New gaming rig-did I get the right parts???

[iflyems]

I just ordered my parts for a new system. I already have a Dell 23" LCD monitor.

Case: Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan $169.99

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor $269.99

MB: ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard $288.99

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $99.00(after $20 mail-in rebate)

CD/DVD: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe $27.99

HDD: 1 Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $139.99

GIGABYTE GV-R485OC-1GH Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card $179.99(after $20 mail in rebate)

RAM: ORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $79.99(after $40.00 mail in rebate)

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3 English for System Builders 1 Pack CD $89.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound $5.95(good stuff)

Crysis PC Game EA $36.99(just for fun)

The total is around $1300 if you factor in the rebates

Did I get all the right "stuff"??? Do you guys see anything I bought that was wrong, or were I could do better?? I plan to mainly play first person shooters, like Fallout 3, Crysis, COD4, and the like.

I'm not sold yet on quad core cpu's for gaming as some of the games aren't ported yet, so I think its a waste of money right now. I can always upgrade my CPU in the future. Also, I may get a second one of these video cards and run crossfire, but, I want some input from the gamers out there if this is even worth the extra money.


Edit; Almost forgot, I ordered from New Egg, and the parts won't arrive for about a week.

 

[swifty_morgan]

64bit opsys.

 

[iflyems]

Won't a lot of my games and current programs not work??

 

[RetroDude]

no they will be fine, i havent met an application i cant run yet.

 

[aznguy0028]

yea agreed w/swifty, get vista 64. otherwise everything looks good you'll handle fallout3, crysis, cod4/5 with ease.

btw, fallout3/cod5 is amazing!

 

[nishiki]

Since it's for gaming....id say go for a better videocard...since it the most important part for a gamer. You can cut price on other part like motherbard if needed. (like getting a P45 motherboard). Save 100$ on motherbard spend 70-100 on a 4870.

 

[husky mctarflash]

+1 on nishiki.

If I understand it correctly, P45 give you 8+8 PCI lanes, which is relevant if you Crossfire. Whereas, P35 gives you 16+4, with the "4" lane bottlenecking in Crossfire.

23" should not need Crossfire. May not even need a 4870, but that will certainly give your system more life.

I don't remember the cite, but conclusively stay away from 1 GB 4850s. They are actually LOWER performance than the 512 version. (whereas 1 GB 4870 is a good choice). I don't remember why though, only that 1 GB is bad for the 4850.

You might also save some money by going with an Antec 900 or Coolermaster CM690. That would completely offset the cost of going up to a 4870.

You will have a kicking system regardless though! Good luck!

 

[kyron]

Looks good, but as above poseter said you would prob be better off with a 4870.
Also ther are some areas where you could save money which make little performance difference.
e.g. you could save $90 by getting an e8500 rather than e8600, only real difference is a half multipllier.

and you would have been fine with ddr2 800 ram, which could save another $20 or so.

and as above poster said you could also go for a cheaper mobo.

 

[smartel7070]

These are the changes I would make :

CPU : get a e8400. You can easily oc it to 3.6ghz with stock cooling
Ram : This kit is cheaper and really good http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146692
With the savings mentioned you could get this video card : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
OS : Vista 64.

 

[iflyems]

Thanks for the replies. Here's my thoughts;
I'm going to stay with XP32 for now. There is a new version of Windows coming out next year, and I'll switch then. I have a lot of games(FPS), and don't want the hassel of getting them to work in a new OS or bit system. I'm trying to "simplify my life".
Plus, I've read a lot of reviews on Vista64, and there kind of split. I think it would be best to wait til this time next year to switch.

As far as the CPU is concerned; I like the idea of dual core, and the 3.3Ghz is a selling point. The extra money doesn't make that much difference to me right now. I think eventually I'll switch to a quad core when I change to the new OS next year.

I did a lot of research on the video cards here on this site. Basically, there was very little difference between the 1gb 4950, and the 512mb 4870. Also, it appears from all the reviews I've read, the 4870's are running extremely hot, which is something I want to stay away from right now. As far as problems with the 1GB version of the 4850, I haven't heard or seen any articles or reviews that mentioned this. Can you point me in the right direction??

As far as the MB. I've always had ASUS' boards, and liked them a lot. I want to go with the X48 chipset for future speed. There is no bottleneck on the PCI bus for crossfire, but I don't know if I'll ever go with two cards. I just don't see where it makes that much difference in the games being displayed on my 23" LCD monitor.

 

[iflyems]

Just ordered a second GIGABYTE GV-R485OC-1GH Radeon HD 4850 video card, so I'll run them in crossfire configuration.
Question; which card should I plug the LCD monitor into? I'll have two cards, and I don't see in the instruction where one is a master, and one is a slave. So am I to assume that it doesn't matter which DVI slot, or which card, I plug the monitor into??

I also got the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler, and XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket, so I can keep the CPU cool.

 

[iflyems]

bump

 

[mopman]

one problem, im sure you already know but 4 gigs of RAM on a 32 bit OS will not register fully, expect to only see 3 gigs working with that 1gb video card installed. also odd choice of video card, 1gb of memory on a 3850 makes me wonder why you didnt switch mobo to a p45 (very stable and affordable. overall workhorse of a platform) and spend the extra dough on vista 64 (service pack 1 DID fix many of the problems... read that part again please. ignore vistas bad rep) and upgraded the gfx to a 4870 (512mb or 1gb memory, doesnt really matter except for monitor size) other than that nice... although some parts like RAM are a little flashy... but thats cool

 

[iflyems]

I got two 4850 video cards, each running 1 gig. I got the Gigabyte OC cards because they were already overclocked, which is terribly difficult, and they both have the Zalman coolers attached. I'll be running them in crossfire. I just didn't see that much benefit between two 4850's, and one 4870. The price doesn't justify the performance.

I realize XP will only register 3Gb of memory, but I chose 4 because you can't get 3....LOL

I may still get Vista 64, but will run a dual boot, so if I run into problems, I can run XP32. I also have a lot of older games, which I'm not sure will work on Vista. And realistically, with Windows 7 coming out next year, it won't hurt me in the speed department to just wait. So I'm still waffling on spending another $100 or so dollars on an OS I'm not convinced I need.

Anybody know which card I plug my monitor into??? Or do I just pick one, and that will work.