That Will Do It, I think.... Maybe.... Please Say Yes?

[heavymetalsmith]

So I have sort of come up with a build for my new pc. This is what it looks like so far, I have a budget of about $2200 for it and as you can tell I'm still deciding on a few things like PSU and cpu cooler. Please let me know what you think or if there are any issues you see like things not fitting. I do plan to overclock this build too.

Thank you to all those who help out in advance.

 

[eklipz330]

2 PSU's? 2 heatsinks?

i would say take the pc power over the thermaltake, and the xigmatek[and retention bracket] over the zalman. don't forget to get some artic silver or mx-2 too cool it down

o and if your gonna OC, with a proc like the e8500, i would say get some ddr2 1066 ram... and get a e8600 because it will be a guaranteed E0 stepping

the raptor is unnecessary, this should more than suit your needs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

otherwise, it should work fine... even if you didn't take any of my advice

 

[grieve]

-PCPower and cooling silencer 750w.
-I wouldnt buy the raptor, just get another seagate... The oldschool raptors have minimal speed gains over 32mb cache drives.
-Xigmatek heatsink.

 

[grieve]

add some arctic silver 5

 

[eklipz330]

agree^ drop both of the raptors, just get two of the seagates or the ones that i linked you... what you gonna raid 0? is that even worth it?

 

[WR2]

For thermal compound get Arctic Cooling MX-2 or OCZ FreeZe. Easier to apply, no "cure time" and slightly better performance than AS5.
HardwareLogic Thermal Compound Review

For the Xigmatek HSF get the back plate retention bracket for an easier install and a better, more secure fit to the motherboard.

 

[WR2]

[:wr2:4] The X48 motherboard, 4870X2 and 750W PSU is a potential mismatch if you're thinking of a 2nd 4870X2 (Quad CF) at any point. Not enough PSU.

 

[dirtmountain]

^ agreed. If you may crossfire the 4870x2 in the future, go with a 1,000w or if you won't crossfire them, save some money on a P45 motherboard.
SSD hard drives just aren't mature enough yet.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/ocz-core-sata-64gb-solid-state-drive-review/

 

[heavymetalsmith]

Thanks for the previous help here is round two of my build with the input from you guys. Good call on that mounting bracket too. So you really need a 1000 watt for doing the dual 4870x2's in the future? I can see that I suppose. So the comment about if I wanted to do over clocking I should go with a E8600 and I understand this from the E0 argument standpoint. Though why the 1066 ram? From what I understand a system overclocks better when you can match the FSB of your ram and mobo. If I jack up the processor to 1600 then that would match with the 800 perfectly and I can OC from there.

 

[heavymetalsmith]

Oh part of the reason I had two of certain parts earlier is because I was deciding between the two.

 

[WR2]

So you really need a 1000 watt for doing the dual 4870x2's in the future?

I've seen benchmarks of fairly modest gaming PCs at stock (before any overclocking) drawing 750-850watts from the wall socket. I know the jump from 750W to 1000W PSUs is pretty steep. And add in the cost of the 2nd 4870X2 and its close to $650 extra.
Also the driver support for quad GPUs is not always the best and sometimes scary terrible. Examples


[:wr2:2] What size monitor will you be using? What games are you looking at playing?

I really think the smart play may be the 750W PSU and a single HD 4870 now. If that wont perform up to your expectations add a 2nd 4870.
But always check the benchmarks. Pay close attention to the Minimum frame rate scores. It's not much fun to spend an extra $250 for a 2nd card and then see your Min FPS climb just 4 or 5 FPS (or worse - do down).

 

[heavymetalsmith]

I am currently using a monitor running 1920x1200 resolution and after looking at the benchmarks what I have come to the conclusion is that getting a 4870x2 will give me the most power right now. That leaves that other slot for what ever I might want to pair to it if I move to a 2560x1600 monitor this could prove useful. That leaves the reverse option as well though. Get a single 4870 then later when the 4870x2 drops in price pair it with the 4870. Choices choices, thanks for the input.

What do you all think of that solution? Start with a single 4870 and upgrade with a 4870x2 later on when the price drops? It seems to be very cost effective for the time being. Though I would still like to make sure I have plenty of power capacity for anything additional and this PSU has a good reviews so I may stick with it anyhow.