Building My New Computer...

[Larrys839]

Hi Everyone,

I'm getting ready to build a computer in the next two weeks and I just wanted to run the parts list by some people before I go ahead and order them. I'm pretty much a poweruser with my PC. I plan on overclocking and doing plenty of gaming, staying up to date with the latest title. I also do a ton of DVD burning My Price Range is around $5000, and I'll be buying the parts in the US. I'm building the computer from scratch and I don't really have any brand preferences. I've read some similar theads on the subject before posting. Please look this over and give me any tweaks/suggestions you have. Also, what extra (air) cooling solutions do you suggest.

Thanks and happy reading!

Motherboard:
EVGA 790i 132-CK-NF79-A1

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650

Memory:
8gb OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600 (2x 4gb)

Video Card:
Dual XFX GTX 280

Sound Card:
HT Omega Claro

Computer Case:
Apevia X-Jupiter G Type

Hard Drives:
Velociraptor 300gb 10000RPM

3x Samsung Spinpoint 1TB (RAID 5)

Optical Drives:
2x Samsung 22x CD/DVD-RW

LG Supermulti Blu-Ray Burner

Power Supply:
Corsair 1000w Power Supply

Keyboard:
Microsoft Reclusa

Mouse:
Logitech G5
(Have it already)

Operating System:
Windows Vista 64 Ultimate

As for the monitor, I cant decide between getting a 28-inch monitor or getting Dual 24 inch monitors that have the same resolution (I'm not counting this in the budget right now).

 

[DSF]

The term poweruser makes me feel inferior and inadequate.

SLi rules out using dual monitors, just so you know.

If you want my honest opinion, you're wasting a lot of money on the motherboard, RAM and CPU with no performance gain to show for it. You're basically paying for bragging rights, not functionality. It's up to you to decide whether or not that's worth it.

 

[modoheo]

The nVidia chipset boards are very unstable and buggy compared to the intel chipset boards. If you drop that kind of money on that board and 2 X GTX280's in SLI, you'll be very sad next month, since the ATI HD4870X2 is coming out, and (utilizing a single PCI-EX16 slot) will be faster in many cases and very close in most others to your configuration, for about 60% of the cost.

DDR3 memory offers very, very little performance advantage over DDR2 with current technology, at a very high price premium. DDR2 1066 RAM will let you overclock until the only point in pushing further is bragging rights. Nothing wrong with DDR3 though; it's your dollar.

Even doing a "ton of DVD burning," it's hard to imagine needing 2.3 terabytes of storage, but I'll defer that one to you.

If I were you, I'd get a X48 chipset mobo and plug in a single HD4870X2 when they come out. If there's really any game you can't max out with that which you know will scale with crossfire and you have money to burn, then throw in another HD4870X2 and crossfire it. It'll be much faster and more stable and overclock better than the setup you outlined above.
Asus Rampage X48 mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131284
or if you really want DDR3, the Asus Maximus Extreme X48:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131235

More info on the HD4870X2:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2207021&enterthread=y

Suggested reading?:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2194271&enterthread=y