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New Build - Gaming mainly - input needed/near done!

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Gonna post my questions/main points first then you can see my chosen specs or not so chosen.

*MY NEEDS/USES* Primarily ill be playing HL2-TF2/Crysis and will be choosing a 1920x1200 native resolution monitor.. and likely playing games in the same resolution... secondly ill be doing minor Video and Audio editing, burning DVDs, using Office 2007


*UPGRADE PLAN*

* My last computer (p4 3ghz, 1gb ram, 7800GS card) lasted from May/2004 until about now for my needs... now I want to play Crysis/HL2 TF2 with 60+ fps consistently.).. I was proud to use it for 4-5 years... AND i would like my new computer to do the same...... FUTURE PROOFED.. and then some.. hopefully since I'm gonna be spending about $500 more.. itll last longer .....
With future-proofing in mind, I chose the compononents below... opting a mobo against DDR3 capability... I plan to:

* someday get a 2nd 9800GX2 card for quad-SLI.. Hoping this will ensure another 4-5 years of gaming capabilities at high resolutions.

* someday upgrade to a quad core penryn


*QUESTION*

1.. not sure which RAM sticks to buy.... I may use Vista 32-bit even with 4gigs of ram (losing .5 gig?) as I'm scared of what I've heard about 64-bit. Am I putting myself in a bottlenecking situation if I want longevity with DDR2 or is it no major concern that I wont have DDR3 capability. should i change to 790i mobo? Will my upgrade plan of quad-core penryn and quad-sli 9800GX2 be nulled by my motherboard choice?

2. Will the Hanns-G monitor below satisfy the components or will I have monitor/refresh rate lag for the speedy GPU?

Any input appreciated, finally - heres my build:




CASE:
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$120

CPU:
Getting E3110 or E8400 from newegg
$230-$250 respectively

PSU:
Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 ATX12V / EPS12V 1000W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$200 after rebates

GPU:
EVGA 01G-P3-N891-AR GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$565 after rebates

MOBO:
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$260

SOUND:
Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$86 after rebates

HDDs:
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$170

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$95

------------------NEED HELP CHOOSING BRAND - going with 4 gigs possibly??-------------------
RAM
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$35

Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$38

OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$34 after rebates

------------------NEED HELP CHOOSING MODEL------------------- DVD/CD BURNER
SAMSUNG SH-S203N $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

LITE-ON LH-20A1L-05 $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

LITE-ON LH-20A1L-06 $33
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

------------------MONITOR----LIKELY CHOICES---------------------
Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 28" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$500

or

Samsung 245BW 24" for $400

or

Dell E248WFP 24" for $380

--
thanks!!! :-)

More about : build gaming input needed

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1. Pick up the cheapest 2x2x1GB or 2x2GB DDR2-800. The latter gives you room for upgrading to 8GB. Ram doesn't matter if you don't overclock. If you wait past this year, DDR2 will be obsolete as manufacturers are expecting DDR3 to go mainstream starting summer. Heck, I would pick up as much ram as the mobo supports right now, but I'll be upgrading to another platform so my Ballistix will find a new home.

2. The HannG is fine. The 9800GX2 can handle the games. You need to know that nothing can max out Crysis. I think that's the developer's aim. The bigger the resolution, the more gpu-intensive Crysis is.

Look at this writer:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Thanks for the reply. Well. based on my future proofing wants.. I have decided I'll go over budget and get a 790i and 4gb of cheap DDR3 ram for now.. Then get a 2nd 9800GX2, upper quad core penryn, and faster DDR3 in a few years. Hope this will keep me with this system for 5 to 6 years.. ??

Should I go for the EVGA or XFX 790i mobo?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

XFX MBN790IUL9 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

$320 after rebates



EVGA
132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$350


and will I be ok with 4gb of this cheap DDR3 g.skill memory? Its probably still faster than 4gb of DDR2 right? if so, fine by me!! only doing it because I cant have a DDR2/DDR3 SLI mobo..



G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$100 per 2gb


OH, forgot to ask... Whats the best place to get Vista Business 64-bit, and can I get the upgrade version and do a clean install?

Thx again for continued input

Why are you trying to future proof so much? DDR3 is just a waste at the moment get some DDR2-800 CL4/5 (depending on voltage used).

I can see where your coming from with your P4 serving you very well but I don't see your needs being justified by your goal. An upper quad peryn upgrade would be a waste in a few years since nehleham would be out. 9800X2 even though nice wouldn't serve you well on an non-sli mobo but since your going for an 780i/90i get 2 8800GTs/GTS's Few years time? Scrap adding another 9800GX2 you'll want the next big thing at that point i'd imagine.

Futureproof doesn't exist because the future will come and with it will be faster and cheaper solutions, Your better off building an SLI build (2x8800GT, E8400 etc) now and enjoying high resolution gaming today or a single card P35 build (8800GTS + P35).

Now imagine a scale price/performance wise - Spending an extra $500 at that quality build would mean more price for less performance, try to get bang for buck and not buy into something you'll end up getting rid of. $500 won't buy you much time since performance increase isn't that much and you'll be better off getting by with an extra $500 then when you plan on upgrading, chuck it in later.

Thanks for knocking some sense into me. I agree big time! I'm going to go...

Antec 900, E8400 or E3110, OCZ GameXstream 700W PSU, EVGA 8800GT x2 (SLI), WD 10k raptor (os), WD 16mb 7200rpm 500gb (Data), 4gb of mushkin or g.skill DDR2 800 ram.... now:

should I opt for the 650mhz clock of the 8800GT $190 each or stock 600mhz $175 each? and, can I safely get a 680i mobo? or have we decided those wont allow a good CPU upgrade in a few years? Should i go 780I?

Thx again ;) 

EVGA offers lifetime warranty & step-up (upgrade to a new mobo for about $100 US) to US & Canadian customers.

XFX bioses are said to be more stable than EVGA. XFX uses reference nvidia bioses whereas EVGA customizes theirs.

The budget-conscious overclocker thinks like acidpython. We don't need top of the line, just something good to get by until the next big thing - Nelahem/AM3.

680i doesn't do Yorkdales. Except for ASROCK's. 780i would be the highest board one should get unless they're oilmen. :D 

Factory-overclocked GPUs produce more heat & noise than stock. It's a double-edged sword. They're faster than stock.
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