OK guys, this is probably going to turn out to be the largest thread i have created....this is like everything i have been confused on and advice on my new build (hopefully)

ok first, now where to start... ummm ok FSB. Now i realise that FSB or Front Side Bus is the speed at which the CPU communicates with the RAM. i see CPU's and motherboards saying things like 1066 1333 and 1600MHz, and RAM (i am NOT getting DDR3 until it gets really cheap...) of 1066 FSB. I see on threads all over the net "we reached 400MHz FSB" or "The magic 500MHz FSB mark!!) uhh...? i have seen things saying there are two types of FSB, CPU (eg 10x multiplier and 300MHz FSB) and Motherboard which apparently has its own multiplier.... ummmm ok then? Confused? i know i am... someone please explain lol...

Next, according to thermaltake's power consumption calculator, my new build that i will be building sometime soon (when all these issues and confusions have been resolved) with a Q6600 and 8800GT and such only needs a **430** watt (at MAX load!!)PSU!! so why then are there 1000 and 1200 watt power supplies... i mean even two 8800GT's or 9800's for that matter would not DOUBLE or QUADRUPLE the power needed... so is thermaltake lying? or are power supplies just blown out of proportion for some reason... anyway i would also like some advice on say a 550-650 watt PSU.... i hope to be getting two 8800GT's in SLi at some point in the future when it's needed....
I have seen on tomshardware and other sites where they say Corsair power supplies for example that are EXACT COPIES of Seasonic PSU's (they say seasonic gave them the powre supplies and they just repackaged them....) so which power supply should i get? which brand is reliable and trustworthy? (btw i am looking ofr a modular psu if possible....) im gettin a antec 300 which has the PSU at the bottom so idc if there is a fan on the top of the PSU but i DO NOT WANT a psu with a fan on the bottom...

Next, i see on computing stores in the fan section fans with 3 pin, 4 pin connectors etc. I understand from surfing the web that 4 pin allows you to control the fan's speed. My evga 750i FTW has 4 Chassis fan connectors, but i plan on using 5 fans in the 300... are there any fans that plug into a molex connector from the power supply? if so how do you distinguish? what do they say that tells you molex?

I'm also thinking of sticking a zalman VF1000 (at least i think thats wat its called) on the 8800GT. I have seen on one post that this will obstruct the SLI fingers on the top of the card... does anyone have a 88GT with the VF1000 out there that can advise me on this? as i said earlier i am thinking of getting another 88 gt in the future so i want it to stay nice and cool...but don't want to limit my sli options. Also, no offense to anyone out there with a vf1000 but yeah it's not as attractive as the stock evga 8800GT cooler (which i understand doesnt actually COOL that well....but DAIM it looks awesome!!

Ok now another really important one.... and i know its been asked over and over again but i REALLY want to know, which is the coolest cooler that looks cool. So, in short, i want a cooler that keeps it nice and cool, but doesnt look like a lump of 5h!t (a la thermaltake big typ)...

umm cant think of any other misunderestimations that i have atm but yeah i will probably edit this post at some point... thanks in advance guys...i'm really relying on y'all.

P.S sorry for the big read lol umm instead of using quote or something if u just copy and paste within " " to reply to something i said.

Wow long thread lol.

Im too tired to answer all of your questions, but regarding the one about the PSU Calculator.

Yes the thermaltake estimate is correct. I have seen people running a quad core and a 8800 gtx on a 380 watt PSU. I forgot where but its happened though. So you wonder, whats with all these 1000 watt PSU's?! Well to put it simple, bragging rights. While I would generally recommenced something a little higher than what the PSU Calculators recommend just to be safe. Just remember, and I CANT stress this enough, its all about the Quality of a PSU, not the wattage. For your needs, a QUALITY 550 watt would be just fine. When I say quality, I mean 80+ certified, PC Power and Cooling, Corsair, Silverstone, Seasonic brands. NOT Roswill, Apevia, Logisys, Athena, Ext....

If you plan on going dual 8800 gt's later (sli) then i would recommend this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703005

As for the FSB question, motherboard manufacturers use the effective front side bus speed. Intel processors multiply the actual FSB by 4 in order to get the effective FSB. A processor with a FSB of 1333 would have an actual FSB of 333.25 MHz.

Casey

Yeah man thats wat i said like 550-650 watt yeah thanks for that newegg one...im thinking of a seasonic or antec but havent looked too much into it yet... and yeah whats important is QUALITY and MAX CONTINOUS WATTAGE....cos some cheap-o brands like $40 say like 430 watt but that's PEAK LOAD ...and they usually only reach like 200 or 300 watts continous ....so yeah thanks man i realise now that the 1000 watt things are just marketing hype....im thinking of like antec NeoPower 650 watt Blue, as it has a top fan and the antec 300 case has them mounted at the bottom....

Thanks again dude its good of people to ya know like take the time to help other people.

EDIT: yeah btw looking for modular PSU so as little airflow restriction as possible

No offense to you, but you might want to build a cheap budget build just for practice before you tackle this project.

Start slow and read up on as much as you can! Don't rush it or you will experience all kinds of migraines. If you need the system right now, you might consider buying a custom machine, or a custom bare bones, and maybe add some finishing touches yourself. If you do make sure you get a good warranty.

Honestly That system isnt hardcore enough to consume 1000w or more but when your talking a rig with 10 harddrives and quad sli and top line intel with liquid cooling system and serveral fans your probly looking pretty close to 1kw...really each harddrive is like 20w at bootup (estimate) so you know it can add up if you have cash for build like that.

Thats not true 4 pin CAN be controlled through a controller but 3pin can be software controlled through the motherboard software if its plugged into motherboard, like asus and many others provide those tools.

I believe newegg carries 3pin to 4pin converters (molex is 4pin)

Are you talking about the VF100 or the VF1000 LED idk but either way on zalman website it shows compatibility charts on what zalman surports and there pretty accruate and good if it doesnt fit, then it doesnt fit.
Link: http://zalman.com/ENG/product/Cate [...] econd=CAS2

Zalman carries some Coolers like the CNPS7700-Cu that look great but cool awesome also.
Link:http://zalman.com/ENG/product/CategorySecond_Pic.asp

Hope that helps little.

OK ...

FSB - One of the problems is that people (including me sometimes) use the term "FSB" imprecisely. "FSB" stands for "Frontside Bus". It's the path into and out of Intel CPU's. AMD does something a little different. The frequency is how fast it operates. Taking an E6600 for example: FSB freq. is 266 MHz times the internal multiplier of 9 equals the core speed of 2.4 GHz.

Simplification follows ...
Memory clock is twice the FSB freq. or 533 MHz. So, running stock FSB freqs, DDR2-533 RAM would work. With current Intel CPU's, the FSB is "quad pumped". That means it transfers four chunks of data into or out of the CPU each bus cycle. That means the FSB clock runs four times faster than the FSB frequency. That's where the 1066 MHz comes from (also the 1333 MHz and 1600 MHz).

Because the less expensive Intel CPU's have locked multipliers (cannot increase them), the only way to OC them is to increase the FSB frequency. Some motherboards can run faster than others. My eVGA 680i motherboard won't run faster than about 450 MHz. My Gigabyte motherboard will run past 500 MHz.

I am running a Q6600 at 3.6 GHz (400 MHz FSB freq X 9 internal multplier). I need at least DDR2-800 RAM and my FSB freq is 1600 MHz. This doesn't come free. I need a stable, well designed motherboard to support the higher frequencies. Higher frequencies generally requires increasing certain operating voltages. That means more power and heat which requires better PSU's, heat sinks, and cases that are pretty good at moving air through them - hopefully quietly.

Power comsumption: 430 watts is about right for what you are planning - a good 430 watt PSU. Your actual power comsumption will be around 280 watts, almost all of it at 12 volts. The 12 volt output is critical. It powers the CPU and video card. I like to operate my PSU's at no more than 50 - 70% capacity (military electronics background). So for what youhave specified, I would recommend no less than something like a Corsair 450VX. It is so conservatively rated that it is really a 550 watt PSU with a 450 watt label - and price. If you are going to SLI, go to a PSU in the 600 - 700 watt range.

Antec cases: Antec cases put the PSU's on the bottom. They have two sets of mounting holes - well, an extra hole for the offset PSU mounting hole. If the PSU has a fan on the bottom, turn the PSU upside down so the fan points upward. It will mount.

Fans: I like the Scythe S-Flex SFF21F. They have the 3 pin motherboard connector so the system can monitor and control the speed. The kit also comes with 4 pin Molex adapter.

HSF's: I like the way the Zalman 9500 and 9700 look. I have a 9500 from eBay (1/3 price) on my knick-knack shelf (attracts a lot of attention when I have company over). The problem is that there are HSF's that work as well for less money or work better for the same price. I am using a ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme (commonly abbreviated to TRUE on these forums) combined with one of the Scythe fans mentioned above. It's considered one of the best air coolers available. It's mounted on a Q6600 OC'd to 3.6 GHz.

The relatively new Xigmatek S1283 is attracting a lot of attention. It works as well as the TRUE and it's about half the price. Comparison tests here:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

I have a 640 MB 8800GTS with stock cooling, so I have no comments about aftermarket GPU coolers.

ill try to help as much as i can.

first. the FSB issue.

you need to understand that your cpu is quad pumped, while rams are dual pumped. .... so if you are running your cpu with FSB 400 (regardless of the multiplayer) to run it smoothly with one to one ratio, ull need DDR800 (because 800/2=400). ...... for me. my system is 1:1 ratio, with 1333:333 meaning 333 cpu FSB x 4. and ram 333 x2 (DDR2 667)

about power. u should know that no psu unit will deliver power with 100 efficiency, the top notch ones will deliver 90+ or maybe lesser. dont forget that with time, the efficiency will drop. so although the calculator shows u 350+. in the long run, if you buy it, it will fail you. as for me. my reg is my sign, and i have 550w psu. (to know best psu to buy, go to johhnyguru.com and ask over there).

all the fans with 4 or 3 pins can be controlled. the important part is. your mobo should be able to control it. for example. my mobo cant control the speed of 3pin fans. while some asus mobo DO control 3pin fans. if you want to run many fans, and control their speed. you'll need fan controller, it make life heaps easier.

bout the GT coolers. im tired to answer that, or even think about it. lol

bout the CPU coolers. just go anand tech, n have a look at any review, and you'll see a comparision chart for many cpu coolers. and decide what you wanna do.

Yeah dude i have built a system previously, like i'm not stupid or anything... for eg i got a cheap 7600GS (AGP lol) and OC'd it 50% faster using ati tool (its now 600MHz core and 750 mem which = 1500 operation) with stock cooling...

Yeah man, that really helps thanks dude

response 1: Oh ok i understand now.... lol i swear im not gonna be runnin 10 hard drives tho lol...nor QUAD SLi but yeah thanks i get it now why they have 1kw PSU's

Response 2: So 4pin=Molex? the downloadable manual on that 750i FTW i want says it has 3 and 4 pin motherboard fan connectors... hmm clarify?

Response 3: yeah i know it fits the card but i saw one post somewhere on the web which said it was so large it went over the top of the sli fingers, thus the only way to have sli was through a flexible sli bridge...

Response 4: yeah um no offense dude but that URL doesnt exist....and zalman says the product doesnt exist and btw i was kinda lookin for something non-copper ish lol... something big and fearsome lol....black preferably... umm yeah i know zalman has a VF1000 special ed or something with black fins but idk something about it i dont like.... oh well forget about the cooler i'll live if it doesnt look a million bucks...or hopefully not cost a million bucks...

kk thanks anyway dude pretty generous to give up ur time yea

Yeah thanks dude...sorry if i sounded a little noobish in my question guys like i do know a bit about computers i HAVE built and overclocked 1...plus im only 13 years old lol

ok response 1: yeah i thought DDR ram was double the SOMETHING (Double Data Rate lol... ) umm so are you saying that the RAM clock is DOUBLE the FSB (as your example 266)? so if i had a Q6600 (which btw i am planning to get, i dont like the Q9300 much) with an FSB of say 400MHz...does that mean that having 1066 MHz high performance DDR2 RAM would be useless? do i only need DDR2 800? or even 667/533? OR is the whole "quad pumped" thing mean i should have 1200MHz to be four times faster the FSB freqency? takes a bit to get my head around lol...

response 2: yeah i have been thinking of a 550-650 watt PSU pretty much the whole time, i was just a bit confused as to what the 1000 watt PSU's were for lol... and yeah i do know that 12 volt operates the CPU, gfx card etc. as i said not COMPLETELY noob

response 3: Fantastic! now that's an interesting piece of info! great now i don't have to worry about PSU's with bottom fans haha...

response 4: hmm antec tri-cool (or whatever their marketing name is) that comes with the 300 (2 of em), thermaltake turbofans, scythe or zalman?? big range of choices....daunting sometimes

response 5: yeah i know about TRUE but it's size and WEIGHT really scare me and yeah it doesnt look too crash hot imo... omg the ultra 120 scores better than the ultra 120 extreme? huh? hmmmm i do like the look of that xigmatek (fans a bit boring tho lol) but i wonder if any are sold in aus? we dont get the full range of products
wonder how hot ur 8800GTS runs tho....playing crysis for 4 hours...

anyhow dude thanx alot thats a big help i really appreciate it. sorry for the long responses and question guys lol... you shouldn't need to give up that much of your time just for some guy's problems...

response 1: so if you had DDR-2 800MHz on that comp of urs....it would make no difference?

response 2:yeah yeah i know about efficiency (hence the 80+ products) and i even used 50% capacitor aging on that thermaltake calculator and it was 430 watts about... well i think these few posts have resolved the issue about PSU.... i'll probably get a 600-650 watt PSU and look up different brands at some point closer to when i buy the parts

response 3: yeah i been to anand tech and seen the reviews (hence the question about the big typ etc...) i HAVE done some research guys, i dont just go the noob option and let others do the dirty work for me...im not lazy lol

DDR2-1066MHz, until I see evidence to the contrary, is simply OCed 800 MHz (not too simply but yeah...).
What resolution are you playing games at (i.e. your monitors resolution). If its over 1680x1050 than SLi is viable, but under and you wont really tell the difference. On the point of GFx cards, wait until AMD releases the 4850, it should release around the $USD 200 (approx $AUD230 on parity, but more likely $AUD250-270 ish in stores in Aust) mark and offer good performance/power consumption, maybe even better than SLI 9900 GTS, certainly cheaper and cooler

The ultra is better because of its base

Where abouts in Aust are you (makes huge differnce in availablility of parts).
for example in Perth PLE has the Asus silent knight @ $80, but its on special every now and then for a good price (yes we have still electricity here after Gas crisis).
http://www.ple.com.au/snapshot.php?inventory_id=29701
Its still a monster though lol.

well, havent decided on the monitor yet but probly a 19" at 1280x1024 LOL....dont no too much about monitors lol i have a 17 inch CRT... 22" is a lil expensive imo tho... hmm i must look into that ATI... i am the worlds biggest uber noob when it comes to ATI....i have no idea about their chips... umm yeah im in QLD so pretty much gamedude and umart (umart has a massive range of parts) sydney i guess would be the hub for IT in aus but yea...

A warning about the Antec case: My Antec 900 did not include a system speaker - you know, the one that gives the short beep indicating that the POST passed. So I doubt if the 300 has one.

I used a speaker salvaged from an old case. The magnet was strong enough to stick to the side of the SPU.