New Gaming System

[MartinWan-Kenobi]

Hi guys. I'm would like to buy a Gaming System. I'v made a list of what i would like to buy but i really appreciate if you can help me choice from the list which is the better option. I been thinking to buy a new pc from 2006 so i dont want to wait anymore. As i said, its going to be used primarily for gaming and in second place for copying and decrypting dvds and bitcomet downloads. This is what I'v thought looks good up to now. Let me know what you think, my budget is about U$s 4500.

-CPU: FSB1333 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 3,00 Ghz 12 Mb
For now, im not going to OC until i really needed.
Another CPU Option is this:
-FSB1333 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3,16 Ghz 6 Mb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PSU: Two Options:
-CoolerMaster Real power pro 850W 108A Quad Sli
or
-Thermaltake Toughpower 750W
Which is better?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HDD:
-2 Western Digital Caviar RE 250 Gb SATA300 16Mb NCQ in RAID Mode
or
-1 Western Digital Caviar RE2 500 Gb SATA300 16Mb NCQ
Question: RAID Systems are better for Games or il go with the 500Gb?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memo:

-DDR3 1333 Mhz PC3-10600 SuperTalent 2x1 Gb CL8
-DDR3 1600 Mhz PC3-12800 SuperTalent 2x1 Gb CL7
Supertalent is a good trademark?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mother: Which is better?
-FSB1333 Asus STRIKER 2 Form D2/PCIe2.0/R5SATA2/1394/2Glan
-FSB1600 Asus Maximus Ext. D3/2xPCIe2.0/R5SATA2/1394/2Glan
-FSB1600 Asus Maximus F. D2/2xPCIe2.0/R5SATA2/1394/2Glan
-FSB1600 Asus P5E3-Dx WiFi D3/2xPCIe2.0/R5SATA2/1394/2Glan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video: Which is the best configuration?Asus EN9800GX2 y dos GTS Asus EN8800GTS/HTDP/512M D3 PCIe2.0 en Sli, cual me conviene?

-SLI Mode: 2 PCI-E 16x Asus EN8800GTS/HTDP/512M D3 PCIe2.0 HDTV/2DVI
or
-1 PCI-E 16x Asus EN9800GX2/G/2DI/1G D3 HDTV/2DVI
Im not planning to create Quad-Sli cause i heard that is very unstable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Others:
-Audio: SOUND BLASTER FATAL1TY X-FI XTREMEGAMER 7.1
-Headset: Logitech Extreme PC Gaming Headset
-Case: Thermaltake Armor VA8003SWA
-LCD: Dell E248WFP
-Mouse: Logitech G9 Laser
-Pad: Logitech Rumblepad 2 Vibration Feedback
-Speakers: Logitech Z-5300e 5.1
-Teclado: LOGITECH G15: 109 Uss


Thanks a lot for help me!!

Bye!

 

[EXT64]

Well, first suggestion: don't get an Intel Extreme processor unless you like giving them money. It is a waste. An E8400/8500 or Q6600/9450 would be a much better choice.

 

[dagger]

Well, first suggestion: don't get an Intel Extreme processor unless you like giving them money. It is a waste. An E8400/8500 or Q6600/9450 would be a much better choice.

If he has money to burn, let him. But may I suggest a smarter way to burn it? For the same cost, why not get a Skulltrial server motherboard running 2 Harpertown 45nm quad core cpus for octocore solution? Throw in 32 mb of ram for good measure.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

OK as thre MoBo is the basis of any system, let's start there. The Striker II is a great MoBo but IIRC it's a DDR2 MoBo so I wouldn't be buying any DDR3. If you want DDR3, you should be looking at the 790i based Striker II Extreme which for some reason is not on store shelves as yet....last release date I saw published was Feb 19. From Wikipedia:

nForce 790i

* Codenamed C73P (790i)/C73XE (790i Ultra)
* Support 1600 MHz FSB
* Support 45nm Penryn
* Triple SLI
o Slot 1: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce northbridge
o Slot 2: full speed PCI Express 1.0 x16 slot pulled from the southbridge
o Slot 3: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce northbridge
* Addition of the nForce 200 PCI-E bridge (previously codenamed BR-04) integrated into Northbridge.
* EPP 2.0
* Supports a maximum of 8GB DDR3-1333 (non-ultra), Ultra can overclock above DDR3-2000.
* Special GPU routing (PWShort)[2]
* Overclocks much better than predecessor.[3]

nForce 780i

* Codenamed C72XE (780i)
* Shared similar layout as its predecessor, the nForce 680i SLI
* Addition of the nForce 200 PCI-E bridge (previously codenamed BR-04)
o Connected to the northbridge via a 4.5 Gbit/s proprietary bus
o Support for PCI-E 2.0 [1]
* Triple SLI
o Slot 1: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce 200
o Slot 2: full speed PCI Express 1.0 x16 slot pulled from the southbridge
o Slot 3: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce 200
* Supports a maximum of 8GB DDR2-800 dual-channel memory, and DDR2-1200 dual-channel SLI memory (780i) [5] (790i)
* Support 1333 MHz FSB
* The northbridge (including the nForce 200 chip) was reported to dissipate 48 W when running [6]

Next I think about PSU's and cases which I try and buy from same manufacturer "when it makes sense"....avoids those cable routing issues. Go and look at link below and select one based upon your SLI configuration. With triple SLI, there's not a lot of choices and no case / PSU choices. Thermaltake PSU's are fine for dual 8800GTX's (see list)

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

As for memory, read the Anandtech site articles on the 790i and see what they found worked well, frankly I don't recall their suggestions.

The HD choices surprised me. http://www.storagereview.com/WD7500AAKS.sr?page=0%2C6
"According to filtered and analyzed data collected from participating StorageReview.com readers, a predecessor of the Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS, the Western Digital RE2 WD5000YS , is more reliable than 4% of the other drives in the survey that meet a certain minimum floor of participation."

If speed and only speed is your criteria, nothing touches the Samsung F1. The Seagate 7200.11 is a bit slower but has a 5 year warranty compared to the F1's 3 years.

Not much out yet, but triple 9800 GTX's is the rig that rules atm.

CPU .... budget decision.

-Audio: SOUND BLASTER FATAL1TY X-FI XTREMEGAMER 7.1 .... I think I'd stick with the riser card solution on the Striker II
-Headset: Logitech Extreme PC Gaming Headset .... personal preference
-Case: Thermaltake Armor VA8003SWA ..... decent enough case
-LCD: Dell E248WFP ..... For the same price, I'd buy the Lenovo L220x (slightly smaller but still 1920 x 1200 and better image)
-Mouse: Logitech G9 Laser ...personal preference
-Pad: Logitech Rumblepad 2 Vibration Feedback .... no idea
-Speakers: Logitech Z-5300e 5.1 ..... I like the power of the 5500's
-Teclado: LOGITECH G15: 109 ....OK I assume that's spanish for keyboard and again personal preference.

How about a CPU cooler ? Noctua and Thermalright 120 have been slightly eclipsed of late by the Thermalright's new IFX-14 which gets a bit of extra cooling due to its CPU sicket backplate cooling. But that feature makes the install more difficult.

 

[MartinWan-Kenobi]

Well, first suggestion: don't get an Intel Extreme processor unless you like giving them money. It is a waste. An E8400/8500 or Q6600/9450 would be a much better choice.

Yeap, its true. But i choice the Extreme for e better futureproof.

 

[MartinWan-Kenobi]

OK as thre MoBo is the basis of any system, let's start there. The Striker II is a great MoBo but IIRC it's a DDR2 MoBo so I wouldn't be buying any DDR3. If you want DDR3, you should be looking at the 790i based Striker II Extreme which for some reason is not on store shelves as yet....last release date I saw published was Feb 19. From Wikipedia:

nForce 790i

* Codenamed C73P (790i)/C73XE (790i Ultra)
* Support 1600 MHz FSB
* Support 45nm Penryn
* Triple SLI
o Slot 1: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce northbridge
o Slot 2: full speed PCI Express 1.0 x16 slot pulled from the southbridge
o Slot 3: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce northbridge
* Addition of the nForce 200 PCI-E bridge (previously codenamed BR-04) integrated into Northbridge.
* EPP 2.0
* Supports a maximum of 8GB DDR3-1333 (non-ultra), Ultra can overclock above DDR3-2000.
* Special GPU routing (PWShort)[2]
* Overclocks much better than predecessor.[3]

nForce 780i

* Codenamed C72XE (780i)
* Shared similar layout as its predecessor, the nForce 680i SLI
* Addition of the nForce 200 PCI-E bridge (previously codenamed BR-04)
o Connected to the northbridge via a 4.5 Gbit/s proprietary bus
o Support for PCI-E 2.0 [1]
* Triple SLI
o Slot 1: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce 200
o Slot 2: full speed PCI Express 1.0 x16 slot pulled from the southbridge
o Slot 3: full speed PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot from nForce 200
* Supports a maximum of 8GB DDR2-800 dual-channel memory, and DDR2-1200 dual-channel SLI memory (780i) [5] (790i)
* Support 1333 MHz FSB
* The northbridge (including the nForce 200 chip) was reported to dissipate 48 W when running [6]

Next I think about PSU's and cases which I try and buy from same manufacturer "when it makes sense"....avoids those cable routing issues. Go and look at link below and select one based upon your SLI configuration. With triple SLI, there's not a lot of choices and no case / PSU choices. Thermaltake PSU's are fine for dual 8800GTX's (see list)

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

As for memory, read the Anandtech site articles on the 790i and see what they found worked well, frankly I don't recall their suggestions.

The HD choices surprised me. http://www.storagereview.com/WD7500AAKS.sr?page=0%2C6
"According to filtered and analyzed data collected from participating StorageReview.com readers, a predecessor of the Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS, the Western Digital RE2 WD5000YS , is more reliable than 4% of the other drives in the survey that meet a certain minimum floor of participation."

If speed and only speed is your criteria, nothing touches the Samsung F1. The Seagate 7200.11 is a bit slower but has a 5 year warranty compared to the F1's 3 years.

Not much out yet, but triple 9800 GTX's is the rig that rules atm.

CPU .... budget decision.

-Audio: SOUND BLASTER FATAL1TY X-FI XTREMEGAMER 7.1 .... I think I'd stick with the riser card solution on the Striker II
-Headset: Logitech Extreme PC Gaming Headset .... personal preference
-Case: Thermaltake Armor VA8003SWA ..... decent enough case
-LCD: Dell E248WFP ..... For the same price, I'd buy the Lenovo L220x (slightly smaller but still 1920 x 1200 and better image)
-Mouse: Logitech G9 Laser ...personal preference
-Pad: Logitech Rumblepad 2 Vibration Feedback .... no idea
-Speakers: Logitech Z-5300e 5.1 ..... I like the power of the 5500's
-Teclado: LOGITECH G15: 109 ....OK I assume that's spanish for keyboard and again personal preference.

How about a CPU cooler ? Noctua and Thermalright 120 have been slightly eclipsed of late by the Thermalright's new IFX-14 which gets a bit of extra cooling due to its CPU sicket backplate cooling. But that feature makes the install more difficult.

Thanks a lot for your help but the 9800 GTX have not arrive to my country and the mother nForce 790i cost 690Uss, for that reason i would like an alternative.
The better mother from my list? and which configuration is better: A couple of 8800GTS in Sli or 1 9800GX2?
One last thing: Do you think is a good idea to change the cpu for an Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 and with the rest of the money get the nForce 790i mother and another GTS for Tri Sli or -if it works- 2 9800Gx2 for Quad Sli?

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[shaun37]

atm its clear that the 9800GTX is clearly a stalling method that nVidia uses. It's can't beat the aging 8800Ultra at higher resolutions and its price/performance ratio in every game except crysis is meh at best.

For the best p/p ratio, I'd recommend first buying X1 8800GTS 512MB and put your spare money away somewhere, wait till the release of a new series of nVidia or the ATI HD4XXX series (looks promising but eh, de-ja-vu anyone?). So at least then you won't have to save up much to purchase the best of the new 'beast of a card'.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Thanks a lot for your help but the 9800 GTX have not arrive to my country and the mother nForce 790i cost 690Uss, for that reason i would like an alternative.
The better mother from my list? and which configuration is better: A couple of 8800GTS in Sli or 1 9800GX2?
One last thing: Do you think is a good idea to change the cpu for an Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 and with the rest of the money get the nForce 790i mother and another GTS for Tri Sli or -if it works- 2 9800Gx2 for Quad Sli?

Thanks a lot for your help!

Ya confused me a bit there....on one hand ya seem to be saying the local procing of the 790i takes it out fo consideration and then asking me if you should get one.

CPU choice is determined by applications.....gaming is a secondary consideration for me as I gotta earn a living first and lay games second. So how a CPU works in AutoCAD and other applications I use is my primary concern. With many hi end apps going quad capable, it seems to be the CPU of choice for apps, whereas, from what I read from the gaming enthusiasts here, a Core Duo is more highly overclockable and better for gaming. I'll have to defer to them on that point.

Check out the MoBo reviews on Anandtech site, they go into detail as to what CPU's they were able to overclock highly. As for comparing the video, there's a nice comparison here from single, double, triple and even quad SLI.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3275&p=4
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3275&p=5

 

[MartinWan-Kenobi]

Ya confused me a bit there....on one hand ya seem to be saying the local procing of the 790i takes it out fo consideration and then asking me if you should get one.

CPU choice is determined by applications.....gaming is a secondary consideration for me as I gotta earn a living first and lay games second. So how a CPU works in AutoCAD and other applications I use is my primary concern. With many hi end apps going quad capable, it seems to be the CPU of choice for apps, whereas, from what I read from the gaming enthusiasts here, a Core Duo is more highly overclockable and better for gaming. I'll have to defer to them on that point.

Check out the MoBo reviews on Anandtech site, they go into detail as to what CPU's they were able to overclock highly. As for comparing the video, there's a nice comparison here from single, double, triple and even quad SLI.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3275&p=4
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3275&p=5

Yeap, im sorry, i mean that with the money i save from the QX9650 (if i choice a 8500 in place) i can get the 790i mother.

And for the Video, i think i will go for a 9800GTX sli (my actual video car is a GeForce Ti 4200) instead of one 9800GX2 (Quad Sli is not working good), and in the future i can get one 9800GTX more for e Tri-Sli. What do you think? God idea or bad?

Thanks a lot