Predict Any Issues??

[hash3m]

I plan to use this for several years for digital design (Photoshop CS4). I tried to cross the Ts and dot the Is, but if you notice anything that might cause issues, by all means, let me know! Any general advice is welcome too

MOTHERBOARD - EVGA nForce 790i SLI FTW
TigerDirect - $189

GPU - evga GTX 295 Co Op
TigerDirect - $499

CPU - Core 2 Quad 9400
TigerDirect - $189

CPU COOLER - ZEROtherm CF900
TigerDirect - $39

PSU - OCZ 850w GameXStream
TigerDirect - $129

CASE - Thermaltake Spedo Full
TigerDirect - $219

RAM - OCZ Gold Tri Channel 6GB PCI16000 DDR3
TigerDirect - $139

HDD - WD 1TB 32MB SATA-300 OEM
TigerDirect - $89

OS - Windows XP Pro 32bit

 

[obsidian86]

get the i5 instead hold off on the graphics card ati shipping the 5 series soon and its gonna be hot

 

[hash3m]

Why i5? I should mention my budget is $1500 (before tax/SH).

 

[AMDThunder]

Why i5? I should mention my budget is $1500 (before tax/SH).

Then you are going the complete wrong direction with with the LGA 775 socket. And IMO, the GTX 295 is not worth the premium you'll pay.

 

[hash3m]

And I totally respect that, but why? I tried to do plenty of research, please explain what you mean...

 

[obsidian86]

the i5 is much better for 20 buck more http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5210397&CatId=4731
and with this board you only 10 bucks over budget you http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5083579 and you dont need tri channel ram dual is fine ,the i5 is newer and faster and 775 socket willl be buried tomorrow it a dead end with no upgrade path

 

[hash3m]

But isn't the i5 already dead? There is only one i5, so I can't ever upgrade it. And the boards required for it don't seem to support anything else. At least with the q9400 I can upgrade that within the core 2 series some day if I absolutely have to, and I can overclock until then.... The 790i is supposed to be great for overclocking...

What do you think?

 

[obsidian86]

the i5 only started selling today intel will chop the 775 series from thier line up where you gonna get a core 2 a few yrs from now ?

 

[hash3m]

OK I have this build posted on 4 forums and I am monitoring them. Bit-Tech is saying the same thing about i5. The Cooler Master 932 seems like a good case too, for a little bit less. Is there any way I can stay with EVGA, and still have an SLI-ready mobo that isn't completely retarded? I think a good mobo is important, but it's not like I'm the expert on what's "good" right now. I guess as long as multiple cards will fit, and it supports ddr3 ram.

 

[Outlander_04]

agree with no more socket 775 and esp not slow quads like the 9400

The i5 range is small but the other i7 lga 1156 processors all run in those mb

 

[obsidian86]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5083733&CatId=4720

edit to sli mobo and drop the 295 a 285 or even 275 is fine for 1920x1200

 

[hash3m]

I didn't read anything about sli on that mobo...

 

[obsidian86]

even if you did go with the 295 get a cheaper one all 295's are reference versions so a stock overclocked 295 should match a co op

 

[hash3m]

What do you mean about switching the card. I didn't understand.

But I settled on 295 because the performance beat everything else on all the youtube vids I saw. I'm not claiming to be an expert though. I wouldn't mind getting 2 smaller cards if it was cheaper and performed better.

 

[obsidian86]

a 295 is basically 2x275's the 295 is the best a 4870x2 is bout 15% behind it at 25% cheaper a 285 is the fastest single core graphics card its bout 20% behind a 295 but costs bout the same a 4890 is jus below the 285 by bout 15% but overclocks better and is cheaperthe 275 is bout the same as the 4890 but its give an take
btw what is you monitor's resolution

 

[obsidian86]

ati will be selling the 5xxx series ini week or 2 a single 5870 is said to match a 295

 

[scudst0rm]

You know you wont be able to use 6GB of RAM on a 32 bit windows, are you planning on upgrading your OS in the future?

 

[AMDThunder]

Just my opinion here, but paying $500 for a vid card is assinine at best. Unless you just have the cash to blow, or are gaming on a monster screen at a monster resolution. According to your original post, this is not a gaming rig. What are you using that needs that much GPU power?

Obsidian86, its great you help out as much as you do, but please try and use a little punctuation. Makes it a hella lot easier you actually comprehend your posts.

 

[4745454b]

I laughed a bit when I read this thread. Talks about needing to run PS, which requires a good CPU and lots of ram. He got lots of ram (tri channel and not dual channel though) but not enough CPU. I was thinking overbudget, but he's buying a GTX295??? And I'm assuming he wants the 790i motherboard thinking he needs it for his "SLI" card.

i5 is now out, so you shouldn't look at S775 anymore. It can best AMDs best, though you currently might pay a bit more for a motherboard. They each use dual channel memory, so I'd get 2x2GB. (if you get a 64bit version of windows AND a 64bit version of PS, you could get 4x2GBs if its in your budget.) I wouldn't bother with the GTX295. The GTX295 is a great GAMING card, but totally not needed for PS. A nice cheap 9800GT or something like that will be more then enough.

You can also dump the 800W+ PSU. A quality 450W/500W will work just fine.

 

[scudst0rm]

I'm guessing he wants to use the CUDA photoshop plug-in with the GTX 295, I'm wondering if the advantage to image processing is worth the price. Has anyone seen any benchmarks for photoshop using the CUDA plugin?

 

[hash3m]

Hey guys thanks for all the help

Here's the thing. I'm currently getting by on Photoshop CS4 with amd3500+, windows xp32bit, 2g ddr2, and 9700gtoc. So I know any quad core will blow my mind. I also desire long-term graphics potential. The idea is to strike a compromise, and I'm leaning more towards graphics.

Clearly I don't know anything current about computers, So I'm not saying I need gtx295. But I'll see a bigger boost in games, and for a longer time, with a better gpu (or gpu combo), than I'd see between a q series and an i series in Photoshop...

I was able to trim $190 by dropping to 750wPSU, Dual Channel RAM, and Cooler Master 932 Case. If I can trim another $100 by switching to a convincing dual-card setup, then maybe I could afford to move up to i5 or i7...

Don't forget that Photoshop releases a new version every 18 months and they're starting to integrate gpu more.

Let me know what you think!

 

[4745454b]

You didn't list games, which is why I said you didn't need the GTS295. Depending on your monitor, a GTX260/275 might be fine.

I don't know a lot about PS and GPGPU. If a GTX295 is really better then a GTX275, then consider it. But from what I know, you'll see better gains moving from the Q8400 to the i5 750.

 

[hash3m]

The only other thing I can think of is to swap the gtx295 for gtx250+gtx260. Then I could drop the PSU down to 650w.

The grand total would be $1100!!

 

[hash3m]

Do I need a full tower? What is the purpose of a full tower? I'm beginning to think they're for people who want lots of drives, which I don't.

I figured I need one to fit the huge GPUs nowadays.

Will smaller towers fit ATX mobos with GTX series GPUs?

I'm thinking of replacing the gtx295 with gtx250+gtx260, if that helps. Airflow and enough space for my cards is what I'm worried about.

 

[4745454b]

Why get the missed matched cards? I'd probably just get the GTS260.