$2000 Graphic Art/Gaming Rigs

[will5496]

I have been told to go with the second rig but I wanted more opinions please help me decide.

COMP 1:

EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024&Tpk=EVGA%2bNvidia%2bnForce%2b780i)
PRICE: $219.99
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EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339)
PRICE: $299.99 X2 = $599.98
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042)
PRICE: $339.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267)
PRICE: $104.99 X2 =$209.98
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003&Tpk=Xigmatek%2bS1283)
PRICE: $36.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019&Tpk=xigmatek%2bretention%2bbracket)
PRICE: $6.99
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007)
PRICE: $5.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB 5400 to 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136151)
PRICE: $199.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043)
PRICE: $214.95
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ800 800W ATX12V / EPS12V Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply 115 - 230V ± 10% tolerance
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814014)
PRICE: $199.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



COMP2:

ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284)
PRICE: $289.99
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIAMOND 4850PE3512 Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103060)
PRICE: $199.99 X2 = $399.98
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042)
PRICE: $339.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267)
PRICE: $104.99 X2 =$209.98
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003&Tpk=Xigmatek%2bS1283)
PRICE: $36.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019&Tpk=xigmatek%2bretention%2bbracket)
PRICE: $6.99
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007)
PRICE: $5.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB 5400 to 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136151)
PRICE: $199.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043)
PRICE: $214.95
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ800 800W ATX12V / EPS12V Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply 115 - 230V ± 10% tolerance
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814014)
PRICE: $199.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------






Both machines are very close in price and I'm not sure which would perform better. I'm just looking for some help. Any advice on the parts in either build would be great. I still have some budget in either build to mess around with. Thanks.

 

[angry_ducky]

I'd consider a second hard drive to do a RAID 1 mirror if data security matters to you.

Are there any cheaper Crossfire motherboards?

Finally, I'd wait a little longer to see how the Radeon 4870 performs; you may want to consider 2 of those...

Otherwise it looks good.

 

[twattle]

Definately go for the second build (COMP2), albeit with some minor changes.

- Might be able to find a cheaper motherboard.
- GPU is fine.
- CPU is fine.
- These ram got slightly better timings for 4$ more: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145194.
- Cooler +extras is fine.
- This HDD is faster and 43$ cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148274R.
- Go with this really nice 750W PSU and save almost 70$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006.

Think thats it. Good luck building.

Edit: changed the psu.