Budget build <$1000, few days away from ordering

[adreen]

I'm trying to keep it under $1000 CAD, everything will be bought from NCIX, and assembled by NCIX for $50.
Suggestions/opinions/advice? No links to Newegg or anywhere else please, NCIX only!

CPU - E8400
GPU - Palit 4850, maybe 2 of them
Case - CM 690
Mobo - Asus P5Q Pro
HD - WD 640GB
HSF - Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer
RAM - G.Skill 4gb DDR800 4-4-4-12
PSU - CM Extreme Power 600W (will this be enough to run C2D+2x4850 CF?)

Total comes up to 958 CAD including taxes and free shipping.
What do u think?
Can it get better and still be under 1k?

 

[WR2]

Nix on the Extreme Power 600W
Look at the Corsair 650TX / Antec Earthwatts 650W / OCZ GameXStream 600W
550W is the recommended minimum PSU for 2x 4850

The rest looks excellent. Already have a DVD burner?

 

[realyeti]

Antec 300 FTW...
Its the best price/performance case out there... only 53$ on amazon
you be saving 45$, 35 if u add a 120mm intake fan.

Go for at least ddr2 1000 (8000) if u are planing to overclock the e8400
Corsair 750w looks great IMO

Don't let anyone to take away the experience of building your own thing, beside you be saving 50$ Oo

 

[adreen]

haha, what does nix mean? i'm guessing it's something bad? lol
the dvd burner is included in the price kinda pointless listing it
i thought about the antec 300, but i'm worried it'll be too small, CM 690 is a sure thing...can the 300 house all my junk?

haha..i don't trust myself building it. if i **** up something little, it's gonna bother meee lol. let the professionals do it. heard the hsf is a B*tch to install.
should i really og for ddr-1066 ram? i AM thinking of overclocking the 8400...but i thought ram didn't matter as long as the timings are tight.

 

[dirtmountain]

Good solid build, go with WR2s advice on power supply.
I'd stick with quality DDR2 800 RAM

 

[adreen]

is the coolmaster extreme power 600w really that bad?
because it's selling at $59 on sale, marked down from 79.99.
the other brands will run me 30-40 more.
thanks for the inputs! i really appreciate it, thanks

 

[Zenthar]

Crossfire on P45 chipset might not be worth it (I think you can loose up to ~25% performance compared to X48 chipset), you might as well get a 4870 or wait for the 4850x2 cards (due this month).

 

[ChuckLogan]

I would just go with a 4870. I just bought 2x4850(been using for a month) and I am not too impressed. I am going to sell off one of them and use 1 4850 until the next set(or gen) of cards come out.

 

[WR2]

Nix = no. And yes - it is that bad. It's a 500W PSU built by Seventeam (lower quality) with a Coolermaster 600 label stuck on it.
You could probably get by with it - but overclocking and a 2nd 4850 could give you some unpleasant surprises.
(look for it on this PSU listing; http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx)

DDR2 800 will be fine for the E8400 OC'ing up to about 3.8Ghz - and the G Skill should do DDR2 850 with a little voltage bump and a bit looser timings.
All your "stuff" would probably fit in the 300 case - even the 15cm tall Sunbeam Freezer. The 300 (8.1" or 20.5cm) is only .3" narrower than the RC 690 (8.4").

 

[adreen]

oh, i dodged that bullet thank to u!
one more question about power supplies...
what is the difference between a corsair tx750w and a HX620w?
the 620 is more expensive but lower wattage.
the hx620 is selling for $99.00 too! tx750 is at 94ish
will a corsair hx620w be sufficient for even say....4870x2?
and will it be enough for nehalem?
i'm thinking of just buying cheap parts right now, and saving it to build a nehalem or x48 when nehalem drops....finally..

 

[adreen]

one 4870 > 4850 CF?

 

[WR2]

HX620 has modular cables and higher spec / build quality (Seasonic OEM) and 50Amps of +12V power. TX750 (CWT OEM) has 60Amps of +12V.
There is also a Corsair TX650 with 50Amps of +12V power.
All of them exceed the reqmts of a 4870X2 and OC'ing an E8400.

4870 > 4850 CF ? Only when a game does not scale in CF (Open GL games for instance). There are games where the 4850CF performance is the same as a single 4850 and for those games the 4870 would probably be about 20% faster.
( [:wr2] It's nice to see a $300 solution giving nearly the same performance as the $550 solution.)