Is this a good new system?

[KMBaron]

First off I want a really fast system. I will spend 2500 USD if need be. But i don't wanna waste money on a part unless it's worth it. Also not sure how to overclock, so that isn't a issue.

CASE :Antec P190 Advanced Super Mid Tower 1200 WATT PSU
I like this case and need alot of room inside for 6 hard drives. The 1200 watts tell me i wont have to worry about power in future upgrades.

MOTHERBOARD :Asus Maximus Formula (Special Edition)
Seems like a great solid place to start. I didn't find anyting wrong with the board from the review.

RAM :CORSAIR Dominator 4 gigs Timing 5-5-5-15
Newegg reviews say it's worth the money. Is it overkill for 242.00 USD after mail in rebate?

Video :EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX Superclocked 768MB 384-bit
Tons of great reviews.

Windows Vista :Looks fantastic, and XP just seems crappy to me. SP1 is due soon. So I hope it's a good idea.

CPU :Intel Core 2 Duo E6850
For the price it's really fast. And the quad 6600 is just not as fast in games. I don't see a reason for quad yet. Am I wrong?

CPU Fan :Zalman's CNPS9700LED

And the big issue is a new monitor. I have a 21inch trinitron CRT that is amazing. Yet feels small nowadays. I want at least a Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP-HC or Gateway 24" Widescreen HD Perf LCD. Both seem nice.
But really I want a 30inch dell or 27inch. My worries are ghosting which i never notice on a CRT. All these LCD's are alot of money. And i don't wanna be sorry I got them. I really want the 30inch but I hear if you don't have SLI it's gonna hurt the games alot. I watch alot of Hi-def on the pc, so picture qaulity is a big issue. I've read alot about all these LCDs. The 24inch seems to small, not that much bigger then what i have. And the 27inch seems big and maybe a great middle ground, being it have a screen resolution that wont kill my games. The 30inch is my dream. but SLI will cost me another 550 bucks for a 2nd video card. Which i see that some game show little to no improvement with SLI.

Sound card will be my existing X-Fi extreme music which i love.

 

[StevieD]

Try this site: http://www.tvcalculator.com/

for an idea on how various screen sizes will appear.

I agree with you that your 19" CRT (I assume 5:4 ratio) is about the same size as the 24 widescreen..... in Vertical aspect.

BTW I have the Dell 2407WFP-HC. I moved up to the Dell from a 19" standard screen LCD. The Dell is the biggest sonofagun that I can fit on my desk (due to being a corner desk with shelving). I could not imagine having a 27" or 30" sitting in front of me. Vertically the Dell is just a tad bigger than the old 19". For my purposes the 24" is as tall as I can handle for my eyes for my office tasks and watching videos etc. I am sitting fairly close to the monitor (I can reachout and just touch the screen). I guess if I sat back futher away from the monitor I could handle the bigger monitor.

Horizontally the 24" monitor could be just a tad wider for my purposes.

But, again, I can't fit a 27" on the desk so why want what you really can't have.

I don't notice any issues with ghosting with the Dell, but I am not a gamer, just a watcher of DVD's and photo editior.

IF I could have any monitor, would I have bought the 27" or 30"? Most likely not. The extra realestate is always nice, but I have been thrilled with the 24" Dell.

 

[StevieD]

And a couple of other points.

I have a HDTV card. I loved watching the World Series on the Dell. DAMN FINE experience.


The HP, last generation Dell and the Gateway all share the same Samsung Panel. The current Dell has the upgraded Samsung panel with the wider color gaumet.


I saw Gateway at BB. Nice monitor and I was ready to pop for it, but then Dell gave me a good deal (under $500) when I packaged the monitor with some other Dell purchases.

I would wait for Dell to have their next sale on the 2407.... we know that Dell will have it on sale sometime this fall. BTW the 30" Dell is currently on sale for less than the 27".

 

[akhilles]

You're not gonna overclock? That ram is a complete waste.

You have to make up your mind on the monitor. Then we'll talk. The Dell 24" is 1920 x 1200.

 

[rgeist554]

CASE :Antec P190 Advanced Super Mid Tower 1200 WATT PSU
I like this case and need alot of room inside for 6 hard drives. The 1200 watts tell me i wont have to worry about power in future upgrades.

What brand is that PSU? Also, when looking at PSU's, it's more important to look at the Amps per rail to ensure ample power. (watts = volts * amps)

RAM :CORSAIR Dominator 4 gigs Timing 5-5-5-15
Newegg reviews say it's worth the money. Is it overkill for 242.00 USD after mail in rebate?

The only reason you need RAM with tight timings is for overclocking. Save and just get something reasonable.

Windows Vista :Looks fantastic, and XP just seems crappy to me. SP1 is due soon. So I hope it's a good idea.

CPU :Intel Core 2 Duo E6850
For the price it's really fast. And the quad 6600 is just not as fast in games. I don't see a reason for quad yet. Am I wrong?

What version of Vista? Some versions suck and will just cause stress. 64 or 32 bit? If 32 bit, you don't need 4GB of RAM, because the 32 bit OS will only detect 2.7-3.5GB. Yes, Vista may have lots of "Eye Candy", but it gets offloaded onto your GPU.

Why is XP crappy? It's still the preferred OS for most people because of it's time-tested compatibility and reliability. Vista is going to gobble 2-3 times as much RAM idling as XP will. (Say bye to 1GB of your RAM while running Vista)

CPU: The E6850 is probably a good choice since you don't want to buy a lesser chip and OC, but you're somewhat wrong about Quads. While quads may run at lower clocks speeds and not clock as high as the duos. They still out performed the duo cores in a bunch of OC benchies that Tom's ran the other day - http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/08/dual_vs_quad/

What HDD and Optical Drives are you using? For optical drives go for a nice Samsung or ASUS. For the HDD, if you want speed... go with a 10k RMP Raptor for your OS and games, and use a slower 7.2k RMP for storage. This will ensure fast read and write times.