So I'm rebuilding my system after about 2 - 2.5 years of running this same old box. It's really hard getting back into the hardware game after so long; the nvidia video card model designations alone are enough to make those with a weak constitution soil themselves and flee in terror :| After several days of researching and about a million clicks of the "search" function on Hardforum, I think I've found a decent build.
This will be my primary box, thus it has to be a good all-around system; gaming is a very high priority but not the only purpose of the system. I'm fairly confident that most of these parts are right for me, though I'm unsure about the memory and motherboard. I'll post more info and such along with the relevant components. Also, bear in mind that this is written by someone who is just now getting up to speed on the current state of the hardware scene; there may be things that I am not yet aware of.
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 590
What case to get was a huge consideration for me, and I think I've found what I'm looking for. I don't plan on ever going with a water cooled setup, I don't really care for the big flashy cases with huge side windows and more neon lights than a riced out '89 Civic, and I've had bad experiences with airflow with previous cases. Thus, airflow was the paramount consideration when considering a case. I like this one because it has more fan intake/exhaust locations than you can shake a stick at, and it's a very roomy case inside that will be easy to install stuff in and keep tidy. The only downside is that the PSU is on the bottom, but the 2 exhaust ports on the top of the case should more than compensate for the loss of the PSU as an exhaust fan above the CPU.
Power Supply: Corsair 750TX
Power supply didn't take a whole lot of thought; decent wattage and good build quality. Reviews I've read say this is a solid piece. I used an up-to-date PSU requirement calculator to roughly approximate the needs for my system, and I think 750 watts will be enough. The only thing I don't like about this PSU is the fact that I LOVE the modular cabling system on my current Antec unit and I hate to bid it farewell, but with the PSU being on the bottom of the case, I can easily hide unneeded cables.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
This took quite a bit of research and thought. I've read that dual core CPU's are best for gaming, and quad core CPU's are best for all-around system use and multitasking. Based on that, I decided to go with a quad core because multitasking and all-around performance are more important to me than a few more FPS in Crysis (although, if someone could fill me in as to just how much better dual is vs quad in gaming, that'd be great). I do plan on doing some overclocking, which is why I'm opting for the more expensive chip with a 12 meg cache. Any input on this is very appreciated. I don't want to go crazy with the OCing, but I do want to try to get the most out of my hardware, within reason.
Motherboard: Asus P5E Deluxe
This was the most difficult part to pick. I want something that can do full x16/x16 PCIe in Crossfire mode and that can use DDR2 1066 RAM. The memory compatibility issue was the most difficult to get my head around, but from what I've read, in order to get the most out of a Q9550, you need DDR2 1066. My heart is not set on this board; it just seems to be the best one that meets my requirements. I am very open to suggestions because A) this is a bit pricey, B) it comes with that stupid unnecessary sound card, and C) one of the newegg reviews says that it is very picky about just which DDR2 1066 it will work with (I am not totally sure if this is true about this board, but it is something I need to look into further...again, any info here is appreciated.)
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Memory
This was another hard bit to pick. 4 gigs is a must. Picking the memory unit itself wasn't hard, but coming to the conclusion that I need DDR2 1066 was tough. Again, I'm open to suggestions here. I'm looking whatever works best with overclocking a Q9550.
Video Card(s): 2x Asus Radeon HD4870 in Crossfire mode
Finally, an easy decision. Gaming will be a very high priority for this system, and I use a 37" Westinghouse 1080p tv as my primary monitor (and a 19" 1280x1024 Viewsonic as my secondary, but that's inconsiquential), thus I run all my games at 1920x1080 whenever possible...thus requiring some pretty hefty graphics firepower. My love of ATI has led me to one place: Crossfire'd HD4870's. As far as I know, all 4870's are created equal, and Asus has been good to me in the past, and they have a rebate making them priced quite attractively. The only change in video card I think I would consider before pulling the trigger on this build would be opting for a single 4870x2 instead of dual 4870's, but that's another can of worms.
Cooling: Undecided.
I'll probably go with a Zalman 9700 or something similar for the CPU cooler, and a wide array of whatever case fans seem to work best. I need to do more research on the case as to exactly how many of what size fan the case will accept and in what locations, but I'm planning on buying several 120 and 140mm fans. If anyone has any suggestions on good ones, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I'll probably just get what is the most popular on newegg, bleeting my sheep's BAAAA-A-A-A all the way. I'd like to get aftermarket VGA coolers too, but my limited searching hasn't turned up any options for HD4870's yet. Again, I'll be doing all air-cooled overclocking, so cooling is important but I don't think the decisions are too hard to make here. Opinions and suggestions are welcome.
Hard Drive(s), Optical Drive(s), Sound Card: I'll be recycling these parts from my old system. The exact models are pretty much non-issues; Western Digital SATA hard drives (320 gb and 80 gb), an IDE Samsung DVD combo drive, and a Creative X-Fi Fatality sound card.
So there you have it. Grand total from Newegg: $1,688.92. Which is actually unacceptable. I am shooting for a $1500 build. But, fortunately, I am told that the Q9550 will be dropping to about $330 sometime in August, thus getting me down to my $1500 price point before case fans are added (I can go a bit over, but I need to limit myself somewhere).
I'm open to any and all suggestions. The general idea I have for the system is an overclocking-friendly all-around powerful build with Crossfire'd ATI cards and substantial air cooling capabilities, all built around the Q9550 and dual 4870's. I don't plan on buying this until sometime in September, mostly because I want to wait for the Q9550 price drop, and also because I need some time to get settled down at school (moving to Columbus permanently...need to keep my cash reserves high for emergencies and moving costs etc). This wait is also why the 4870x2 is a possibility, but I'm not really giving that TOO much thought. I'm perfectly happy with dual 4870's; I think they'll last me for a good long while.
Anyway, thanks for reading!
This will be my primary box, thus it has to be a good all-around system; gaming is a very high priority but not the only purpose of the system. I'm fairly confident that most of these parts are right for me, though I'm unsure about the memory and motherboard. I'll post more info and such along with the relevant components. Also, bear in mind that this is written by someone who is just now getting up to speed on the current state of the hardware scene; there may be things that I am not yet aware of.
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 590
What case to get was a huge consideration for me, and I think I've found what I'm looking for. I don't plan on ever going with a water cooled setup, I don't really care for the big flashy cases with huge side windows and more neon lights than a riced out '89 Civic, and I've had bad experiences with airflow with previous cases. Thus, airflow was the paramount consideration when considering a case. I like this one because it has more fan intake/exhaust locations than you can shake a stick at, and it's a very roomy case inside that will be easy to install stuff in and keep tidy. The only downside is that the PSU is on the bottom, but the 2 exhaust ports on the top of the case should more than compensate for the loss of the PSU as an exhaust fan above the CPU.
Power Supply: Corsair 750TX
Power supply didn't take a whole lot of thought; decent wattage and good build quality. Reviews I've read say this is a solid piece. I used an up-to-date PSU requirement calculator to roughly approximate the needs for my system, and I think 750 watts will be enough. The only thing I don't like about this PSU is the fact that I LOVE the modular cabling system on my current Antec unit and I hate to bid it farewell, but with the PSU being on the bottom of the case, I can easily hide unneeded cables.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
This took quite a bit of research and thought. I've read that dual core CPU's are best for gaming, and quad core CPU's are best for all-around system use and multitasking. Based on that, I decided to go with a quad core because multitasking and all-around performance are more important to me than a few more FPS in Crysis (although, if someone could fill me in as to just how much better dual is vs quad in gaming, that'd be great). I do plan on doing some overclocking, which is why I'm opting for the more expensive chip with a 12 meg cache. Any input on this is very appreciated. I don't want to go crazy with the OCing, but I do want to try to get the most out of my hardware, within reason.
Motherboard: Asus P5E Deluxe
This was the most difficult part to pick. I want something that can do full x16/x16 PCIe in Crossfire mode and that can use DDR2 1066 RAM. The memory compatibility issue was the most difficult to get my head around, but from what I've read, in order to get the most out of a Q9550, you need DDR2 1066. My heart is not set on this board; it just seems to be the best one that meets my requirements. I am very open to suggestions because A) this is a bit pricey, B) it comes with that stupid unnecessary sound card, and C) one of the newegg reviews says that it is very picky about just which DDR2 1066 it will work with (I am not totally sure if this is true about this board, but it is something I need to look into further...again, any info here is appreciated.)
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Memory
This was another hard bit to pick. 4 gigs is a must. Picking the memory unit itself wasn't hard, but coming to the conclusion that I need DDR2 1066 was tough. Again, I'm open to suggestions here. I'm looking whatever works best with overclocking a Q9550.
Video Card(s): 2x Asus Radeon HD4870 in Crossfire mode
Finally, an easy decision. Gaming will be a very high priority for this system, and I use a 37" Westinghouse 1080p tv as my primary monitor (and a 19" 1280x1024 Viewsonic as my secondary, but that's inconsiquential), thus I run all my games at 1920x1080 whenever possible...thus requiring some pretty hefty graphics firepower. My love of ATI has led me to one place: Crossfire'd HD4870's. As far as I know, all 4870's are created equal, and Asus has been good to me in the past, and they have a rebate making them priced quite attractively. The only change in video card I think I would consider before pulling the trigger on this build would be opting for a single 4870x2 instead of dual 4870's, but that's another can of worms.
Cooling: Undecided.
I'll probably go with a Zalman 9700 or something similar for the CPU cooler, and a wide array of whatever case fans seem to work best. I need to do more research on the case as to exactly how many of what size fan the case will accept and in what locations, but I'm planning on buying several 120 and 140mm fans. If anyone has any suggestions on good ones, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I'll probably just get what is the most popular on newegg, bleeting my sheep's BAAAA-A-A-A all the way. I'd like to get aftermarket VGA coolers too, but my limited searching hasn't turned up any options for HD4870's yet. Again, I'll be doing all air-cooled overclocking, so cooling is important but I don't think the decisions are too hard to make here. Opinions and suggestions are welcome.
Hard Drive(s), Optical Drive(s), Sound Card: I'll be recycling these parts from my old system. The exact models are pretty much non-issues; Western Digital SATA hard drives (320 gb and 80 gb), an IDE Samsung DVD combo drive, and a Creative X-Fi Fatality sound card.
So there you have it. Grand total from Newegg: $1,688.92. Which is actually unacceptable. I am shooting for a $1500 build. But, fortunately, I am told that the Q9550 will be dropping to about $330 sometime in August, thus getting me down to my $1500 price point before case fans are added (I can go a bit over, but I need to limit myself somewhere).
I'm open to any and all suggestions. The general idea I have for the system is an overclocking-friendly all-around powerful build with Crossfire'd ATI cards and substantial air cooling capabilities, all built around the Q9550 and dual 4870's. I don't plan on buying this until sometime in September, mostly because I want to wait for the Q9550 price drop, and also because I need some time to get settled down at school (moving to Columbus permanently...need to keep my cash reserves high for emergencies and moving costs etc). This wait is also why the 4870x2 is a possibility, but I'm not really giving that TOO much thought. I'm perfectly happy with dual 4870's; I think they'll last me for a good long while.
Anyway, thanks for reading!