System overhaul, feedback requested

[msujay]

I am overhauling my 2-year old build. I would like to upgrade to components that will play the next gen Dx10 games at the highest or near highest settings. My preferred budget is $1,500, however I am more concerned with performance and having a system that will last longer than 2 years. For your comments, here is my current and proposed specs:

Case - Coolermaster Wave Master (no upgrade planned)
Motherboard - ASUS A8N-SLI Premium (upgrade to ASUS P5N-E 680i SLI)
Power Supply - Enermax 550W ATX (upgrade to Cooler Master Real Power RS-650W)
CPU - AMD 64 4000+ 2.4 GHz (upgrade to Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3 GHz)
CPU Cooler - Thermalright XP-120 (upgrade to Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme)
Memory - OCZ 2x1GB DDR 800 (upgrade to Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2x1GB DDR2 1066)
Video - EVGA 7800 GT 256 MG (upgrade to 2 x ASUS 8800 GT 512 MB)
HDD - Seagate 250GB Barracuda 7200 RPM 8MB (need upgrade suggestions, don't need more than 250 MB)
Optical - NEC 3550A 16x DVD-R 48X CD-R 24x CD-W (no upgrade planned)
Monitor - Samsung Syncmaster 19" TFT-LCD (no upgrade planned)
Sound - Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS PCI (no upgrade planned...2.1 system)
Op System - XP Pro (upgrade to Vista, but to which version?)

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help

 

[rgeist554]

My preferred budget is $1,500, however I am more concerned with performance and having a system that will last longer than 2 years. For your comments, here is my current and proposed specs:

Only change I would make is getting a Quad. The Q6600 is about the same price as your E6850 and when applications are built for Quad's, you'll be ahead of the game.

HDD - Seagate 250GB Barracuda 7200 RPM 8MB (need upgrade suggestions, don't need more than 250 MB)

The HDD is fine, but if you want faster seek / load times, you can try running two smaller HDD in RAID 0 configuration.

Op System - XP Pro (upgrade to Vista, but to which version?)

Home Premium or Ultimate. I wouldn't go with the 64 bit version unless you plan on going for 4GB+ of ram and just want to have bragging rights.

 

[bcboy]

Vista Ultimate FTW!

 

[WR2]

Video - EVGA 7800 GT 256 MG (upgrade to 2 x ASUS 8800 GT 512 MB)
Monitor - Samsung Syncmaster 19" TFT-LCD (no upgrade planned)

Since you're keeping your 19" LCD what do you base your 8800GT x 2 upgrade decision on?
At 12x10 resolutions a single 8800GT gives near 8800GTX performance. A single 8800GTX now and a 2nd for SLI for a mid-life upgrade might be a better choice if you're looking to have a system to last 3 years or more. Even a single 8800GT now and then upgrade your GPU when you upgrade your LCD monitor might be a better choice. You'd save $250 (which is about that a decent 22" WS monitor will run)

 

[msujay]

Thanks for the replies so far, looking forward to more feedback. I actually have a Samsung 20" TFT-LCF monitor, not sure if that makes any difference. Forgive me for a noob question, but what is max resolution for 19" 20" and 22"?

 

[chookman]

I assume your current OCZ ram is DDR2... so you should need the ram upgrade at all unless you want 4gb (which is helpful on a Vista 64bit OS)
I too would go with a quad, maybe you can wait for the penryn's? due late this year
Only really need one GT for now, and maybe later get the 2nd OR just buy a better single card later.
No need for new HDD either

 

[msujay]

I assume your current OCZ ram is DDR2... so you should need the ram upgrade at all unless you want 4gb (which is helpful on a Vista 64bit OS)
I too would go with a quad, maybe you can wait for the penryn's? due late this year
Only really need one GT for now, and maybe later get the 2nd OR just buy a better single card later.
No need for new HDD either

Current OCZ ram is DDR only. I plan to do 2gb for now, add 2gb once upgrade to 64 bit Vista happens. Also, the idea of doing only one 8800gt to start makes sense. Can always add the other once needed. I'm trying to set myself up to be able to play next gen games like Crysis at max settings.

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[ibleet]

Go with a quality PSU like the Corsair HX520w. Save money by upgrading to an E6750 and OC it to 3Ghz, or if your heart is set on spending that much, you can opt for a Q6600. Video card 8800GT of course.

 

[WR2]

I actually have a Samsung 20" TFT-LCF monitor, not sure if that makes any difference. Forgive me for a noob question, but what is max resolution for 19" 20" and 22"?

Instead of max resolution its usually better to talk about native resolutions in LCD monitors. CRTs can display multiple resolutions equally well while LCD quality suffers if you use anything other than native resolution. That difference is because LCDs use a fixed matrix of horizontal and vertical dots (pixels). If you change the resolution settings the fixed matrix must figure out which pixels to turn on or off to best match the non-native resolution.
Typical LCD native resolultions & aspect ratios:
■17 inch = 1024x768 4:3

■19 inch = 1280x960 4:3

■19 inch = 1280x1024 5:4
■20 inch = 1600x1200 4:3
Widescreen LCD native resolultions & aspect ratios:
■19 inch = 1440x900 16:10

■20 inch = 1680x1050 16:10
■22 inch = 1680x1050 16:10
■24 inch = 1920x1200 16:10


The difference between a 19" and 20" LCD isn't so great that you can't start out with 1 8800GT and evaluate the performance of the new games and then decide on a 2nd in SLI vs turning the quality setting down a notch or two, or getting a single next gen video card at a later date. Also you'll have seen performance benchmarks on the games you like on how well performance scales with SLI. Not all games get better performace out of SLI systems.