Help with new build

[chisness]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

multitasking and online poker

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

hopefully no more than $2000

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

None

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Sound card -- HD CLARO

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Read the sticky and took many suggestions

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Default

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

ASAP


I have 6 monitors so will need 3 video cards. I figure I might as well do an SLI/CrossFire in case I ever want to play games. I chose CrossFire based on the sticky guide. I'm not sure which motherboard will be best for this setup. I also am not sure about power supply.

Here's what I've got so far:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W ($330)
Case: LIAN LI PC-A10B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower ($240) -- not sure if this is necessary, can it be downgraded? Any suggestions?
Heatsink/Fan: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm (seemed to be lots of complaints about the Xigmatek installation) ($32)
Memory: (2 for 8GB total) mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 ($64x2=$128)
HD: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s ($289)
DVD: SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe ($31)
Video Card: (3) ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 ($158x3=$474)
Audio: (already have) HD CLARO
OS: Vista Home Premium ($110)
Power Supply: Not sure, don't understand what the columns on http://game.amd.com/us-en/cros...ex_components.aspx?p=3 mean so am having trouble selecting one. Will I need multiple PSUs?
Motherboard: Any suggestions for one that will run CrossFire with all 3 cards and support all the other things? Wasn't sure if the ones in the guide can do this.

Total Cost: $1634 + PSU + Mobo

Appreciate any suggestions, thanks

 

[DSF]

CPU: What kind of multitasking are you doing? If it's having several poker windows open while you're running a chat program and playing music, quad core isn't going to do anything for you. My guess is you'd be better served by a basic model dual core than a quad.

Case: Yes, the case can be downgraded. There are pretty good cases for $50, although I'm not sure they're meant to house three video cards. You should be able to find what you're looking for for under $150 though.

Heatsink: If you're referring to the complatins about the push-pins on the Xigmatek, that's the standard Intel mounting system. Most major heatsinks are mounted that way, including the Freezer 7 Pro. There are bolt-thru kits available from a few vendors that let you replace the pins with spring-loaded screws, and there are some heatsinks like the BTF-90 that come standard with screws. Since you're not planning to overclock though, you may as well just use the stock heatsink.

Memory: What do you normally have running? I can't imagine that 4GB would be too little memory.

Video: With SLi you can only run one monitor at a time. Crossfire used to be that way, and it may still be so, I'm not sure. Are you doing any gaming with this setup? If not (and really, even if you are) three gaming-level cards is a waste of power and heat just to drive six 2d displays. If you want to play games, get one good gaming card like the HD4850 and two lower-power cards like an 8400GS or HD3450.

PSU: You don't need multiple PSUs. Something around 650W should have plenty of power if you take my suggestion to downgrade two of the video cards.

 

[chisness]

Hmm, my current setup is a 2.8 GHz Pentium D with 4 GB RAM (Windows XP, so only uses 3 or whatever) and dual FireMV 256 MB (4 monitor 2D card) and Radeon HD 3850 (other 2 monitors). This seems like basically exactly what you think is sufficient for my needs.

I've been experiencing lag while multitasking, however I haven't reformatted or defragged in a long time so maybe the system is bogged down?

If I reformat is defragging also necessary? I guess it'd make sense to reformat and if I still experience lag then build this system.

Thanks for the comments

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: chisness
Hmm, my current setup is a 2.8 GHz Pentium D with 4 GB RAM (Windows XP, so only uses 3 or whatever) and dual FireMV 256 MB (4 monitor 2D card) and Radeon HD 3850 (other 2 monitors). This seems like basically exactly what you think is sufficient for my needs.

I've been experiencing lag while multitasking, however I haven't reformatted or defragged in a long time so maybe the system is bogged down?

If I reformat is defragging also necessary? I guess it'd make sense to reformat and if I still experience lag then build this system.

Thanks for the comments

What's your CPU usage like during slowdowns? A Pentium D is slower than even a low-end Core2Duo.

 

[chisness]

Oh I thought a Pentium D was a Dual Core. It hits almost 100% a lot.

 

[chisness]

I'm thinking I might as well just get the new system cause the processor and HD are important upgrades that my current comp is lacking

 

[Denithor]

Pentium D is a dual-core but it's not the same architecture as the newer Core 2 Duo chips. The slowest C2D at launch (e6300 dual 1.86GHz 2MB cache) was about equivalent to the fastest Pentium D Extreme Edition (P-D 965EE dual 3.73GHz 4MB cache). After which they simply quit benchmarking the older Pentium series because they were crap.

ASUS P5Q Pro $150 [includes firewire port + many USB ports/jumpers & S/PDIF out]
e8400 (3GHz, 6MB cache) $175
WD 640GB HDD $90
Antec Sonata III $100 (excellent Earthwatts 500W PS included)

Reuse your current video cards & RAM (DDR2 right?) and throw in a PCI video card (like this for $30AR). Try that out and see how it works. If you actually need more video power pick up a 3870 or 4850 to replace the FireMV you have now.

EDIT:
The only board I could find (under $300) that offers three PCIe x16 slots is this one: EVGA 780i for $240AR.

 

[Juked07]

Not experienced enough to comment on the build...

Chisness, 6 monitors?? Do you 24 table? Also, I had tons of issues with PT3 when running Vista if it matters to you.

 

[DSF]

How fast is the RAM you have now? It needs to be able to run at least DDR2-667 to keep up with the E8400.

 

[chisness]

BTW, large databases are used to compile poker stats so I thought that a fast hard drive/processor/lots of memory might be useful for this.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: chisness
BTW, large databases are used to compile poker stats so I thought that a fast hard drive/processor/lots of memory might be useful for this.

Again, it would be great to know more specifics about the program. For example, a quad core isn't going to help you if the program only runs one thread.