Building A Gaming Computer For Grandson

[gbercume 0]

i need a little help ,im getting my grandson a project for him to do himself build his own gaming box,the motherboard is a asus extreme rampage 2,a i7 extreme chip,3 gtx295 2gb videos sli my questions comes in here the manual for the chip & the chip comes with a fan,we were looking at a armour liguid cooled case what is the best way to go,

[Tramposch 1]

Well do you want the case to be liquid cooled, and do you/him have past experiences with computer building/liquid cooling.And what are you looking to liquid cool, the cpu, gpu, northbridge, ect.I suggest that you stay away from liquid cooling just because it can sometimes be kind of overkill. As for a case, i dont know what your budget is, but i'd suggest a Lian Li if you have a higher budget, or a Coolermaster HAF, or an Antec 1200 (for lower budget).Tell me if you need anything else.

[bluedragon 0]

Since you are building a system with a Liquid cooling system, First you have to figure out what all components will be liquid cooled. It varies from system to system. Basically you'll be having a number of inlets and outlets and instead of a Normal FAN assembly on the CPU Chip, you'll have to put up a water block on CPU. This enables cooling on the CPU. Similarly if you have any attachment/block for the north-bridge controller you have to put up that also. Make sure all the inlets and outlets are properly secured and tightened. The Inlets come from a main cooler unit which contains the liquid and the out let goes into a unit that collects these. Basically, the coolant will be running between different parts of the system cooling them and then put in an collector unit. I can't give you the exact idea for connecting the components and how it works since its almost impossible to explain without an image. Anyways.. If you need more help try googling for reviews of your cooling unit. Keep a track of coolant in your cooling unit, It is suggested to keep filling it every 4-5 months. :)Hope this helps..

Edited July 14, 2009 by bluedragon (see edit history)

[Tramposch 1]

Well Core i7 CPUs come stock with a stock heat sink from Intel. the case you are looking to purchase is specially made for liquid cooled computers. To successfully liquid cool a computer, you should google on a guide. You would need to buy a CPU water block so the hot and cold water can flow in and out to cool the CPU, you would need coolant, check for leaks, et cetera. It is truly a lot of work if you have not done it before and I do not advise it unless your son plans to do extreme overclocking.

[Alex Cicala 0]

What is the price your paying for this :OOO.For a basic gaming box you do need these specs, these specs are overkill for a gaming box as you would normally get this for advanced game/movie production/development.I would recommend:Kingston 4GB RAM @ 800mhz ddr2ATI 4850 512mb ddr5Quad Core Q9650any motherboard that is compatible with that

[Saint_Michael 3]

Well if you look at his specs it either meets or exceeds the specifications. Though you give the brand names asus extreme rampage 2, a i7 extreme chip, 3 gtx295 2gb videos sli, you don't get really specifically and even then you got about at least $1000 in hardware there alone and if your grandson has never built a computer or rather built a liquid cooling computer, that is the wrong expensive kind of hardware to be doing it for the first time.

Someone did mention going through a couple of water cooling guides to help you out but didn't provide any links and so here are some links to help you get sort for this little venture.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a-beginners-guide-for-watercooling-your-pc,1573.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a-beginners-guide-for-watercooling-your-pc,1573-2.html
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ <---Parts Guide
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r9474287-Liquid-Cooling-A-Guide~mode=flat
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

I would go through all of that first to get a good idea what your looking for, but to be quite honest, if you do not know what your doing liquid cooling could make all that hardware useless if you don't set it up properly.

[gbercume 0]

Well do you want the case to be liquid cooled, and do you/him have past experiences with computer building/liquid cooling.
And what are you looking to liquid cool, the cpu, gpu, northbridge, ect.

I suggest that you stay away from liquid cooling just because it can sometimes be kind of overkill.

As for a case, i dont know what your budget is, but i'd suggest a Lian Li if you have a higher budget, or a Coolermaster HAF, or an Antec 1200 (for lower budget).

Tell me if you need anything else.

thats my question do i really need water cooled the chip comes with a cpu fan already,can i get by with just a good case with fans?

[rvalkass 5]

thats my question do i really need water cooled the chip comes with a cpu fan already,can i get by with just a good case with fans?

The stock fans provided by Intel are generally just good enough to keep the CPU within the thermal limits, and are often very loud. If you choose to go for air-cooling then you will want to replace the CPU fan with a much better model. An after-market fan will not only keep the CPU (and therefore the rest of the case) cooler, but also run quieter, so will not be so distracting.

With 3 power-hungry graphics cards you are going to be generating an awfully large amount of heat that you will need to dissipate quickly. A case like the Antec Twelve Hundred is about the best you can get for air-cooling, but even that may not be enough to keep everything cool.

If you go down the water-cooling route then you will certainly want to enlist the help of someone who has built a water-cooled PC before to be with you every step of the way, from ordering the parts, to assembling them, to leak testing etc. You must remember that water cooling can ruin your PC if done wrong, so be very careful.

[bluedragon 0]

rvalkass is right.. You need to either Go for lots of fans or Get some professional guy to fix up a water cooling system on your machine. I don't think your grandson will be able to assemble a Cooling system on his own .. How old is he ? :)oh and btw.. I think the machine is going to be a beast once it turns up.. technically speaking even a single gtx 295 is enough for most advanced games and you are putting up three ... I can already imagine the power consumption .. Must be above 1600 wattsBest of luck and do post a screenshot when its done

[rayzoredge 2]

I actually would start out cheap or leave the building to a more experienced user.A friend of mine fried his brand-new Pentium i7 CPU because I believe he forgot to ground the stand-offs from his motherboard to the case, or something like that.If you still do decide to build this, invest the $5-10 in an anti-static wrist strap and the time to read every single for-dummies guide to building your own PC. With the rather expensive components going into this build, I wouldn't risk anything. Hell, if you're paranoid enough, snag a $30 grounding mat. (I'm assuming that you're going to be around to supervise.)Liquid-cooling is going to be a PITA to set up, especially if this will be his first experience with building a machine from scratch. Fans and a good case that allows for good circulation should be fine, but if you wish, add an additional heatsink or cooler for the CPU and/or the GPU to help with heat issues. If you get the chance to have hands-on the product, make sure that everything physically fits in the case. I don't know if noise is a factor, but I don't think it's going to kill anyone if you hear a bit from the fans going off.

[rayzoredge 2]

I actually would start out cheap or leave the building to a more experienced user.A friend of mine fried his brand-new Pentium i7 CPU because I believe he forgot to ground the stand-offs from his motherboard to the case, or something like that.If you still do decide to build this, invest the $5-10 in an anti-static wrist strap and the time to read every single for-dummies guide to building your own PC. With the rather expensive components going into this build, I wouldn't risk anything. Hell, if you're paranoid enough, snag a $30 grounding mat. (I'm assuming that you're going to be around to supervise.)Liquid-cooling is going to be a PITA to set up, especially if this will be his first experience with building a machine from scratch. Fans and a good case that allows for good circulation should be fine, but if you wish, add an additional heatsink or cooler for the CPU and/or the GPU to help with heat issues. If you get the chance to have hands-on the product, make sure that everything physically fits in the case. I don't know if noise is a factor, but I don't think it's going to kill anyone if you hear a bit from the fans going off.