New (gaming) PC

[kiddingguy]

Hello,

I'm thinking of buying myself a new (gaming) PC.

PC will be used for games and day-to-day usage, like IE, Word etc

I came up with the following configuration:

- Lian Li Midi Tower PC-A12B ATX No PSU

- Asus Maximus Extreme iX38, SATA2 RAID, GLAN

- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz FSB1333 Box

- OCZ 2x2GB DDR3 SDRAM PC14400 CL8.0 SLI-ready

- XFX GPU PCI-e GeForce 9800GTX 512MB XXX 2xDVI/HDMI

- Western Digital 1TB SATA300 32MB, WD1001FALS

- Asus DVD-/+/RAM 2014S1 20x/20x/14x

- Thermaltake Powersupply Toughpower 1000W

- Thermaltake Processor Cooler BigTyp 120 VX AMD & Intel

- Western Digital 1TB SATA300 32MB, WD1001FALS

I currently have a perfect ASUS soundcard

Speakers and keyboard/mouse I also do have.

maybe some USB-PCI slots etc, but these are optional

Is this good or can it be better (preferably in the same price range) and is this hardware 'compatible' with each other?

[Colin.B]

I'd recommend the 4850 over the 9800 GTX personally, given how it performs in many games compared to the nVidia based card.

[kiddingguy]

I'd recommend the 4850 over the 9800 GTX personally, given how it performs in many games compared to the nVidia based card.

For a slightly higher price I have found the Sapphire PCI-e Radeon HD4870 1GB DDR5 2xDVI/HDCP

I guess this one is (somewhat) better that the 4850.

Is the rest of the hardware a good choice?

[Colin.B]

I think so. I'm not near as knowledgeable as others here...But if I had the money, I'd get the same set up :D.

[+Mystic MVC]

You have a couple of things in there that I'm guessing you are never going to use and they are really costing you a lot more than you think. Since you will probably never fully use the Crossfire/SLI capabilities of the Maximus board, go with an Asus P5Q or a P5Q Pro. The 1000W PSU is way too much. For what you are doing, I would recommend a Corsair 620HX. Finally if you have the money go for the 4870 like you were looking at because the gains over the 4850 (in price, heat put out, etc.) are pretty large.

Do you really need 2TB of storage? Maybe consider just one or two 640GB WD AAKS drives for speed and performance.

[gwai lo]

Can you possibly post the link to a site where you'd be buying from? If you can, also post your budget.

Are you overclocking?

What size is your monitor?

When did you plan on buying?

First off, I would lose the X38 board unless you were going Crossfire. X38's don't offer much over P45's beyond dual x16 lanes for Crossfire, otherwise they perform and overclock similarly. What gives the P45 the edge is its price. Swapping in a P45 will also require going with DDR2, unless you get a board that supports DDR3. However, I wouldn't bother with DDR3 because it doesn't offer anything over DDR2 on our current platform (s775 with these processors) and it generally costs more. Buying it now so you can "upgrade" later doesn't always work because DDR3 *will* be cheaper later when it is adopted by the mainstream market and DDR2 doesn't cost *too* much now.

I'd nitpick on the processor because the Q9xx0's tend to cost *a lot* more than the Q6600's and in tasks like games and "normal use", the improvements in clock for clock and SSE4.1 advantages disappear.

Power supply is too much for your system, unless you plan on using it for a few systems down the road. If so, then check out the Real Power Pro series from Coolermaster, Corsair kW unit, Silverstone's Olympia, Antec Signature, and BFG ES-800. They may be priced better.

Finally, the Big Typhoon is old and will be outperformed by coolers now. Check out the Xigmatek S1283 for starters.

[CrashG]

There's no real benefit in running DDR3 over DDR2 on current hardware. If your not/slightly overclocking the cpu, the stock cooler will be fine. If you do drop the X38 board, look into the P45 chipset based boards like the P5Q line from ASUS. The PSU is way overkill.

[kiddingguy]

Thx for the replies.

I have changed the mobo to: Asus P5Q3 Deluxe WiFi-AP@n iP45, SATA2 RAID

PSU to Corsair Powersupply CMPSU-1000HXEU 1000W, Modular (slight price difference as compared to the 620HX)

and the CPU cooler to Zalman CNPS9700-NT AMD & Intel

Is the Midi Tower OK, or can I better have another one (if so, which brand & type)?

[gwai lo]

So I guess you're sticking with DDR3? Alright then...

The Zalman offerings are also being outperformed by other units for less. Beyond the Xigmatek, I'd check out the OCZ Vendetta 2.

Is the 1000HX cheaper? I only suggested those lines because they may be cheaper, not necessarily perform better. Both are based the CWT PUC platform for FWIW. Also, so are we to assume that you wanted a large power supply capacity for upgrades later?

Also:

Can you possibly post the link to a site where you'd be buying from? If you can, also post your budget.

Are you overclocking?

What size is your monitor?

When did you plan on buying?

[kiddingguy]

@+gwai lo

I live in The Netherlands and the site I'm planning on buying from it from www.4launch.nl or www.zercom.nl

The budget is apprx. 1500 euros

I currently do have a 20" Samsung SyncMaster 2030BW

I am not planning on OC'ing

Plan to buy should be in a month or so.

Concerning the DDR2/DDR3 memory... doesn't it really make a real difference on the selected mobo and stuff (also given the price)?

For the PSU; I can also opt for the Cooler Master Powersupply Realpower Pro 700W Modular, right?

[gwai lo]

Okay, that'll be a good match up with the 4850 for sure (unless the 9800GTX+ is cheaper).

If you don't plan on overclocking, I wouldn't buy an aftermarket cooler. The processor's performance and longevity should not be affected, so stick with stock cooling. If you find it too loud, then buy an aftermarket cooler that'll be quieter. I wouldn't say buy one now though because you get the stock cooler either way (whether or not you buy an aftermarket heatsink), so you might as well try it out first. If anything, you'll just have to put up a few days with the noise. Better than spending money unnecessarily.

DDR2/DDR3 isn't affected by the board choice (unless your board doesn't have support for one or the other ;)). However, I wouldn't recommend going with DDR3 unless you just want the newest stuff or want to "invest in new technology". It will be cheaper later.

For the power supply, yeah the Real Power Pro would be a solid unit. Really, your system can get away with a 500 watt unit (nothing really high in power draw there).

Also, since you're not overclocking, I'd lean towards the Q9450 because it'll be cheaper. Only in the US have I seen a small price delta between the two (as the Q9550 has technically dropped in price to the price point of where the Q9450 was at). The only thing the Q9550 offers is a few more MHz, it's real worth comes in the multiplier..which isn't a factor for you at all.

[Colin.B]

Okay, that'll be a good match up with the 4850 for sure (unless the 9800GTX+ is cheaper).

If you don't plan on overclocking, I wouldn't buy an aftermarket cooler. The processor's performance and longevity should not be affected, so stick with stock cooling. If you find it too loud, then buy an aftermarket cooler that'll be quieter.

He's actually going with the 4870, so...Even better! I haven't had this much fondness for ATi since the 9800 Pro.

I should also add my agreement with Gwai in regards to an aftermarket cooler. I've never bought an aftermarket fan or heatsink for my CPU and it has worked perfectly fine for me. (This is regarding stock speeds, no overclocking.)

[+Mystic MVC]

Also, since you're not overclocking, I'd lean towards the Q9450 because it'll be cheaper. Only in the US have I seen a small price delta between the two (as the Q9550 has technically dropped in price to the price point of where the Q9450 was at). The only thing the Q9550 offers is a few more MHz, it's real worth comes in the multiplier..which isn't a factor for you at all.

Are you serious? I thought that price drop was universal by that I mean only a $10 difference between the Q9450 and the Q9550. If so that is too bad.

[gwai lo]

Well, Intel dropped prices...the retailers do what they want.

Actually, I was mostly referring to this, but they don't even have the Q9450

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_p...p;cPath=187_346

ocuk seems to be doing it though

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist....6&subid=793

ebuyer doesn't have the q9550 listed

So..well maybe not just in the US. However, it's still something I'd look into.