One of my friends wants a new pc, a gaming pc. his current pc is a single core P4 3.0ghz STOCK Alienware, non-OC'ed running the best AGP cards he can find...

Funny thing is, he has no lag right now with the games he plays... (he must not be playin real games, hehe)

So, recently his fan went out and almost destroyed the chip. I got it workin again but he's gonna give it to his nephew and he wants a new build...

:)

So, i suggest the following-

Intel Core i7 920 (Quad 2.66ghz)

ASUS Rampage Gene II (one of very few boards out now that support both Xfire-X and SLI and support for DDR3-2000!)

Corsair Certified Xtreme OC 6GB of DDR3-2000 Memory

Thermaltake Toughpower XT Monitored 750w PSU Single Rail.

Thermalright Ultra120 Xtreme TRU-Black Edition Revision C HSF with Cooljag 110+CFM cooling fan system.

Azza Gaming case - 2 5" intakes, 1 10" intake at processor, 1 5" exhaust at processor, 1 10" exhaust at processor.

2 1Terabyte Seagate V12 Hard Drives.

HIS EAH4890 OC'ed video Card.

Lots of other little stuff that has nothing to do with performance.

Total cost after labor and Overclocking fees - Just under $1700.

Here is what i am workin with-

Here's the cooling system -

Here is the memory cooling system -

And, my personal OC favorite, , here is the Northbridge cooling system - (i like how ASUS knows that it isn't just the NB that needs protection but the caps as well)

And an overview of the montrosity of the cooling system compared to the board itself-

Bare Case -

And with the mobo in the case-

I had to stop right now, but i shall continue the build wednesday.

For those who are waiting on box designs... This is one reason.. the other reason is this thursday... I got another order for a pc setup JUST LIKE THIS ONE, just lower OC capable memory and cheaper vid card but everything else is the same.

where do you start?? lol

you got your ride back right?

Looks good. Believe that is the same chip Mark has.

i got my ride back. Got it back last wednesday. Go to the comp event page and go to the somerset section and read last post. Me and all my comp friends ALL placed 1st down at that MECA show. We destroyed the competition down there.

Denim-

That's cool. The 920 is the only reasonable chip to buy right now... These i7 chips are $$$ once u want somethin more than the 920, major price jump.

the 920 is stock at 2.66ghz.

I'm gonna set some OC profiles in his BIOS for OC variable setups and hoping for -

a rock solid 3.5ghz (cross my fingers).

up to 3.7-3.8 for at least an hour for xtreme demands for short durations.

safe cool rock solid around 3.3ghz

That's 3 profile goals i have in mind so i'll see if i can get em with this board.

This board has so much control over voltage levels it's insane.

If i can't get to my xtreme speeds simply because of temps, i'm gonna have to start doin cooling mods inside the case and if i gotta do that, that'll be fun.

If i do, I gotta force air to only flow in certain areas or just in one precise direction but i may not need to. I will see in a couple weeks.

After the build is done, I'll run the setup for a week straight in the owner's hands to make sure it doesn't ever crash on optimal settings before i start the OC process so there is no complications.

My dad just built an upper mid-range i5 system. 2.6 ghz, 4gb RAM, 4870 and some other specs I can't remember right now. He's having trouble getting an OS installed without it keep crashing, though.

tell him to go into the BIOS and load default settings and i dont care how slow it may be. See if that helps.

If that doesnt help, PM me for help.

It could be incompatible memory or memory configuration error.

Good tip- never try to boost anything in the BIOS on a fresh install of a new system. The settings must be able to be burned in for a while or u can likely have permanent OC problems even if trying to revert to stock speeds.

badass, you goin to channel vents for each fan?

that's what i was talkin bout i "might" have to do.

I've never messed with i7's yet and now i gotta OC this one and another one next weekend after they have been burned in for a week at stock settings.

I don't know how hot this thing will get but we'll see starting next weekend.

yup, same chip I have, simular board, I have 12g/ram after starting out with 3gigs, loving this machine...

ok, connected all the basics and fired it up! The system works so i can now continue with routing all cables and finish installing devices.

Ran for bout 45 minutes in the BIOS and stays at a solid 32.5C stock.

I don't know what the Core temps are though because as us pc people know, the cpu temp in the bios is not the same temp sensor measured for the Thermal spec in the manual...

My other order just came in for almost the exact same pc so i gotta go start that build now.

I'll be gettin some more pics up soon. I just love this case!