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sub-$1200 gaming rig, need suggestions

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - sub-$1200 gaming rig, need suggestions

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Purpose for new rig: Future-proof my new rig as cheaply as possible. Looking forward to gaming (Age of Conan/Crysis) as well as media encoding using Adobe Premiere.

Processor: Q6600 $180
http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0283289

Video: 2 x HD4850 $145 x 2 = $290 ($15 off Promo:VGA71115)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102747

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 $225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128336

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231122

PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341002

HDD: Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3gb/s $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148136

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05 $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341002

Total: $1195 tax included
$1213 total with shipping

Is $1,213 worth it for this rig? Any suggestions to make it cheaper?

Would I need higher wattage psu since I'm crossfiring?

What is an ideal motherboard for crossfire? I heard that 8x / 8x and 16x / 16x are negligible in performance. A cheaper mobo for me would be better than the current one I have selected. Should I settle for P45?

Message edited by aohus on 07-14-2008 at 04:22:24 AM

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Your setup is actually perfect, except for the case. You have already got an ideal MB for Crossfire with that GA-X48-DS4.

The difference between P45 (two slots at x8) and x48 (two slots at x16) is not negligible IMO with HD 4850 cards. Read and decide for yourself:
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/ [...] index.html

The Centurion 5 has one 120mm fan and one 80mm fan. It will have a very hard time dealing with two single-slot high-end video cards. Strongly recommend RC-690 instead. It's $21 more after shipping, and well worth it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119137

The GameXStream 700W is enough. If you aren't comfortable with it add $20 and get the 750TX instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] &Tpk=750tx

Do you need a burner? SH-S203N is pretty good.

Will you overclock?

Sorry, I wanted to reduce your costs and I added $41 instead

Reply to aevm

yes I will be OC'ing. Eventually I will add a CPU heatsink but as of now I will wait.

Reply to aohus

If the P45 gets all sorted out with it's drivers, agreed that it would be a less expensive choice.

The theory was that x8 would be enough for crossfire. We should know in a week or two if it's going to work out in practice... I have a P5Q-E sitting in front of me, and I've been doing alot of reading. There are a few things I think the testers might have done differently to squeeze out more performance, and I'm going to look at them tomorrow when the rest of the parts come in.

Reply to Proximon

Thanks Proximon, i'm very interested in that myself.

Reply to dirtmountain

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