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georgy   06-22-2008 at 10:14:07 PM

This is my first build and i read alot to figure out what would be a good quality/price build. I don't know yet if i will be overclocking but if i do it won't be extreme. If you have better ideas mostly for cooling and for GPU i would appreciate. I don't know any other seller than ncix in Canada so if you know others please tell me.

Case: Coolermaster CM 690 Mid Tower Black ATX Case 5X5.25 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound Firewire & eSATA

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail

Motherboard: ASUS P5Q-E ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN eSATA 1394
or ASUS P5Q Pro ATX LGA775 P45 DDR2 2PCI-E16 Crossfire 3PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN eSATA (can't chose.. i would like to chose MSI P45 Neo3-FR but ncix.com doesn't offer it)

PSU: Corsair TX650W 650W ATX 12V 52A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan

Memory: Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive

CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12P LGA775 AM2 Heatsink Heatpipe Cooler W/ NF-P12 120MM Fan -12.6-19.8DBA

GPU: I thought about XFX GeForce 8800GTX 575MHZ 768MB 1.8GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out HDCP DIRECTX10 but i might change for a cheaper one (around 300$)

It would cost about 1450$ shipped.

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Bronze Home Brew badge WR2   06-22-2008 at 10:28:41 PM
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How about a $200 video card (Radeon HD 4850) that performs better than the 8800GTX?
http://ncix.com/products/index.php [...] =VISIONTEK
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/amdradeonhd4850preview_061908005229/17113.png
More of the HD 4850 review here: http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=1
[:wr2:2] Asus P5Q Pro and I like the rest of your choices too. [:wr2]
You could even drop down a size on the PSU to the Corsair 550VX but the price difference to the 650TX is very small.

Reply to WR2
jevon   06-22-2008 at 10:52:17 PM
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Definitely get the 4850 (or wait for 4870) so then you can Crossfire(add a second one) with that motherboard down the road.

 

I think the Western Digital 640Gb is the best buy right now HDDs, it's very fast as it's based on WD's new 2x320gb platters. It's been on NCIX's weekly special for a couple weeks in a row for about $90 ;)
http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] omoid=1060

 

NCIX is really good at price matching, make sure you do that every time you shop there! shopbot.ca and hardwarecanucks.pricecanada.com are both great places to start as they get you prices from multiple Canadian sellers.

 

DirectCanada.com is affiliated with NCIX, they're often referred to as the "other" NCIX on the forums since you can't talk about competitors :) They generally have better prices. TDdirect.ca, infonec.com, 1c2c.com, canadacomputers.com, and nxsource are all places where you may be able to find lower prices or have locations near you. There's many others too if you REALLy want to know haha

 

I'd recommend just starting with shopbot and pricecanada and search using model #s from NCIX's site. ie for the E8400, search with "BX80570E8400"

 

Happy hunting!

 


EDIT: Just saw your post. Either motherboard should Crossfire two 4850's just fine. Both card slots will 'only' run at x8 electrical, but since it's PCI-E 2.0 (not 1.1) you should still get all the bandwidth a 4850 would need. Maybe with all the $ you can save pricematching you can grab a second 4850 right away ;)


Message edited by jevon on 06-22-2008 at 10:57:06 PM
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Bronze Home Brew badge WR2   06-22-2008 at 10:59:35 PM
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As far as I know the only knock on P45 motherboards & Crossfire is that the X48 motherboards are better @ higher resolutions than P45.
Something along these lines:
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517 [...] g09iw6.gif


Message edited by WR2 on 06-23-2008 at 12:04:41 AM
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georgy   06-22-2008 at 11:56:11 PM
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Nice its 40$ cheaper on DirectCanada.com and shipping is free ;)

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pcgamer12   06-23-2008 at 12:08:40 AM
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Great build. I like how you got 4GB ram. I'm not too keen on your case though.
Try Antec Three Hundred.

Message quoted 1 times
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Avenger_K   06-23-2008 at 05:12:09 AM
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pcgamer12 wrote :

.....I'm not too keen on your case though.
Try Antec Three Hundred.



What's wrong with his case?!?! CM 690 is one of the best cases at its price point. I'm quite keen on his case.....

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Bronze Home Brew badge WR2   06-23-2008 at 05:33:55 PM
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That memory should work fine on that MB.
For 2x 4850 in CF the Sapphire website recommends a 550W PSU http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/pro [...] p?gpid=244
The actual draw of a Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 @ 3.20GHz & 4850CF system would look similar to this:
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/amdradeonhd4850preview_061908005229/17104.png

Quality PSU options would include the Corsair 550VX or 650TX, PC P&C 610, OCZ GameXtream 600 & 700

Be sure to let us know how things turn out.

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georgy   06-23-2008 at 05:59:52 PM
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Thanks! i will switch back to corsair TX650W. I will wait the release of 4870 and then order my kit. I learned alot here you guys are amazing. Talk to you later for OC ;)

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Bronze Home Brew badge WR2   06-23-2008 at 06:19:08 PM
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Just remember to double check the Crossfire power requirements if you go with the 4870. Im sure the 650TX would be plenty but its best to check twice and buy once - not the other way around.

Reply to WR2
twattle   06-23-2008 at 09:07:31 PM
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WR2: How come you recommend the P5Q Pro over the P5Q-E?
Just curious as I'm trying to choose between the same two boards, and the GA-EP45-DS3R.

 

Oh, and for the OP; you might wanna get the retention bracket for that cooler.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by twattle on 06-23-2008 at 09:08:18 PM
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georgy   06-23-2008 at 09:11:52 PM
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twattle wrote :


Oh, and for the OP; you might wanna get the retention bracket for that cooler.



can you send me a link or tell me what brand to search please?

Reply to georgy
twattle   06-23-2008 at 09:16:26 PM
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This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233019
Alternatively get the Thermaltake LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit, it's practically the same.

Reply to twattle
georgy   06-23-2008 at 09:32:49 PM
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Too bad i can't find it anywhere in Canaca... i will buy my stuff at directcanada.com but they dont have such bracket (or a bad search engine).

Reply to georgy
georgy   06-26-2008 at 01:58:25 AM
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all this time waiting makes me think... i dont know if i should REALLY get that stuff to possibly go crossfire. I can save 250$ with this stuff:

cooler master CM 690 72.36
e8400 198.88
asus p5q pro 139.99
OCZ gameXstream 600w 70.63
corsair xms2 dhx 4gb ddr2 pc2-6400 4-4-4-12 133.35
radeon 4850 189.99
seagate barracuda 500gb 32mb cache 75.88
xigmatek hdt-s1283 33.48

total: 915.56

Reply to georgy
Bronze Home Brew badge WR2   06-26-2008 at 02:20:00 AM
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Thats a pretty good Crossfire setup all by itself.
And with the $250 you've saved you can afford to get another 4850 now [:wr2:5]
But I'd go ahead and wait a while ..... you might find that one 4850 is all you need for now.

Reply to WR2
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