Can you look over our new build components?

My son and I are getting ready to build our first system - zero experience. I would like to get feedback on the components that we've selected (i.e. will they work together, do they make sense for our needs, are there better choices, etc.). Also, am I missing anything obvious?

We are trying to build a system that would allow my son to play games such as Crysis on high settings. My needs are a lot more basic - photo editing, web site design, etc.

We've gone through several forums and ended up with the following:

• pc case - Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ull%2bTowe
• processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115037
• motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128082
• RAM - 4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 memory module CT2KIT25664AA667
• hard drive - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS [url] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] WD7500AAKS[/url]
• graphics card - EVGA 512-P3-N845-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] KO%2b512MB
• DVD R/RW - Samsung SH-S203B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 2bSH-S203B
• power supply - PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] f%2bEPS12V

Any advice that you can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Moez

Crysis at high settings gets 46 fps at 1280x1024 on a system with HD 4870 Crossfire.

WD7500AAKS is in fact a fantastic disk, I have two of them and love them. Massive speed improvement over my older WD5000AAKS. WD6400AAKS is even better.

Here's my list:

RC-690
Q6600
GA-EX38-DS4 or GA-X48-DS4
2x2GB DDR2 800 Crucial or Corsair
WD6400AAKS.
2x HD4870, preferably Sapphire/Diamond/Visiontek, identical of course
Silencer 750W as first choice, Corsair 750TX second, Antec Quattro 850W third
SH-S203B
CPU-Fan : Xigmatek HDT-S1283, with this bracket: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] bretention

The Q6600 will in fact be slower than the E8400 in most games, but that's not important IMO because most games will wait on HDD and GPU rather than on the Q6600 anyway. Also, the Q6600 will be better in games that do support quads (like FSX), or in PhotoShop or video editing software.

The list above is good if you are willing to overclock. If you aren't, take away the Xigmatek things and replace the Q6600 with a Q9450. Make sure the Q9450 is marked Retail, not OEM, so you get a cooler with it.

So, are you guys saying that the EVGA 512-P3-N845-AR GeForce 8800GTS won't cut it? The description on newegg says that it's SLI supported.

Sorry.... like I said, I'm a newbie - you may have to talk veerrrry slowly for me to get it.

Thanks!

LOL, you were smart enough to pick the PC Power & Cooling, so you can't possibly be that bad

Avoid nVidia's cards and especially SLI. These days AMD rules in video cards, especially combined with motherboards based on the Intel chipsets x38 and x48.

The HD 4870 is faster than the 8800GTS. The 8800GTS had a good run, it was THE card to buy for a few months, but it's obsolete by now, with the HD 4850 and HD 4870 out and considering current prices.

One thing to understand up front, building a system for Crysis is somewhat of an exercise in frustration. It makes extraordinary demands on the video subsystem, and some future games will probably be even worse. If you are planning to have this system for several years, then its important that you plan with future performance upgrades in mind. That means that you would probably be best off, with the current technology, to look at an X48 chipset board, it is as future proof as it gets right now. A Q6600 processor can be easily overclocked for 3.2GHz without any extreme measures, many people run them at 3.6GHz. The Xigmatek 1283 CPU cooler with the Crossbow retention bracket is an excellent choice for cooling your CPU, regardless of which one you choose. The E8400 vs Q6600 arguments have valid points on both sides, one has to assess their intended usage for the system when weighing the arguments.

Regardless of the components you choose, realize that something bigger and badder is just around the corner, regardless of when you do your build. State of the art in computers lasts for 20 minutes after purchase or 20 feet from the storefront, whichever comes first.

Depends on your future plans, I would spend a little more on the mobo and go with the DS4 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] toreType=0
It gives you 2X PCI-E X16 slots and PCI-E 2.0, which will give you far more headroom for graphics performance than your current selection. Go with DDR2 800 vice DDR2 667, the price is virtually the same, and you can run the memory at stock speed, 800MHz, with a Q6600 overclocked to 3.2GHz (8x 400) or 3.6GHz (9x 400). Synchronous memory operation is optimal for long term use.

1- I can agree with your case, power supply and hard disk
2- Motherboard: Forget that crap you selected and get
ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131297
3- RAM: Forget again the crappy one you selected and get
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146785
4- Processor: If you have heavy use of photo editing go for Q6600
otherwise E8400 is good
5- Graphic Card: Get one 4870 now and when prices drop get another an Cross Fire
to play Crysis on high settings

Thanks Kad. That discussion between the Asus and the Gigabyte motherboards seemed to be common on the forums that I had been scoping out. In the end, we wound up with the Gigabyte base on some youtube videos. The price of the one that you pointed out looks fairly comparable to the Gigabyte. Do you have any specifics about why that one is better than the one I selected?

Thanks again!

It is not a matter of price
or which one is better
both are good manufacturers of high end mobos
the problem with the bord you selected is the use of two types of totally different rams DDR2 and DDR3
which will create lot of compatibility issues
mobos with one type can hardly cope with memoris available in the market
this one will accept 2GB but not 4G
the other will support 4G but in 2 dimms not 4
another will accept single sided not double sided memory sticks
and another one will accept 64MB IC'c not 256
and so on
Surprisingy when you read the manual of all you'll find
" Support to 8GB "
From my reviews the only mobo worked with 8GB DDR2 1066 was Asus Rampage Formula and accepted some OC

Second thing the rating of reviewers in newegg 88% is really encouraging
I even did not recommend my mobo for you
If I were going to buy a mobo now I'll get that one ASUS P5Q Deluxe
Good luck

E8400 @3GHz will work fine at least for one year and it will perform better than Q6600@2.4GHz
But definitely the future is for Quad
Now there are only 2 games that need quad, FSX and Supreme Commander
after one year there will be more
but also more and better quads will come
Q9650 @ 3.0GHz at the corner
In addition to the price drop within one year I think the best is to stick now to E8400 and upgrade after 1year to Q9650 and who knows what will be released

+1 to that. P5Q is a bad choice for Crossfire, because it's a P45. P45 boards in Crossfire drop to x8 i.e. half the bandwidth and that hurts.

Details here:
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/ [...] index.html

GA-EX38-DS4 or GA-X48-DS4 or P5E X38 or P5E Deluxe X48 or aBit IX38 QuadGT are good choices IMO. The Silencer 750W is a better choice than the 610W version if you want Crossfire.