Gurus of Tom's--does my P5E, Q9300, 4gb, 9800gtx build look good

May 18, 2008 6:25:52 AM

I am planning on a HUGE upgrade since i havent in two years. Before i buy on newegg tho i wanted to see if there is anything you all can see in my system or revise it at all. Does this look fine? my only doubts are if i need a better PSU-if so suggest me a good one but with a relatively low price.

MOBO: ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CPU:Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Ram: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU:EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HeatSink: ALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
I already have it.

PSU: Rosewill RP550S-2MK ATX 12V Ver.2.01 550W Modular Power Supply
I Bought 2 years ago.

i also have a antec 900 case, 22' monitor, G15 keyboard, G9 mouse, and bose headphones (i am a headphone kind of guy). AND if you need to know i plan on OCing relatively high which is why i went with DDR2 1066 RAM and a X38 mobo instead of a P35.

More about : gurus tom p5e q9300 4gb 9800gtx build good

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mexpedip

May 18, 2008 7:34:42 AM

1) what HD ar you using?
2) what are you using this comp for? ie: gaming, 3d rendering etc.?

Overall the systems looks good. I would recommend changing the CPU to the Q9450 simply becuse it jumps from 6mb cache to 12mb cache in the Q9450. It's about $100 difference. I can't find it on newegg but tigerdirect does have it.
GPU- read the reviews but if you want to save $50+ then go with the 8800GTS 512mb GPU. I could be wrong but if I remeber correctly THW recommended it as the best price/performance card available.
MB - I personally love the X38 chipset but I am not a big fan of ATI graphics cards and the X38 does not support SLI, just crossfire.
I'll let someone more qualified then me make a recommendation on the power supply. When I bought mine I looked up the watts I wanted and picked the highest rated one.

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akhilles

May 18, 2008 1:32:14 PM

If you trust the Rosewill PSU, you can re-use it in your new build. Personally, I wouldn't gamble on a psu which is probably the most important part of a pc and the most overclocked. The 9800GTX suggests a 450w 24a. Does your psu side label specs meet or exceed this requirement?

I don't think you're overclocking, especially with that hsf.

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spuddyt

May 18, 2008 1:48:40 PM

Rosewill PSU's are.... dodgy what did you have running on it before?

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jevon

May 18, 2008 2:01:07 PM

I'd definately swap out the Rosewill for a Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, or Antec. Quads draw power from the 12v rail just like your graphics card does, and when Quads are OC'd they can really start increasing the load. You're fine staying under or around 600w, unless you want to be able to add a second graphics card at some point. I dont think you do since you are buying an nVidia card on an Intel board, but FYI just in case. I'm not familiar with that heatsink, unless you're very confident in it I'd be watching those temps very closely as you OC.

Good luck!

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thebluedawg

May 18, 2008 4:19:21 PM

thanx everyone for your replys. I will probably end up buying a new powersupply then. Also i wanted to go with the 9800 gts becuase i want to use evga's step up program and get the new GT2*0 card. Also i heard that the 9800gts is better than 8800gts 512.

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