Is This Going Overboard?

Why not just take the hard drive out of the old PC and plug it into the new one, transfer your files across, then put the hard drive back in the old PC. Either that or stick with USB - it'll still be faster than hundreds of trips with a floppy disc.

Wow, I could do that. Dang, my head has been completely out of it. Shoot, I'm gonna do that. Of couse, setting up the other HDD as a slave. About the USB, I don't have any USB 1.0 sticks. They don't work with USB 2.0 Mini Drives.

Win 9x support FAT32 don't they? I could just use my external drive. Then again, it's a USB 2.0 cable. I'll just stick to the idea of moving the hard drive.

How much are you thinking of spending on this PC? If it was $300, then I could understand not spending an extra, say, $50 on a decent set of 5.1 speakers, but if it's $2500, then what difference is $50?

This PCs final price is around $2,800.

At that price as well, it might be worth spending a bit more and going for a motherboard that supports DDR3 RAM. If it is crazy speed you're looking for, then Xeon may still be the way to go, though (2x Core 2 Quad processors each at 3.2ghz is nothing to be sniffed at, nor is it if coupled with 32gb of RAM, assuming you can find 8gb modules)

I really like the MSI motherboards is all. I haven't seen any MSI motherboards that support DDR3. I like ASUS and MSI, if you find one by ASUS, I'll be interested.

Out of interest, which make of RAM are you thinking of?

Huh? Do you mean the company? I'm a little confused by your question.

And what are you thinking about in terms of general cooling?

I'm putting three strong back fans, 4 left-side and 4 right-side fans. All-in-all, 11-fans plus the CPU fan is 12-fans. I hope to keep the system around 30C at the max. I, at one point, wanted to use liquid cooling. However, the idea of water being right next to an object that doesn't agree with water, just doesn't make sense. I've also never setup liquid cooling, so it sounds a little dangerous.

I really like the MSI motherboards is all. I haven't seen any MSI motherboards that support DDR3. I like ASUS and MSI, if you find one by ASUS, I'll be interested.

I can find MSI and Asus motherboards for Intel processors, but not AMD.

Huh? Do you mean the company? I'm a little confused by your question.

Yeah. Corsair, Kingston, Hyundai, Samsung, etc.

I'm putting three strong back fans, 4 left-side and 4 right-side fans. All-in-all, 11-fans plus the CPU fan is 12-fans. I hope to keep the system around 30C at the max. I, at one point, wanted to use liquid cooling. However, the idea of water being right next to an object that doesn't agree with water, just doesn't make sense. I've also never setup liquid cooling, so it sounds a little dangerous.

Now that might be a little bit of overkill.

Have you got a picture/the specs of your case?

If you've got good fans, then you don't need very many. My case (CoolerMaster 830 Stacker), for example, can take up to nine fans, but I've only got seven in - one exhaust on the back, one exhaust on the top, two intake at the front, one intake on the side above the RAM, and two exhausts above the graphics card on the side:


Exhaust
Intake
Heatsink

I've gone for the "negative pressure" approach - more fans blowing out makes the pressure in the case negative. More air is exiting the case then entering it. You have more exit fans than intake.

There's also the positive approach in which more air is entering the case than leaving it - more intake fans than exit.

Some people swear by negative, and others by positive. A top exhaust is a good idea as hot air rises, and a back exhaust is a great way to get air flowing through the case. An exhaust over the graphics card exhausts ain't too shabby, either. A lot of the time you just need to experiment until you find the best configuration.

I think that four fans on the right side of the case is a waste, though - any heat given off by the back of the motherboard will be negligible, and if you do find there's a problem then one fan should sort it. If you go for a tall heatsink for the CPU you may find that you need to give up on one of the left-side fans, and I wouldn't be surprised if you find that you don't have the space to accommodate three exhaust fans at the back.

A top exhaust is a must, and at least one intake at the front to blow air over the hard drive(s) ain't a bad idea. Depending on the front of the case (if it has air vents), you might be able to fit in two fans.

It's hard to think about cooling without seeing the case, though.

Oh, have you thought about thermal paste?

I can find MSI and Asus motherboards for Intel processors, but not AMD.

Aw man, I don't want to get an Intel because they're too expensive.

Yeah. Corsair, Kingston, Hyundai, Samsung, etc.

Corsair.

Now that might be a little bit of overkill. Have you got a picture/the specs of your case?

http://www.nzxt.com/products/zero/

If you've got good fans, then you don't need very many. My case (CoolerMaster 830 Stacker), for...

Nice Model you have there. Um, I've never really thought about which way is better, in or out. I do plan to get a better heatsink and fan because of your previous post.

Oh, have you thought about thermal paste?

I was never taught anything about thermal paste. I think some research is in order.

http://www.nzxt.com/products/zero/ Nice Model you have there. Um, I've never really thought about which way is better, in or out. I do plan to get a better heatsink and fan because of your previous post.

Nice case. I've got a friend who has an NZXT - prettiest little number I've seen. That one's even prettier... though, as one does, I prefer my case.

You might be able to get away with not having to buy any fans - the case comes with all seven already. The two rear exhausts, the top exhaust and front intake are what I'd advise, so those don't need changing, but you'll have to play around with the side four. If you go for a horizontal heat sink, then you should be able to fit all four in, but with a vertical heatsink you might not (if you do get a vertical heatsink, look for something below about 12cm high - my case is 25cm wide, and the heastsink sticks up 15.5cm from the motherboard with at most a couple of millimetres separating it from the wall of fans. The wall of fans are in the case though, rather than on the side panel, so you might have a bit more clearance).

With a horizontal heatsink, you'd want to suck air up through the heatsink, so the fan on that must blow up, and the side fan above that must be an exhaust. The side fan next to that (top right), above the RAM, would work well as an intake. The two above the graphics cards are the interesting ones - (1) if the graphics card fan sucks air in, then set the fan above it to an intake, and the one next to it (towards the back of the case as an exhaust). (2) If it blows air out, then swap it around:

[O][I] (1)
[O][I]

[O][I] (2)
[I][O]

Play around and see what works best. If things are still hot regardless of your configuration, then see if you can stick a 120mm fan in three spare drive bays and keep the door open, or buy some better fans.

As for thermal paste, you can choose from a number of types and makes. I use Arctic Silver V, simply because that's the one people recommended. It has tiny particles of silver in it which help conduct the heat from the CPU to the heatsink. Some people say that because of the silver it is abrasive and can wear out the heat spreader on top of the CPU (which begs the question - how on earth can it do that if the paste doesn't move as in, say, a normal computer?). As a result, these people use a ceramic based paste which does the job, but doesn't conduct heat as well as Silver V. Then there's MX-2 from Arctic Cooling, which is considered one of the best.

As with most things, personal preference comes into it.

one of you two should create a DIY computer build for the forum, if i had two brains i would, based on cost, getting what you want, and time spent. is building your own > buying one?