Revised High Spec Rig. Opinions wanted!

[p0isonapple]

Here is where I'm at so far in terms of my new high spec gaming rig.

CASE:Gigabyte 3D Aurora
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233001

MOBO: EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188025

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042

RAM: mushkin 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146785

GPU: GTX280 SLi

HDD: Western Digital Caviar 500GB x2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136111

SOUND: Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102014

OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

MONITOR: LG L226WTY-BF
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005097

I really need suggestions on wether 4GB ram is enough, what kind of dvd or blu-ray drive I should get, and anything else you dont like!

thanks!

EDIT: HAHA, thanks for pointing that out t3hDon. Changed the monitor link. Also, what PSU is reccommended for a rig like this?

 

[T3hDon]

hey p0sion, just to point out that is a DDR3 mobo and you picked DDR2 ram. and after picking the same board for my new build i got to reading that DDR3 is just a minimal performance upgrade for a high cost, also i read that overclocking the 790i boards is pretty hard because the bios are pretty buggy atm. but if your looking to SLI out of the gate then the 790i is a good way togo. i don't think you would notice anything over 4gb of ram unless your doing video editing. and your monitor is a sound card?!

 

[p0isonapple]

Dangit, so I take it their is no backwards compatibility to DDR2? I picked the board not only for its terrific SLi, but also as a futureproofing measure. Can you reccommend anything else mate?

Also I changed my monitor link

 

[lameness]

I concur ^

Also you will very possibly have to OC that cpu in order to get the most out of
2x gtx280.

Most games will still only be able to use the 2 cores which at stock clocks are not super quick. What cooler are you thinking of?

 

[p0isonapple]

Hmm what CPU do you reccommend lameness?

I'm not to savvy when it comes to cooling

 

[houstonserenity]

Try a P38 MB keep the memory and one GTXx2 GPU. and a good E8500 duel core CPU that you can OC to 4.2 easy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130344

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

 

[p0isonapple]

I was considering the E8500. What are the reasons for that mobo Houston? Also I think I'd much rather wait for the next nVidia cards, I currently have an 8800GT and now think a 9800GX2 would be a waste, but if you can provide reason then please do

 

[lameness]

Well pretty much any cpu at stock clocks might struggle with 2 gtx 280...it depends just how quick they are.

If you are not going to OC then the 8500 is probably your best bet, at least until games actually start to utilise the 4 cores. When this does happen a quad core would give you a very big advantage...the higher freq the better.

If you are going to OC then the Q9450 is a very sound choice. Im not really an expert, but i gave heard that it can reach some very nice speeds, speeds which should be able to keep up with the sli setup. Of course the 8500 (or 8400) can also be OCed even higher....but what im trying to say is that when OCed the q9450 should be sufficient even if games dont start using 4 cores soon. If the q9450 isnt OCed then it might bottle neck your sli setup (in games that cant use 4 cores) depending upon how quick the new cards are.

My advice would be the 9450 and OC it.

 

[p0isonapple]

Excellent I'm really glad to hear that lameness. I intended on OCing as i hear they are quite stable to OC, my next question is should i go for liquid cooling, or could you reccommend a good air cooler? Also a PSU, these are the two areas that I'm not confident in

 

[Zenthar]

I'd like to point-out that Creative's Vista support isn't really good so spending 180$ for the Sound Blaster might be a complete waste. Unless you got a real trained ear, you probably won't see the difference with on-board sound anyway.

 

[p0isonapple]

Oh, that's no good whats wrong with their Vista support Zenthar?

 

[p0isonapple]

bump before bed for replies.

thanks again everyone!

 

[warezme]

building a rig, especially a higher end one right on the heals of Nehalem is not cool.

 

[evongugg]

For motherboard you can go with the EVGA 780i which supports DDR2 and SLI.
For the sound card I would go with Asus Xonar.
You are going to need a beefy power supply for SLI:

Certified SLI-Ready Power Supplies
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

 

[Noya]

Why not a 24" 1080p screen?

And why 2 x 500gb IDE drives? Look around for deals and you can get the WD 640gb AAKS for barely $10 more per drive shipped.

And as others have said, that sound card is a waste. What speakers are you using?

 

[Zenthar]

Oh, that's no good whats wrong with their Vista support Zenthar?

Many people were reporting crashed, missing features, ... only under Vista. There problems date a while back, but some people still have problems (see here). I heard they released new drivers or tool really recently, like in the past 1-2 weeks that might fix it, but I'm using on-board so I'm not sure.

BTW, if you want an off-board card for gaming performances, you might want to check this thread.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I agree with Noya about going with the WD 640gb AAKS. Those drives are sweet! Almost as fast as a Raptor - and pretty cheap!

 

[rubix_1011]

my next question is should i go for liquid cooling, or could you reccommend a good air cooler?

If you feel that you want to spend the cash on a good water cooled setup, go for it. I have been running water for 5+ years and have enjoyed it. There are very good air coolers out now that are in the $40-$50 range that do quite well, so its hard to say liquid to the majority of users simply for that reason.

For most, its about the customization and the DIY part that draws most people. If you get some knowledge about how to set them up, they are quite reliable (with reliable parts, of course). Just try to think ahead and get things like a pump, radiator (res, if you want) and blocks that you can use down the road; preferably ones that use a bracket that can be changed out (with new CPU/GPU) chips.

 

[evongugg]

Liquid cooling is okay. Air is cheaper:

Top 5 heatsinks:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

 

[p0isonapple]

Ok, so Nehalem? Should I just wait till around christmas this year to build this rig?