Hello,
I plan to buy a new computer soon and I thought it's wise to ask more people about my choices.
Here is what I have in mind:
Motherboard : ASUS Maximus II Formula (200 EUR)
CPU : INTEL E8600 - Core 2 Duo, 3.3GHz (230 EUR)
Video card : ASUS EAH4870X2 Radeon HD 4870 X2 (440 EUR)
RAM : 2 x Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX - 2GB DRR2-800 (100 EUR)
HDD : 2 x Western Digital VelociRaptor - WD3000GLFS (480 EUR)
PSU : Zalman ZM850-HP - 850W (200 EUR)
Case : Thermaltake Kandalf LCS (240 EUR)
DVD writer : Samsung SH-S203P (40 EUR)
Keyboard : Logitech G15 2005 or G11 (80 EUR); hope I will still find G15 2005 (had that cool wheel)
Mouse : Logitech MX 518 (45 EUR)
Display : Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM, 24'', 1920x1200 (360 EUR)
In total it's about 2500 EUR and this is kind of my budget (can go a few hundreds higher but I don't really want to).
And here are my reasons:
Motherboard
- it's a P45 chipset based mobo because I don't trust NVIDIA on chipsets and it's not a X48 because I don't plan to use CrossFire
- has hardware RAID (Speeding HDD)
- performs fine in reviews
- I trust ASUS as a brand
CPU
- fastest Core 2 Duo
- I plan to overclock it and would like not to increase the voltage; from the reviews I read this processor is the most stable with this kind of overclocking (probably brought by the new E0 stepping)
Video card
- needed a bad video card because I want to play all the games maxed out at 1920x1200
- the only thing better than this (but only slightly and not in all games) is 2 GTX 280, and that's at least 300 EUROs more. It's a no-brainer who provides better value here
RAM
- 2 x 2GB seems the best/enough for now (will use Vista or XP 64 bit editions)
- I trust the brand
- it's on ASUS' Qualified Vendor List which means it has been tested with the motherboard so I won't have problems
HDD
- 2 pieces of the fastest hard-drive available
- will use RAID 0
- solid state hard drives are just too expensive now (perhaps in a few years...)
PSU
- has enough juice (including amps)
- respected brand
- performs ok in reviews
- it's very quiet
Case
- looks cool
- it's quiet
- it has water cooling and I want that, but I am not ready to make case modifications. I'm sure that if I were to cut the case myself it would look horrible
DVD RW
- from the reviews it seems ok
- has LightScribe which might come in handy
Mouse
- it's wired (had some bad experiences with gaming using wireless mice)
- can change DPI on-the-fly while you are in the game
- it's lighter than G5 (I don't like brick mice - heavy and big)
Display
- I like 24'' / 1920x1200
- it performs ok in the reviews
- has HDMI
- looks nice
- has TN panel which means it's cheap and it doesn't have noticeable input lag; I don't mind viewing angled: I will be gaming right in front of it
The video card will probably be the most noisy component and I will probably buy a water block as soon as I know there is no fabrication problem with it. I heard that mounting a water block voids the warranty so I want first to make sure I won't return it.
What do you think?
Will I have any incompatibilities?
Known issues with any component?
Are my choices correct?
P.S. Sorry for the huge post.
Thank you.
I plan to buy a new computer soon and I thought it's wise to ask more people about my choices.
Here is what I have in mind:
Motherboard : ASUS Maximus II Formula (200 EUR)
CPU : INTEL E8600 - Core 2 Duo, 3.3GHz (230 EUR)
Video card : ASUS EAH4870X2 Radeon HD 4870 X2 (440 EUR)
RAM : 2 x Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX - 2GB DRR2-800 (100 EUR)
HDD : 2 x Western Digital VelociRaptor - WD3000GLFS (480 EUR)
PSU : Zalman ZM850-HP - 850W (200 EUR)
Case : Thermaltake Kandalf LCS (240 EUR)
DVD writer : Samsung SH-S203P (40 EUR)
Keyboard : Logitech G15 2005 or G11 (80 EUR); hope I will still find G15 2005 (had that cool wheel)
Mouse : Logitech MX 518 (45 EUR)
Display : Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM, 24'', 1920x1200 (360 EUR)
In total it's about 2500 EUR and this is kind of my budget (can go a few hundreds higher but I don't really want to).
And here are my reasons:
Motherboard
- it's a P45 chipset based mobo because I don't trust NVIDIA on chipsets and it's not a X48 because I don't plan to use CrossFire
- has hardware RAID (Speeding HDD)
- performs fine in reviews
- I trust ASUS as a brand
CPU
- fastest Core 2 Duo
- I plan to overclock it and would like not to increase the voltage; from the reviews I read this processor is the most stable with this kind of overclocking (probably brought by the new E0 stepping)
Video card
- needed a bad video card because I want to play all the games maxed out at 1920x1200
- the only thing better than this (but only slightly and not in all games) is 2 GTX 280, and that's at least 300 EUROs more. It's a no-brainer who provides better value here
RAM
- 2 x 2GB seems the best/enough for now (will use Vista or XP 64 bit editions)
- I trust the brand
- it's on ASUS' Qualified Vendor List which means it has been tested with the motherboard so I won't have problems
HDD
- 2 pieces of the fastest hard-drive available
- will use RAID 0
- solid state hard drives are just too expensive now (perhaps in a few years...)
PSU
- has enough juice (including amps)
- respected brand
- performs ok in reviews
- it's very quiet
Case
- looks cool
- it's quiet
- it has water cooling and I want that, but I am not ready to make case modifications. I'm sure that if I were to cut the case myself it would look horrible
DVD RW
- from the reviews it seems ok
- has LightScribe which might come in handy
Mouse
- it's wired (had some bad experiences with gaming using wireless mice)
- can change DPI on-the-fly while you are in the game
- it's lighter than G5 (I don't like brick mice - heavy and big)
Display
- I like 24'' / 1920x1200
- it performs ok in the reviews
- has HDMI
- looks nice
- has TN panel which means it's cheap and it doesn't have noticeable input lag; I don't mind viewing angled: I will be gaming right in front of it
The video card will probably be the most noisy component and I will probably buy a water block as soon as I know there is no fabrication problem with it. I heard that mounting a water block voids the warranty so I want first to make sure I won't return it.
What do you think?
Will I have any incompatibilities?
Known issues with any component?
Are my choices correct?
P.S. Sorry for the huge post.
Thank you.
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