Tell me what is wrong with these parts!

[ricleo2]

After very little research I have chosen these components for a gaming upgrade.
Questions: Would I be wasting money on SLI with a monitor with a highest resolution of 1920X1200?
What is your thoughts on SLI with the 8800GTX?
Would Bioshock and Crysis play really well on the system I have now?
Any critical or friendly opinions are welcome. Thank you.

1. DFI LP UT NF680I LT SLI-T2 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
2. OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Micron D7 Chip Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory (two of these for a total of 4 GB)
3. Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Kentsfield 3.0GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor.
4. EVGA 768-P2-N835-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card (two of these).

Old stuff that I will keep:
1. Cooler Master Case
2. 3 Rapters
3. 24? dell wide screen. 1920X1200-highest resolution.
4. Plexter dual layer dvd drive.
5. Dvico HD external tv tuner.
6. XP home.

 

[Ika]

If Bioshock or Crysis didn't play really well on your system, we would all be doomed...

A few things. You could save quite a bit of money by going with parts such as a Q6600 and simply overclocking it to higher speeds. One could say the same could be done with an 8800GTS as well, but I don't know as much about graphics card OC performance boosts.

 

[xitshsif]

You're either burning money or building a rig that'll last 5 years.

 

[Rumple]

Your current system should play both of those games pretty good although obviously you will have to play in DX9. SLI is a waste of money IMO unless you have a TON of it to throw around. Id forget about SLI and save the money for when the new cards come out. Id also go for a P35 chipset. And from everything i have been reading the QX6850 is not that big of an improvement gamewise over a Q6600. At least in a price to performance ratio. Go check out the new CPU charts on Tomshardware.com

 

[ricleo2]

Anybody else? Thanks.

 

[LightningRider]

Don't get the QX6800, quite a waste for it's price. Get a cheaper quad core. I also don't think you need SLI for those games at that resolution. A single GTX or even GTS 640MB should do fine. That way you can upgrade to the 9800GTX when it comes out. That being said, you don't need the 680i motherboard, get a P35 board instead, or wait for X38 coming in mid-late September. Are you OC'ing? If not you don't need memory that fast. Instead get some good DDR2 800mhz memory and get 4GB of it. That will help you way more in games than having slightly faster memory where you won't even notice a framerate increase unless you OC heavily.

 

[engiNURD]

I think, for a 24" monitor, SLI is a good option. Though, I'd go with the eVGA 680i SLI A1 revision board instead of the DFI. DFI boards are more picky with parts it'll play nice with. The eVGA A1 is the best SLI board out right now.

I'd keep the 7800GTX SLI cards until the new cards come out. A single Ultra would be on par with 2 GTS cards in SLI, and would be more cost effective at that resolution. So, when the new cards come out, I'd suggest either two of the GTX flavor in SLI, or a single Ultra (if one is available).

I also agree that the QX6800 is a waste of money. The Q6600 could easily reach its speed, and costs much, MUCH less. They both have nearly the same OC potential.

 

[MarcVenice]

Confirmed, a q6600 with a artic freezer 7 pro will do 3ghz without ANY voltage increasements, all you do is up the FSB from 266 to 333. Done, you've got yourself a qx6800 for a qaurter of the price. I'd also go with a single card, although engiNURD option doesn't sound bad either, like that you can keep your current cards and go 9800gtx in a few months. Lightninrider is on the money about the ram.

 

[ricleo2]

Excellent advice, as usual from Anandtech readers! Thank you.