did i make the right decision?

[cyrusm]

so my computer components are locked:
all parts are in canadian prices, including shipping/handling/tax
p35c-ds3r -> 198
freezer 7 + as 5 -> 38
ultra grid w/ 700w ps -> 128
evga 8800gts 320mb -> 383
xtc ocz pc6400 gold 2gigs -> 130
dvd burner -> 45
500gb wd 16mb 7200rpm -> 125
q6600 -> 330


a few questions:
i will be oc'ing my q6600 to at least (this is all hopes of course) to 3ghz, which is why i bought the freezer 7. im hoping it will yield more, but im not getting my hopes up.

my main question:
i purchased an evga 8800gts 320mb video card. keep in mind im on a budget. my plan is to use evga's stepup program in 90 or so days and get whatever is really good at that time.
my main prospects are: COD4, assassin's creed, crysis, bioshock, and this vid card will have to last me for about 3 months.
another thing: i believe i overpayed for it, considering later i found this:
http://www.directcanada.com/pr...15-AR&manufacture=EVGA
$312 canadian, free ground shipping, with gst it would be something like $330
im really mad at myself, becuase i did a lot of research and missed this deal.


i want to know if my situation is bad? should i have went for a 640mb, or a gtx? or is my situation still salvageable?
and what shouldi upgrade to in 3 months?
many thanks.



/edit/
this case is what im getting:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/appl...pNo=2448862&CatId=1846
you can not deny it has bang for the buck!
also, i made SURE i wasnt getting a crappy power supply.
check it out:
http://computers.pricegrabber....r-supplies/m/30124607/
thats just for the ps alone.
at any rate, I will start building this pc very soon I cant wait, its gonna be a project me and my bro are gonna do.

it'll be my first time
1) building a pc
2) overclocking one
3) using a custom hsf

 

[RussianSensation]

All the parts look good, except not sure about that 700W PS by Ultra. Freezer 7 should be OK for 3.0ghz but beyond that one can expect its performance to fall off considerably. I would imagine 3.2-3.3ghz would be the max for that cooler.

About the graphics card, it's hard to say if Nvidia is skipping refresh line this year because it's already August for the most part and there haven't been any signs at all of 8900 series. Nvidia might simply jump straight to Geforce 9 at the end of this year considering little pressure from ATI this generation.

Get back with overclocking results

 

[SolMiester]

If you are looking to step up later to the GTX or the next generation card, you might want to check if the card fix that case!

 

[Keysplayr]

Also, you might want to take a look at eVGA's website and look at the insane prices they are asking for their cards (which is the price you will be paying if you step up). They are severely marked up last time I checked. With a nice rig like that, I would definitely consider the 8800GTX. Sure, it costs more right now, but it will cost you more in 90 days if you can only step up to a GTX if Nvidia does not come out with a refresh. So, I would spend the extra now, up front for a GTX. my 2cents.

And I agree with Russian Sensation. The power supply looks "iffy". Stick with well known proven name brands when shopping Power supplies. Never skimp on a power supply.

Stick with:

Enermax
OCZ
SeaSonic
PCP&C (OCZ bought this company)
Thermaltake
SilverStone
Corsair
Fortron (FSP)

Do you have a link to the PSU you were thinking of buying?
I'll look for myself until you post one.

Keys

UPDATE: Oh, man. Just realized that your PSU will come with the case. NEVER let this happen. You are spending a LOT of money on PC components here, so DO NOT trust the PSU that comes with that case. But a case that doesn't have a PSU if you can and buy the PSU separate.

UPDATE 2: I found a review of this case and PSU. They didn't give the PSU any negative notes, but then again they weren't testing a system anywhere near what you are building. They used an ATI AIW 7500 for pete's sake. Anyway, here is the link. Take a look for yourself.

 

[SickBeast]

You seem to be overpaying for your components. Have you tried Filtech Computer in Toronto? They have the Q6600 for $299.

Also, have you checked out the cheaper P35 motherboards? There are 'lite' versions of the popular mainboards that sell for around $100, and all they're missing is SLI support and maybe a few features that most people don't need.

You're overpaying on the memory. You should be able to get 2gb of PC800 for $70 or so. You don't need high-end enthusiast memory; it's a waste IMO.

I would put the savings I've suggested into a 640mb 8800GTS instead of the 320, and as others have said, get a better PSU (you might want to get an 800w+ unit because you're going quad core with a powerful graphics card).

 

[cyrusm]

okay thanks everyone for all your inputs
keysplayr: yes thanks for the advice. i know exactly what youre talking about. evga's site for some reason charges some ridiculous msrp.fortunately their prices do go down over time. my hope is that IF theres no beter vid card by then, the price of the gtx will be a lot cheaper, so i'll have to pay a little bit to upgrade to the gtx. its just a hope, i know.

as for the psu:
http://www.driverheaven.net/re...RID-ATX%20Case/psu.php
thats what i used for the case. i fell in love instantly after i read this full review.

this is the monitor im thinking of getting:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/appl...pNo=2945470&CatId=1410
ive read nothign but good reviews for it.



sickbeast: okay i appreciate the price comparisons, because i tend to do that a LOT myself. however i did mention that those prices including shipping/tax/everything. meaning that $299 filtech q6600 would turn out to be 345+ for me since i live in toronto and would have to pay gst+pst.
i checked a lot of motherboards. my biggest options were the p5k deluxe, p5w dh, and the ds3r. of those 3, this was the cheapest, and it is still a very solid motherboard imo.
the ram has a mail in rebate which i submitted yesterday (For 30 canadian). so im getting 2gigs of very good ram for about 90 bucks. i couldnt be happier.

finally on the note of 640 vs 320, i didnt feel the difference in performance was enough to warrant the price difference.
i will be mainly gaming at 1680x1050, or 1 notch below that. i think at those levels both cards offer similar performance, especially for games out now.
my logic as i stated earlier, is that there arent that many games currently out right now need nearly that much power to play. my hope was to use the stepup and pay a cheaper price for the gtx later when i could fully utilize its power.


/edit/
o and keep in mind i dont like sli. i dont believe buying 2 500 dollar vid cards to get a 30-40% boost is worth it. this is why i didnt care that the ds3r doesnt have 2 x pcie ports.
my main goals for this pc are what i wrote before; run those games well.
i also want to overclock the q6600, and possibly the vid card as well, since i will have lotsa cooling.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: cyrusm

i checked a lot of motherboards. my biggest options were the p5k deluxe, p5w dh, and the ds3r. of those 3, this was the cheapest...

What SickBeast is saying is that you purchased P35C-DS3R which essentially is the same motherboard as P35-DS3R but has 2 additional slots for DDR3 memory. So we are assuming you wanted that because if you dont intend to purchase DDR3 in the future, you could have simply gotten the DS3R version.

Gigabyte also has DS3L version which has AC888 codec vs. 889A and no raid functions with a smaller northbridge heatsink and 4 SATA ports. So if you didn't need more SATA ports you could have saved even more from DS3R version. The total savings of going from P35C-DS3R to say DS3L would have allowed you to upgrade to 640mb version of 8800GTS which would have provided anywhere from 0 to 100%+ performance increase in high AA gaming scenarios. Alternatively you could have gotten a better power supply. The motherboard on the other hand often increases in price due to additional features and maybe potential for 550FSB+ while for Q6600 really 400-425FSB x 9 is sufficient on air cooling. Either way your motherboard is excellent but it is important to know why you are paying extra $ for.

 

[cyrusm]

wow i had no idea.
yes i did choose it for ddr3 forward compatibility. but had i known about ds3l, i would have given it major thought + 640mb. in any case my biggest concern is if the 320mb will hold me over, becuase i WILL stepup in 3months, no question.

but yea id need only 2 satas (rw and hd), and everything sounds the same to me in terms of audio.
in any case i am happy with the mobo. the price i got it for (174 without s/h and tax) was within my budget for a motherboard, so im not overly worried.
but thats a really good thing to ponder about. wish id posted some stuff before purchase.

o well, live n learn.

 

[RussianSensation]

Don't worry. My first build ever in 2001 I paid $270 before taxes CDN for an Asus mobo based on reviews. I didn't even bother reading forums at the time. Lesson learned. After that I dont spend above $150 on motherboards. Of course some people want wi-fi, 8 USB ports, 2 PCIe slots, etc. But if you want a barebones overclocking board, you can often find boards in the $100-130 almost as good.

 

[kmmatney]

I think the arctic freezer Pro is OK, but really is one the low end of the "High Performance" coolers. I have 2 of them at home, one AMD and one Intel, and they can barely keep up on their overclocked cpus. The fans are often running at their highest settings just to keep things cool. In a direct comparison with my Scythe mine cooler, the Scythe is much quiter and cooler. I bought my Arctic Freezer Pros for $12 USD (open box) and $20 USD shipped, so its great bang for buck, but if I was buying a quad core, I would get something a little better.