FINAL check before buying!

rflction

Distinguished
Oct 7, 2008
55
0
18,630
Purpose: Gaming, OC? Maybe in the future


GPU: HD4870 1gig (CF in future)

CPU: Intel Quad Core Q9550

Mobo: ASUS Rampage

RAM: G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500gb

Case: Antec 900

Monitor: Dell 24" 2408WFP

PSU: Corsair cmpsu-750tx

CPU Fan: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 & Retention Bracket

Other: Arctic Silver grease

OS: Vista 64-bit



Q1: Are there any incompatibilities/inefficiencies/bottlenecks in my build?

Q2: What do you guys think of my choice of ram? it costs $70vs the $56 mushkins, but it has a timing of 4-4-4-12 vs mushkin's timing of 5-4-4-12.

Q3: Have a better part in mind?

Q4: If i get 4gigs of ddr2 800 ram on this build, will there be any problems OCing my CPU?


feel free to answer any of the questions or just give me your feedback.

thanks guys!
 

johnyeah

Distinguished
Nov 12, 2007
562
0
18,980
A1. There aren't any incompatabilities (some people might suggest you to just start off with one HD4870X2 to begin with).
A2. At 1.8V-1.9v, the G.skill looks like a pretty good choice as well.
A3. HDD I'd swap in a WD 640GB instead of the Seagate. It's a better performer at about the same price range, also larger size.
A4. There's no problems with OC'ing your CPU with those RAM.

Even though I wouldn't spend that much for a gaming system, but at that price range, you've pretty much made solid choices for your components.
 

johnyeah

Distinguished
Nov 12, 2007
562
0
18,980
One thing I'd like to add, some people would just stick with a dual core instead of a quad for gaming. Cheaper (by nearly half the price) and offers neck to neck performance at the same clockspeed in most if not all games.

Some people say quadcores are more "future proof." To be honest, as a programmer myself, I know it's going to be a long time before games are going to be multi-threaded optimized for quad core (it's already quite a pain optimizing it for dual cores). By then, your CPU will probably already be obsolete. Dual core is still the best bang for the buck.
 

baseline

Distinguished
Apr 26, 2005
34
0
18,530
Only comment I have is, there is no way I would buy right now the current economic climate and early reports are suggesting that many retailers will be in a fight for survival this holiday season. This strongly implies that there will be some very good bargains to be had. At the very least I would hold off on the purchase until i7 is released.
 

johnyeah

Distinguished
Nov 12, 2007
562
0
18,980


Yes. Here's the thing, from the reports and "rumors" I've heard, the i7 performance improvement is mainly meant for the server side not the client side (yes it'll probably still be better than the current Core 2's by who knows by how much).

I'd say wait if you already have a computer to work with right now. Doesn't hurt to wait another month when things can only get cheaper.