Thinking about a build...

[Rashind]

Here's what I've got so far. My aim is to play Oblivion, and play it pretty well. My monitor is 1600x1200 native, so the system is going to have to do some pretty serious work to keep me playing comfortably (defined by me as average > 30 fps, and never dipping below 10 fps. Is this a pipe dream? How about if we forget about Oblivion gates?) Does anyone see anything in my build that is going to cause an incompatibility, or is a waste of money, or that I'd be otherwise an idiot to buy?

Case: Apevia (Aspire) X-Dreamer ATXB3KL-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
50 bucks

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 Socket T

Video cards: Two eVGA 01G-P2-N592-AX GeForce 7950 GX2 1 GB GDDR3
1000 bucks

PSU: Enermax Galaxy EGA850EWL ATX 850W Power Supply w/ modular cabling
310 bucks

Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800
975 bucks

RAM: 4 sticks of 1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
600 bucks

Primary HD for OS, Apps, and Games: WD Raptor 74 GB 10k RPM
160 bucks

Storage HD: WD Caviar 250 GB 7.2k RPM
80 bucks

DVD Burner: Two NEC 16X DVD+-R ND3550-A
60 bucks

Sound card: SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 PCI

Cooling gear: Arctic Silver 5 compound and Zalman CNPS9500 92mm copper heatsink/fan
70 bucks

OS: Windows XP Pro SP2
140 bucks

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That's a pretty expensive system(about $3700 on Newegg today, and my budget is about $2500), but I can't buy for about two months, so I'm hoping that the processor will come down(with Kentsfield on the way), along with the 7950 GX2's.

Assuming there are no problems with the build as posted, what about the following if I need to make some sacrifices to bring it into my budget:

1. Sacrifice 2 GB of the RAM... can always upgrade later.

2. Drop to an E6600 for the processor... I plan to OC modestly, anyway.

3a. Lose one 7950 GX2.

3b. Replace the 7950 GX2s with 7950 GTXs.

Which of 3a and 3b would be less harmful to performance in Oblivion, and which sacrifices should I make first, if I only need to shave off a couple hundred dollars?

 

[Sean618]

Well I would do of those things you mentioned. Drop down to a E6600 and get only one 7950GX2 (2 7950GTXs would be faster but it isn't worth it). Unless you need the extra 2gb of ram which I can't see if you're only gaming stick with 2gb. Also you won't need anywhere near 850W but if you want something high end then OCZ 700W has god reviews, but it's still overkill for what you have.

 

[Rashind]

Sean, thanks for the reply.

Regarding the PSU, I know that 850 is overkill, even for quad graphics... the reason I'm considering the enermax 850 is modular cabling. This is going to be my first ground-up build (i've done upgrades before, but just graphics/sound cards, HDDs/CD drives, and, once long ago, a processor), and I want as little crap in my way as possible. That OCZ 700 has nice efficiency, though. Maybe my green conscience will beat my lazy american tendencies. =)

I definitely see the argument with the RAM... 2 GB is plenty, even for Oblivion. I'm just trying to future-proof, really. My friend built a machine with 1 GB a year ago, and now he's aching for more... But even so, my motherboard of choice has 4 DDR2 slots, so getting two 1GB sticks now isn't going to increase my cost of upgrade later when I actually need more.

Dropping down to the E6600 on the processor doesn't seem like a bad idea. People seem to be having great luck overclocking even with stock cooling, so my all-copper Zalman ought to have me around X6800 levels with no heat problems...

I'm a little skeptical of your video card advice, though. If I need to sacrifice GPUs to meet my budget, then so be it, but looking at Oblivion benchmarks it looks like quad-graphics is going to be a godsend at 1600x1200. Maybe the GTXs instead of the GX2s is sound advice, though... I don't know how much an extra gig of video ram is going to help things along. Does anyone know of any benches for dual 7950 GTXs vs. dual 7950 GX2s? Oblivion benches, preferably, but beggars can't be choosers.

Also, has anyone built with the Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 before? Am I going to be able to physically cram two 7950's and a PCI sound card on there? Are there going to be issues with my Zalman cooler? How about my case? Do I need to break down and get a bigger one for all the hardware I want to stuff inside?

 

[Sean618]

If you want the modular cabling then another option is the Thermaltake Toughpower 700W and 750W with cable management, which has good reviews. I don't know whether it's cheaper though.

With ram as you can add more as you go along I wouldn't bother buying extra to future proof.

With the graphics card/s, I seriously doubt that 2 7950GX2s will have more than 10fps difference, anyway if you want meet your budget then that is the component to sacrifice. Err, Can your motherboard even run SLI? In which case Just get a 7950GX2.

 

[shadowduck]

Many comments here:

1) Drop the RAM to 2GB- add another 2GB when Vista comes out. XP does not play nice with 4GB of RAM installed.

2) Drop the CPU to a E66(67)00 and overclock it. Unless you are doing things that require the X6800 (games don't fall into that category) there is no reason to spend $1000 on a CPU.

3) QuadSLI is marketing trap. DO NOT FALL FOR IT. Spending $1000 on video cards that do not even support Vista (DX10) fully is a very bad move. ATI owns in Oblivion anyway, and makes nVidia look pathetic. Look at the X1900XT(X) 512MB and spend the money when DX10 comes out.