About to buy new rig...any input appreciated!

[Sulaco]

Hey guys,

After a couple long weeks of research, I've finally put together a rig in which I feel comfortable.
Still, I would love to hear some feedback from anyone who might have better suggestions, or just has any advice in general.

Also, I'm still quite undecided on the video card and the monitor, so any help at all there would be appreciated.

Anyway, here it is:

Optical Drive:
Samsung 22x DVD-R/W SATA.........$25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151171

Case:
Cooler Master Centurion 590...$50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119152

HDD:
Seagate 640Gb 7200 RPM 32Mb cache SATA 3gb/s OEM...$80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822148335

Power Supply:
Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750 Watt...$120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139006

Memory:
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000)...$55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231145

Motherboard:
Asus P5Q Pro...$115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131299

CPU:
Intel C2D E8500 Wolfdale 3.16Ghz...$190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115036

OS:
Windows Vista Business 64-bit (own)

Video Card:
eVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition...$299
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130400

OR
Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB...$289
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102801

Monitor:
Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD....$164.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824009145


...there you have it.

As far as the monitor goes, I don't really NEED one. I have a very nice NEC 19 inch LCD. But at that price, a 22 inch WS that seems highly recommended is VERY appealing. Do you think I should save up my pennies and go for a Samsung or other brand later? Maybe a 24 inch a few months from now?

As far as the video cards go, I might have to just order blindfolded, lol. I just can't decide. The Radeon 4870 seems to have a teensy performance advantage, but the 260 also is better with heat and power consumption.

Anyway, I would greatly appreciate any comments on the rig, especially the monitor and GPU!
Thanks guys!

 

[MarcVenice]

GTX260 216 and HD4870 is a tossup if they are the same price. You COULD save for a 24", thatll really be a big difference from your 19" and will last for a long time. I like all the other stuff.

 

[dmw16]

I'd spring for a larger case. I had that case to start with for my build, but the 4870 I bought was too big to fit and still give me the choice of how to mount my hard drives.

 

[DSF]

750W is much more power than you need for a single video card setup. You could easily step down to 600-650W if you want to save money, and still have some wiggle room.

 

[MarcVenice]

Ah yeah, I'd buy this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817171024 hehe, a qaulity 750w PSU for $70 is just a steal.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Ah yeah, I'd buy this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817171024 hehe, a qaulity 750w PSU for $70 is just a steal.

Why not this Corsair 650TX??? It's 79.99 AR and has better reviews than that one.

 

[MarcVenice]

All the 1 eggs are from people with MSI motherboards. Granted, that is an issue, but OP isn't buying a MSI motherboard. It's a great psu, just to bad it hates MSI mobo's for some reason. Btw, it COULD very well be the motherboard that it is fault, who knows ?

-1 egg ratings explained:

Manufacturer Responseear Simracer,

We apologize for the inconvenience that you have experienced. We have no one by that name working in our US branch, and I have talked with our customer and tech support reps and they don?t have any voicemails, our customer support reps did receive an email of yours on Monday March 17th, which they replied back to it on Tuesday March 18th with RMA details. We are aware of the issue with the 750w power supplies with MSI boards, the PSU's affected were only a very small batch, we have that problem fixed already, for those who still happen to have one of the 750's with the issue, please contact us immediately and we will replace it ASAP. The toll free number is (888)624-5099 the email address for customer support is customersupport@coolermaster.com - tech supports is technicalsupport@coolermaster.com and RMA is enduserrma@coolermaster.com

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
All the 1 eggs are from people with MSI motherboards. Granted, that is an issue, but OP isn't buying a MSI motherboard. It's a great psu, just to bad it hates MSI mobo's for some reason. Btw, it COULD very well be the motherboard that it is fault, who knows ?

-1 egg ratings explained:

Manufacturer Responseear Simracer,

We apologize for the inconvenience that you have experienced. We have no one by that name working in our US branch, and I have talked with our customer and tech support reps and they don?t have any voicemails, our customer support reps did receive an email of yours on Monday March 17th, which they replied back to it on Tuesday March 18th with RMA details. We are aware of the issue with the 750w power supplies with MSI boards, the PSU's affected were only a very small batch, we have that problem fixed already, for those who still happen to have one of the 750's with the issue, please contact us immediately and we will replace it ASAP. The toll free number is (888)624-5099 the email address for customer support is customersupport@coolermaster.com - tech supports is technicalsupport@coolermaster.com and RMA is enduserrma@coolermaster.com

Ahh muy interesante. I didn't read the reviews. I just saw the 80%+ rating.

 

[Sulaco]

I'm pretty confident about the PSU.

Firstly, I like the single, 60A 12v line.

Secondly, I see the PSU as something I can carry over to a new build or upgrades down the line, so I might as well spend an extra $10-$20 for an extra 100Watts of power for the future, since that's the way things are headed.

Still undecided about the video cards and monitor though...maybe I should just hold off until black friday for the monitor.
Does Newegg have decent BF deals?

 

[jdjbuffalo]

Originally posted by: Sulaco
I'm pretty confident about the PSU.

Firstly, I like the single, 60A 12v line.

Secondly, I see the PSU as something I can carry over to a new build or upgrades down the line, so I might as well spend an extra $10-$20 for an extra 100Watts of power for the future, since that's the way things are headed.

Still undecided about the video cards and monitor though...maybe I should just hold off until black friday for the monitor.
Does Newegg have decent BF deals?

If you plan on upgrading again in <2 Years then I agree the extra few dollars for the 750 Watt power supply is worth it. But if you're one of those people that upgrade once every 3-5 years then save the money and go with a 550 - 600 watt (unless you plan on overclocking).

One thing to keep in mind is even though it doesn't seem like it, driving that 24 inch monitor does take a fairly good graphics card. The ones you selected should be fine but if you're getting the latest games and want to play them at high settings then you'll probably need upgrade that video card in a year or so.

 

[videogames101]

Go with a Visiontek HD4870, better warranty.
(I'd recommend the 4870 over the GTX260)

Otherwise, it's awesome.