I want a system that will last at least 4 years (I know Nehalem is comming but I need this comp in the next few weeks). I'd like to spend closer to $1400, but I rather have a build that will last. It is for college and gaming. A couple questions:

- Are there any parts I can change that will reduce the price without really altering performance?
- Will my power supply be sufficient? What about if I plan on steping up to a gtx 280 in the future?
- Can I overclock this rig to 3.6ghz on stock hsf (400 fsb X 9 = 3.6)?

This is all from newegg:

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model SH-S202J - OEM $22.99

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $54.99

Western Digital Raptor WD360ADFD 36GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (X 2 for RAID 0) $179.98 ($89.99 each)

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $44.99

EVGA 512-P3-N875-AR GeForce 9800 GTX KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI $284.99

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 70SB088600002 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Retail $149.99

Rosewill RD550N-2DC-SL-SLV 550W ATX Form Factor 12V V2.2 / SSI standard EPS 12V Active PFC Power Supply - SLI Ready - Retail $64.99

OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G16004GK - Retail $269.99


EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $349.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail $189.99


Total = $1612.89

Thanks in advanced!

I would go with the WD640gb, Are you planning to sli?

I won't be needing that much memory, and I rather keep costs low. I may sli in the future, but it would be with two gtx 280s (after an evga step-up and prices drop)

Get rid of rubbish Rosewell PSU and DDR3 memory and your mobo
Go for X38 or X48 (NewP45 slso possible) with DDR2 support mobo
Forget SLI (lot of driver problems) and one high end card is enough
Get WD640gb or WD 750RE2 HDD
Get 4G(2X2G) 1066 memory, both are good
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146785
Get also TRUE heatsink and fan(Look at my sig)
Get OCZ Freeze Extreme thermal paste

Dump the IDE burner. Get a SH-S203B instead.

Dump the Centurion 5, it's too small for 9800GX2 or GTX 280, and probably also for whatever you will buy 4 years from now. Historically, cards get bigger every year, and that's not going to stop. Get an RC-690 instead. If you're looking at Triple-SLI get a full-tower. e.g. CoolerMaster Stacker or whatever.

A single WD6400AAKS or WD7500AAKS would cost less than those two Raptors, give you 9 or 10 times more space, and very similar average read/write rates without the risks and complication of RAID 0. Or get a VelociRaptor, it's $300 instead of $180 but you get 300GB instead of 72GB and still about the same average read/write, and even better access times. That is, RAID 0 will increase the rate of the old Raptors, but the WD6400AAKS and the VelociRaptor have perpendicular recording which does the same.

9800GTX is a waste too if you're not planning to buy 3 of them. For one or two, the 8800GTS G92 is just as good and cheaper. The only serious difference is that the 9800GTX can be used in Triple SLI but the 8800GTS can't.

X-Fi is nice, but don't buy it if you're going to use Vista. Soundcards that work well on Vista include Auzentech or HT Omega. If you have average speakers/headphones just use the onboard audio. Also keep in mind that SLI with thick cards tends to block the PCI slots.

Rosewill PSU - better avoid. If you want two 8800GTS or 9800GTX cards get a 750TX or Silencer 750W. If you want 3 9800GTX cards get a Corsair 1000HX or Enermax Galaxy 1000W.

DDR3/790i - overpriced. Get the XFX 78i or eVGA 780i instead and the OCZ Reaper DDR2-800 or similar. That would save you about $300, with negligible performance loss.

E8400 - sorry, man, I was really hoping to approve at least one thing from your list. Nope, if it's for 4 years you shouldn't get a dual core. Get a Q6600 or Q9450. This year the E8400 may still beat the Q6600 in most games, but in 2 or 3 years dual-core users will look like dinosaurs....

+1 for aevm almost..

Ditch the craptacular nVidia chipset motherboard altogether. You don't need SLI and certainly not with the bad investment 9800GTX.

2xx series will be out Wednesday, the 260 smacks the 9800 around, so a much better investment would be to pick up a 260 on a Intel chipset motherboard.

If you are gaming on a 24"+ monitor at 1920x1200+ ok you need SLI. Otherwise you DO NOT. Get a P45 motherboard, like the Asus P5Q Pro or MSI Neo-F. They overclock better, are more stable, and use less energy.

Don't fall for the SLI hype, it's not worth it.

avem is right on all other counts in his post.

Yeah, I guess you're right. I should've asked about the monitor size.

Two 8800GTS G92 on a 780i mobo would cost about $800, and they come with SLI headaches, while a P5Q+(HD 4870 or GTX 260) will cost about $600 and will still be plenty for a 22" monitor or smaller. It's worth waiting for the GTX 260 and HD 4870 and picking one of those.

Get the ASUS P5E
Stick to G.Skill 2 gb or 4 gb if you're running 64bit
BOOO 9800 GTX Wait for the 4870
Q9450

See, a couple days ago I was just like you thinking nvidia was the best, but these great forum members help me figure out that it is not the best.

Wow things have changed a lot since I've last been here! People used to say quad was a waste. Thanks for the advice, I've changed a few things around:

Motherboard

EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard (I'd still like the possibility of SLI in the future)

RAM

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK - Retail

CPU

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9450 - Retail

PSU

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail

GPU

I'll go with a gtx 260 and step-up to a 280 when its affordable.

Case

The reviews say the Centurion 5 can house a 8800 GTX so it should be able to house a GTX 260. I really need the smallest case possible so I'll stick with that.

HDD

However, as far as the hard drives goes I'm lost on what to choose. Wouldnt two 10,000 rpm drives in raid 0 give the best performance? I have never heard of perpendicular recording, how does that compare to the old raptors in raid 0?

Read this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] 4bit-drive

Raptor 36GB average read rate: 47.4 MB/s
With 2 in RAID 0 you can expect about 90 MB/s, I think.

The WD6400AAKS, with no RAID, does 89.2 MB/s. It's also quieter

Looks like a WD360ADFD for the OS and Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS for everything else will give me the best performance for the price.

Like the other guy said in this thread, stay away from EIDE drives, and if you can stay away from Nvidea boards...they are pure crap.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106263 $23.99
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] +P43%2fP45 <--- take a look at these boards, they are the new P43, and P45 boards.

Hey, I didn't know there was a GA-EP43-DS3L. Nice find! About the same price as the GA-EP35-DS3L, but with PCI-E 2 and with 6 SATA ports instead of 4. Cool!

Get rid of the crappy nVidia chipset motherboard. Go with the Gigabyte board Why_Me suggested, or go with the Asus P5Q Pro.

+1 for aevm for pointing out Raptors are a waste of money. RAID does not help you either unless you are doing large drive writes. It games it helps zero.

Ok I've decided against SLI, so I'll go with the P45.

New Mobo - ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

I won't be needing such a big PSU. Does CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply look good?

As for the optical drive I'll go with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151153, its only a couple more dollars and it performs slightly better and Samsung is a good company.

Get the Pro version for $10 for the 2nd PCI-E x16 slot- it is nice to have just in case.

PSU is fine, not modular. The PC Power and Cooling 610W (basically the same PSU) can be had for $10 less.

Fine on the burner- good choice.