$1.2k gaming rig

[estebantrueba]

Hey, just wanted to see if this would run minesweeper. just kidding

I'm trying to build a low-mid priced rig based around the Radeon 4870 that will be moderately future proof. This is the first time in about 8 years that I've built a computer from the ground up so please advise on any horrible hardware combinations I've included in my shopping cart:

Motherboard: ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard $205
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 $189
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Video Card: HIS Hightech Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card $280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161236

Ram: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) $128
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

Case: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

Optical Drive: SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA $28
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173

CPU Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

I already have this monitor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009125 which should be more than enough to handle whatever this rig throws at it.

I'm also not opposed to abandoning the radeon card in favor of a GTX 260 if anyone can demonstrate that it would work a lot better with the other componentry.

 

[bty3]

are you going to overclock it? no point in buying an aftermarket cooler if you're not going to overclock. Although if you're going to really overclock, you should get a better CPU cooler.

And if you really wanted to be nutty, you could have gotten a better motherboard and sprung for some DDR 3 ram.

 

[Silverion77]

Looks good...couple things id change

Switch the 500 drive for the 640AAKS, newer faster

DONT get the open box mobo
it has no warranty, theres a chance it might not work and theres no accessories, like cables etc.

Edit: didnt see bty3's post and dont listen to the DDR3. atm they give about a 1-3% increase and cost about 4-5 times more

 

[dagger]

If you're not going for crossfire, consider p45. It cost half as much but deliver the same performance as x48, just no crossfire.

Can't recommend gtx260. It perform slightly lower than 4870, but cost the same, there is no point. For single card, consider 9800gx2, at around the same price as 4870/gtx260.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130338
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133231

It outperforms either by quite a bit:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=13
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=14
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=15
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=16
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=17
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=18
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=19

 

[estebantrueba]

can anyone substantiate what dagger said? from those links you posted, the 9800gx2 looks like the obvious choice for this machine. but i also found a lot of conflicting benchmarks on google (hard to tell though). both the links you gave indicated that it does in fact support 4 way sli, but whether two of those bricks would fit on any reasonable mobo is a different story . . .

If I switch to that, I'll probably want to go over to an evga motherboard. Those seem to treat people very well

 

[estebantrueba]

I'd probably have to rethink my case choice. the 9800gx2's seem to generate a lot of heat

 

[dirtmountain]

No, the Coolermaster 690 is an excellent case, it'll have the room and the cooling. Quite frankly the P45 motherboard and any of those 3 cards would be a great system. More would depend on which games you play or want to play.
I'd go with this RAM though DDR2 800 1.8v $69 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731
and +$10 for the western digital 640GB larger, faster
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
and yes, those links by dagger are from a well done test.

 

[estebantrueba]

Ok, here's an updated system . . . its actually $200 less now!

motherboard: EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i FTW SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188026

CPU: (same as above)

RAM: OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N800SR4GK - Retail Bundled with the graphics card for $353
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227269

Graphics: 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 Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130338

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Case: (same as above) bundled with the PSU for $160

PSU: COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1 650W ATX Form Factor 12V V2.3 / SSI Standard EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171023

Optical Disk: (same as above)

I think the big question i have now is whether the PSU with be sufficient for the hardware. I read somewhere that the 9800gx2 needs somewhere around 550W which outdid the capacity of my previous PSU. Will 650W be enough?

And yes, i will be overclocking this. One of my friends has the exact same cooler, cpu, mobo, and memory and he can get his cpu to 3 GHz, his fsb to 1333 MHz, and his ram to 1000 MHz without going over 65C. That'll be enough for me.

 

[Silverion77]

Stick with a P45 board. The GX2 has bad scaling when u use 2 so 1 is the way to go. Then get the P45 over the 750 cause its more stable and if u OC the P45 is much better