watsonte Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 (edited) Okay, I am building this with games like Crysis and Age of Conan in mind, playing @ 1680x1050, and really I would prefer to get a close to maximizing performance as possible. I might give Vista a try, however, I do have a copy of XP I will probably end up running as well (dual boot). My Budget is settling around $1500-$1600 So far I am looking at the following: CPU : Intel 8400 ($189.99) Motherboard: Asus P5Q3 (P45) ($229.99) Memory: Corsair 2GB 1333 DDR3 ($107.00) PSU: PC Power & Cooling S75QB (750W) ($149.99) Graphics Card: 9800 GX2 ? This the the biggest issue, I know I should wait until the new 4000 series is released from ATI, and I will, but, right now I am looking at the 9800 GX2 ($484.99) as my best single card solution. I have read that there currently is no performance gain from DDR3, however, I am trying to save my self from the hassle of buying a new motherboard once DDR3 becomes a more viable option. The 2GB is only $107, so not a big hit in the budget. With other misc. hardware, Seagate HDD 250GB 32mb cache ($79.99), Creative Sound card ($49.99), Antec 300 midtower Case ($69.95) With all of that I just a hair over $1400. So with that, I would like to get your opinions on any and all of the hardware. Also, I have been looking into getting a new HSF for the CPU, but, is there any real reason too? Vista 32 bit or 64? Is vista even worth it? Edited June 17, 2008 by watsonte Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verran Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 I have read that there currently is no performance gain from DDR3, however, I am trying to save my self from the hassle of buying a new motherboard once DDR3 becomes a more viable option. The 2GB is only $107, so not a big hit in the budget. Meh. I see your point here but it's still a waste of money. DDR3 does you no good now and by the time that changes you're going to want a new system anyways. DDR2 has better latencies, plenty of speed, and about 1/4 the price. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
watsonte Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 Meh. I see your point here but it's still a waste of money. DDR3 does you no good now and by the time that changes you're going to want a new system anyways. DDR2 has better latencies, plenty of speed, and about 1/4 the price. Fair enough, aside from switching to DDR2 any other recommendations? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenova69 Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 Grab a 3870x2 and a x38 or x48 motherboard and be prepared just in case you need more power. that's the only way you'll ever need that 750w anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
watsonte Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 (edited) Grab a 3870x2 and a x38 or x48 motherboard and be prepared just in case you need more power.that's the only way you'll ever need that 750w anyway. The main reason I chose the PC Power & Cooling PSU is because it has two 6+2-pin PCIE connectors, figured they might come in handy later considering the increasing demands of the newer generations of GFX cards. and X38 or X48? I was under the assumption that there might actually be a slight performance gain with the newer P45 and crossfire if I ever went in that direction and at the very least that the P45 chipset was on par with the X48. Edited June 17, 2008 by watsonte Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repr Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 at first, a 9800gx2 wouldnt be my choice, better get a 280GTX. im guessing theyll outrun the 9800gx2 when the drivers are getting more mature, and im no fan of dual gpu cards. also, with P45 you wont be able to use 2 nvidia cards, it only supports CF. this goes for X38/48 as well as for P45 vs X48, im not sure how thisll work in CF. its true that the current gpu cards, maybe except for the gtx280 and 260 dont use enough bandwith to need 2 full 16 speed lanes of pci-e, 2x8 wouldnt cripple it much if at all. however with the 4000 series from radeon and the gtx200's from nvidia im not sure. also i wonder if P45 is much cheaper then X38, and we know those are great boards im feeling im saying this a lot last days, but id wait some time to see what the new radeons will do. if they are as good as hoped, might be nice to get 4870's, a gx2 (bleh) or just 2 4870's in CF Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
watsonte Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 (edited) at first, a 9800gx2 wouldnt be my choice, better get a 280GTX. im guessing theyll outrun the 9800gx2 when the drivers are getting more mature, and im no fan of dual gpu cards. also, with P45 you wont be able to use 2 nvidia cards, it only supports CF. this goes for X38/48 as well as for P45 vs X48, im not sure how thisll work in CF. its true that the current gpu cards, maybe except for the gtx280 and 260 dont use enough bandwith to need 2 full 16 speed lanes of pci-e, 2x8 wouldnt cripple it much if at all. however with the 4000 series from radeon and the gtx200's from nvidia im not sure. also i wonder if P45 is much cheaper then X38, and we know those are great boards im feeling im saying this a lot last days, but id wait some time to see what the new radeons will do. if they are as good as hoped, might be nice to get 4870's, a gx2 (bleh) or just 2 4870's in CF Two 4870's or even one would be great if the are able to outperform everything else. The main reason I was looking at the 9800 GX2 is because, as of right now, it seems to provide the best performance for the price. I am hoping that the 4870 is atleast just as good. As for the motherboard, I wont be doing much in the ways of overclocking, more or less I am just looking for something stable and in the $150 - $230 price range. I can get the Asus P5Q Pro for $150. X38's seem to run in the $250 range or higher. If there is significant benifit from having two full 16 speed lanes than I will have to look at some other options... Edited June 18, 2008 by watsonte Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
watsonte Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 (edited) If I go in the X48 direction, the Gigabyte DS4 seems like a good option, any opinions on that? Edited June 18, 2008 by watsonte Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaGUY Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 Gigabyte makes great boards, but really wait till the 4870's come out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
watsonte Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 Gigabyte makes great boards, but really wait till the 4870's come out. Yeah, I am moving next week, so I wont be buying anything until the first week of July at the earliest. Hopefully we will see the 4870's by then. If anything I may buy everything but the GFX card have it ready and then once we find out how good these new cards will be make a decision from there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
watsonte Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 I have been looking around at various power supplies and came across this Antec Modular PSU. Anyone ever use it or have any issues with it? Antec 850 Modular PSU Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaGUY Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 Don't think you should have much trouble with it, just check out the recommened power supply list in the power supply section. Also 850W is huge unless your going for the big guns like SLI'd 9800GX2's or Crossfire'd 3870X2's (4870X2's). I'd suggust something like PC P&C 750W or Corsair 750W, unless modular is your thing. Doubt there will be any major problems with that Antec, but these 2 other ones are cream of the crop and are cheaper Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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