What will fit?

[ZenixNet]

Custom Rig Noob here, also sorry if this is in the wrong section.
For Christmas my sister got me a tower. I have never built a system before and I am planing on using this tower for practice. However I am not sure what can fit into it. Such as the mother board, PSU and all that stuff.
Here it is on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/11-Bay-Tower-...35WW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324839070&sr=8-1

Sorry for infiltrating the forums with my nooby questions.
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays

 

[Maguscreed]

It is the atx form factor.
The majority of motherboards are atx so that's good.
I see no mention of it supporting micro-atx though so that's something you'll need to look at before putting a board into it. It's possible that the see thru design and apparently all plastic construction limited them in the number of screw points they could provide without making the plastic crack or become weak.
I can't get a feel from the short specs listed on amazon as to whether it can house a large modern graphics card or not though. That's generally the only shortcoming with mid towers.

...some of them are a little tight in the graphics card space.

 

[ZenixNet]

Thanks for the info, do you have any suggestions for an i5 Sandy Bridge mother board? (Or an AMD processor with the same or more power?)

 

[profdlp]

Found some more specs here: 11-Bay ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/3x80mm LED Fans - No PSU (Transparent Blue) BLU-CLRCAS-3LED

As for what to stick in it, give us a budget limit and an idea of what you'll be using the computer for.

 

[ZenixNet]

Found some more specs here: 11-Bay ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/3x80mm LED Fans - No PSU (Transparent Blue) BLU-CLRCAS-3LED

As for what to stick in it, give us a budget limit and an idea of what you'll be using the computer for.

I am probably just going to use it mostly for show (and practice as this will be my first custom rig) so I don't need it to be incredibly powerful (i5, 4-6GB ram, 1GB-2GB GPU). If anything I will set it up in my room and get a TV tuner for it and use it as a very cool looking TV. I want to have many LED's lighting up the tower (and the ability to choose the color if possible).
Budget, probably $1000-$1200.

 

[Maguscreed]

In that budget you might as well go i7
...then again hard drives are very expensive right now.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

If it was me I would consider this the killer rig and then phase two with twice the ram and add your TV card along with more HDD capacity.

 

[ZenixNet]

That is kinda what I am thinking but slightly less because I want to put LED's throughout the tower. (How do you even do that anyway? Do they just plug into power cords from the PSU?)\
Also, Intel if possible - just because I am familiar with there processors. However, how does that AMD compare to an i5/i7?

 

[Maguscreed]

I would skip the liquid cooling and spend it on better graphics .... but that's just me.

 

[profdlp]

I left the storage and optical drive(s) up to you.

The links:

XFX HD-687A-CDFC Radeon HD 6870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP

XFX Gift - Dirt3 Game Coupon

Rosewill LIGHTNING Series LIGHTNING-800 800W ATX12V/EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active-PFC Power Supply

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 ...

Cyberlink TRIPLE PLAY - Power Director 9 + MediaEspresso 6.5 + Photo Director 2011

Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit

You can toss another XFX 6870 in there down the road and have a nice little big Crossfire gaming system, too.

It may have been overkill on the Power Supply, but you did mention lights...

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Stick with Corsair of other premium PSU and go modular. And yes the cold cathode lighting is great but requires an inverter like this. Lamptron 4-channel CCFL Power Inverter at Xoxide!
Oh and forget stock cooling and go directly to a sealed water cooler, oh and don't forget the optical reader as in my build and it will stack up nicely to any i5 and over clock way above it's rating.

 

[ZenixNet]

This is what I am looking at:
Mother Board: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
GPU: Newegg.com - XFX HD-685X-ZCFC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (I might upgrade this in the future, but I don't think I will need anything more right now)
RAM: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (Two of these)
TV Tuner: Amazon.com: Ceton InfiniTV 4 Digital Cable Quad-tuner Card PCIe: Electronics
HDD: Amazon.com: Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB SATA III Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive Desktop Hard Drive - WD10EARX: Electronics
CPU: Either the i5 or i7
-----i5: Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
-----i7: Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I72600
PSU: Newegg.com - Rosewill LIGHTNING Series LIGHTNING-800 800W Continuous @50°C,80 PLUS GOLD Certified,Pipe-rock Modular Design,Single +12V Rail,ATX12V v2.3/EPS12V v2.92,SLI Ready,CrossFire Ready,Active- PFC ,Fan LED color switch Power Supply
BluRay Drive: http://www.amazon.com/LG-UH12LS28K-...5FM8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1325909292&sr=8-6

Now I just need a LED set to light up the tower, like LED strips on the inside and things like that. Something along the lines of this: 40" Multicolor LED Lightstrip with Controller and Remote at Xoxide!

Is everything compatible? Just double checking.
Also what version of Windows 7 do I need?

 

[profdlp]

I would go for a 64-Bit version of Home Premium unless you need to connect to a Domain. (Which is unlikely.)

I'd strongly consider an SSD as a boot drive - it will make everything you do seem twice as fast.

The TV Tuner you picked out is a great one, but you should make sure your cable company can provide you with the cable card for it. I'd also recommend that you see how "universal" that model is with other cable companies in case you move.

 

[ZenixNet]

What is the difference in these two?
Amazon.com: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack: Software
Amazon.com: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium: windows_7: Software

 

[profdlp]

The first one is the OEM version and will be forever tied to the motherboard you first install it on. The second link is the full version which can be transferred to another computer if you remove it from the first one you install it on. If you plan to run this computer long enough that Windows 7 will look ancient by then, you can save some money and go for the OEM. Keep in mind that if the MB croaks you might be out of luck on reusing your Windows key.

 

[ZenixNet]

I think I am just going to go full out and build a good computer. $1,286.91 + $16 in shipping is a lot cheaper than I was thinking. Still need to include LED's and depending on when I buy this a HDD if prices go back down. I have some spare 1 TB's so I will probably just use those.

Some more noob questions..
Can this GPU have a 3 monitor display? I'm assuming it can but I am just double checking.
Newegg.com - XFX HD-687A-CDFC Radeon HD 6870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Im assuming in the future if I want dual GPU I just plug the second one in if its the same make and model and I'm good.
How do I make a SSD my main boot but have a 1 TB HDD for everything else, is that how it is done?
How do I do LED's in the case?

 

[profdlp]

I think I am just going to go full out and build a good computer...

I think you are wise. It's cheaper in the long run to build the best core system you can afford. Replacing a MB/CPU and maybe RAM combo for an incremental upgrade is expensive.

...Can this GPU have a 3 monitor display? I'm assuming it can but I am just double checking.
Newegg.com - XFX HD-687A-CDFC Radeon HD 6870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

I have that exact card (make & model) and assure you it can, since I'm doing it myself - all at 1920 x 1080 HD. You must run at least one of the monitors off a Display Port connection. Unless you actually have a Display Port monitor (pricey) you will need an Active Display Port to DVI adapter for the third monitor. They cost about $30.

Sapphire 100924 Active DisplayPort Male to Single-Link DVI Female CABL

Note that there is a difference between the standard Display Port and the Mini Display Port. My card has the Mini, but it's about a year old and manufacturers have been known to change things around from time to time.

Im assuming in the future if I want dual GPU I just plug the second one in if its the same make and model and I'm good.

Exactly.

How do I make a SSD my main boot but have a 1 TB HDD for everything else, is that how it is done?

I'll attach a snip of my layout. I basically duplicated all the standard "storage" folders like Docs, Music, Video, Pictures, etc on the mechanical D:\ drive. Using Windows 7 Libraries feature makes the process seamless. I installed Win 7 and all my programs to the SSD.

How do I do LED's in the case?

The usually just plug into a spare power connection from the PSU. Some lighting systems like Cold Cathode (not really an LED, but gives a nice effect) need a transformer, which ought to be included and fits inside your case somewhere out of the way.

Amazon.com: 11-3/8" Long Green Cold-Cathode Light Tube.: Home Improvement

My HD layout:

 

[ZenixNet]

Awesome! Thanks for all the info. I will be ordering all these parts as soon as my checks from Adsense come in.

EDIT:
I just remembered I will be needing a SD card reader. Any suggestions or are they pretty much all the same?
Also USB ports in the front, and possibly a PCI card for the back (3.0 if possible)