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New gaming build. Please critique

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Please critique my new build. This is for the purposes of playing Conan, Crysis, UT3, and so on. I will not SLI. I chose my mobo for the PCI 2.0 feature since it was the cheapest PCI 2.0 I could find. The thermalright is pretty expensive, but if I don't chose that, I will choose a Xigmatech fanless and count on the two 120 fans in the case to draw air over it.

Thanks.

Intel Q9300
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6819115043

EVGA 9800 GTX
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6814130339

Antec P182 Case
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6811129025

Corsair 520W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] sair%2b520

ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6813131232

G.SKILL 2GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6820231098

Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model DVR-215DBK
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6827129020

Vista 32
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6832116202

Thermalright IFX-14 Internal Fire eXtinguisher CPU Cooler
I might stick with the stock to start
http://www.directron.com/ifx14.html

Western Digital Caviar GP WD5000AACS 500GB 5400 to 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136149

Message edited by xoham on 05-23-2008 at 04:35:07 PM

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LOL, using the Infernal Fire Extinguisher to cool a CPU that isn't even overclocked. That's serious overkill. Are you sure the IFX-14 even fits in that case?
I'd just get an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro. It's cheap and quiet and actually cools better than even top performers like the Nirvana, on stock CPUs. There's a great review at Anandtech about it.

If you can afford the Q9450 instead of Q9300 do it. It has a larger cache, not just higher clock. I even like my Q6600, or the Q6700, more than the Q9300.

Nice case and video card and PSU. The 620HX has very long cables, you'll be fine. The 520HX would also work, but it's good to have more room for upgrades so I'd get the 620HX.

Try to get 2x2GB RAM so you can eventually have 8GB. Get Vista 64-bit.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to aevm

Get a cheaper processor and SLI

------------------------------ Gateway FX P-7805u (Laptop) (2x WD Black 320GB)(4GB DDR3)(9800M GTS 1GB GDDR3)
Reply to zloginet

Thanks for your comments. I will not be doing SLI. I'll look into the higher density RAM.

Any comments on the mobo?

Reply to xoham

If you aren't doing SLI get the Gigabyte P35-DS3L mobo.

Ditch the 9800GTX too... its cr@p card for that price. Get the 8800GTS instead .... or what would be the best is wait for the Radeon 4870 for a couple of weeks more.

Also since you aren't doing SLI, you don't need a lot of wattage...stick with 520HX or 550VX (which is cheaper by $40).

------------------------------ Intel E6750 * Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L * Galaxy 8800GT 512mb 620MHz* Corsair VX450 * 2GB Transcend 667* 2x120GB Seagate SATA * Altec Lansing ATP3*
Reply to mihirkula

Dialing down to the 520w PSU is a good idea. I'm sticking with my mobo choice for the pci 2.0 though. Can't wait for the Radeon, need to buy today really. The EVGA step-up program should get me to the g200 chipset right?

Reply to xoham

That gigabyte board also has pci 2.0...

SLI is for multi GPU usage... since you said you aren't gonna use SLI theres no point in buying an SLI board.

Message quoted 2 times

------------------------------ Intel E6750 * Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L * Galaxy 8800GT 512mb 620MHz* Corsair VX450 * 2GB Transcend 667* 2x120GB Seagate SATA * Altec Lansing ATP3*
Reply to mihirkula

@xoham, about the step-up: Risky. There's no guarantee that the g200 cards will be available less than 90 days from today.

The 550VX is actually just as good as the 520HX. I saw a comparative review that found each of them slightly better than the other at some things, but all the differences were negligible. Whatever you find cheaper.

Message edited by aevm on 05-23-2008 at 04:47:53 PM

Reply to aevm

mihirkula wrote :

That gigabyte board also has pci 2.0...

From what I've read, only the 7xxi and X38/x48 mobos have pci 2.0. I followed the manufacturer's link to make sure and they say nothing about pci 2.0 for that board. One of the newegg reviewers confirms that

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to xoham

double post

Message edited by xoham on 05-24-2008 at 02:39:40 AM

Reply to xoham

xoham wrote :

Correct. The GA-P35-DS3L does NOT have PCI-E 2.0. But, on the other hand, an 8800GTS G92 512MB or 9800GTX will work on it fine, without performance loss.
OK, if you're willing to pay more just so that your next card can have a PCI-E 2.0, look at Asus P5N-D or Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4.

Reply to aevm

ok wait my bad...guess i was sleepy...that gigabyte does not have pci 2.0. i have it myself

Though pci 2.0 is backward compatible and your GPU won't be bottlenecked at all. X38 is a good deal. Aevm's suggestion of EX38-DS4 is very good.

------------------------------ Intel E6750 * Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L * Galaxy 8800GT 512mb 620MHz* Corsair VX450 * 2GB Transcend 667* 2x120GB Seagate SATA * Altec Lansing ATP3*
Reply to mihirkula

aevm wrote :

If you can afford the Q9450 instead of Q9300 do it. It has a larger cache, not just higher clock. I even like my Q6600, or the Q6700, more than the Q9300.

I am deciding between the Q6600, Q6700 and the Q9300 as well why would you prefer the Q6700 and the Q6700 over the Q9300? Does the larger cache out weigh the 45 nm?

Reply to ozcot

The Q9300 has a multiplier of 7.5. The Q6600 has 9, the Q67000 has 10. Put them on an X38 mobo, running at 400 MHz, and you end up with the Q6700 at 4GHz, the Q6600 at 3.6GHz, the Q9300 at 3 GHz. A Q9300 at 3GHz is about as fast, AFAIK, as a Q6600 or Q6700 at 3.1 GHz. That is, with proper mobo/RAM/cooler/knowledge, the Q6700 beats the Q6600 which beats the Q9300.

If you don't overclock, or you have SSE4 software that benefits from the Q9300 and that's what you do all day, then the Q9300 is worth it. Otherwise, I'd rather have one of the others.

Reply to aevm

Microcenter was all out of q9300 so I was forced to get the 9450 with the crappy stock heatsink (which I am using until I finish moving). I also bought Vista Ultimate OEM because they didn't have home premium.

So far it runs nice, if a bit hot in the cores.

Reply to xoham

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