EggXpert

Havn't ordered yet because I cant seem to get my hands on a new 5870. This is what I've got in the shopping cart though:

 

Case: Antec 900

Processor: Intel Core I7 920

Cooling: Coolermaster V8

PSU: Corsair 850tx

RAM: 3x2gb Kingston Hyperx 1600mhz DDR3

MoBo: Asus P6T Deluxe V2

GPU: (Hopefully) Sapphire Vapor-x Radeon HD 5870 (Xfire in a few months)

Hard Drive: WD 750gb 7200rpm

OS: Windows 7

 

I've used Asus MoBos in basically all of my builds. The reason I like them is I find the BiOS tends to be pretty open and allows for mostly free OCing. The last one I used crapped out on me after like three weeks though and caused a giant headache for me and I want to avoid another one if possible. I dont have experience with any of the other x58 MoBos so suggestions would be nice.

I would love to grab an SSD for my main drive but i just dont have the money for one right now so im going to have to stick with a regular old magnetic drive.

Also, I've never used or seen an Antec 900 in person and I'm wondering if im going to have trouble fitting a 5870 in that case. I think the hard drive bays should be removable if necessary but having my hard drive dangling loose wouldnt be my first option. I could grab a Coolermaster HAF 922 instead but its much bigger than the 900 and I would like to keep the size and weight down as much as possible.

 Anyway, if theres anything else that you notice or recommend feel free to comment.

 

 

The 5870 video cards are about 11" long. (One of the longest.) I don't think the 900 is going to be long enough to handle the 5870. I would recommend either the HAF 922 Mid-Tower or the HAF 932 Full-Tower.

To run 2 of the 5870 video cards, you only need a 600 watt power supply. You can get away with the 750TX instead of the 850TX.

As far as a motherboard goes, take a look at the GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 for $268.99 with free shipping. This is part of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable (UD) line of motherboards. These are some of the best motherboards out there at this time.

Thanks for the suggestion on the Gigabyte board. Looks good. I think I'll probably switch to that since its a little cheaper too.

 As far as the PSU goes though, I do a lot of gaming so I prefer to leave a nice cushion for power to extend the life of the PSU and other components. 

Kenotic:

Thanks for the suggestion on the Gigabyte board. Looks good. I think I'll probably switch to that since its a little cheaper too.

 As far as the PSU goes though, I do a lot of gaming so I prefer to leave a nice cushion for power to extend the life of the PSU and other components. 

Actually with the 750TX you do have a power cushion.

To CrossFire 2 ATI cards requires a minimum of a 600 watt power supply. That's in the specs of most cards. So the 750TX is leaving you with a 150 watt cushion.

As an Antec 900 owner, I can pretty much guarantee that an 11" long GPU will not fit in the case.  Even after moving stuff around in the case, my 9800 GTX+ at 10.5" leaves less than 0.5" between the end of the GPU and the internal cage framework.  I am not sure how deep the HAF 922 is but I would recommend getting a full tower version of either the 900 (full tower equivalent is the 1200) or the 922 (full tower version being the HAF 932).  My preference based on reviews would be the HAF 932.

I just did a build with the Antec 902 case.  I love the case but if I ever planned to have dual GPUs I would go with a full tower.  I did some searches on the Antec 902 case and HAF 922 and must admit that the finished product looks better on the HAF.  By that I mean the internal part placement of everything along with the cable management is significantly better.  You can do some nice cable management in the Antec 902 but its going to require some time, possibly some extension cables, and some shrink tubing.  I do however prefer the exterior look of the 902 better so I chose it over the HAF.   

n0lxx:

Kenotic:

Thanks for the suggestion on the Gigabyte board. Looks good. I think I'll probably switch to that since its a little cheaper too.

 As far as the PSU goes though, I do a lot of gaming so I prefer to leave a nice cushion for power to extend the life of the PSU and other components. 

Actually with the 750TX you do have a power cushion.

To CrossFire 2 ATI cards requires a minimum of a 600 watt power supply. That's in the specs of most cards. So the 750TX is leaving you with a 150 watt cushion.

 

Not exactly. Video cards draw their power from the +12v rail of a PSU, and every PSU has a +12v (sometimes multiple) a +3v and a +5v rail. The wattage of each of these rails combined is the number the retailer lists as the PSU's wattage. Good PSU's will dedicate most of their power to the +12v rail as this is the important rail for powering the video card/s and CPU. However, some PSU's will spread power to the 3v and 5v rails and then claim a high overall wattage output to increase prices. So a 600 watt PSU would never be enough power to run 2 video cards that require 600 watts of power. When you factor in the power draw of the CPU, hard drive, optical drives, fans etc etc then you need a good amount of headroom if you dont want to run hot or stress the PSU.

Thanks for the info on the Antec 900, Tekran, I've settled on going with the HAF 922 which is actually wider than the 932 and dimensionally about the same overall. The major difference is actually in weight as the 932 has more steel parts versus the 922 going with plastic to keep the price down. Its good enough for me though. 

Kenotic,

You're welcome on the 900 info.  I do have one question as well as a comment.  The question is regarding the 922.  Have you confirmed that there is enough room for 11" long GPUs, especially if you plan to have 2 of them later?  The comment is regarding the power draw for each GPU.  The wattage recommended by manufacturers is for the full computer, not just the video cards.  As such, 2 video cards would not each need 600 watts of power.  I have made that same mistake in the past and was corrected by other Eggxperts on these forums.

Kenotic:

Not exactly. Video cards draw their power from the +12v rail of a PSU, and every PSU has a +12v (sometimes multiple) a +3v and a +5v rail. The wattage of each of these rails combined is the number the retailer lists as the PSU's wattage. Good PSU's will dedicate most of their power to the +12v rail as this is the important rail for powering the video card/s and CPU. However, some PSU's will spread power to the 3v and 5v rails and then claim a high overall wattage output to increase prices. So a 600 watt PSU would never be enough power to run 2 video cards that require 600 watts of power. When you factor in the power draw of the CPU, hard drive, optical drives, fans etc etc then you need a good amount of headroom if you don't want to run hot or stress the PSU.

Thanks for the info on the Antec 900, Tekran, I've settled on going with the HAF 922 which is actually wider than the 932 and dimensionally about the same overall. The major difference is actually in weight as the 932 has more steel parts versus the 922 going with plastic to keep the price down. Its good enough for me though. 

Well, it sounds like you know more than I do. I just go by what the video card manufacturer recommends for power. That way if the card goes out, they can't blame it on a wrong size power supply.

 Good Luck With Your Build!

Tekran:

Kenotic,

You're welcome on the 900 info.  I do have one question as well as a comment.  The question is regarding the 922.  Have you confirmed that there is enough room for 11" long GPUs, especially if you plan to have 2 of them later?  The comment is regarding the power draw for each GPU.  The wattage recommended by manufacturers is for the full computer, not just the video cards.  As such, 2 video cards would not each need 600 watts of power.  I have made that same mistake in the past and was corrected by other Eggxperts on these forums.

 I have not confirmed it for sure, but the HAF 922 is 4 inches longer than the 900, so it sounds like a pretty safe bet to me. The 922 is actually longer and wider than the 932. The 932 is just taller and heavier. I was actually planning on getting a couple of sapphire vapor-x 5870's which are 10 inches long rather than 11 due to the different cooling setup.

As long as you have checked to make sure everything will fit, you should be good to go then.  Good luck on your build.