Hi all, I just wanted some advice on whether to wait or to build a new rig now. I have been out of the loop for some time and not sure if anything major is just around the corner, usually leading to lower prices on the current stuff.
My current rig is as follows:
-Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz OC'ed to 3.6GHz
-CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-1000HX 1000W
-ASUS P5Q Deluxe
-GIGABYTE GV-R487X2-2GH-B Radeon HD 4870 X2
-SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA
-4 x G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
-Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
-ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3
-WD VelociRaptor 300 GB SATA
-3x Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA RAID
-LG Electronics 8X Blu-ray SATA Writer Drive WH08
The burners, seagate hard drives and sound card are going to be recycled. Everything else will be given to my fiance for her computer and she will use on board audio or my older X-Fi card (this includes the velicoraptor).
Key things I want:
- SSD 80GB+ (OS install and whatever game I am currently playing)
- USB 3.0 (or opinions on this new technology)
- Intel i7
- Triple channel setup (is this very efficient or will any combo of ram suffice?)
- Case with hinged mobo tray but more importantly good cooling
- Efficient higher wattage power supply (if necessary or I could go with another Corsair HX 1000)
- Video card best bang for my buck (I will be buying one card now and then another a month a two later to run SLI or Crossfire)
Fan noise doesn't matter while playing games, however I would like a setup where I could possibly dial down quickly and easily when just surfing or watching blu-ray movies. For anyone with a 4870x2, I keep my fan at 50% and that is acceptable while gaming, 30% or lower for everything else. I would like to be able to control all fans though (case, cpu and gpu).
It is not essential to get a case with a hinged mobo tray but I am really looking for something with that design. I have googled and cannot find anything like it but remember seeing a rig a year ago or so, don't recall its name. A removable mobo tray is good too so long as it doesn't require the PCI cards to be removed.
Because the SSD will most likely be small (storage space) I will only install games I play often on it. Anything that I am done playing will be uninstalled or moved to a storage drive. A new heat sink will be need
This computer will be used 50% for gaming, 40% HD content (blu-ray or HD downloads) and general work/surfing.
I usually overclock my CPU/Ram to something well into a stable threshold but after that I never touch it. I usually dont overclock anything else.
My budget is all over the place. My target is something under $1500 but can go as high as $2000 if the performance is worth it and the convenience (total fan control etc) is there. I am also partial to anything with a lifetime warranty (like EVGA video cards).
Thanks for any help!
My current rig is as follows:
-Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz OC'ed to 3.6GHz
-CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-1000HX 1000W
-ASUS P5Q Deluxe
-GIGABYTE GV-R487X2-2GH-B Radeon HD 4870 X2
-SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA
-4 x G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
-Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
-ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3
-WD VelociRaptor 300 GB SATA
-3x Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA RAID
-LG Electronics 8X Blu-ray SATA Writer Drive WH08
The burners, seagate hard drives and sound card are going to be recycled. Everything else will be given to my fiance for her computer and she will use on board audio or my older X-Fi card (this includes the velicoraptor).
Key things I want:
- SSD 80GB+ (OS install and whatever game I am currently playing)
- USB 3.0 (or opinions on this new technology)
- Intel i7
- Triple channel setup (is this very efficient or will any combo of ram suffice?)
- Case with hinged mobo tray but more importantly good cooling
- Efficient higher wattage power supply (if necessary or I could go with another Corsair HX 1000)
- Video card best bang for my buck (I will be buying one card now and then another a month a two later to run SLI or Crossfire)
Fan noise doesn't matter while playing games, however I would like a setup where I could possibly dial down quickly and easily when just surfing or watching blu-ray movies. For anyone with a 4870x2, I keep my fan at 50% and that is acceptable while gaming, 30% or lower for everything else. I would like to be able to control all fans though (case, cpu and gpu).
It is not essential to get a case with a hinged mobo tray but I am really looking for something with that design. I have googled and cannot find anything like it but remember seeing a rig a year ago or so, don't recall its name. A removable mobo tray is good too so long as it doesn't require the PCI cards to be removed.
Because the SSD will most likely be small (storage space) I will only install games I play often on it. Anything that I am done playing will be uninstalled or moved to a storage drive. A new heat sink will be need
This computer will be used 50% for gaming, 40% HD content (blu-ray or HD downloads) and general work/surfing.
I usually overclock my CPU/Ram to something well into a stable threshold but after that I never touch it. I usually dont overclock anything else.
My budget is all over the place. My target is something under $1500 but can go as high as $2000 if the performance is worth it and the convenience (total fan control etc) is there. I am also partial to anything with a lifetime warranty (like EVGA video cards).
Thanks for any help!