built up agression for that manufacturer awok.

Thanks for the fan tips... I'll take a look at that PSU.

EDIT: If I use two Geforce 6600GT's in SLI mode will those Zalman sinks and fans still be a good idea? Not sure if there would be enough room.

 

[akwok]

If you use SLI, I don't think it will fit. You might want to check out Zalman's VF700 line if you're looking to go SLI and non-stock cooling. A couple of guys have had success with them on Asus SLI mobos.

 

[philodox]

Cool, will do. I am using the Asus board, so that is good to hear.

 

[philodox]

What do you think of those Arctic Cooling VGA coolers? Their design seems good, forcing the hot air out the slot.

Back to cases... I think I will either go with that Antec case for function and design or one of these home theater designs [and then I can put it on my audio rack].

This one is relatively cheap and available at Canada computers.

This one does not seem to be very available in Canada... but damn, it is sexy.

What do you think?

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox What do you think of those Arctic Cooling VGA coolers? Their design seems good, forcing the hot air out the slot. Back to cases... I think I will either go with that Antec case for function and design or one of these home theater designs [and then I can put it on my audio rack]. This one is relatively cheap and available at Canada computers. This one does not seem to be very available in Canada... but damn, it is sexy. What do you think?

I have tried the Arctic Cooling Silencer 4 (for my X800 Pro), and it's too loud for me. Inability to undervolt and some motor noise is a big no for me =).

Both HT cases are very good.

 

[philodox]

Well, the one that fits the Geforce 6600GT has a noise level of 0.3 Sone... whatever that means. The one you used was 0.5 Sone. I wonder if that is a big enough difference. I guess if not, I could always use the Zalman's. I think that the fact that the Arctic Cooling ones 'shoot' the air out the back might be a big benifit if I am putting two GPU's in one of those home theater cases, as they don't seem to have great airflow like the Antec.

EDIT: It looks like if I want to do SLI there are only a few PSU's that I can use. The Silverstone one looks great and would be the same manufacturer as the case, but this Antec PSU is quite a bit cheaper and looks to be pretty quiet.

 

[philodox]

Well, I decided not to build my own computer right away in the end.

However, the harddrive died on my current computer when we put it in the new desk as there is not enough ventilation and my case had no fans except for the CPU/GPU coolers and the PSU. So I bought a new harddrive [80GB Seagate SATA], an exhaust fan [coolermaster something-or-other] and a harddrive cooler [vantec something-or-other]. Then I figured, why not take this opportunity to upgrade.

So I bought a new motherboard, CPU and graphics card. [I currently have an ASUS A7N w/Athlon 1Ghz and a Voodoo 5500AGP]

I got the ASUS A8N-SLI as it has all the upgradability options that I was looking for. For the CPU, I got the cheapest one available [A64 3000+] as I plan up upgrading it down the line when the FX chips get cheaper. I'll be using the stock cooler as it should be good enough in the current configuration. For the graphics card, I got an ASUS N6200TC as I did not want to spend a lot of money right now and will probably get a nice graphics card [or two - SLI baby

] once I have more cash.

I will be using my old RAM for now, but will probably buy a couple 512MB [2x256] dual channel kits down the road.

I was thinking about getting a 600W PSU so that I was SLI ready, but I'm not sure if I will even end up going that way. So I got the Enermax Noisetaker 370W which should be able to handle one good video card... so I will be fine until I take the SLI leap.

I hope I made smart purchases... I think it worked out ok @ $700 CDN including tax.