Final Shopping List

[TopRowSeat]

Ok, based heavily on reading the forums and various TomsHardware articles I have come up with the following shopping list for my build.

The goal is a to build a machine for racing. iRacing, rFactor etc... with a $1,000 budget. No monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse or OS needed.

I haven't built a machine in a few years. Am I missing anything? Any suggestions on the shopping list below or am I on track?

All prices are NewEgg current as of today (Sunday)

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Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400

$189.99

1 GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard

$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$139.99

1 Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

-$20.00 Instant
$139.99
$119.99

1 CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

-$50.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$159.99
$109.99

1 mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996599

$25.00 Mail-in Rebate
$134.99

1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

$59.99

1 Sony NEC Optiarc 20X DVD±R Burner with LightScribe Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model AD-7201A-0B

$26.99

1 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

$5.99

1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

-$10.00 Instant
$36.99
$26.99

1 MSI GeForce 8800GTS (G92) NX8800GTS 512M OC Video Card

-$49.99 Combo
$30.00 Mail-in Rebate
$256.98
$206.99

Grand Total: $1,021.90 (minus the mail-in rebates gets me back under $1,000)

 

[Asian PingPong]

The gigabyte p35 series is known to have some issues with ram natively higher than 800 mhz. I'd make sure the ram you are planning to get is supported first.

 

[WR2]

Your ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro already has some very good MX-2 thermal compound applied to the heat sink. You don't need the AS5.

Look for a SATA model of DVD burner - not the IDE/PATA version you have listed.

The Asus P5Q Pro P45 motherboard is only $10 more (but no $20 rebate). It has 2(8 lane) x16 PCI-e slots vs the 1 x16 PCI-e of the DS3R. Allows future Crossfire upgrade. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

Sapphire HD 4850 video card $200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102747

You can easily step down a PSU size to the 550VX. It's more than enough to handle your system and sized high enough to handle a future upgrade video card including CF 4850.

The Coolermaster RC-690 case would save you $25. Review @ http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RC_690
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

 

[prochobo]

Your ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro already has some very good MX-2 thermal compound applied to the heat sink. You don't need the AS5.

Look for a SATA model of DVD burner - not the IDE/PATA version you have listed.

The Asus P5Q Pro P45 motherboard is only $10 more (but no $20 rebate). It has 2(8 lane) x16 PCI-e slots vs the 1 x16 PCI-e of the DS3R. Allows future Crossfire upgrade. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299
[flash=0,0]http://crunkentertainment.com/img5.jpg[/flash]
Sapphire HD 4850 video card $200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102747

You can easily step down a PSU size to the 550VX. It's more than enough to handle your system and sized high enough to handle a future upgrade video card including CF 4850.

The Coolermaster RC-690 case would save you $25. Review @ http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/RC_690
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

Yes, do get the 4850. It is not only cheaper, but faster as well.

 

[pcgamer12]

I say stick with the 650W and Antec Nine Hundred because of the good airflow and since the 4850's get hot. I agree with the Asus P5Q Pro P45, much better for the price.

 

[shadowthor]

+1 for the P5Q Pro.

 

[WR2]

Reviews of HD 4850 showing performance vs 8800GTS (G92) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_4850
Other 4850 reviews: http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=1 http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2320904,00.asp

Showing 550W PSU being plenty for a Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.20GH and CF 4850 system (from the Anandtech review)

 

[dirtmountain]

another vote for the P43/45 the SATA burner and DDR2 800 RAM
WR2 ftw

 

[jevon]

I agree with WR2, I'd get the 4850 with the P45 to allow a second 4850 during a sale like Black Friday or Boxing Week. Corsairs 550W or PC Power and Cooling's 610W is enough for the system with one of the 4850's, but I think I would want at least the 620 or even 750W Corsairs or PCP&P's for Crossfiring two of them. Although if you build every two years you can probs get away with the 550W.

The Coolermaster 690 case has excellent airflow as well as the 900, and it's cheaper. You can also choose to install extra fans from 80mm up to 140mm, though 120mm will be the sweet spot. The 900 will also require extra fans to maximize it's airflow potential. I like Yate Loon fans, but just do a quick read up on high CFM fans with low noise and balance according to your own noise tolerance/preference.

Definitely kick your ram down to DDR2-800. That will allow you to OC your E8400 up to 3.6Ghz w/o overclocking the memory (running 1:1). With the Zalman heatsink I'm not sure how much higher you would want to push it anyway, and you'd like not notice the difference between 3.6Ghz and 4.0Ghz.

Good luck!

 

[aevm]

Reviews of HD 4850 showing performance vs 8800GTS (G92) Other 4850 reviews: http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=1
Showing 550W PSU being plenty for a Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.20GH and CF 4850 system (from the Anandtech review)
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/amdradeonhd4850preview_061908005229/17104.png

Something is a bit fishy with those numbers. Here's a quote from page 5 of the Anandtech review. It's in fact right after the image you linked:

With two 4850s paired up in CrossFire, we once again ran into issues with our power supply. Our 1000W OCZ EliteXStream wasn't always enough for the dual-GPU setup and in Call of Duty 4 our system rebooted in the middle of our test at 2560 x 1600. Thankfully OCZ sent us a PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 1200W unit that is certified for use with GeForce GTX 280 SLI, and if it works on that beast, it had better work with a pair of 4850s in CrossFire.

The PCP&C unit is quite loud as we mentioned in our review, but it got the job done, we were able to run all of our benchmarks without a hiccup after swapping power supplies. Despite AMD's small-GPU strategy, power consumption on multi-GPU configurations is still just as much of a problem as it is for NVIDIA.

I'm not saying the OP should spend $500 on a 1200W PSU, but I wouldn't get the 550VX for this job either. I'd get the Silencer 750W, $125 at newegg, or the 750TX, $120.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011&Tpk=Silencer+750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=750TX

 

[WR2]

Something is a bit fishy with those numbers. Here's a quote from page 5 of the Anandtech review. It's in fact right after the image you linked:

Maybe a bad PSU?
Here is what the Sapphire recommends on its website for CF 4850:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=244

That's very consistent with what Anandtech shows in the actual power consumption testing.

 

[aevm]

Yeah, that must be it, their PSU was just dying. LOL, 1200W for two cards that don't even need a second connector.

What about the P5Q, is that good enough for 4850 Crossfire, or should the OP look at x38/x48 instead? When used with two cards, the P5Q drops to x8 on both slots. I tried to figure out if that's a bottleneck or not but couldn't find out so far.


BTW, +1 for the RC-690 and the AC Freezer. A good SATA burner is SH-S203B for example.

 

[WR2]

When used with two cards, the P5Q drops to x8 on both slots. I tried to figure out if that's a bottleneck or not but couldn't find out so far.

Not so much a bottleneck but there is a slight penalty for having 2x8 PCI-e lanes (P-45) over 2x16 PCI-e lanes (X48).
Something along these lines:

More games bench marked in the Intel P45 Vs. X48 Crossfire Performance review @ http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1472/
It's not much of difference at lower resolutions but at the higher resolutions 19x12 25x16 it's can be significant. It also seems to benefit the MIN frame rates too. Also note that review that Crysis had some atypical results but that may be due to driver issues with Crysis.

 

[TopRowSeat]

Thanks for the great feedback! After a bit more research (and shamelessly stealing your suggestions) here is the new shopping list.

As to the P45 / X48 question... I can easily see me putting a second 4850 in there someday. However there is a pretty significant price difference between the boards. That seems like a tough call.


Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price

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

$189.99

1 CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

-$50.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$159.99
$109.99

1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

$59.99

1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

-$10.00 Instant
$36.99
$26.99

1 ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

$149.99

1 SAPPHIRE 100242L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

$199.99

1 mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996587

$25.00 Mail-in Rebate
$89.99

1 COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

$84.99

1 SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B

-$3.00 Instant
$29.99
$26.99

 

[aevm]

Many thanks WR2, great article.

 

[WR2]

As to the P45 / X48 question... I can easily see me putting a second 4850 in there someday. However there is a pretty significant price difference between the boards. That seems like a tough call.

It would be an easier call if we knew you had a 24" 19x12 or 30" 25x16 monitor heading your way soon. For those of us at 16x12 and lower it doesnt seem to be as big an issue. A slight overclock on the video card and you've probably made up any difference. (Of course you could have OC'd the GPU on the X48 board and come out ahead - except in your bank account). It's always a balancing act between budget and performance in the CPU/GPU choices.
[:wr2:2] IMO your new system will hit that balance nicely. I think you're good to go.
As for the CF or new generation GPU upgrade - I've always been in the new gen upgrade camp for monitor resolutions of 16x12 and under. I also favor the lower model in the top end GPU class (as in 4850 vs 4870) for the higher bank for buck it gives. SLI or CF and/or top end GPUs for 19x12 and higher makes more sense.

Let us know how you make out with your build.