New build.... worth the money or not?

[turd_ferguson_23]

So I've put together just about every machine I've ever owned. I have usually always gone with discount parts and items that have never really cost me all that much money to put together. I do enjoy gaming and seeing as how my last desktop took a dive on me I decided it was time to put another one together. I have done quite a bit of research on different components I would like and here is what I've come up with.

Motherboard

Asus Maximus Extreme Motherboard - 45nm Support, Intel X38, Socket 775, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFire Ready, Dual Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0, Firewire, eSATA, RAID, Clear CMOS

CPU

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor HH80562PH0568M - 2.40GHz, 8MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Kentsfield, Quad-Core, OEM, Socket 775, Processor

RAM

Corsair XMS3 2048MB Dual Channel PC10600 DDR3 1333MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB)

PSU

OCZ / GameXStream / 1010-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / Active PFC / Power Supply

Video Card

Visiontek Radeon HD 3850 Video Card - 256MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, HDMI Support, Video Card (2 of these hooked together via CrossFire)

These items along with other components such as water cooling support. Everything here with the new case and cooling unit comes out to be close to $2000. I have never put together a really nice unit before but now days with the games that are coming out *cough* Crysis *cough* I figured I would put together a nice little number so I can start to play that to its full potential. Also before anyone says anything about the Quad core processor I know that it's pointless right now to get it because there really aren't any games that can use its full potential but I do know that there are some coming out later on that I will be able to utilize all 4 cores so I figure I'll get it now while the price is still good. Any input on whether or not this is just a huge waste of time and money would be appreciated.

 

[rgeist554]

RAM & Motherboard:
DDR3 RAM is somewhat of a waste of money at this point ( - I would recommend DDR2 (800 or 1066) for now. I also recommend you wait for the X48 boards to come out, they will contain features that the X38 should have had. If you wait this long, you may even want to wait for the newer Q9xxx chips to hit the market. Then you can justify buying DDR3 RAM.

PSU:
You can also downgrade the PSU unless you're going to run Crossfire. Even then... 1010W is a bit excessive. Something around 650-750W should be more than enough. (PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad is pretty good)

Video Card:
2x HD3870's will handle higher resolutions better than the 3850's. So... if you have 22"+ monitor, I'd go for the 3870's.

Nothing can play Crysis to it's full potential at the moment. Also, what kind of overclocking do you plan on doing with this thing?

 

[turd_ferguson_23]

Yeah I realize that DDR3 is not really worth the money. I started with the mobo that I wanted and picked parts accordingly from there. The mobo is very nice and I haven't researched the X48 boards to see what those have to offer. Basically I'm a really impatient person and right now the only computer I have left to do anything on is a very old Dell C800 series laptop. This is not a great machine and I can't wait too much longer to finally get back on a REAL computer lol. As I mentioned above I will be hooking 2x HD3850's via CrossFire and along with all of the other hardware that will be going into it I just wanted to make sure I have enough juice to support everything. Even though 1000W may be a little over kill I would rather be safe than sorry. Thanks for the comment though and I will definitely look into when the X48 mobo's are expected to release.

 

[geofelt]

If you want a gaming machine, particularly one to play Crysis, then you must start with the VGA card/s. It is THE most important factor in gaming.

Today, I think I would look at the 8800GT-512. The 8800gts-V2 is supposed to launch within the week, and should be even better. I am not a fan of SLI if a single card can do the job.

The mobo has almost NO effect on performance; it is all about features. You will get about the same performance, regardless if you have a X38, P35, P965, or nvidia chipset. A nice E6850 would run most current games better than the Q6600 today. By the time that changes, both those processors will be obsoleted by nehalem. Some boards will overclock better than others, but not much, really. DDR3 is an absolute waste today. The C2D processors are not very sensitive to memory speeds. You can get the most expensive and fastest DDR3 memory, and realize real application(vs. synthetic benchmark) performance in the low single digit range as compared to DDR2-800. Some games can make use of more memory if it is there; I suggest 4gb.

I would agree with rgeist554 that your suggested psu is a complete waste. The PC P&C silencer 720 is nvidia sli certified for dual 8800GTX cards, and even that is overkill. Spend the savings on something else.

If you are going for very high overclocks, realize that it will not benefit games much. Water cooling is not necessary unless you have record high overclocks. If you want a machine that you can brag about, consider that wasting money will have a negative hit on your judgement.

Spend your money instead on something that you use every day, and will last such as a nice 24" or 30" monitor.

If you ask for advice, consider taking it.

---good luck---

 

[turd_ferguson_23]

Thanks I appreciate the pointers. You bring up very valid points and I will probably go with a different mobo now and change things up a little so I can put more into video and RAM. This was why I was asking. Most of the time I just need some common sense knocked into me because I can be a little compulsive when it comes to buying new computer hardware lol.