I have various questions (about MB, GPU, memory, CPU coolers) as I near completion of gathering components for my new system which will be used as follows:
high definition video editing (Sony Vegas I think)
high end gaming (when son's come over)
heavy net surfing
management of large digital photo database (with lots of scanning)
may overclock some if easy to do (not experienced at this)
want to use Raid mirroring
Some items were given to me as BD or Father's Day gifts (e.g., the memory) and some recently purchased.
Unexpected bonus (and drop in price of 9550)has let me go with more expensive items than previously.
At the moment I have all the following:
Case: Coolermaster Cosmos 1000
Memory: 4 GB of Patriot DDR2 PC 6400 (800) two 2x1 GB
Monitor: 24 inch 1900x1200
Optical drives: Lite-on
22-136-218
HD 640G|WD 7K 16M WD6400AAKS %
2
$84.99
$169.98
32-116-488
MS WIN VISTA HM PREM SP1 64BIT 1PK%
$109.99
19-115-041
CPU INTEL|C2Q Q9550 2.83 775 12M R
$339.99
17-139-006
PSU CORSAIR|CMPSU-750TX 750W RT
$119.99
20-609-298
CARD READ|STT INTAIN1MCR R
$9.99
Motherboard
I've read a fair amount about motherboards as guided by some previous repliers here. My thought now is to go with a P45 board and I've read most about the ASUS P5Q Deluxe and the ASUS Maximus II Formula. Both boards had scores of positive comments (and practically no negative ones) on newegg reviews. But as the reviewer at Trusted Reviews said: “In fact, when you compare the list of features you’ll see that Maximus II is essentially identical to the £119 Asus P5Q Deluxe, with the addition of a sprinkling of some Republic of Gamers fairy dust.” I'd like to try the Expressgate feature and I like that it has the wi-fi N and good RAID support (although I have posted a question about the use and performance of the Drive Xpert feature in the P5Q Deluxe thread.)
So I'll likely get the P5Q Deluxe but my question is: should I be getting any faster memory? I downloaded the Asus manual for this board and it seems the memory is on their compatibility list. The Patriot memory was kind of a bargain at the time it was bought but if the feeling is that a different memory would be preferable for this build, I guess I would ditch the memory or try to sell it.
GPU: Originally, I was just going to go with the Radeon 4870 but then the 4870x2 hit the market and that lead me to read about the 4850x2. Inasmuch as I've waited this long to get all the components, I'm thinking now that I should just wait for the 4850x2. Will it be faster than a single 4870? -- if so by approximately how much? Since this dual GPU card would go in one PCIe 2 x16 slot, will it run with the 16 lanes?
(My understanding with this P45 chipset is that if I were to crossfire two 4870s or two 4850s, then they would both run with 8 lanes.)
Finally, if I would like to OC down the road, should I just go ahead and get a CPU cooling unit? I note that a number of folks with this board use Zalman 9700 (BTW, is there any significant difference between the 9700 NT and 9700 LED?). Other repliers have also mentioned the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 and it's associated bracket—pros and cons of the two?
Anything else (fan controllers?, etc) I should be thinking about. I won't actually build myself—will pass components to skilled assembler/builder who has built one previous system for me.
Many thanks
high definition video editing (Sony Vegas I think)
high end gaming (when son's come over)
heavy net surfing
management of large digital photo database (with lots of scanning)
may overclock some if easy to do (not experienced at this)
want to use Raid mirroring
Some items were given to me as BD or Father's Day gifts (e.g., the memory) and some recently purchased.
Unexpected bonus (and drop in price of 9550)has let me go with more expensive items than previously.
At the moment I have all the following:
Case: Coolermaster Cosmos 1000
Memory: 4 GB of Patriot DDR2 PC 6400 (800) two 2x1 GB
Monitor: 24 inch 1900x1200
Optical drives: Lite-on
22-136-218
HD 640G|WD 7K 16M WD6400AAKS %
2
$84.99
$169.98
32-116-488
MS WIN VISTA HM PREM SP1 64BIT 1PK%
$109.99
19-115-041
CPU INTEL|C2Q Q9550 2.83 775 12M R
$339.99
17-139-006
PSU CORSAIR|CMPSU-750TX 750W RT
$119.99
20-609-298
CARD READ|STT INTAIN1MCR R
$9.99
Motherboard
I've read a fair amount about motherboards as guided by some previous repliers here. My thought now is to go with a P45 board and I've read most about the ASUS P5Q Deluxe and the ASUS Maximus II Formula. Both boards had scores of positive comments (and practically no negative ones) on newegg reviews. But as the reviewer at Trusted Reviews said: “In fact, when you compare the list of features you’ll see that Maximus II is essentially identical to the £119 Asus P5Q Deluxe, with the addition of a sprinkling of some Republic of Gamers fairy dust.” I'd like to try the Expressgate feature and I like that it has the wi-fi N and good RAID support (although I have posted a question about the use and performance of the Drive Xpert feature in the P5Q Deluxe thread.)
So I'll likely get the P5Q Deluxe but my question is: should I be getting any faster memory? I downloaded the Asus manual for this board and it seems the memory is on their compatibility list. The Patriot memory was kind of a bargain at the time it was bought but if the feeling is that a different memory would be preferable for this build, I guess I would ditch the memory or try to sell it.
GPU: Originally, I was just going to go with the Radeon 4870 but then the 4870x2 hit the market and that lead me to read about the 4850x2. Inasmuch as I've waited this long to get all the components, I'm thinking now that I should just wait for the 4850x2. Will it be faster than a single 4870? -- if so by approximately how much? Since this dual GPU card would go in one PCIe 2 x16 slot, will it run with the 16 lanes?
(My understanding with this P45 chipset is that if I were to crossfire two 4870s or two 4850s, then they would both run with 8 lanes.)
Finally, if I would like to OC down the road, should I just go ahead and get a CPU cooling unit? I note that a number of folks with this board use Zalman 9700 (BTW, is there any significant difference between the 9700 NT and 9700 LED?). Other repliers have also mentioned the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 and it's associated bracket—pros and cons of the two?
Anything else (fan controllers?, etc) I should be thinking about. I won't actually build myself—will pass components to skilled assembler/builder who has built one previous system for me.
Many thanks
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram