New Build need experienced advice..

K

=kz=

n00b
Joined
Nov 1, 2007
Messages
3
Hello,

Thought I'd share my planned system to get some feedback as it seems there are some very knowledgeable people on these forums.

Here's the specs:

CPU: Intel Q9450
MB: Asus P5E3 Premium X48
RAM: 4GB OCZ Platnium DDR3 1333 2 x 2GB CL 7-7-7-20
Video Card: XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 or maybe a 9800 GTX
HD: 2 x Segate Barracuda 7200 500GB (RAID 0)
PS: Cosair 620HX 620W
Case: Lian Li A05B (with blow hole and side vent)
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 245T
Sound Card: SB X-Fi Xtreme (do I need it or is the sound with the P5E3 decent??)

It's a toss up with the video card right now until some benchmarks come out for the 9800 GTX I prefer the idea of a single GPU and am not really interested in Crossfire or SLI. I would like to do a slight overclock with the 9450 but nothing too crazy if I can get 3.6 on air I'd be very happy. Any recommendations on a good quality heatsync would be appreciated (I was looking at getting a Theralright Ultima 90).

I will primarily be using the machine for Maya, 3ds Max, Photoshop, video editing and gaming. I think for now I'm going to stick to XP 32 bit and then upgrade to Vista 64 when I can afford the cost of another 4GB of ddr3.

Thanks for the help!

Cheers,
-K
 
Oops my bad, I missed the Samsung monitor. Anyways.. I wouldn't get that X48 chipset Mobo if you're adding a 9800GX2 card or 9800GTX video card. I would get that board if I was getting 2 x ATI cards and running Crossfire. A P35 mobo will be good already for overlocking the Q9450 paired with DDR2 800 RAM.
 
yeh, the P35 chipset would be much more suitable for your needs, especially if you get the 9800GX2.

at thte moment, driver support in vista for any creative product is pretty crappy, so unless you desperately want eax or whatever, maybe hold off on the X-fi even for now, and just put it in later...

oh, do be carefull if you do get the 9800GX2, you may have to break off the connector plugs from the PSU, becauase the external power connectors on the GX2 are very badly designed.
 
I gotta admit though, even though he may not need that Asus X48 chipset board, it looks impressive though. However, close to $400 it will be a waste if you just want a decent O/C on the cpu with a single Nvidia Geforce video card in it. A P35 mobo will accomodate the O/C and the 9800GX2 quite nicely at a much cheaper cost.
 
Thanks for the advice guys.

It looks like I could save some cash going the P35/DDR2 route. I don't upgrade often so when I buy I like to get the best I can at the time which is why I was leaning towards the X48 and DDR3 setup as I've read some pretty good reviews on that mobo/combo. However the performance increase is probably minimal compared to increase in price so maybe the P35 with DDR2 is the way to go.

I was looking at going the ATI route but the performance just doesn't seem to be there compared to what Nvidia has to offer. I'm skeptical of putting 2 GPU's on one card as it seems like a band aid solution until they can figure out how to make something faster. That said the performance with the GX2 is pretty impressive and I think it's a reasonable option if you want a fast gaming rig without going to a Nforce/SLI setup even if it is a little on the expensive side..
 
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