Advice on new system, overkill?

[Andydev]

I'm planning to buy a new PC, can you advice me on this parts?

The website that I'm planning to get is http://www.auspcmarket.com.au , so if you think another piece is better, please recommend me from this site.

It's mainly for gaming, but some encoding will be done too.

CPU
INTEL CORE2 QUAD Q9300

MOTHERBOARD
GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4

MEMORY
CORSAIR TWIN2X 4096MB DDR2

GFX
Sapphire Radeon HD4870 512mb

CASE
NZXT Hush

PSU
Corsair HX-620 620w


I want to run XFire in the future, and I'm not sure if to OC it, since I've never done it before (also might need help with this )

After some consulting, people recommended me to change it this:

CPU
Intel Core2 Quad Q9450

POWER
Antec TPQ-850W

But that makes the price ~AU$220 more, which I got a feeling is too much if I don't plan to OC much. (and it would make me get another CPU fan too, no?)

What do you guys think? would you change other parts?

I have been for too long trying to think what to get

 

[DaveSimmons]

The E8400 core duo is much better for gaming, cores 3 and 4 don't help at all now and may not for several years. A 10% slower Q9450 quad-core will hold you back in crossfire while costing you an extra $225 AUD.

PSU: here's VisionTek's 4870 requirements for just the cards. You need more 12V amps available for drives, fans and CPU:
"500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode)"

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Yeah, quads will rip through encoding, but the 9300 is a rough with its 7.5 multi. You can get it as long as you get good overclocking DDR2 800 or 1066 & above but again the 7.5 is a needle in the sock. The thing between the duals and quads, is the 8xxx series are great overclockers and usually overclock higher than the quads. Some into the 4Ghz range and on air, the quads are more challenging and from what i've been seeing is unless you get a QX9650 4Ghz with a quad is unlikely. But, Good Luck and Welcome to the Anandtech Forums

 

[Andydev]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

PSU: here's VisionTek's 4870 requirements for just the cards. You need more 12V amps available for drives, fans and CPU:
"500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode)"

I just found out that the GPU comes with a molex convertor to 6 pin, so it should support XFire.


I'm thinking of getting this cooler: Thermalright 120 Extreme. Would it fit the NZXT Hush case?

 

[MarcVenice]

Welcome to the AT forums.

I'd drop the quad for a e8400, saves you some money. For crossfire HD4870's you'll need something like a quality 750-850w PSU. How sure are you about going crossfire? You are paying a hefty premium on that x48 mobo, where as a p35/p45 mobo could do the trick as well, and save you some money. Crossfire is nice, but if you're not 100% sure about it, it'll cost you lots extra, for features that might be left unused. Waste of money.