New Guy - New Build

[rodskii]

First of all I would like to say hi. I am new to the forums. Been browsing Tom's Hardware for years but actually never registered. Don't really know why....

Anyways this is my newest build. Any advice would be greatly appreciated considering the last PC I built was about 7 years ago..... Man it's tough getting current with technology when you don't keep up....

I was able to build this entire system off of Newegg.com for $1230.00 after mail in rebates. Primary use of the system will be for gaming. Thanks.

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Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail

EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

EVGA 896-P3-1264-AR GeForce GTX 260 SSC Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model

Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail

PC Power & Cooling PPCS750QBL Silencer 750W Quad Blue ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, ULC, CE, CB, RoHS - Retail

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q/BEBN - OEM

 

[hyperjoe]

No significant issues with this build although i have a couple suggestions:

HDD: If you want a raptor, pay the premium for the 300GB Velociraptor, it has better technology. As it stands the Raptor X probably doesn't perform much better than the newer 7200 rpm HDs you can get for similar prices for 500+ GB capacity. If not, go for the 640GB WD HD.

CPU Cooler: That's a pretty good cooler, if your case can fit it, consider the Xigmatech HDT-S1283 and separate retention bracket. It's one of the best cooling CPU coolers out there.

Good luck!

JR

 

[Wanker79]

I'm fairly sure that the general opinion is that Crossfire is better than SLI, and that the HD4870 performs better (usually for less money) than the GTX260.

Someone will also probably try to talk you into dropping down to one of the 7200 RPM Western Digital Caviar or 7200 RPM 7200.11 Seagate Barracuda HDDs. I don't know enough about HDD performance to make an educated comment, but I'm sure someone else will.

edit- told you so.

 

[rodskii]

Hmmm well I have a couple 250gig sata drives in my current PC. I think I will try a comparison with them in a Raid 0 setup and see if they outperform the Raptor. If my older ones do so then I will consider getting 2 of the newer 500gig drives and set it up that way. a terabyte sounds pretty sexy to me anyways.

As for the video cards. Like I said I am getting back into computer components so I am way out of the loop. I guess I am still on the mind set Nvidia is dominating the video department due to the success of the 8800 SLI series. Is the performance increase that substantial to justify sending back the GTX260? And won't I need a new motherboard? My idea behind this setup is 6 months down the road I can drop in a second GTX260 when the prices drop and get more performance out of the system.

 

[Wanker79]

Yes, you'd need a different mobo. If you already have the parts, and you're happy with the price you've spent I guess sticking with your original mobo/GPU is fine. I'm not positive, but I don't think the HD4870 is noticably better than the GTX260. The point is that it's basically equivalent (perhaps even a bit better) and you can get it for much cheaper. In addition, Crossfire seems to be favored over SLI (I'm not sure about the exact details as to why). So for less money you can get slightly better performance with a more favorable dual-card platform.

The price/performance ratio is better with the HD4870 setup, but I think the actual performance is basically a wash. So it just comes down to whether or not you think it's worth the hassle to get new parts to save some money. Either setup gives very good performance.

 

[will14]

Crossfire is generally scales better than SLI that is the reason for it's preforance.
However X2 cards generally perform much better than a CF or SLI setup.
Depending on prices GTX 260 and 4870 are fairly similar but I believe that 4870 is currently a better buy and a lot of people are willing to additionally jump on the bandwagon to try to keep ATI competitive to keep NVIDIA and Intel on their toes and pushing forward.

I do find that raptors are past their usefulness and a large fast 7200.11 drive is more worth the money.

Personally I"d get a 4870 but it is only my preferance.

 

[rodskii]

Well considering the mobo is non returnable with newegg I am obviously going to stick with my video card setup. I currently only have one card and am interested in seeing what happens to the prices of the gtx260's in the next few months. If they drop substantially I am very tempted to try out the triple sli configuration the motherboard supports.

I am going to be returning the raptor and think I am going to end up going with a Raid 0 with 2 of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

1 terabyte will be very nice to have and the raid 0 should outperform the raptor

 

[rilez]

The 260 is a waste of money to me with the 4870 out, better performance with a much smaller price tag. Sucks you already went out and purchased the Nvidia board without doing some research. :/

I'd also recommend a 500 GB Western Digital. Usually run cooler and I think its about 10 dollars cheaper, lol.

 

[rodskii]

The 260 is a waste of money to me with the 4870 out, better performance with a much smaller price tag. Sucks you already went out and purchased the Nvidia board without doing some research. :/

I'd also recommend a 500 GB Western Digital. Usually run cooler and I think its about 10 dollars cheaper, lol.

Yeah I wish I had done a little more research. But ohh well.. live and learn. I honestly don't think I will ever notice the performance differences so I am not that upset about it. Hopefully NVidia comes back with a higher performance card that will run on my motherboard later down the line

Thanks for the recommendation on the hard drive. I will take a look at it.

 

[Wanker79]

Yeah, nobody is saying that you're going to be displeased with your GTX260 setup. It's one of the best cards out there. Our only point was that you could get just as much performance (a slight bit better actually) with the HD4780 and you would have spent less money. If the board is non-returnable, forget about the ATI setup and just enjoy your new system. It should be alot of fun!

 

[rodskii]

Sounds good. Thanks for all the input everyone. As always the members here never fail to give good advice.