Rig Review

[littleblackbox]

Okay so you know the drill, eyeball this setup and tell me what I missed. Power Req's, mismatch of tech, etc. Keeping it under 1000, keep it upgrade ready. I'm open to all suggestions of improvment.

ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
[Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2
Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready Power Supply
Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb
LG Black CD/DVD Combo
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
Rosewill Conqueror Case

This came out to $900 even, including shipping. $830 after mail in rebates. I'm thinking that 600W PSU may not be enough should I ever want to put another 260 in, but I dunno. Tell me what you think. The GPU is combo'd with the case from newegg, at a total of 340 for both.

EDIT: Looking around it would appear SLI support is slightly overrated, is this something I should be avoiding? it's been a while since I've done SLI:Single Card comparisons. I figured the tech was better now. Would it be better price vs performance to go with two 9600gts? This rig is intended for gaming, which eventual move to 24" monitor (not included)

 

[citizen__erased]

Looks ok, except for a couple of things:

1) I really wouldn't touch an nFail board with a 100ft barge pole. The only time you should even consider one is if you absolutely must have 2x nVidia cards. Personally if I was to have 2x video cards I would go for crossfire. That said, you are far better off going for the fastest single card solution on an intel chipset.

2) I'm really not sure on Rosewill PSU's. You should never skimp on the quality of your PSU, especially if you're planning to use SLI or crossfire.

 

[littleblackbox]

So, I should probably swap my PSU/Case/Mobo then. What brand PSU? corsair perhaps? same wattage? I was also considering the NZXT Tempest, or the Antec 900. I don't know much about the intel chipsets. What should I be aiming for?

 

[Dangman]

I don't trust that Rosewill PSU. There are better quality PSus in that price range. I recommend getting a known quality PSU like this one:
Corsair 550VX 550W PSU - $84

Don't worry, the Corsair 550VX will be more than enough for your rig.

Also, I concur with citizen_erased: Don't bother with a subpar Nvidia motherboard or SLI unless you play games at 1920x1200 monitor and want the HIGHEST settings possible. Even then a single GTX260 should be enough for most games at that resolution. Some other motherboard recommendations:
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L Intel P43 Motherboard - $90
MSI P45 Neo3-FR Intel P45 Motherboard - $112
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Intel P45 Motherboard - $130
Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 Motherboard - $140
Biostar TPower I45 Intel P45 Motherboard - $150
DFI Lanparty DK X38-T2R Intel X38 Motherboard - $180
Asus P5E Deluxe Intel X48 Motherboard - $220
DFI Lanparty DK X48-T2R Intel X48 Motherboard - $220
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Intel X48 Motherboard - $225

Just to help you out: All of these motherboards have PCI-E 2.0 which may be useful for future GPU upgrades. If you don't need RAID, more than 6 SATA ports and only need semi-decent overclocking, check out the DS3L. If you need 8 SATA ports, RAID, 4 PCI slots, and legacy ports, then get the Neo3-Fr. If you don't need more than 6 SATA ports but want RAID, firewire, a second PCI-E x16 port, a second gigabit port, support for 16GB of RAM, optional eSATA, x8/x8 Crossfire, and great overclocks, then get the DS3R. If you like the DS3R but need 8 SATA ports, want an onboard pre-installed fast booting Linux setup, just support for 8GB of RAM, and don't need a second gigabit port, get the Asus P5Q Pro. If you want a motherboard with excellent overclocking capabilities above all else (feature wise), go with the I45. If you want Crossfire with full x16/x16 bandwidth, get the Lanparty DK X38. If you have cash to burn, need x16/x16 Crossfire, and don't give a damn about getting the most value for your money, get the Asus, DFI, or Gigabyte X48 motherboards. Do note that the Asus website can be slow sometimes.

Also, drop that hard drive and go with the significantly faster as well larger Seagate 320GB for $5 more:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $60

Some other case recommendations:
Antec 300 ATX Case - $60
Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $65
Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $77

And finally, better HSF recommendations:
OCZ OCZTVEND2 Vendetta 2 120 Rifle HSF - $35
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle HSF - $37 & Retention Bracket - $7

 

[littleblackbox]

I don't trust that Rosewill PSU. There are better quality PSus in that price range. I recommend getting a known quality PSU like this one:
Corsair 550VX 550W PSU - $84

Don't worry, the Corsair 550VX will be more than enough for your rig.

Also, I concur with citizen_erased: Don't bother with a subpar Nvidia motherboard or SLI unless you play games at 1920x1200 monitor and want the HIGHEST settings possible. Even then a single GTX260 should be enough for most games at that resolution. Some other motherboard recommendations:
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L Intel P43 Motherboard - $90
MSI P45 Neo3-FR Intel P45 Motherboard - $112
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Intel P45 Motherboard - $130
Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 Motherboard - $140
Biostar TPower I45 Intel P45 Motherboard - $150
DFI Lanparty DK X38-T2R Intel X38 Motherboard - $180
Asus P5E Deluxe Intel X48 Motherboard - $220
DFI Lanparty DK X48-T2R Intel X48 Motherboard - $220
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Intel X48 Motherboard - $225

Just to help you out: All of these motherboards have PCI-E 2.0 which may be useful for future GPU upgrades. If you don't need RAID, more than 6 SATA ports and only need semi-decent overclocking, check out the DS3L. If you need 8 SATA ports, RAID, 4 PCI slots, and legacy ports, then get the Neo3-Fr. If you don't need more than 6 SATA ports but want RAID, firewire, a second PCI-E x16 port, a second gigabit port, support for 16GB of RAM, optional eSATA, x8/x8 Crossfire, and great overclocks, then get the DS3R. If you like the DS3R but need 8 SATA ports, want an onboard pre-installed fast booting Linux setup, just support for 8GB of RAM, and don't need a second gigabit port, get the Asus P5Q Pro. If you want a motherboard with excellent overclocking capabilities above all else (feature wise), go with the I45. If you want Crossfire with full x16/x16 bandwidth, get the Lanparty DK X38. If you have cash to burn, need x16/x16 Crossfire, and don't give a damn about getting the most value for your money, get the Asus, DFI, or Gigabyte X48 motherboards. Do note that the Asus website can be slow sometimes.

Also, drop that hard drive and go with the significantly faster as well larger Seagate 320GB for $5 more:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $60

Some other case recommendations:
Antec 300 ATX Case - $60
Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $65
Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $77

And finally, better HSF recommendations:
OCZ OCZTVEND2 Vendetta 2 120 Rifle HSF - $35
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle HSF - $37 & Retention Bracket - $7

You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar, and deserved of only the finest hookers and blow, which I shall have sent to your house forthwith.

 

[Dangman]

You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar, and deserved of only the finest hookers and blow, which I shall have sent to your house forthwith.

And you, sir, have come up with the funniest thank you response I've read on this forum. Good job!

 

[littleblackbox]

And you, sir, have come up with the funniest thank you response I've read on this forum. Good job!

I have to say it's exactly what I needed, a fresh pair of eyeballs. I knew I had some issues, but my eyes were bleeding from all the web crawling.

 

[Dangman]

I have to say it's exactly what I needed, a fresh pair of eyeballs. I knew I had some issues, but my eyes were bleeding from all the web crawling.

LOL! Know how that feels.

Oh and I missed this on the first pass through but I recommend getting a SATA DVD burner for a cleaner look, easier cable managment and slightly better airflow.