Help building new futureproof system

[Mephisto666]

I understand that technology is always changing and it is hard to keep up to date with PC hardware but I am considering doing a major upgrade. Actually I am realizing that I will need to build a new system. As you can see in my profile ( my current system is out of date) . I want to upgrade to a Quad Core Chip, a mobo that supports 1066mhz DDR3 or better memory, support PCI-E 2.0 , appropriate power supply, looking at waiting for the Geforce 9 series GPU's. ( I just don't feel that the 8 Series is that big of a jump from my 7900GTX. I would greatly appreciate any advice on what hardware you guys recommend so any help is appreciated.

 

[aevm]

The GeForce 9 series should be available in February, so ask again in 3 months. DDR3 is not worth it now, and most likely won't be worth it in 3 months either. PCI-E 2.0 may be worth it if the GeForce 9 cards actually need more than PCI-E 1.1 bandwidth, but that's not very likely either. Anyway, it's too early for any useful advice.

I'm assuming you have lots of cash (based on the DDR3 and GTX stuff), so think about 780i. This chipset should allow you to combine 2 or even 3 video cards. It's promised for January.

 

[spaztic7]

Well, it sounds like you want an Intel processor (fsb of 1066). I would recommend the new Intel chipset x38 or if you can wait for the x48 (or whatever the name is) that may be better. I am not sure how good NVIDIA’s chipset will be. The x48 will give you the ability to upgrade to Penryn core. Also, for the video card, make sure it is a PCIe 2.0 slot. I think the x48 supports DDR3 so you should be good that way.

On the other note… it will not be future proof. It is impossible to be this called “future proof”. I came to the hard realization of that not so long ago, about 6 month to be exact. The 8800 series is a large jump but if you wait for the 9800 series it will be even greater.

 

[spaztic7]

The GeForce 9 series should be available in February, so ask again in 3 months. DDR3 is not worth it now, and most likely won't be worth it in 3 months either. PCI-E 2.0 may be worth it if the GeForce 9 cards actually need more than PCI-E 1.1 bandwidth, but that's not very likely either. Anyway, it's too early for any useful advice.

I'm assuming you have lots of cash (based on the DDR3 and GTX stuff), so think about 780i. This chipset should allow you to combine 2 or even 3 video cards. It's promised for January.

You beat me to the first post!!! I did not think of the dual or tri card solution.... and I guess the 780i will be the only way to do that with Nvidia.

 

[aevm]

Keep in mind that Nehalem CPUs will not work on LGA 775. That means any motherboard you buy in 2008 will NOT work with the new CPUs of 2009. So much for future-proofing...

 

[michiganteddybear]

future proof?? in this industry??

 

[Mephisto666]

Thanks for the quick responses guys. Yeah I will have a decent budget however I was hoping to go with a Phenom CPU as I have used AMD since I got into PC gaming and I have always had a great experience with them. I woudl love to see what FX Phenom's they come out with. What I meant to say about the "future proof" was that I want to build a system that I won't have to worry about any major upgrades ( Mobo , CPU, Memory etc......) for at least 2-3 years so I figured going with a decent Quad Core at least 2-4 gigs of DDR-3 and matched Mobo I would be ok for that time frame. Vid cards are a pain in the ass to me cuz if I wait for the Geforce 9 series , I am sure that within 2-3 quarters there will be the Geforce 10 series so there is no point in tryign that route. I just want something that is PCI-E 2.0 and will support DirectX 10. I would prefer 1 gig of onboard Ram though and it sounds like Geforce 9 series will be on target. It seems like Hardware is going to jump ahead of software again and I personally don't want to play the race. I am not one of those SLI- or Quad SLI GPU freaks that can blow $2-3k a year on vid card upgrades so I have to budget in that department. 1 card is all I want. Not to mention the more I get into power consumptive hardware the higher my electric bill goes up

 

[monste4321]

hate to jump in here, but what happens if you sli an 8 series card with a 9 series one, does it just plain not work, or does it avg the 2?

 

[aevm]

All righty...

Some choices for a single video card on a decent budget:
- 8800 GTS (G92) 512MB. It will be released on Dec 11, apparently, and should be under $400 unless demand overwhelms supply again like they did with the 8800GT.
- HD3870. Also excellent value for money. Less speed but less money too.
- overclocked 8800 GTX. For example my 8800 GTX OC2 can still beat the new 8800 GTS G92 in some benchmarks. Not by enough to justify $100 or $200 more IMO, and it consumes more.
- wait for GeForce 9 cards. This is risky, because we have no clue if they really will show up in February, how much they will cost, how good they will be, if the drivers will be any good right away or only 9 months later, etc.

Choices of CPU: Phenom seems to be a bit slower than the Q6600, at the same clock. Also, Phenom is sold at 2.2 GHz and doesn't overclock much, while Q6600 is sold at 2.4 GHz and overclocks nicely. If you like AMD and want to give them a hand in these horrible times, and you're not going to overclock anyway, go ahead and get a Phenom, sure. You'll get a bit less CPU performance but it probably won't hurt because most games are limited by the graphics card or hard disk anyway. That is, you will often get the same fps whether you get the Phenom or the Q6600. For things like encoding video your hard disk will bottleneck the system. For example my Q6600 is at stock and never manages to reach over 81% usage. With a 2.2 GHz Phenom I would get the work done in exactly the same time as with the Q6600.

If you get 4GB of DDR2-800 you'll be fine for a couple of years. Don't waste your money on DDR3.

The GeForce 10 series should appear 4 quarters after GeForce 9. nVidia promised to have a new high-end card around every Christmas.

Motherboard: for Q6600 I like GA-P35-DS3R or aBit IP35 Pro. For AMD I'm clueless, but I'm sure somebody here can recommend something good.

Get a good PSU. My favourite is the PC Power & Cooling Silencer. There's a 610W version, which should be enough for a single video card unless you wait for GeForce 9 and nVidia did something fantastic there. There's also a 750W version (which I got for myself just in case I want to try SLI later).

 

[aevm]

hate to jump in here, but what happens if you sli an 8 series card with a 9 series one, does it just plain not work, or does it avg the 2?

I am 99% sure that it will just plain not work. Right now you can't combine a GeForce 7 with a GeForce 8. Maybe nVidia will change that so 8 and 9 can be combined, but it's very hard to do, I think. Also, why would they bother - they want people with a "8" card to buy two "9" cards rather than just one if they want SLI.

 

[monste4321]

hmm, you say 7 doesnt combine with 8, but do different 8 series combine with eachother, such as 8800 gt gts or gtx, ultra or the new gts

 

[aevm]

I think you'll enjoy reading this:
http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c3

I understand from it that, for example, 8800 GTS 320 + 8800 GTS 640 is OK (even with different manufacturers and clocks), but that's about it. GTX+Ultra will probably work too (same number of stream processors). Anyway, I'd strongly recommend not trusting nVidia 100% on this and getting perfectly identical cards. You've got a better chance this way. nVidia can't possibly test all the combinations properly, there's too many of them.

 

[monste4321]

ahh thanks for the link