Opinion of system

[Jimeth]

Hey folks i've just assembled my first high-end (in that it cost me some money and isn't just recycled 486 parts =D) system and would like any opinion ranging from sweet to ****. Here are the Specs:

Antec 900 Gaming Case, Umpteen Fans (6 Really, but ones REALLY big )
850 Watt Antec TruePower Quattro PSU
Asus Maximus II Formula Mobo
Intel Q9650 3.00Ghz Quad Core CPU, Stock Cooling
Zotac Geforce 8800GT AMP! Overclocked`~700mhz, 512mb VRAM, Stock Cooling
4Gb (2x2Gb) Corsair Dominator 1066Mhz DDR2
1x80Gb Seagate Barracuda @ 7200 RPM, UATA (Don't judge me monkey)
1x500Gb Seagate Barracuda @ 7200 RPM, SATA

Looking for hardware opinions on both types of OS (32/64).

Thanks!

 

[Jimeth]

Right, having neglected to first read the thread about where this post SHOULD have been, i apologise for my stupidity.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You could save a bundle and not really lose any performance by going with these components instead:

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 $136.99 - $20.00 MIR = over $100 savings

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041 $319.99 = $230 savings - I can't see how 170MHz is worth $230, especially when the Q9550 is so easy to overclock.

G.SKILL PI Black 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=N82E16820231209 $49.99 (Not sure it will save much money, but it's very high quality RAM for a little less money).

That 8800GT is yesterday's technology. Use some of that savings to pick up a 4870 1GB card like this one:
SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL 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=N82E16814102801 $239.99 - $15.00 MIR

The 4870 GPU will give the option of adding another card in crossfire down the road when combined with the P45 chipset motherboard.

I'd also pick up a couple 640GB hard drives. The 640GB drives are considerably faster than the 500GB models due to higher data density. They also don't cost much more.

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 $74.99

I also highly recommend 64-bit Vista so you can use all 4GB of RAM. I personally run 64-bit Vista and haven't had any problems with it at all.

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

 

[Proximon]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

Ah back in stock. I told someone to wait 24 hours, hope they listened.


You listen to Shortstuff Don't buy a Ferrari motherboard and then put a Camry engine in it.

He told you exactly what I would have, down to the part #s.... Oh one change. The new HD to have is actually the "AALS" not the "AAKS"... depending on price of course:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB $85.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

If the extra 10 bucks gets in the way, the "AAKS" version has worked fine for thousands of people here for a long time
Most recent charts give the newer HD a good lead in performance though.

 

[3lvis]

Might have built an i7 for what you spent on those parts. But in your defense you picked a good.....
Case
PSU
and your choice of memory is good for overclocking

The name of the motherboard you picked makes me laugh. Its like the formula for the maximus I board was insufficiently maximized, so asus had to make a maximus II formula board. All of those superlatives don't really add much to the motherboard. The next ROG ASUS motherboard should be the Formula Uber Bravado Awesome Righteousness.....or FUBAR for short LOL. Any way the Maximus II Formula board (far from being a ferrari more like a saab or volvo) you picked has a P45 northbridge chipset that is underwelming. I expect a $250 motherboard to have an x48 or 780i chipset, and instead they give you a free sound card and removed the onboard sound. This looks like a good deal until you consider that you could have purchased a sound card for less then the $120 premium they added to the motherboard, and now if your card fails you have no back up on board sound that you would have had if you bought the motherboard and sound card separately.

The Q9650 while being a great CPU....is 42% overpriced compared to the Q9550. Imagine Daniel Day Lewis drinking 42% of your milkshake with a long straw from across the room...this is what you have done to your build by choosing this CPU.

8800 gt is old and not something people considered to be high end even when they were new. Unfortunately, you picked an Nvidia Card with a crossfire motherboard, so you can't add a second 8800gt to improve its performance. Given that you have 850 watts of power at your command I expected you would be running a 4850x2 or 4870x2 (not know what size monitor you have).

Its really hard to fault your choice of hard drives ....while there are better ones out there with greater performance and storage/dollar....there are also many worse ones you could have chosen. The difference between the best and the one you picked is not significant enough to bother remarking on.

For 64 bit OS go with Vista Premium, for 32 bit go with XP.

 

[kubes]

If your planning on doing some major overclocking this is an ok setup.

Its not the most cost effective though. could go with the asus p5q pro or gigabyte ga-ep45-ud3p for your motherboard.

saved a few bucks on the ram and only got ddr2 800.

saved a bunch of money on the q9650 and got a 9550. The price mark up is just crazy.

 

[Proximon]

Usually, I think of the P5Q Deluxe as a top end P45 overclocker, but Kubes makes a good point. Maximus II should be a very strong OC board.

Yeah I withdraw the Ferrari comparison. More like Fiat

 

[Jimeth]

Thanks for the tips guys. this build was a brainchild of mine from about 14 months ago and my mind forgot to move with the times in choosing the gpu... plus some other components Funny story, the cpu i recieved was a model up from the one i ordered so i didn't pay the premium on it lol. can't be bo looking up the q-so-on-so-forth but i ordered a quad 2.8 and got 200mhz more bang for my buck... woot. I don't plan to go crossfire/SLI but i suppose time (and peer pressure) changes minds. The mobo was a foolishly aesthetic choice. It just looked cool. *covers face in shame* "DON'T LOOK AT MEEEEE!"

This system is it still be somewhat of a work in progress due to the slow crawl of funds towards the 2000-Km-away mark they have to reach to afford the end product. As kubes stated it will be an OC system pending some liquid-coolageness. If i had funds now i would take all that wonderful parts advice and put it to good use but sadly i have to eat to live By the time i can afford it there will have been some advances past the upgrades recommended, i'll just have to do a little more research when i get to that stage.

At any rate i thought it would at least rate a chrysler lol

 

[Jimeth]

As it is, will i be able to enjoy a decent CRYSIS experience?