Please critique build

[houstonserenity]

This build is for a friend of mine mid level gaming rig. The GPU is a place holder but my total budget is 1500.00


Case Antec 900

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021


Hard Drive 7200.11 500gigs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288


PSU is PC&P 610w

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005


Ram is DDR2 800 2x2 gigs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

MoBo is a P45 with the option to Xfire if 4870 so warrents it but I must admit im not sure
about it <need the most input on this option>

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

CPU is a Q6600 im going to try to OC it to 3.0-3.2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail for heat sink

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

the OS im going to use is XPpro 32 But will recomend going to OS7 64 when it's released

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116515

ESET NOD32 Antivirus Home Edition V3.0 - OEM

and optical drive Blah blah

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153

So that gives me a grand total of 1300.00 with shipping 200 bucks left over

 

[pcgamer12]

vista is better, ud be an idiot to pay $40 more to get an old os.

 

[amdfangirl]

If you don't like Vista you can legally downgrade to XP

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019 $6.99
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020&Tpk=mx-2 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

Add those two items to your build. The push pins on the Xigmatek suck, and that thermal paste is better than arctic silver 5. It brings your temps down more than the silver 5, and it's non conductive, it last for years, and there is not set up/curing time for this stuff.

Also I agree about Vista. It's DX10 compatable, it's well supported, and paying money for a 8+ year old OS that doesn't have DX10 for the new games doesn't seem such a good idea.

 

[shadowduck]

If you don't like Vista you can legally downgrade to XP

ONLY on Vista Business or Ultimate. The Home versions do NOT qualify for this downupgrading option and it is there for businesses not home users.

 

[shadowduck]

As for the OP..

I don't think that P45 board supports going Xfire. I think you need a X38/X48 board to do that. However, unless you are gaming at resolutions above 1920x1200, you don't need to Crossfire anyway. One card will be enough.

Skip the RAM you picked- it has poor timings. Get this stuff instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231148

+1 for Why_Me. Push pins are HELL, the $11 bracket is well worth it!

Go with Vista. There is no reason to buy XP anymore. XP is only around for legacy users that would require a significant investment in new hardware/software for driver issues to go Vista (mainly business).

 

[Yoosty]

I don't think that P45 board supports going Xfire. I think you need a X38/X48 board to do that. However, unless you are gaming at resolutions above 1920x1200, you don't need to Crossfire anyway. One card will be enough.

I believe you are wrong on Crossfire support. I know the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R does support Crossfire.

2 PCI-E 2.0 x16 graphic interface with CrossFireX support for ultimate graphics performance

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products...board&ProductID=2842&ProductName=GA-EP45-DS3R

Same price as the Asus P45 board. The GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $149.99 plus it supports up 16gb of DDR2 Ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128344

 

[ausch30]

As for the OP..

I don't think that P45 board supports going Xfire. I think you need a X38/X48 board to do that. However, unless you are gaming at resolutions above 1920x1200, you don't need to Crossfire anyway. One card will be enough.

Skip the RAM you picked- it has poor timings. Get this stuff instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231148

+1 for Why_Me. Push pins are HELL, the $11 bracket is well worth it!

Go with Vista. There is no reason to buy XP anymore. XP is only around for legacy users that would require a significant investment in new hardware/software for driver issues to go Vista (mainly business).

It does support crossfire but both cards will run at 8x which isn't a big deal because 8x is fast enough anyway.

I agree with getting Vista instead and I've been saying that for a while. If your building a new system and don't have a copy of XP laying around there is no reason to buy a copy of XP.

Also I would go with either the RAM you linked or this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146726
Both are very good choices

 

[Why_Me]

As for the OP..

I don't think that P45 board supports going Xfire. I think you need a X38/X48 board to do that. However, unless you are gaming at resolutions above 1920x1200, you don't need to Crossfire anyway. One card will be enough.

Skip the RAM you picked- it has poor timings. Get this stuff instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231148

+1 for Why_Me. Push pins are HELL, the $11 bracket is well worth it!

Go with Vista. There is no reason to buy XP anymore. XP is only around for legacy users that would require a significant investment in new hardware/software for driver issues to go Vista (mainly business).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299 $149.99
ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Expansion Slots
PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 2
PCI Express x1 - 3
PCI Slots - 2

 

[ausch30]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299 $149.99
ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Expansion Slots
PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 2
PCI Express x1 - 3
PCI Slots - 2

I states 2 16x slots but that is just the size of the slot. It is actually 1 16x and 1 4x and with both used in crossfire it is 2 8x.

 

[shadowduck]

I stand corrected. The P5Q Pro DOES support Crossfire. (8x each slot)