New Gaming PC Build - please critique!

[chameleon23]

Hey everyone, I'm building a new PC for gaming purposes. Please offer any comments or suggestions on my choices. Also if there are any obvious compatibility issues please let me know. Thank you!

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9450 - Retail

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF

EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T

SAMSUNG 2220WM-HAS Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with Height adjustment

Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard

Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse

XTRAC Ripper Optical Mouse pad

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: chameleon23
New Expensive Gaming PC Build - please critique!

Hey everyone, I'm building a new PC for gaming purposes. Please offer any comments or suggestions on my choices.


Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9450 - Retail

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF

EVGA 01G-P3-1280-AR GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive

"Expensive"... True, but...
* Why that CPU... trying to hit 4.26GHz?
Aftermarket or stock cooling?
* Why the PC2-8500... trying to hit 4.26?
* Why the expensive nVidia over a fresh ATI 4870?
* "Expensive" gaming build and an old school Rator instead of the VelociRaptor?
* Talk to DSF about your PS.

 

[chameleon23]

I've not big on overclocking, so I'm getting the best CPU for the money

Not overclocking memory either, should I downgrade to PC2 6400?

How does the GTX280 compare to the 4870? I've always been an nVidia fan.

Going with the raptor over the velociraptor because i didn't think i needed 300GB for my main drive since i have a large secondary drive.

 

[DSF]

How long are you planning to keep this system? If it's two years or less I'd go with an E8400 over the quad core. As the gaming industry currently stands, you're going to be leaving 2-3 of your cores idle most of the time. That trend will change in the future, but not so soon that I would consider the expense of the quad core worth it if you're on a relatively short upgrade cycle.

If I'm not mistaken, the 640Gb Caviar is going to be pretty close to the Raptor in speed. If you want your system drive to be faster than that you'll need to look at the VelociRaptor.

I'm not a PSU guru, I just play one on TV. With a single video card you could easily go smaller on the PSU. Even a 600W PSU is going to have plenty of power. Speaking of single video card setups, go with a P45 board. X48 doesn't offer anything to someone who is running a single-GPU computer at stock speeds.

If you're not overclocking, step the RAM down to DDR2-800.

 

[chameleon23]

I believe a 650W PSU should be enough, can anyone else comment?

I switched to the P45 board, you're right.

Also don't the Raptor 150 and VelociRaptor 300 run at the same speeds, just different drive capacity?

Other than price is there any reason downgrading to the DDR2-800 memory?

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: chameleon23
I believe a 650W PSU should be enough, can anyone else comment?

I switched to the P45 board, you're right.

Also don't the Raptor 150 and VelociRaptor 300 run at the same speeds, just different drive capacity?

Other than price is there any reason downgrading to the DDR2-800 memory?

The run at the same spindle speed (10,000 RPM) but there are other improvements which make the VelociRaptor a speedier drive, as well as quieter and more energy efficient. The other Raptors are based on old technology.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: chameleon23
New Expensive Gaming PC Build - please critique!

Hey everyone, I'm building a new PC for gaming purposes. Please offer any comments or suggestions on my choices.

I see "Expensive" was edited out. What's the story?

 

[chameleon23]

lol, I felt it gave the wrong impression

 

[cusideabelincoln]

I agree with DSF. If you plan to upgrade again within 2 years time, and you don't plan on overclocking the Q9450 much, then you will get better performance out of the Core 2 Duo E8500, since it runs at a significantly faster operating frequency than the Q9450 and is based on the same exact architecture.

Also what P45 motherboard do you plan on getting? I still see you have the X48 Asus Rampage listed even though you said you were switching to a P45 board.

Other than price is there any reason downgrading to the DDR2-800 memory?

Price is pretty much the only reason to grab DDR2 800 over DDR2 1066, since performance is about the same.

In actuality a high quality 550W power supply, like this Corsair unit, would work just fine as long as it has 6- and 8-pin PCIE connectors and provides at least 32A on the 12V rails; but the one you picked out is perfectly fine and will allow you to handle any kind of upgrades (like more hard drives or a more powerful video card) in the future. You usually won't see sub-550W power supplies come with two PCIE connectors anyway.