new system build

M

McTwisT

n00b
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
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Hi all, I'm looking at building a new system pretty soon, just waiting
for the new Intel CPUs to drop. Here's a general idea of what I want
to build.

Intel Q9450 (Penryn)
4GB RAM (not yet decided on brand, might go with Kingston or Crucial)
2x 8800GT 512MB (looking at EVGA)
PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750W (is it overkill?)
EVGA nForce 780i SLI A1
Seagate 7200.11 HD (not decided yet on size)

This is what I'm looking at right now, but I'm looking for your input
on this. I haven't built a completely new system in years, have not
played with SLI or Crossfire either.

It's my understanding that Penryn runs best with DDR3 (which the
nForce 780i doesn't support), but that also nForce is the only way to
go for SLI. I'm not against running an Intel chipset (which probably
would require me to run ATI video cards in Crossfire), but I'm
hesitant. From what I understand, the 8800GT cards are pretty much the
soft spot for quality/price ratio right now. I've also been looking at
DDR3 price vs DDR2, and am wondering if the price difference is worth
it, seeing that DDR3 seems to be extremely overpriced.

So, I still have a lot of loose ends, and really want input on this,
as this will be a system I'll probably be keeping at least 3 years,
maybe more. It's gonna be used for gaming (not a hardcore gamer, but
appreciate a good gaming machine). Also, Vista or XP, and what 22" LCD
would you recommend? (I might add a second display in the future, or
depending on total system price, add it right now).

Thanks for the input.

By the way, I don't plain on OCing.
 
That PC&P 750w is a good choice, plenty of headroom if you change anything later and should last a very long time.
 
That 750 watt is not overkill as it gives headroom for future upgrading. It is overkill if the price is very expensive. At $169 on NewEgg it is pretty good the price for a 750watt that puts out 60amps on the 12v rail. The RAM personally I like the G. Skills for the price. 2 x 2gig DDR2 800 can be bought at $90 on NewEgg. I wouldn't bother with DDR3 as they are expensive and not worth it as of now. As far as the video card, if you are not a hardcore gamer and playing on a 22" LCD why do an SLI setup? A single 8800GTS 512 would be enough to drive that 22" lcd max resolution nicely for pretty much all the current games except Crysis. An 8800GT is great for the price but, the 8800GTS is coming down in price also and is faster than the 8800GT. The harddrive I'd stick with Seagate due to it's 5yr warranty. Get a 500gig Sata 3.0 drive. BTW, if you don't plan to overclock the CPU, then maybe a higher clocked dual core CPU like an E8400 or E8500 is another option. A higher clocked Dual core cpu will give you a bit more FPS in games than a lower clocked Quad core cpu. However, the Quad CPU will be more beneficial down the road though when more software and games take advantage of multi core cpus.

P.S. it would help if you have a budget on how much you want to spend. Then, we can really make an input on what components to recommend. Also, what games do you play?
 
As far as game goes, the last games I bought were GRAW and Madden 08. I might be looking to buy Assassin's Creed when I get a new computer, and the new Half-Life pack (Orange something?). I kind of didn't look at games lately due to my current config and the fact that my video card died last month. I'm still not sure which game I'll buy, but I definitely want a system that can handle current games at high settings, and hopefully newer games later on. That's why I was looking at an SLI setup, but I still havn't made my mind just yet on that.

As far as budget goes, I'm looking to spend anywhere from 2000-3000$ CAN.

PS There seems to be about a 10-15% difference on price between US and CAN.
 
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