How are these parts?

[Markbnj]

Time for an upgrade for me. Anyone want to weigh in on my parts choices?

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80580Q8300
$189.99

MSI P45 Neo3-FR LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
$109.99

Rosewill RP550V2-D-SL 550W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
$64.99

Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC24G8500ELKR2
$63.99

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
$189.99

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I also considered the C2D E8300 @ 3.16 Ghz, same price as the quad. Any comments on that choice welcome as well.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'd just get Crucial DDR2 800 for $47, and if you don't need firewire or RAID you can get Gigabyte's P43 chipset motherboard for $90 -- it's been flawless in my gaming PC paired with an E8400 and 4870-512 since last July.

For gaming an E8500 is a better choice now, GTA IV and Supreme Commander are about the only games that benefit from a quad over the much faster per core dual. That might change in a couple of years, so if you wait 4 years between upgrades you might do better with a quad.

For Visual Studio 2005/2008 I don't know -- we still use VS 6 at work for our legacy codebase and it ran pretty well on my 550 MHz Pentium 3

If you can find another Hot Deal on the ATI 4890 at $220 it might be worth the extra $30: it runs faster yet 20c cooler and using 20 watts less power. See the AnandTech 4890 vs nvidia 275 review, the 4890 is the better card [ than the 275 ] for 16x10 and 19x12 displays.

 

[Markbnj]

Cool, thanks a lot for the recommendations Dave. I think that's good advice about the faster dually. Part of me wants the four cores, because I do a lot on my desktop, VS 2008 which you mentioned, usually with SQL Server Management Studio 2008 open, Skype (2-3 chat windows and/or voice), and at least 3-4 browser windows and perhaps Photoshop. The idea of having four cores pumping threads is kinda sexy in that environment. For gaming it's a no brainer: two faster cores. Thing is my gaming has been waning lately, so I'll have to give this a good think through.

So you don't think the DDR2 1066 is worth $17 more? I haven't been keeping up. I never expect a big benefit from faster ram, anyway, so you're probably right on that count alone.

I've been an MSI fan for the last couple of years, but I've had good experiences with Giga too. I'll take a look at that board, and at the video card... yeah that might be worth $30.

 

[DaveSimmons]

DDR2: I know the 1333 MHz FSB chips actually run the DDR at 667 so even 800 is faster than it needs to be. Most people seem to buy the 1066 to try crazy overclocks, but I'd rather have the peace of mind from running at stock speed. The regular Crucial (not the Ballistix) uses lower voltage and conservative timings for more stability than the extreme RAM.

 

[Markbnj]

K, thanks for that. I actually grabbed the 1066 only because the motherboard specs called it out.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Ah, the motherboard is listing the -fastest- RAM speed it supports, not what it will run at with a given CPU.

If you do give in to quad hunger, it might make sense to go all the way, spend an extra couple of hundred, and get an i7 setup with 6G of triple channel DDR3 -- the prices on some motherboards have dropped $100 and DDR3 is half what it was last Summer.

Stealing WaitingForNehalem's recommendations from a gaming thread:
MSI X58 PRO $170AR
CORE I7 920 $267 AR
6GB CORSAIR DDR3 1333 $67AR

 

[Markbnj]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
If you do give in to quad hunger, it might make sense to go all the way, spend an extra couple of hundred, and get an i7 setup with 6G of triple channel DDR3 -- the prices on some motherboards have dropped $100 and DDR3 is half what it was last Summer.

Yeah, I'm staring at the numbers in your sig. I'm definitely tempted, but as this project approaches $1k in costs the approval probability feedback from the spousal unit drops off a cliff.