New PC - share your thoughts my system plz!

[clayday]

I think I've decided on a new system, but I just wanted to run everything by you guys. I'm mainly building this PC for gaming. My plan is to get the HD 4850 512mb right now. If I find that doesn't fit my needs, I'll wait awhile and then grab a 4870x2 ... or maybe CF two of them. But I want to start out with the 4850 and see how well it performs.

Take a look at these specs and then see if you have an answer to any of the questions below:

$330 ----CPU------ Q9550 2.83Ghz ------------------------- FREE ship, no rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041

$139 ----MOBO--- ASUS P5Q P45 Intel -----------------------FREE ship, $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

$104 --- CASE -- Antec 900-------------------------------- FREE ship, no rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=Antec%20900

$103 --- PSU --- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W----------------- FREE ship, $20 rebate
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-tx-750w-atx-12v-power-supply-corsair-tx-cmpsu-750tx-atx12v/q/loc/101/206178325.html

$169 --- GPU --- 512mb 4850 crossfire ready--------------- FREE ship, $30 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253

$73 ---- RAM --- mushkin 4gb------------------------------ FREE ship, $20 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146692

$84 ---- HD ---- WD 640GB--------------------------------- FREE ship, no rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

$36 ---- COL --- Xigmatek HDT 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler------ $8 shipin, no rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003&Tpk=xigmatek%20s1283

$194 --- SCR --- Acer 22" -------------------------------- FREE ship, no rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009094


Subtotal: $1240
After rebates: -$90 = $1142




1. I'll want to run everything in 64 bit with Windows Vista SP1. Will all of these components work in 64bit?

2. Is the RAM I've chosen good enough for most gaming, or should I look into an upgrade? Also I heard something about Asus mobos not working with mushkin ram - is this true?

3. Is the motherboard I've chosen good enough to do Crossfire (possibly with two 4870x2s in) in the future? Motherboards is where I know nothing. If there is something better, please suggest.

4. In general, will this system handle a single HD 4870x2 in the future?

Thanks!

 

[emp]

1. Yes

2. It's fine, however I am not familiar with those incompatibility issues that you refer, so you'll have to find out on your own.

3. No, that motherboard only runs at x8/x8, which already limits even Crossfire HD 4850, you can imagine what it'll do to HD 4870 X2, if you want a true x16 / x16 board, take a look at this one:

DFI LANPARTY DK X38-T2R LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136045

4. If you're talking about replacing the HD 4850 for an HD 4870 X2, then yes. If you're talking about crossfiring the HD 4850 with an HD 4870 X2, then read #3.

I would suggest if you plan on doing crossfire and you're already looking into the HD 4870 X2 anyway that you get an HD 4870 now instead of the 4850.

 

[auscanzukus]

2. Worse case scenario is the ram won't post and you can try each stick in each slot and then up vdimm.

3. Defo get an X38 mobo.

5. If you don't overclock, ditch the xiggy. Otherwise, get this along with the cooler:

XIGMATEK ACK-I7753 Retention Bracket
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233020

Makes install a LOT easier.

 

[clayday]

Thanks for the help.

2.

How much of an increase in performance would I get by getting DDR3 ram with a x48 board? I've heard that DDR3 isn't worth it.

3.

@emp - Thanks for the suggestion. I don't know anything about DFI, though. Have you used them before? I'm looking at getting this instead. Since this is a x38 board, it will run two cards at full x16 speed, correct?


ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

Would there be any advantage in getting a higher end x48 board?

ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284

@ auscanzukus - I might scrap the cooler to save cost, thanks for the suggestion. Not sure when I'll do overclocking.

4.

@emp - ok good suggestion. I am planning on using crossfire at some point. Would 4870 + 4870x2 crossfire work better than 4850 + 4870x2 crossfire? Should I even count on trying to crossfire two non-identical cards, or should I just plan on using one 4870x2 down the road?

 

[auscanzukus]

2. For a stock pc, basically nil. Overclockers may be able to get a bit more juice out of DDR3.

3. DFI is targeted at the hardcore. The bios spans pages after pages after pages. If you're up to the challenge, go for it. If you want peace of mind and easy overclockability, go with ASUS/GIGABYTE/MSI.

 

[coleman]

difficult situation on the gpu, i would personal go for the
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

with a hd 4870 and in the future add another hd4870.

 

[mexpedip]

The monitor you chose s very nice but because of the size/max resolution you do not need to xfire or sli. In fact the 4850 will run anything on high to max settings for the forseeable future. The only game that would challenge it would be crysis and from what I have heard (not verified) crytek has made the new version of crysis a little more gpu friendly. My recommendation would be to get the 4850 1gb GPU.

GPU - SAPPHIRE 100242-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102759

Based on what you said this comp would be used for I would recommend switching the CPU you chose to a wolfdale (dual core). The games on the market now and for the forseeable future can and will utilize dual core. Plus none of the quads (price/performance) will match the wolfdale in pure speed and OC ability.

I would also recommend that you get the heatsink and bracket now. It is relatively inexpensive and if you are anything like most people the OC process will start at any given moment. I know I had no intention of OC'ing my PC (I had to look up overclocking) but once I found out how easy it is I have been tweaking it non-stop. In fact, I really do not use it for anything anymore other then trying to make it go faster.

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

As a regular user you will not see a difference between the x38/x48 MOBO's. I would recommend either a Gigabyte or Asus since they will take the cpu above to 3.6-3.9 ghz by using some of the "auto" settings in bios. In other words, you select "fast, faster, fastest" and the MOBO makes the adjustments for you.

 

[emp]

Thanks for the help.

2.

How much of an increase in performance would I get by getting DDR3 ram with a x48 board? I've heard that DDR3 isn't worth it.

3.

@emp - Thanks for the suggestion. I don't know anything about DFI, though. Have you used them before? I'm looking at getting this instead. Since this is a x38 board, it will run two cards at full x16 speed, correct?


ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

Would there be any advantage in getting a higher end x48 board?

ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284

@ auscanzukus - I might scrap the cooler to save cost, thanks for the suggestion. Not sure when I'll do overclocking.

4.

@emp - ok good suggestion. I am planning on using crossfire at some point. Would 4870 + 4870x2 crossfire work better than 4850 + 4870x2 crossfire? Should I even count on trying to crossfire two non-identical cards, or should I just plan on using one 4870x2 down the road?

2.) None whatsoever, unless you're planning on using liquid nitrogen as cooling and add some serious amounts of voltage to break some overclocking records.

3.) As the guy before me stated, DFI is a well known, high quality brand, they went off the grid for a year or two mostly focusing on server stuff, but they are back with affordable enthusiast products. If you want to get the ASUS board then go ahead, to me it really isn't worth it at all the $40 difference, since there most likely won't be any benefits other than having an ASUS logo instead of a DFI, but you can't go wrong with either. Don't get sucked into the whole X48 thing, it's basically a higher binned X38 chip rebranded as X48, so all that an X48 can do can also be done by an X38 board.

4.) It definitely would be worth getting the HD 4870, since I'm pretty sure if you're using a different card on crossfire the faster ones would default to the speed of the slowest card's speed (Essentially giving you HD 4850 speed out of your HD 4870s). This won't change any time soon, unless the new Hydra engine is released and delivers what promised. I would get an HD 4850 IF you plan on getting in the future the-soon-to-be-released HD 4850 X2, but if you're getting an HD 4870 X2, then pair it with an HD 4870 for better results.

EDIT: I still believe getting a quad over the dual is the way to go if you plan on keeping your machine for more than a year (which I'm sure you are). You can always overclock quad cores, but you can't just turn a dual core into a quad.