Need Some Help from the Pros

[Derkins]

Hey guys I haven't been in the market for PC components in a long time, need some advice here.
This is computer will be used for gaming and needs to be ~$1000, this is what I picked out on newegg.

*combo price

DVD LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-08 - Retail $24.99
HD Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3750640AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $99.99
GPU EVGA 01G-P3-N891-AR GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB (512MB per GPU) 512-bit (256-bit per GPU) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI $289.99
MEM Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model KHX6400D2K2/4GR - Retail $79.99
CASE COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
PSU COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-750-ACAA-A1 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready *$189.98
MOBO ECS P45T-A LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail *$284.98

Any suggestions would be very very helpful, especially on mobo/gpu as Im not really sure Im getting the best value here, also curious about the 9800 gx2 staying power because I will not replace it for at least a year

 

[huron]

Those look like fine choices. I believe the PSU is overkill with a one GPU solution, but I'm not sure how power hungry the GX2 is.

The CPU looks overpriced to me - should be able to get it well below $200.

 

[dirtmountain]

Get a SATA burner and avoid the stock ribbon cable.
The Corsair TX750 is a better power supply and $90 after rebate right now.
Was that an old list you started with ? Prices on the Q6600 are down about $100 from your price.
If you go P45 mobo you might want to get one that is capable of 8x/8x crossfire and go with the HD4870 instead of the 9800GX2

 

[frozenlead]

Step down the PSU, it's far too powerful for your use, and that can knock off a good $90.

Why are you getting an Nvidia card and a crossfire-compatabile chipset? Get a 4870.

 

[Derkins]

Yea the price on that CPU is the combo price for the mobo and CPU together, also most of the vga charts her at toms seem to favor the 9800 gx2? or am i just misreading them. The crossfire rdy mobo w/ 4870 is something that i have been thinking about aswell.

Thanks for the input so far guys

 

[Proximon]

The PSU is not one that would normally be recommended here. The Corsair 750TX is a better, less expensive unit.. but the combo deal makes the Cooler Master OK. It's not a BAD PSU. You probably would not want to run two 4870s on it for any length of time.

I hope you are not looking at that recent roundup article. It's not accurate at all and was actually done months ago by the German affiliate and just translated recently. It was done with immature ATI drivers.

See if you can swing an ASUS P5Q Pro and a 4870.

An E8400 would work and save some money. Not that many games use all 4 cores right now, but that will change, gradually.... getting an E8400 and upgrading to a Quad later is not a bad plan, unless you know your games want quad now.

The least PSU I can recommend for two 4870s:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817128010
Pretty good price on a high quality 880W.

 

[Derkins]

Ok guys heres an update tell me what you think, I'm really liking this build and i think it will be fine for crossfire if i decide on that in the future, dont know much about sapphire though

DVD Burner
Case
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148134
SAPPHIRE 100247L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102769
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134606
ASUS P5K PRO LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131275
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

tell me what you think guys

 

[cokenbeer]

Get this ram...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

Runs at 1.8 volts and can be overclocked for better timings. The ram you listed is at 2.0V which while alright is not ideal!

 

[3lvis]

The 9800gx2 and 4870 are about equally matched give or take a couple frames....the reason people are recommending 4870 over the 9800gx2 is because on the Asus P5Q Pro (p45 chipset) you can crossfire that 4870 with a second one for about a 25% increase in performance. In order to do SLI with the 9800gx2 you would need a more expensive Nforce chipset that would set you back any where from between $50-$150 more.

My point is if your gonna stick with the p35 chipset then you may as well go with nvidia 9800gx2 as you wont be able to get a good xfire out of the p35 chipset. That motherboard has 1 PCI-e x16 and one PCI-e x4 slot. While the P5Q Pro has 1 PCI-e 2.0 slot or crossfire 2 PCI-e 2.0 x8. Basicly the P5Q Pro has twice the bandwidth that the P5K Pro does.

 

[Proximon]

Get this ram...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

Runs at 1.8 volts and can be overclocked for better timings. The ram you listed is at 2.0V which while alright is not ideal!

The 9800gx2 and 4870 are about equally matched give or take a couple frames....the reason people are recommending 4870 over the 9800gx2 is because on the Asus P5Q Pro (p45 chipset) you can crossfire that 4870 with a second one for about a 25% increase in performance. In order to do SLI with the 9800gx2 you would need a more expensive Nforce chipset that would set you back any where from between $50-$150 more.

My point is if your gonna stick with the p35 chipset then you may as well go with nvidia 9800gx2 as you wont be able to get a good xfire out of the p35 chipset. That motherboard has 1 PCI-e x16 and one PCI-e x4 slot. While the P5Q Pro has 1 PCI-e 2.0 slot or crossfire 2 PCI-e 2.0 x8. Basicly the P5Q Pro has twice the bandwidth that the P5K Pro does.

+2

Both good points

 

[Derkins]

Ok well in that case ill go with the gx2 because realistically i probably will not buy another 3d card, and my cousin has a gx2 so iv seen what it can do and i was impressed. Any recommendations for a good mid lvl Intel Mobo? Keep in mind i will not SLI

 

[Proximon]

I'm liking this one... it's fairly new but it should be sound:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131322

A lot of nice features for the price, just no crossfire support.

 

[Derkins]

ok i switched mobo to
ASUS P5QL-E LGA
and vid card to the 260, you guys think the 260 will be just as good as the gx2?
also, switched to the munchkin memory.
lookin good?