I'm stressed out, after looking everywhere I could and reading everything I could get my hands on, I finally decided to go with a particular rig. The thing is... It's a HUGE investment for me and as thus futureproofing is a big part of this rig (as far as one can futureproof that is).
Now I think I've done my homework and present to you the rig I've put together.
Box: Tsunami Black /w Side Window. (Mostly because of the look and it's seem to be highly recommanded).
PSU: Antec True Power Quatro 850W (Read some rave reviews and price wise it's acceptable while still providing a large range of maneuvers for future upgrades.)
Mobo: Asus P5E3-Deluxe (Ap@n) - I don't especially need the special features of the boards (ExpressGate and Wi-fi) but I feel that the overall value of the board and it quality made up for it price. Also futureproofing is provided by the X38 and the DD3 and also by the PCI-E 2.0 and the Pyrn support.
CPU: Inter Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.0 Ghz - From what I read, the programs (read: Games) barely use the dual core tech now and as such Quad Core is still unnecessary. And since the Mobo does support the Quads and the pyrn, nothing stop me from upgrading at a later date.
Memory: Corsair TwinX DD3-1333 2Gb (2x1Gb) - XMS - 9-9-9-24 - Now I realize that these are not the best out there, but truth is I can't really afford better in the DD3 and the local shop where I go seem to have an exclusivity deal with Corsair.
GPU : 2X Sapphire Radeon HD3870 512MB in Crossfire - Best bang for the buck I feel even if the HD3850 is better priced.
HDD: 1X Raptor 74Gb and 1X Seagate Barracuda 1TB (7200.11) - Someone on this board told me that the simpler the better when it came to HDD, well a 2 drive solution can't get simpler.
2 Standard DVD writers in SATA
Sound: Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Audio Value. - That one I choose the cheapest that was redeeming of the name Sound Card. The reason for this is that I am partly deaf and as thus I can't make out the fine distinctions in the sound. I chose to have a separate sound card instead of the integrated solution because I read that an integrated solution use the CPU to produce the sound while an separate card does not. Feel free to correct me.
Speakers: Z-4i (or not i) from Logitech. I need high clarity and high volume form my speakers for the same reasons as listed for the sound card while still remaining cheap.
Network: Integrated Solution - No need for a more advanced network card and if I need the CPU cycles I can always kill it in the BIOS.
Keyboard: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard. - I like the look and the LCD could be useful to keep track of system ressources in game and help identify bottlenecks.
Mice: Logitech MX518 - Just need a good mice w/o too much fuss.
All of this will run on Vista Home Prem. X86, figured I'll jump on the x64 wagon in the next Windows generation.
All of this will cost me 2954$ before taxes in CND$ (which is pretty much the same a US$ now).
So... any comments? recommendations?
Message edited by alexender00 on 01-03-2008 at 12:15:31 AM
are you sure about the 2 radeons? they use a hella lot of power (you covered that though) and arent as good as the 8800's... not tempted by the 8800's? I know i am lol
I would be if it was supported... The X38 chipset only support the Crossfire solution and I believe I read somewhere that the HD3800s use less power than most GPUs.
today's onboard sound is 8 channel hi def,only the fussiest audiophile needs a seperate audio card,and unless one is running a 30" or bigger monitor 2 video cards are worthless one 8800gt will eat most games for breakfast and not even get hot,except maybe for crysis [good looking game,terrible story,no replay value,sos,sos all way thru]....
