Another critique my build

[DrewSG3]

It's kind of late because I already ordered the stuff.. lol But I'd still like to hear your opinions.

* ANTEC NEOPOWER 650 BLUE PSU
* A64 COOLER |ARCTIC FREEZER 64 PRO
* OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB)
* GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L 775 P45
* Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300
And I'll be picking up a 4850 next week 🙂
I didn't want to go with Q9300, but I was able to pick up on up for $199. Am I going to miss the extra cache I could've gone with a 9450+?

Other than that, how does everything look?

 

[DSF]

I hope you ordered the Freezer 7 Pro, because the Freezer 64 Pro is for AMD chips.

I'd also have gone with 4GB of RAM, and possibly a different PSU depending on how much that one cost.

Why not ask before you buy?

 

[DrewSG3]

I wanted to, but I was afraid it would confuse me more for some reason.

1) It's the freezer PRO that's in my order.. I just grabbed the first results from newegg to post for feedback

2) I plan to pick up an extra 2 sticks when I get my video cards

3) It was the best modular PSU I find under $100..

 

[Bateluer]

The PSU should be fine, but that's the wrong heat sink. The Freezer 64 is for AMD CPUs. It might be possible to jerry-rig something to get it to fit, but you'd be better off returning it or selling it for an Intel cooler.

 

[dmw16]

I think you made a bad move on the RAM. Going with 4x1GB (as you said you would eventually) is going to make overclocking more difficult and also makes it more expensive if you ever wanted to go with more than 4GB. For the cost of 2x2GB (seen kits for $50 after rebate) it seems like a no-brainer.

 

[Roguestar]

You want my advice? Ask before you buy. Hindsight ain't any help to you.

 

[CKent]

Might want to look for an inexpensive crossfire-capable motherboard. That way if you get some extra cash, or in a couple years when games are more demanding, you can simply throw another 4850 into the rig for an instant upgrade. I wish I had done it.

 

[DSF]

In a couple of years throwing in a second 4850 is going to be meaningless. At that point you'll be far better off just buying a new card.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: CKent
Might want to look for an inexpensive crossfire-capable motherboard. That way if you get some extra cash, or in a couple years when games are more demanding, you can simply throw another 4850 into the rig for an instant upgrade. I wish I had done it.

So... he could replace his perfectly good motherboard right now with another one, at the loss of $100, buy another one for $100 then two years from now try and find another 4850 for, say, $100? When he could get a single card at that time for $300 that will blow a now-mediocre 4850 crossfire setup out of the water, and use less power at the same time? Hmm...

 

[dmw16]

Agreed. Crossfire is a right now solution. They did it (SLI) back when voodoo2 was around and quickly moved away from it when they figured out how to cram more power into one card. Crossfire (and current SLI's) time will soon pass. Investing in hardware to be able to Crossfire a year or more from now really makes little sense.

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: CKent
Might want to look for an inexpensive crossfire-capable motherboard. That way if you get some extra cash, or in a couple years when games are more demanding, you can simply throw another 4850 into the rig for an instant upgrade. I wish I had done it.

So... he could replace his perfectly good motherboard right now with another one, at the loss of $100, buy another one for $100 then two years from now try and find another 4850 for, say, $100? When he could get a single card at that time for $300 that will blow a now-mediocre 4850 crossfire setup out of the water, and use less power at the same time? Hmm...

Ah, I didn't read that he already bought the stuff. That kinda defeats the purpose of the thread so I wasn't looking for it.

In a couple years the standard will be pci-e 3.0 or higher. There may be a new style of ram. Pci-e 3.0+ motherboards that accept the new ram will likely handle new chipsets. So sure, he can build a new pc in a few years... or buy a used 4850 for $25 on ebay.