Need the expert(you) stamp of approval on this machine before purchase. Thank you.

[CHayes]

Thanks for the help.

I've been around for some time without an account, and appreciate all the wonderful knowledge and sound advice that is available here. The community here is an immense resource, and now finally having saved up enough money for a new computer, I'd appreciate the same eyes looking over my setup and making sure what I'm ordering makes sense.

Purpose: A high end computer for gaming and media.

Components:

Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920

Motherboard: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Video Card: EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI

Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives -

Monitor: HP LP2475w Black-Silver 24" 6 ms (GTG); 12ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Drive: LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20L - Retail

Case: Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Power Supply: Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified ... - Retail

Cooling: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler -
Retail

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM (99$)

Total price: 2,050.89

Any advice, recommended changes, suggestions/opinions are welcomes. And again, thank you very much.

 

[CHayes]

A couple more questions:

1) Is it worth waiting for the next round of video cards to come to, considering there hasn't been a new generation in nearly 12 months?

2) Is the monitor going to do a poor job at gaming?

 

[in64tel]

It's always worth waiting, one way or another. Your selection looks very good so far...

If you don't need it now, then don't get it. If you have disposable funds however... go for it.

The monitor you've chosen has had very favorable reviews so stick with that if you can afford it. Though you could save quite a few $$$ if you don't need superior color accuracy and viewing angles, 99% of people wouldn't notice it anyway
(unless you put them side to side of course)

You don't need a 1000 watt power supply though. Srsly. 520W will be more than enough, if you wanna play it safe though go up to 750 for future expansion but there is no way in hell you're going to need anywhere near that. Highly acclaimed options are multifarious, take the Corsair line, 850 watt for example. Unless you really wanna feel like a cool kat. Then go for it

Also, shave of $99 and go with the Windows 7 RC, it's stable enough for daily use. Then just buy the retail later this year.

Good luck!

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: CHayes
I've been around for some time without an account, and appreciate all the wonderful knowledge and sound advice that is available here. The community here is an immense resource, and now finally having saved up enough money for a new computer, I'd appreciate the same eyes looking over my setup and making sure what I'm ordering makes sense.

Video Card: EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI

Monitor: HP LP2475w Black-Silver 24" 6 ms (GTG); 12ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Power Supply: Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified ... - Retail

Any advice, recommended changes, suggestions/opinions are welcomes.

Is it worth waiting for the next round of video cards to come to, considering there hasn't been a new generation in nearly 12 months?

* The Asus MB doesn't have onboard video, so waiting for a video card doesn't make and sense, because you need some type of video output.
* The 1kW PS is way overkill and doesn't make sense for this configuration.
* The monitor will look very good with its 178° x 178° viewing angles.

 

[Sammual69]

Originally posted by: CHayes
A couple more questions:

1) Is it worth waiting for the next round of video cards to come to, considering there hasn't been a new generation in nearly 12 months?

2) Is the monitor going to do a poor job at gaming?

1) If you can wait it is a good idea. At the end of the month most places will be giving a free upgrade to Win7. There should be a video card generation around October.

2) Nope, it should kick ass but unless you are a graphics designer I think it is a bit of overkill.

I think the power supply is a bit much and I'm a big fan of starting off with a midline CPU and GPU and using the money I saved by doing that to upgrade them in a year.

Sammual

 

[mmntech]

Definitely a 1kw PSU is way too much. Go for so called "green" 80Plus power supplies instead around 650w to 700w. That should be more than enough. This CoolerMaster one looks pretty good, with 87% efficiency and 76A 12v+ output shared across four rails.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817171032

 

[supertle55]

You should be able to save 25% off if you buy everything "on sale". You can buy the same equipment type but by different manufacturers. There's no reason to stick to just for example G.Skill when OCZ/Corsair/etc is having a sale on RAM. Depending on your OC'ing plan, you may not need to go with a "Deluxe" version of the Asus P6T.

The Dark Knight is a very good heatsink. I like it a lot more then my noctua which cost twice as much. Definitely get a lesser PSU. Use the saved money and buy a brand new PSU if you do need a more powerful PSU later on.

 

[CHayes]

Thank you all for the wonderful help. Ok, the new edits:

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ... - Retail

Video Card: EVGA 02G-P3-1187-AR GeForce GTX 285 FTW Edition 2GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

---- Can you really look at this card, and its counterparts that its a good bang/buck buy?

Monitor: UltraSharp? 2209WA 22-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor from Dell

 

[in64tel]

The 2209 is an excellent choice... people have been raving about it cuz its E-IPS and it's reasonably priced for such a quality panel.

For the graphics processor, you don't wanna get the 2GB version. There is no difference at all, maybe a few % when on a 30" 2560 res.

I use the EVGA GTX 285 myself, on a Dell 2408. So far I've been able to max everything out, except Crysis .

I've heard the 280's have very similar performance so if you wanna check those out they'll probably be cheaper.

Get a 1GB version and you'll be able to max out any game on that Dell 2209.

Power supply is good.

 

[Sammual69]

Originally posted by: CHayes
Video Card: EVGA 02G-P3-1187-AR GeForce GTX 285 FTW Edition 2GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

---- Can you really look at this card, and its counterparts that its a good bang/buck buy?

Hell no. That card is overkill in a major way. Gamers do not need 2GB video cards. Game artists need them.

Other then Crysis you would not notice the difference between a GTX 285 and a GTX 280 and the difference between them and the GTX 260 is small.

GTX 285 at least $315
GTX 280 at least $260
GTX 260 at least $165

Sammual