Help with my first build

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Amberite

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Jun 23, 2008
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My brother works at Intel and so was able to get me a QX9650 for free. Based on this, I decided to build a new computer! Here's the current components I have selected:

CASE: Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000BWS - $200
PSU: Thermaltake W0116RU 750Watt - $170
CPU: Intel QX9650 Core 2 Extreme - FREE
HEATSINK: Zalman 110mm 2 ball cooler - $54
MEMORY: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) - $100 -- I'm not 100% on this
VIDEO CARD: EVGA GTX280 1GB - $650 (for now)
HARD DRIVE: WD VelociRaptor 300GB 10k RPM - $300

As you can see I'm looking for a fairly future-proof gaming rig. I already have a 24" Dell monitor which has 1920x1200. I'm looking to spend about $1500-2000.

My questions are this:
1. Do you see any problems / suggestions?
2. Most importantly, can anyone recommend me a good motherboard for this kind of setup? I am going to have one GTX280, but in the future I might add a second (I will never triple-SLi so that's not an issue).
3. Based on motherboard recommendations, any suggestion for different memory card?

Thanks!
 
Amberite said:
My brother works at Intel and so was able to get me a QX9650 for free
Click to expand...

you are one lucky son of... a gun :p

get Corsair memory instead, at least some XMS2 DHX
and you can do better than that Thermaltake PSU

If u are planning on going SLI then you'll need a nforce mobo.
at least a nforce 780i would be nice
 
1) Yeah a few:
- Dtich the Thermaltake PSU and get this equally great PSU for much less price:
Corsair 750TX 750W PSU - $99
- Ditch the Zalman HSF. Any of these HSF are substantially better than the Zalman:
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle HSF - $37
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm HSF - $50
Thermalright Ultima-90 HSF - $46 & Panaflo FBA09A12M 92mm Fan - $3
- You can get faster RAM for cheaper:
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 1066RAM

2) What size monitor do you have? If it's below 1920x1200+ or 24"+, don't bother with SLI.

3) Answered in #1. No need for DDR3 RAM whatsoever.
 
Well if you're going for "future-proof", than I'd recommend getting the 790i mobo with ddr3 memory.
 
Vincenz said:
Well if you're going for "future-proof", than I'd recommend getting the 790i mobo with ddr3 memory.
Click to expand...

if you are going for really future proof, throw in a Skull Trail Mobo, a couple of Intel Xeon X7350, 16 GB DDR3, and 3 GeForce GTX280 for a triple SLI. :p

If u really want a future proof computer, then get a quantum computer
 
If you want SLI, the board to get is the eVGA nFrce 750i SLI FTW. All other boards arent as stable.

Avoid DDR3 due to its price premium and lack of significant performance improvement over DDR2.

No PC is future proof, especially with Intel's tick/tock strategy. Heck, even the engineers I know at intel change their system every year. :rolleyes:
 
leSLIe said:
you are one lucky son of... a gun :p
Click to expand...

Yes I am :) I was looking at the 780i but I'm hearing a lot of reports of instability? Or maybe that's the 790i? Either way, which would you go for: 780i or 750i?

Danny Bui said:
1) Yeah a few:
- Dtich the Thermaltake PSU and get this equally great PSU for much less price:
Corsair 750TX 750W PSU - $99
- Ditch the Zalman HSF. Any of these HSF are substantially better than the Zalman:
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle HSF - $37
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm HSF - $50
Thermalright Ultima-90 HSF - $46 & Panaflo FBA09A12M 92mm Fan - $3
- You can get faster RAM for cheaper:
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2 1066RAM

2) What size monitor do you have? If it's below 1920x1200+ or 24"+, don't bother with SLI.

3) Answered in #1. No need for DDR3 RAM whatsoever.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That PSU definitely saves some money. Good stuff. I have a 24" widescreen dell monitor. And yea I wasn't thinking of DDR3 because I heard the performance gain is minimal, if any.

leSLIe said:
if you are going for really future proof, throw in a Skull Trail Mobo, a couple of Intel Xeon X7350, 16 GB DDR3, and 3 GeForce GTX280 for a triple SLI. :p
Click to expand...

Haha I guess I shouldn't have used that wording. Basically I meant I want a nice build that I can use over the next 2-3 years and still throw mostly anything at it.

enginurd said:
If you want SLI, the board to get is the eVGA nFrce 750i SLI FTW. All other boards arent as stable.
Click to expand...

I was checking this board out at newegg a few days ago but I wasn't 100% sure it's PCI-E 2.0. I'm assuming it is, but in the specs they don't list it as 2.0. I'm guessing it is, though? Also, do you see any problems getting two GTX280s in there?
 
NICE!!!!!! free QX9650 FTW!!!!

sounds like a good build, you might also consider the Noctua NH-U12P cooler, as it is very very quiet...

otherwise, good build and if you are thinking of sli, definately go for the 750i, but you might also consider just going P45, as that would be more stable than the 750i.
 
soundguy said:
otherwise, good build and if you are thinking of sli, definately go for the 750i, but you might also consider just going P45, as that would be more stable than the 750i.
Click to expand...

Is there any difference, SLi-wise, between a 750i and a P45? Would I be able to SLi two GTX280 on a P45?
 
Amberite said:
I was checking this board out at newegg a few days ago but I wasn't 100% sure it's PCI-E 2.0. I'm assuming it is, but in the specs they don't list it as 2.0. I'm guessing it is, though? Also, do you see any problems getting two GTX280s in there?
Click to expand...

Yes, they are PCI-E 2.0.
http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ5NCwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

Amberite said:
Is there any difference, SLi-wise, between a 750i and a P45? Would I be able to SLi two GTX280 on a P45?
Click to expand...

You can only SLI with NVIDIA chipsets. However, NVIDIA chipsets are known to be somewhat problematic for the Intel platform (they're great for AMD platform, lol). They run hotter and therefore don't OC as well as the Intel chipset counterparts. P45 would be a good choice if you decide to stick with a single card solution, since the chipset runs cooler, can OC better, and is more reliable/stable than the 750i SLI. If you go with a single card solution, your best choice is the 9800GX2. In fact, I think the 9800GX2 on a P45 would outperform a single GTX280, IIRC.
 
enginurd said:
Yes, they are PCI-E 2.0.
http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ5NCwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0



You can only SLI with NVIDIA chipsets. However, NVIDIA chipsets are known to be somewhat problematic for the Intel platform (they're great for AMD platform, lol). They run hotter and therefore don't OC as well as the Intel chipset counterparts. P45 would be a good choice if you decide to stick with a single card solution, since the chipset runs cooler, can OC better, and is more reliable/stable than the 750i SLI. If you go with a single card solution, your best choice is the 9800GX2. In fact, I think the 9800GX2 on a P45 would outperform a single GTX280, IIRC.
Click to expand...

That's some great info. Thanks for the confirmation of the PCI-E 2. I've read a lot about nvidia motherboard instabilities as well, so this definitely makes it a lot clearer. I guess I'll have to go with a 750i if I want to SLi, despite the instabilities.

Also, after just seeing the first HD4870 review (on a Chinese site, though, so who knows how accurate it is), I'm thinking of *maybe* switching to a 4870 or 4870x2. Any good motherboards recommendations for ATI?
 
If you want dual 16X Crossfire, your only choices are the X38 or X48 chipsets, which are quite pricey. As for which specific board, I'd suggest the Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4 if you can find one.

P45 will do dual 8x Crossfire, but you'll have to wait for reviews to find out how well the cards' performance scales with the lower bandwidth (it might not even be affected at all?).
 
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