New Core 2 Quad Q9300 System

[Ibn Saeed]

Hello


I have come up with the following specs for a new computer.

Can anyone please help me sort it out.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
<A. I need it mainly for Multi Tasking such as Web Designing, Programming (using IDE's) etc. Occasional Gaming. I dont watch Movies or listen to music, so dont care about those two.


2. What is YOUR budget.
<<A. My budget for the CPU is $1350.00


3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
<<A. United Arab Emirates


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.
<<A.
CPU: Intel (presently using AMD)
Graphics: nVidia (eVGA)
Harddisk: Any
Motherboard : Any



5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
<<A. Yes.
I would be using my DVD RW (Plextor) and my Creative Sound System.


6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
<<A. No.


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


8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
<<A. As soon as possible


This is a setup i have come up with.
=-=------------
CASE: CoolerMaster Cosmos S Gaming Full Tower 420W Case w/ Transparent Side Panel

CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core? 2 Quad Q9300 @ 2.5GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit

MOTHERBOARD: (QX9650 Support) Asus P5N-D nForce 750i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard

MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express

HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

POWER SUPPLY: 650 Watts Power Supplies(Corsair CMPSU-650TX - Quad SLI Ready)

COOLING FAN: CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling System (Superior Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)

 

[DSF]

Are you having this built for you? That looks like the kind of write-up you get from a place like CyberPowerPC.

1. That case is monstrous, just so you know.
2. Does your programming take advantage of multiple cores?
3. Don't pay the premium for an SLI motherboard. It's not very useful for you.
4. I would go with 4GB (2x2GB) of RAM since it's so cheap right now.
5. Your PSU is considerably beefier than you need.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

Yes its from CyberPowerPC. I forgot to mention it.

I running multiple programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Zend Studio etc.

Alright, so I need to cut down on the Motherboard. Which should I buy ?

I am using Windows XP SP2, would it support 4 Gb ram ?

Which PSu should i opt for ?

 

[Ibn Saeed]

which Processor should I go for.

Q9300 or Q9450

I checked my local computer stores(United Arab Emirates) and here are the prices I am getting:

Quad Core Q9300 = $283.00

Dual Core E8500 = $296.00

Casing (ThermalTake Armor) = $231.00

Graphics : nVidia 9600 GT 512 MB = $183.00

Graphics : nVidia 9600 GT 1 Gb = $299.00

Graphics : nVidia 9800 GX2 1 Gb = $762.00

Memory : 1 GB Crosair = $27.00

Ill have to order other things online

 

[DSF]

So are you ordering this prebuilt, or are you building it yourself? I'm a little bit confused.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

Sorry for the confusion

I will be building/assembling it myself

 

[chinaman1472]

Get the Q9300 at the price.
Get the 9600GT 512MB.
Get 4GB of memory.
Don't get an 750i SLi chipset motherboard, get a P35 chipset instead (Gigabyte P35-DS3L, Abit IP35-E). Don't pay for things you won't use.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

I have settled for Quad Core.

Is Q9450 worth the price instead of Q9300 ?

Also, which graphics card would be better 9600 GT 512 MB or 8800 GT 512 MB ?

Can you list a specific Motherboard brand and model number ?

Which Heat sink should I buy ?

I am thinking of getting 20" / 22" LCD monitor/.


Is this hard drive fine
Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

I do need a backup drive as well.

 

[chinaman1472]

Q9450 can be worth the price if the difference isn't that much and you can utilize multi-threaded apps more.
8800GT is a bit better than the 9600GT, but if you're just going to be casually gaming, a 9600GT should be enough.
Gigabyte P35-DS3L or Abit IP35-E. It doesn't get more specific than that.
If you're not overclocking, you don't need a heatsink. If you are, from worst to best: Arctic Freezer 7 Pro, Xigmatek HDT-S1283, Tuniq Tower.
Get the Western Digital 640GB or the Samsung Spinpoint F1 750GB. They're the best and fastest hard drives for the price.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

chinaman1472
Thanks for the details.

i will certainly look into those parts. I think if the price difference it not much, I will definitely go with Q9450 as I do need to overclock. Also, the same goes for 8800 GT 512 mb.

Regarding the Heatsink, How about this one "ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU Cooler"
http://hardwarelogic.com/news/...1406/1/2007-10-29.html


Thanks for the harddrive suggestion. Will definitely look into those as well.
Would 7200 RPM be enough for long term or 10,000 RPM

 

[Roguestar]

7200RPM is fine for a hard drive. Just get the WD 640 or the Samsung 750 that were mentioned. A 10000RPM hard drive is usually very noisy too.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

Thanks Roguestar.
Alright, this settles the HardDrive.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

I could not find Abit IP35-E on newegg.

I did find this one though, it is the same
ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813127030

 

[Ibn Saeed]

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM
does have some negative reviews

One customer said "Cons: This drive will not work and corrupt data on an Nvidia chipset."

 

[Roguestar]

Get this motherboard instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128337

One customer out of how many reviews? There are no actual compatibility issues between Samsung Hard drives and Nvidia chipsets, and besides the motherboards you're looking at are intel chipsets. The Samsung Spinpoint F1 750GB is one of the best hard drives out there at the moment.

 

[Ibn Saeed]

I would be needing 2 Hard drives, one for applications etc. And second one for backup

So if i go with Samsung Spinpoint F1 750GB as primary hard drive, which should i take as a backup

 

[Ibn Saeed]

Would be good to buy a SLI motherboard in the long run since I wont be buying any new sytem for a nother 5 years or so

 

[Roguestar]

No. You're better just buying a single better new graphics card, say two years from now, than adding a mediocre matching one.

Why not take another samsung 750?

 

[Ibn Saeed]

i am a bit hesitant on buying a Samsung Hard Drive. I dont know if its a any good in the hard drive area. This is the first time i have heard that Samsung makes Hard Drives.

 

[chinaman1472]

Samsung's been making hard drives for a while.
If you're uneasy, then get the Western Digital 640GB. A little less space, but on par performance wise with the F1.