Nytmare Posted June 26, 2008 Posted June 26, 2008 (edited) So this is my first attempt at a build. I have read up a good amount and already had some imput. Budget is not a huge concern. If I am, however, throwing money away with no benefit, let me know. CASE COOLER MASTER cosmos S RC-1100-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full or COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX CPU Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz LGA 775 130W Quad-Core I have had imput that the "Extreme" line is a waste of money and I should look at.... Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9450 - Retail ....thoughts? GPU Two x PNY XLR8 VCG98GX2XPB GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI I have imput that I should go with a single NVidia 280. Thoughts?. If I had the money how much benefit would two 280 in SLI give me? MEMORY CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TW3X4G1600C9DHX - Retail * Cas Latency: 9 * Timing: 9-9-9-24 * Heat Spreader: Yes * Parts: Lifetime limited * Labor: Lifetime limited * Model #: TW3X4G1600C9DHX * Item #: N82E16820145200 SOUND CARD $90.99 Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail PSU ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ1300 1300W ATX12V / EPS12V Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply - Retail HARD DRIVE SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive My intent was getting one hard drive that is very fast on which to do the game installs, then a second hard drive where speed is less of an issue for data storage....pictures, work stuff, porn (JK) I am also a little green if I should do a RAID set up and how to do this....imput here appreciated. OPITICAL DRIVE SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM New arrival, 22X DVD burner FLOPPY DRIVE SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM THX! Edited June 26, 2008 by Nytmare Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaGUY Posted June 27, 2008 Posted June 27, 2008 What motherboard are you looking at? Personally I'd suggest the following, Gigabyte X48-DQ6 / DS4 Q9450 (The extreme is a bit better, but the price? If you had endless money to blow then I guess why not though.) 2x ATI 4870's (Costs alot less then an SLI setup with roughly the same performance, and will have more performance with some driver tweaks) 4gb DDR2-1066 Mushkin XP2 As for your power supply Corsair 750W would be my choice. Very quiet and very good build quality. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3mpest Posted June 27, 2008 Posted June 27, 2008 Roughly agree with Canada, cept im an nvidia fanboy, so i would take a 280 on a 780i, more expensive but you dont look like your hurting for cash. Only the extreme does is unlock multipliers. I have also found the OCZ SLI-ready RAM works very well on a 780i. if you want DDR3 then get a 790i and go with the mushkin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted June 27, 2008 Posted June 27, 2008 Instead of the two GX2's buy two 4870's an X48 motherboard, stick with DDR2 IMO DDR3 is a waste of money and the difference is hardly visible to the naked eye. For the power supply go with the SeaSonic M12 700w power supply. 4870(x2) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814129113 X48 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128331 SeaSonic - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817151031 RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...shkin%2bredline or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231166 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaGUY Posted June 27, 2008 Posted June 27, 2008 Also ya if money is not an issue lol, grab a 790i board with 2x GTX 280's It'll push some insane fps but the cost would be insane. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nytmare Posted June 27, 2008 Posted June 27, 2008 Also ya if money is not an issue lol, grab a 790i board with 2x GTX 280's It'll push some insane fps but the cost would be insane. THX for all the replies, very much appreciated! I was somewhat of a noob and forgot to post the MOBO choice..... MOBO ASUS Striker II Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail I am somewhat partial to ASUS, but if there are better choices throw them at me. At this point I would like to a SLI enabled MOBO. I am at this point leaning to the GTX 280 card....still thinking if one or two. Couple of other quick questions..... -Asus Xoner sound cards vs Soundblaster? -I heard if I go SLI, the PCI express slot on MOBO might be blocked, thus to get the PCI version of the sound card? -DDR3 your telling me is a waste, is DDR2 OK with that MOBO? (specific memory rec would be appreciated) -better hard drive choices? I was thinking one fast for game file access and a larger slower one for data stuff -with respect to the Extreme CPU, what advantage does the unclocked multiplier give? THX! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted June 27, 2008 Posted June 27, 2008 THX for all the replies, very much appreciated! I was somewhat of a noob and forgot to post the MOBO choice..... MOBO ASUS Striker II Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail I am somewhat partial to ASUS, but if there are better choices throw them at me. At this point I would like to a SLI enabled MOBO. I am at this point leaning to the GTX 280 card....still thinking if one or two. Couple of other quick questions..... -Asus Xoner sound cards vs Soundblaster? -I heard if I go SLI, the PCI express slot on MOBO might be blocked, thus to get the PCI version of the sound card? -DDR3 your telling me is a waste, is DDR2 OK with that MOBO? (specific memory rec would be appreciated) -better hard drive choices? I was thinking one fast for game file access and a larger slower one for data stuff -with respect to the Extreme CPU, what advantage does the unclocked multiplier give? THX! 1. Xonar is more for music and movies. But be more specific which soundblaster are you talking about? 2. There will be some PCI slots blocked due to the fact that one GTX 280 is a dual slot cooler so you block one PCI slot and in SLI you block 2 slots. 3. Yes it is a waste (at least for now) 4. just buy two 7200RPM HDD's and go raid o, you get about the same performance as raptor hdd's except with the 7200RPM drives you will get less noise, and less heat. 5. Unlocked multipliers mean you can overclock with out being limited to a multiplier (ex. if you want to reach 4GHz, you can eitehr have a x10 mp and a 400FSB or an x13 mp and an FSB of 313) Another important detail is what monitor do you have? and what resolution are you playing at? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaGUY Posted June 27, 2008 Posted June 27, 2008 Oh, and just to see what your getting yourself into with a 790i mobo and SLI GTX 280's.... http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-...e-review-test/5 I hope you've got like atleast a 24" display, cause anything less and SLI'd GTX 280's are a waste, 1920x1200 is a must (If not 2560x1600) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nytmare Posted June 29, 2008 Posted June 29, 2008 So tweaking things a bit.... GPU 2 NVidia 260's MOBO -recs? -is there one that does SLI and DDR2 both? People are suggesting DDR2 vs DDR3, yet I am having a hard time finding a site that lists which MOBO's support SLI. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nytmare Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 So tweaking things a bit.... GPU 2 NVidia 260's MOBO -recs? -is there one that does SLI and DDR2 both? People are suggesting DDR2 vs DDR3, yet I am having a hard time finding a site that lists which MOBO's support SLI. Bump -_- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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