Planning on building...

[Magnus89]

Hey guys, I'm new here. Just needed a bit of advice on the new rig I'm planning on building before the end of the year, else the early start of the next. Here's what I've decided on so far:

Case: Thermaltake Armor+MX
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage Extreme LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel
PSU: OCZ GameXStream 700W
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W
GPU: EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
RAM: 4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-8500 memory module
HD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F DT HD502IJ 500GB 7200 RPM
Optical: Asus DRW-22B1S 22X Double Layer IDE DVD+ -RW
Floppy: BYTECC Black 1.44MB Internal Floppy Drive Model BT-145
Wireless: NETGEAR - 802.11g Wireless Desktop Card

Anybody spot any potential hiccups in that set up? I know there's been some talk about RAM pickieness but other than that, I wasn't able to find any other issues through my research (literally spent 20hrs on it so far - pretty sure everything will play nice here).

I know it's not going to be "the best ever" system, but I'm really just looking for something that will enable me to upgrade later, but still be reasonably priced for the meantime etc. Planning on primarily using it for Sims 2/3 and WoW.


P.S. This will be my first ever build, so any advice and/or feedback here would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Helloworld_98]

ide dvd drive.

also you might get an overall better experience if you get a 720 BE cpu and 790GX motherboard along with a 4870.

oh and swap the psu for a silverstone 850w, more amps, more watts and cheaper and arguably better quality.

edit: just saw you plan on building at the end of the year, don't bother thinking about the components until at the earliest 2 months before buying.

 

[aevm]

^^Agreed.

There's absolutely no point in buying an X48 MB or a 9800GTX+ in December of 2009. There will be better choices, like P55 motherboards and new i5 CPUs, and video cards from both nVidia and ATI based on 40 nm technology. Ask again about a month before you buy.


Edit: and btw, why combine an X48 Crossfire with an nVidia card. You might as well downsize the MB and PSU to something like GA-EP45-UD3R and 550W and save some money.

 

[Magnus89]

Thanks guys, I'm really looking into the slightly dated technology strategically because of price reduction - it will likely fall a bit more than it already has when I'm ready to start collecting the parts, and that's what I'm holding out for (I'll only be making about $1,200 at UPS during peak so that's what I'll have to work with - total cost of this right now is slightly just over $1,300 before tax over at Newegg).

I really don't need "top of the line" for what I want to do with it - the 9800GTX+ suits my needs perfectly, and I do want to have the option of expandability later - as with SLI capability and the like (which is why I chose that board and power supply specifically). I'm pretty dead-set on Intel and the 577 socket type (again because of price).

I really just needed to know if there would be any major issues with the build as it is currently - specifically with the RAM and if there's a more compatible type that's not over $80 for 4GB, as I've heard that board is picky with it - especially the Corsair brand. Thanks again though!