My First Intel Build

[Volume]

As the title says, I hope I know what I'm doing. I'll keep the irrelevant stuff out, such as the case (okay, it's my long-lost love Lian Li PC-65B) and drives, etc. It's been a while since I built a PC and I had sold my last one a few months back

CPU choice edited due to upcoming price drops
CPU: Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 *price projected to drop to about $220 around Jan. 18th
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R *heard good things about it here and in reviews
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
Video: BFG Tech BFGEGTX2801024E GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3

As far as the "crossfire ready" PSU goes, I take it that's all marketing, and it won't affect my nVidia-based video card? Speaking of the card... would it be that noticeable to go down to a GTX260?

Overall, I'm trying to keep this under $1000. I already have a monitor and all that. With all accessories, this setup is subtotaling to just over $1000 which is fine as long as you guys can approve this build.

Be gentle. Thanks.

 

[Anchen]

The Q6600 is EOL, so dunno if the price drop will affect it much. What size monitor are you planning to run? That would mostly determine how much a drop to a 260 would affect you. If you are running a 24"+ (1920x1200) monitor I'd probably recommend the 280 (if your main goal is gaming it'd be the most benefit to you) although the 260 wouldn't necessarily be bad really. If you are running on a resolution below that, you can probably get a 260 and really face no downgrade in performance, both should ace most games at that resolution these days.

 

[Volume]

The Q6600 is EOL, so dunno if the price drop will affect it much. What size monitor are you planning to run? That would mostly determine how much a drop to a 260 would affect you. If you are running a 24"+ (1920x1200) monitor I'd probably recommend the 280 (if your main goal is gaming it'd be the most benefit to you) although the 260 wouldn't necessarily be bad really. If you are running on a resolution below that, you can probably get a 260 and really face no downgrade in performance, both should ace most games at that resolution these days.

I'm going to go the extra yard for a Q9400, on second thought.

My monitor is a 22" with 1680x1050 resolution and it seems the price difference between a 260 and 280 is small enough in my opinion to justify the 280. Maybe I'll get a bigger screen this year if the taxman is nice.

 

[tiraides]

Though the Q6600 is EOL, it's still available... and would work just as well for your needs as the Q9400. Keep it into consideration, especially if you want to cut costs even further. If you really want to go the extra yard, the Q9550 has double the L2 cache and a higher multiplier (that makes it easier to overclock than the Q9400) -- but I don't know (at the moment) its pending price following the collective price drops.

 

[engiNURD]

I'd just pickup the Q6600 for $180.

That PSU is also SLI ready. So no, it has no effect... simply marketting.

If the price difference is negligible to you, then go for it. Just make sure you check reviews for the cards with results for the games you want to play at the resolution/settings you play at and are happy with said results.