Midrange all round performer

[fogz88]

hey guys,
Just asking for some final tips on a new build i'm working out atm.
plans for it include general gaming (at res of about 1280x1024 on a 19" until i update to a 22" widescreen) and various other generic stuff. i have alot of music and video i wish to store on the HDD also.

atm i'm looking at specs such as:

CPU: intel E8500 or Q6600
MOBO: either Gigabyte EP45 model or Asus P5 (unsure which type as there is many)
RAM: 4GB ram (unknown brand as of yet)
HDD: either Seagate or Western Digital, about 500GB
GFX: looking at either 512mb/1gb 4850 or anything in similar price range.

as for the case/psu i have not thought as much about it. would need something with adequate voltage/current requirements for GFX to run fine.

plans are for only one GFX card atm. but may add sli/crossfire solution in future if requred (would not be for another year)

any help would be awesome. (ps i'm in australia and prefer to buy things through stores rather then online)

 

[Proximon]

You didn't mention a budget, so I'll just follow along with the direction of the build so far. I'll use Australian websites so that we know it's available there.

Case:
Cooler Master 690

CPU:
Read my guide, linked in my sig, and it will help you decide between quad and dual cores.

Motherboard:
Gigabyte UD3R for a single card
Or
Gigabyte UD3P for future crossfire.

RAM:
G.Skill 800Mhz 4GB

PSU:
Corsair VX550W for a single 4850
OR
650TX for two 4850s

 

[fogz88]

thanks dude, i didn't actually know about this store either.
with my budget its about $1200 AUS.
do you think that the performance benifit based on the increased cost (the mobo, PSU and 2nd 4850 at later date) would be worth the money??

also i noticed that the cooler Master 690 says something like it is for sli cards, but can't see how it's much different from the 590. is it just the HDD bays or something more then that?

 

[Proximon]

The 590 is a pretty good case also. The 690 has better cooling by a bit. It might not have all the features of the more expensive cases, but for cooling it's right up there with far more expensive cases.

I would say it depends on how serious a gamer you are. If you upgrade to a 22" widescreen monitor I would say you would probably appreciate the second video card by next year.

 

[fogz88]

i've been reading in various places that most of the newer games and various upcoming titles are going to be better on quads rather then duo's. is this a likely case. i'm more of a FPS gamer and don't tend to venture into the Warcraft games and such.
- so would the performance be befitted enough to get a q6600 over a similarly priced e8500?

i'm hoping this build would last me at least the next 2 years until i start seeing noticeable need for further updates.

 

[Proximon]

How many future games will be coded to take advantage of quads is strictly a matter of speculation. Someday, certainly. Currently there are two or three that really benefit.

If you would like my guess, I would say that for the next year or two dual core will still be the best buy for pure gamers. I still use one, and I could afford a quad. The list of current games I own and have played is fairly large.
Fallout 3
COD 5
Crysis Warhead
Civ IV Colonization
WoW
AoC
Warhammer Online

None of those would have benefited from a quad.

 

[xthekidx]

I would just get a dual core now. If games start to use more threads in a couple years you can get a Q9650 then and it will be cheap at that point.