need help buiding a New setup for VisualFx and Gaming

[masamoto]

i'm going to get a new setup soon since my p4 478 don't do the tricks anymore
but i need help in chosing some parts
the budget is high but hard earned so i don't won't to go buy stuff that is hurting my wallet to much and going to be outdated soon or for the next 3 years

i will mostly work with maya and 3dmax photoshop and other stuff encoding to and after some hard work playing some good games
but i don't need 100FPS to play a game but i still want to play crysis and need for speed with enough frames

i think of some thing like this
CPU Core 2 Quad q9550
MB Asus P5Q Deluxe or Gigabyte EP45-DQ6
Gpu NVIDIA GTX 260 or 280
Ram Ozc ReaperX 2gbx2\800
No idea for a power supply
3 hdd System-Entertain-Work
2 DVD Fast Disc2Disc Burning

so the main question is motherboard Gpu and power supply
1.MB which one should i take or are there some better options than this two
2.Gpu i looked at many Articles and all speak for the GTX 280 but the price is high can an overclocked GTX 260 keep up with a stock 280 how long will the GTX 280 last to be the most power full GPU will there be any replacement soon
3.How much Watts would i need to run this setup

Thank you for all replys

 

[gators1223]

i would say that many of the features on these boards are generally unnessicary and the you would do fine with a ep-45 ds3r or p5q pro
as for gpu i would say 4870 or 2x 4850 xfire and power supply corsair 650tx or antec or other reputable brand as in not one that comes with a case generally or a rosewill one

 

[shortstuff_mt]

+1 for the 4870 and Corsair PSU. The motherboards you listed support crossfire and the current ATI cards offer amazing bang for the buck. This 1GB model even offers an upgraded cooler:

POWERCOLOR AX4870 1GBD5-PPH Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131120 $299.00

Here's some more parts for your consideration. RAM is so cheap right now, you might as well get 4GB and a 64-bit OS to use it all.

mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731 $76.99 -$20.00 MIR

This RAM offers pretty good timings at the default 1.8v.

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-27-151-173-_-Homepage $25.99

I recently bought this drive and am very impressed.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218 $79.99

Best bang for buck HD out right now. Check zipzoomfly.com for a better price.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 $99.99

 

[masamoto]

i would love to try an ATI card or maybe 2 but i had some problems with them in the past my office computer was a 7950GT once and everything was good but after a Ati change cant remember which one i got but equal to the 7950 i got many problems since it's not compatible with some 3dGamedevelopement engines and some plugins. Are there any changes since then?

i'm thinking maybe i will make myself the trouble in buying one and sell it if its not working or keep it if it is working

but thanks

 

[gators1223]

not a bad idea and if you get xfire get a x38 or x48 chipset, and +1 for cheap ram right now i payed double the price

 

[masamoto]

yeah i know the ram prices i bought 2 DDR 512\400 3 years ago now i could get 6 of them
i already have planned in using 4GB ram as i wrote 2gbx2\800 but a bit wrong should be 2x2gb sorry for that i just read that 1066 is better for OC more headroom i think.I will OC this system but not Hardcore just a bit (My old P4 2.4 runs at 3.2)so no crasy stuff it has to be reliable

question
1.what are the benefits from getting an x48 is it more OC stability or just that 2 PCI-E are running x16 if i'm going to use one card will the p45 be a better choice.
2.How about the GA-EP45-DS3R or better the GA-EP45T-DS3R or should i go with the GA-X48-DQ6 or GA-X48T-DQ6.
3.What do you think of buy an DDR3 MB and buy some low speed DDR3s first waiting till the price drop and then go for Higher speeds
4.I can't see the + point in paying more for 2 4870 cards when i can get a single GTX 280 that can do almost the same
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-comparison,2007-13.html
would it be better to have just one card ?

Please some advice