Hardware for my new PC

[Pluckie]

Good day,

After a long wait, I've decided to build a new PC for myself. Was just wondering what your opinions were on the hardware - I'm a bit out of the loop.

It's mainly going to be used for Gaming, but I like to go over the top with these sort of things.

My price range is very flexible, but I don't want it going over $4000.

Living in Australia, btw.

CPU - Intel Dual Core (Quad) Q9650 with E0 Stepping
PSU - Corsair Modular 1000w
GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 4870X2 * 2 (Xfire)
MoBo - DFI LanParty UT X48-T2RS
RAM - Corsair PC-8500 (1066MHz) 4GB Kit
HD - Western Digital Raptor 150GB / 750GB Samsung F1 Drive
Case - Coolermaster HAF932

What I'm most worried about is the MoBo. I was considering the Asus Maximus II as an alternative, but from what I've read it's not good with Crossfire.

Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: Should read the forum rules before I post.

 

[DSF]

Have you looked at any benchmarks using double 4870x2s? The scaling is very poor. (Which is true for any 3- or 4-card setups.) I understand that you like to go all out, but that's getting very little return for your dollar.

For the disk drive, why not a VelociRaptor instead of the old model?

 

[jeffw2767602]

You're wasting $550 if you go 4870x2x2

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

That setup looks horny

I too will be using a Q9650 but with an all copper H20 setup which i'm suggesting you to look into.

 

[Pluckie]

OK.

Seems like CrossFire with the 4870X2 is a waste (at the moment, anyway), so I'm just gonna get one for now. I'll see how it fares in the future.

I'm also going to take your advice DSF and upgrade to the VelociRaptor!

As for the motherboard, it seems there are some problems with the DFI boards and 4870X2. Would you guys recommend the Maximus II Formula or the Rampage Formula?

 

[jeffw2767602]

If I were you I would actually go for a gigabyte ep45-ud3p for $140 or so. It has been known to hit 525+fsb with quads and is a very good value board. I normally would not spend less than $150 on a mobo but this is the exception. If you wanted to do that you could get a q9550 for $200 less and overclock it somewhere near 4ghz if youre lucky. Otherwise I am partial to gigabyte boards and would go with one of their high end x48 boards. Any gigabyte x48 will be a great board. The ds4 and ds5's are their high range and the x48 dq6 is their top of the line mobo. However, any high end asus or gigabyte will be great for your rig.

 

[jeffw2767602]

BTW gigabyte boards have by far the worst color scheme ever lol

 

[Denithor]

If you're planning to overclock the cpu go for the Q9550 instead as mentioned above.

Go for a solid P45 motherboard (Asus P5Q Pro/Deluxe or that Gigabyte EP45-UD3P) instead of spending the money for an X48. Note that even if you do crossfire the x2 card later the P45 boards have 2 x8 PCIe 2.0 slots which are equal in bandwidth to the older x16 PCIe 1.0 slots so you won't be limited there.

Spend some extra bucks on your OS storage drive -- get the Intel X25M instead of a Velociraptor. In many apps the increase will be very noticeable. And go for the 1TB Caviar Black drive instead of the F1.

Since you won't be using two 4870x2 cards there's no need for a 1KW PSU (earlier pages in that review show why you shouldn't go with two X2s). Get the Corsair 620HX (also modular) and you'll be set.

 

[jeffw2767602]

If I were you I would go for a PSU with 1 12v rail instead of that corsair w/ 3. It would probably be fine, but I just decided to mention that because I have had stability problems with anything other than my trusty pc power and cooling silencer 750. I had an antec trio 650 w/ 3 12v rails like the corsair and lost my max overclock. Not to mention that x2 will suck huge amounts of power.