First build advice/Questions

[Hawtsauce]

2x MSI N9600GT 512
@164.99 each, (144.99 after rebate) so x2 =
329.98, (289.98 after rebate)

EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard
@349.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
@279.99

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
@376.99 (326.99 after rebate)

Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS
@169.99 (144.99 after rebate)

OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply
@124.99 (89.99 after rebate)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
@109.99

ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 14X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
@36.99

BenQ G2400W Black 24" 5ms DVI HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 1000:1
@389.99

Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD
@99.99

Total Cost w/o monitor before rebate:
1878.91
After rebate:
1728.90
w/ Monitor:
2118.89

Is there anything I skimped on that will bottleneck my system, and is there anything I went overboard on? Namely, do you think it's worth the DDR3 upgrade and the resulting mobo upgrade? That's at least a couple hundred dollars US price difference, is the performance worth it?

I figure it also leaves me with a mobo slightly more future-proof as well to upgrade the processor and RAM down the line.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: The prices listed are quoted from newegg.com at the time of writing this.

 

[Hawtsauce]

Bump back to first page

 

[akhilles]

Somebody shoot me.

Unless you're a Repub... of Gamers, dump the DDR3 & 790i. Use the savings to buy a more power GPU & 780i.

I guess you haven't seen the C2D VS C2Q benchmarks:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2quad-q9300_9.html#sect0

Look through the rest on the following pages, unless this is a solely gaming pc. Don't count 3dmark06 since you're not playing it.

 

[mihirkula]

DDR3 is a strict no-no..for the time being at least...and in April the 3870s are going to be $160 each...so get the 3870s instead of the 9600s... especially since you're going to have that massive 24" lcd.

 

[Hawtsauce]

Thanks, and @akhilles, I also do 3D animation and the C2Q definitely shines there.

Everyone I've talked to advises against the DDR3 so I'll definitely be taking that advice.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The downside to DDR3 is that it costs more cause of the current market glut of DDR2. If I was building a SLI based system, I'd be looking at the Striker II 780i or the Striker Extreme for 790i / DDR3.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3267&p=1

The 790i is outperforming the 780i as can be shown here now that there's some BIOS fixes out:

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3265&p=14

Our experience with 790i thus far has been overwhelmingly positive. It's clear to us that NVIDIA's decision to take the extra time needed to fully prepare the board and BIOS for retail release will end up paying dividends in the end. Many of the problems we experienced with early 780i boards are thankfully missing. The effort placed in providing good Auto values for overclocking has also been extremely helpful. Gamers that are looking to buy a system that is capable of practically overclocking itself should seriously consider the nForce 790i.

One thing we were happy to see was the improved memory performance at higher frequencies made possible by NVIDIA's latest BIOS. We were experiencing dismal read and copy speeds when using any FSB in excess of 475 FSB. NVIDIA BIOS engineers quickly went to work following a discussion we had detailing our findings and within two days we had our response. The fix provided the performance we initial expected to come from DDR3-2000 memory speeds and the new benchmark results showed the 790i to be devilishly fast afterall.

If you going to go 790i, the Striker Extreme II seems to be the Hawt MoBo at this time but again it only sees those big boosts if you have two cards in. I have seen 20 reviews but no one actually selling yet.

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=391
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=728&p=10

As fort he Vid cards, is that the OC's 700 model ? Cause I see the OC'd version bit no rebate listed. The Asus version I have seen reviewed is 720 MHz (TOP model) but again, haven't seen that for sale either.

I don't see any extra cooling there. No 3rd party CPU Cooler ?

Consider Combo floppy / card reader for legacy and card support $29-$44

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820162409
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813998514

Consider that For $70 extra you could have a non TN monitor. Lenovo 22" 1920 x 1200 S-PVA model is $460ish.

Newegg don't got it tho, have to go to buy.com

 

[Hawtsauce]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127333
Thats the video card(s) I was looking at.

Good call on the CPU cooler, any recommendations it's been awhile since I've looked, maybe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001 ?

It's pretty big, but the case I'm looking at should fit it fine, the case also has a ton of cooling but, I live in the desert, it gets pretty hot here, so you're right a 3rd party cooler would be best.

Edit: Is TN/S-PVA difference that noticeable?

 

[akhilles]

Yorkie it is. I suggest you try and secure a Q9450 OEM or retail. Cuz it's worth the money. Q9300 is more or less the same as Q6600, but worse in some apps.

Since you're in a pretty hot climate, I suggest you think about getting a watercooling kit. Maybe just for the cpu. Like these:

Swiftech H20-120 Compact CPU Liquid Cooling Kit

Or even better a TEC:

Ultra ChillTec Thermo Electric CPU Cooler (ULT33186)
Coolit Freezone

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g30/c83/list/p1/Liquid_Cooling-Water_Cooling_Kits.html
http://www.jab-tech.com/Water-Cooling-Full-Kits-c-58.html
http://www.petrastechshop.com/wacoki.html

Yup, the initial investment for a H20 kit is high, but the return on it is that you wouldn't have to keep swapping air coolers cuz they couldn't handle the job. So it's a one-time thing.

If it's too expensive, then I suggest Noctua's NH-U12P or XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 which perform about the same as TRUE for less.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Edit: Is TN/S-PVA difference that noticeable?

Yes.

Though if all you are doing is playing games with "cartoon" characters, errors in flesh tones, lack of full color gamut, viewing angle etc won't bother you.

But if you have a digital camera, play movies, etc, look at photographs, expect your prints to actually look like what they look like on screen, before you printed, then yes, you will definitely notice.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Good call on the CPU cooler, any recommendations it's been awhile since I've looked, maybe

I haven't seen anything top the Thermalright IFX-14 yet in the air cool arena....not an easy install though with it's motherboard socket backplate but it does seem to provide an extra level of performance over similar one without it.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/20/cpu_cooler_charts_2008/page17.html