New Computer, Need Help and Suggestions

[xnem3s1sx]

I building a new computer, and I've chosen most of the parts so far, but I need help with the power supply.
Current Build
GIGABYTE GZ-X5BPD-500 Black SECC Steel / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233039
ASUS EAH3850/G/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121219
OCZ ATI CrossFire 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227169
XIGMATEK HDT-S963 92mm Rifle CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233001
BIOSTAR TPower I45 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138118
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115018
Arctic Silver 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106263

I need a power supply that will be capable of powering this rig, plus another graphics card for future expansions
I am using 2 IDE HDD's as well, both 7200 rpm, a sound card from my other computer, and a fire wire card. I am also planing on getting a new HDD, (SATA) and adding that, so the power supply should be capable of handling all of those.

 

[cal8949]

if your planning on mostly gaming get a c2d e8400 there faster and they can oc more. the ide hardrives will greatly bottleneck your system. whats is your price range?

 

[jerreece]

If you're considering purchasing a second video card, and running CrossFire, you might consider purchasing one faster card instead.

The ATI 3850 is a good card, but I guess it is a personal thing for me. I'd rather run a single 4850 than two 3850's. That way you still have room for upgrade later. Plus, some games don't scale Crossfire/SLI super well, and thus don't get as much performance boost from 2 cards.

As cal8949 said, get a SATA harddrive if you can. Must faster than IDE. Plus, your DVD Drive is SATA. No point in having your DVD Drive being faster than your Harddrive...

As far as the E8400 vs Q6600 goes. It's all about what you plan to do. Some will definitely argue that the E8400 is faster gaming wise than the Q6600 right now. But later, as games are written for multithreading better and better, four cores may prove faster.

If you plan to do a lot of video/photo editing and such, the Q6600 is the better bet as those pieces of software are better written for multi-cores. It's all about what you're doing, and the software you're doing it with.

Also, what Operating System you using? XP or Vista? If you're going Vista (64bit) I'd upgrade to 4GB of RAM. Otherwise, in XP 2GB is fine.

Power Supply:

Make sure you get something that's 600W or better would be my suggestion. If you want to run SLI or Crossfire, you may want to get a PSU that is "SLI" Certified. Basically, it meets some basic requirements for connections, amps, and wattage to run multiple video cards.

Should you opt for an ATI 4850, take a look at the wattage requirements for the video card you pick. It sounds like the newer ATI cards suck up more juice than they used to, and may need a beefier PSU.

 

[xnem3s1sx]

My budget is less than 600, and as for the quad core, I'm doing alot 3D rendering, so I need it. The HDD's I have, are ones from my old computer, so, I'm using them for the time being, I plan to upgrade the system later with a faster HDD, more RAM, and another video card. I'm looking to spend the least I can for the best stats. As for the 4850, thats the card I want, but I can't afford it, so I'm going with something on the lower end for now.
At this point, you can't even buy worse parts than I have, and my computer can't manage 3,000 on 3D mark 06, so just about anything is a major upgrade.

 

[xnem3s1sx]

bump