$3000 AUS build

[Guest]

here are my parts, tell me what you think.
case: antec 902
cpu: I7 930
cpu cooler: corsair H50
gpu: 2x5870, what ever brand is cheapest
ram: 6gb of 1600hz DDR3 G.Skill
HDD: samsung 1Tb spinpoint
psu: Corsair HX850
optical drive: samsung blu ray 8x multi drive
mobo: GA-X58A-UD3R
monitor: Aver 23 inch 80000:1 contrast ratio 1920X1080

 

[MadAdmiral]

I would switch the Antec 902 for a HAF 922. The 922 is bigger and would over better airflow.

I would also ditch the 5870s in favor for a 5970. It's technicallly the same thing, but the 5970 would still leave you the option to Crossfire later without losing much more. It should also be cheaper.

I'm not a fan of the Corsair H50. Generally, you don't want to go cheap when water cooling. I'd consider getting the Prolimatech Megahalems with two fans.

You might want to consider dropping the BluRay for now. PCs don't really have much use for them outside of what you can do with a regular player. They're also really expensive and that price can be expected to drop once there is an actual reason to get one.

I'd also consider grabbing a SSD as the boot drive. The 80 GB Intel is a very good one. If you need more space (leave 20% free), the 100 GB OCZ Agility 2 is good. If you need even more than that, put two 80 GB Intels in RAID 0.

 

[mosox]

I would get a bigger case for that crossfire.

For the mobo maybe this one:

http://www.mwave.com.au/productdetail.asp?CartID=mAU@MBQFNNKS4FKLR74OPDHTZSEBCBE38DO76IBD6O8TRG7MF8&sku=28023328

Monitor:

http://www.mwave.com.au/productdetail.asp?CartID=mAU@MBQFNNKS4FKLR74OPDHTZSEBCBE38DO76IBD6O8TRG7MF8&sku=27021230

 

[MadAdmiral]

The Asus P6X58D-E isn't better. It's just more expensive. It's got worse Crossfire (16x/8x/8x vs. 16x/16x/8x/8x), and everything else is virtually the same. I'd save the few bucks and get the better board...

 

[Somebody_007]

I'd get 470 sli. It's quite a bit faster than a 5970 at the same price. It allows 3d vision if you're willing out to shell out another 200 anyways. It's a very good deal due to the good sli scaling.

If you go the 470 path then get 120hz monitor for 3d

 

[MadAdmiral]

Except that the 470 SLI would need a 950W PSU, and would generate an insane amount of heat.

 

[Somebody_007]

The 850hx should be able to handle it. OC'd 4-way 480 only needs like 1000-1100. So yeah 850 really should do. And the reference designs are indeed not very cool.

Although if you get these pre-OC'd ones you'll get better performance at lower temps

http://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-GF-GTX-470-OC/dp/B003LNKHGU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277131440&sr=8-6

 

[mosox]

The Asus has x16x16x1, I don't see the need for more than that. It also has 16+2 Phase Power that's why I recommended it.

 

[MadAdmiral]

The 16+2 isn't that big of a deal. Tom's did a comparision of many different X58 boards (I'm trying to find it) and they recommended the Gigabyte over the Asus.

EDIT: Here's the article: X58 In 2010.

 

[nuke123]

Where do you plan to source the parts from in australia as there is no newegg i take it.

 

[mosox]

Missed that, thanks.

 

[Mark Heath]

Where do you plan to source the parts from in australia as there is no newegg i take it.

unfortunately no

online or MSY?

 

[Guest]

thanks for the advice guys. i think i will end up changing cases as the 902 barely has enough room for the 5870s let alone a 5970!
And i want to stick with the two 5870s as although they are a slightly higher price their performance is slightly better then a 5970 (due to double the bandwidth), I think the trade off is worth it, including heat as a factor. Also i don't intend to ever upgrade teh graphic cards, do it once, do it right when I upgrade it will be a completly new system.
i'm happy with the H50, it's stats are pretty good and i haven't heard any issues with leaking etc. also i don't like the idea of all the weight of an air cooler on my motherboard as i move my system around a lot.
On the SSDs i jsut can't see them being worth it, for double the price you get a quarter capacity. i'm leaning to 2Tb in RAID 0 of HDD as it would be about the same price.
I choose teh Blu Ray casue i already ahve a lot of movies and i figured why not, although it's not an essential part.
with the GTX470s in SLi can someone send me some benchmarks Vs. Ati 5 series please. the main reason i didn;t go that option is that they arn't in great stock, run hotter, and eyefintey is a big draw for me. so how does nvidia's system compare, what do you have to do to set it up and does it work in SLi as opposed to Ati's issues with corssfire and eyefintey.

sorry for so many questions and thankx in advanced