is there a bottleneck?

[chefman21]

Hey everyone!

Just building a gaming rig for myself and I have come up with the following system so far:

Case: CoolerMaster CM690 w Antec Truepower Trio 650w
CPU: Intel q6600 Quad Core CPU
MoBo: Asus Maximus Formula SE
HDD: Seagate 500gb SATA2 32mb Cache 7200rpm
RAM: 2gb DDR2-800 Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 3870X2 1gb
DVD-RW: Samsung SH-S203b & Samsung SH-S202 (both SATA)
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit OEM
Cooling: 4 * 120mm Zalman fans & 1 * CoolerMaster 80mm Fan

Just wondering if there is a bottleneck any where that people have noticed?

Also, a few questions on some of the parts:

Case & PSU - Is this case any good? How is it for cooling? I want to get a second video card later so will it remain cool enough and is the PSU substantial enough?
MoBo - Worth the price?
HDD - Is it worth paying an extra 30 bucks for 32mb of cache? (Thats $AU30)
RAM - Anyone used this ram before? How does it perform compared to similar RAM?
GPU - Worth it? I am sticking with my 17" CRT for the moment for 2 reasons. One - it still works and what's the point of taking $300 away from my budget when I can really upgrade some areas on it. Two - I am saving for a trip to europe in September so I need to save pretty hard for that. Get it for Christmas along with a second card I think!
OS - Will the service packs for Vista improve performance?
Cooling - Should I get all the fans? When I get the second GPU I don't want to have to fork out on liquid cooling later if at all possible.

Thanks for your help!

 

[rgeist554]

Overclock the Q6600 and you'll get more FPS. I wouldn't really call it a bottleneck though.

Case & PSU: Should work fine.

Mobo: If you're going to OC, then yeah.

HDD: Not really

RAM: Don't worry about RAM, it won't be your bottleneck. (I looks like it's C4 (or Cas 4), so it's probably 4-4-4-12, which will be good for overclocking.)

GPU: I persnally don't think it's worth buying a 3870x2 for a 17" Monitor. Go with the Cheaper 8800GT or G92 GTS 512MB. *Also, don't get a second GPU w/ a 1280x1024 resolution. Although, you can go to higher resolutions w/ a CRT, you're CPU is going to limit the frames that your GPU can output... so you would be bottlenecking and just be wasting money.

OS: If you already have a copy of XP and don't need any features in Vista, then don't get it.

Cooling: Get an aftermarket cooler like the Arctic Freezer Pro 7 or the TR Ultra 120 for your CPU (if you are going to OC - shame on you if you're not). As for case fans, make a wind tunnel. Pull cool air in from the front and push it out the back. Any fans on the side of the case should be pulling cool air onto the the CPU / GPU.

 

[chefman21]

Overclock the Q6600 and you'll get more FPS. I wouldn't really call it a bottleneck though.

Case & PSU: Should work fine.

Mobo: If you're going to OC, then yeah.

HDD: Not really

RAM: Don't worry about RAM, it won't be your bottleneck. (I looks like it's C4 (or Cas 4), so it's probably 4-4-4-12, which will be good for overclocking.)

GPU: I persnally don't think it's worth buying a 3870x2 for a 17" Monitor. Go with the Cheaper 8800GT or G92 GTS 512MB. *Also, don't get a second GPU w/ a 1280x1024 resolution. Although, you can go to higher resolutions w/ a CRT, you're CPU is going to limit the frames that your GPU can output... so you would be bottlenecking and just be wasting money.

OS: If you already have a copy of XP and don't need any features in Vista, then don't get it.

Cooling: Get an aftermarket cooler like the Arctic Freezer Pro 7 or the TR Ultra 120 for your CPU (if you are going to OC - shame on you if you're not). As for case fans, make a wind tunnel. Pull cool air in from the front and push it out the back. Any fans on the side of the case should be pulling cool air onto the the CPU / GPU.

I'm getting a 19"+ LCD in about 6-9 months maybe earlier. I'm happy to wait. I thought long and hard about getting a 8800 of some description because I only had a 17" monitor. But if I got the 8800 I figured it would be a waste of money. The mobo only supports crossfire so I wouldnt be able to use that and the extra $AU300 that I had I was able to upgrade to a better PSU, Mobo and video card!

 

[chefman21]

Nearly forgot! What kind of performance can I expect on 1280x1024 in COD4, Supreme Commander & Crysis? On high detail? What level detail would be playable?

 

[smokegfx]

Nearly forgot! What kind of performance can I expect on 1280x1024 in COD4, Supreme Commander & Crysis? On high detail? What level detail would be playable?

without AA i expect that you should be able to play those games decently with your current setup at 1280/1024.

also i personally would get 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250gb drives for raid 0 instead of 1x 500 gb sata drive