How does this look??

[rabidbunny]

I am going to buy the parts for my first system soon.
This is what I'm planning to get:

-conroe E6300
-OCZ gold 2x1gb
-ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX Intel Motherboard
-bfg 7600gt (will get a better gpu when I have more money)
-Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
-Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
-xp home
-audigy 2 zs
-5.1 Logitec x530 speakers
-NEC dvd burner
-Viewsonic vx922 19inch monitor
-G5 laser mouse
-saitek red eclipse keyboard
-aspire x-plorer case
-floppy drive

I was going to get an older 939 setup since the parts are soo cheap, but the availability of the motherboard and other parts on newegg.com was diminishing. So I decided to migrate most of the parts (i.e. case, gpu, psu etc...) to my Intel list of parts.

I am looking at about $1671 for this intel system. That's about $20 more than what I would pay for my AMD system.

So, what do you think? is there something I can swap for a better part?
Thanks.

 

[djplanet]

Setup looks decent enough, but when you say "better GPU when I have more money", will you SLI? Because that is the ONLY reason to get the P5N-32-SLI SE. You could get a cheaper board (look on Newegg, select P965 and 975X chipsets only for Conroe, use the power search feature, because I'm too lazy to link) that would overclock better.

Otherwise looks good, if you want better boot times you could spring for a WD Raptor 1500, but more dough for it (~$200).

 

[rabidbunny]

Do i really need an sli setup in the near future??
I only will be doing some gaming, but I thought that Sli might improve and even be a requirement in the next few years.
Would a crossfire board work better?
(i know that sli and crossfire have their advantages and disadvantages)

Then, if I go for a non sli board from asus, for the time being, it would be cheaper?

 

[djplanet]

SLI will do right by you performance wise if you play demanding games (FEAR, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Doom 3, Quake 4, etc.). But less demanding gaming (strategy, for example) will not benefit at ALL from SLI. I've actually seen benchmarks where SLI and Crossfire hurt performance (though not overly so). Make sure you're actually playing something to justify that graphics power. Another option is the 7950GX2 (SLI on a stick). Its performance has been compared to SLI'ed 7900GTXs, but it only needs one slot (and therefore an SLI mobo is not necessary).

But there are actually many boards for Conroe which are cheaper. And any 975X board with 2 PCIe x16 should support Crossfire (but NOT SLI). Just look on Newegg. I just hope you don't hold too much loyalty to ASUS. They make good boards, but their Conroes are expensive in comparison. I just like the 975X boards better because they support Crossfire and are better overclockers.

Finally, I can't tell you whether SLI will be necessary for intensive gaming in the next few years (particularly for DirectX 10), but I doubt it. A high end single card will serve you well (even that midrange 7600GT isn't too shabby).

 

[baddog1]

Another option is the 7950GX2 (SLI on a stick).

That's funny! But my appreciation for the 7950 is lessening, as two 7900's is much faster and slightly cheaper. The sli mobo might equal the two out, but most people opting for the 7950 seem to be going for the sli board also, presumably hoping they get the quad drivers worked out.

rabidbunny, you're spending a pretty penny on a rig, so I'm not sure why you're cutting back on the gpu. Unless gaming isn't an issue.

 

[rabidbunny]

Well, and if I decide that i need to upgrade my motherboard to support sli in the future, I can do that easily.
I am not brand specific, so Asus, Gigabyte, whatever gives me good performance would be fine. I don't know if I want to overclock right away, but a good board that overclocks well would be nice.

rabidbunny, you're spending a pretty penny on a rig, so I'm not sure why you're cutting back on the gpu. Unless gaming isn't an issue.

Well, I am gonna get the 7600gt because I don't have the money to buy a extreme high end card. Although, I was going to get an x1800xt, but newegg doesn't sell them anymore. I will continue to look for a decent motherboard and maybe save some money on the motherboard and get a faster cpu..

Any suggestions??? (preferably in the $100-$200 range)

 

[rabidbunny]

Update: I looked at these:

gigabyte

asus

dfi

So far, the gigabyte seems awsome to me.

If i do get the gigabyte, I can upgrade to the e6400 easily.

 

[ninjaquick]

seems a tad pricey for me, but my bro got that exact same NEC DVD Burner off newegg.com and that BFG 7600gt off newegg.com.. too bad it gets here on tuesday.., other than that it looks nice, good sound card, i dot see why spend more for the x-fi..

 

[ninjaquick]

Another option is the 7950GX2 (SLI on a stick).

That's funny! But my appreciation for the 7950 is lessening, as two 7900's is much faster and slightly cheaper.

same here, id even prefer an x1950xt over the 7950gx2.. i just see the 7950gx2 like a piece of @#$%^.. i sometimes even think a 7600gt would beat it, although it isnt true, i dont even see why this card was mentioned, if he wanted this card hed have to get an E6300 or something along that line.. he said he was already $20 over.. think hes willing to go $520+ over? RETARDED!

 

[rabidbunny]

Alright, that finalizes everything. The gigabyte board seems awsome especially for the price and I was able to fit the e6400 into my budget (its like $40 more anyways.) otherwise, I kept everything else the same as I posted it.

Is that DVD burner ok? I also don't know if I should get a second drive or not. I have 2 drives in my current pc, a dvd rom and a cd-rw drive, but I don't use both drives at the same time.

 

[rabidbunny]

bump