What do you think of these parts for Quadcore rig?

[KingstonU]

*UPDATE*

Just clicked the "Complete Order" button *whew*

I made a few changes from your recommendations:

Finally went with the Q9550. Took the plunge and went for the 4870 ($291). I got 2x2Gb G.Skill PC2-8000 5-5-5-15 (for the same price as the 2x1Gb Crucials). Got the Freezer 7 Pro for $20 instead of the Ultra Extreme (If I need better for when I try to push further than 3.2 Ghz I'll upgrade then and I'll only be out $20). I also got the newer Enermax Modu82+ 525W instead of the Corsair 520HX.

Grand total including tax and S&H is $1,351.52 CA *Whew*


Will let you all know how it goes when it arrives. Thanks a lot for all your input :beer::beer::beer:



<---------------------->

OP

Since it is complete build I put in CPU forum.

This will be my first build in 4 years! Will be used for gaming (Mass Effect, Gears of War, Crysis...) and engineering programs. Will try a light to moderate overclock of ~3.2Ghz (more later if possible) and perhaps crossfire later.

The cheapest I've found so far (in $CA) if from directcanada.com:


$358.80 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
$187.20 - Diamond HD4850 512MB GDDR3
$138.88 - ASUS P5Q Pro
$108.15 - Corsair HX520W CMPSU-520HX * $15.00 MIR
$96.60 - Crucial Ballistix 2X1GB PC2-8500 DDR2-1066
CL5-5-5-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
$48.42 - Thermalright ULTRA-120 Extreme *Fan Not Included*
$54.15 - Antec Three Hundred Case
$198.98 - Acer X223WBD 22" Widescreen LCD 1680X1050 2500:1 5MS VGA DVI HDCP

(Don't need Hard Drive)

S & H $0.00
Insurance $17.87
Sub Total $1,191.18
GST(5%) $60.45
No PST - Outside BC residents $0.00

Total $1,269.50 CA


What do you think of these parts? Would you change any of them? Will they work well together? (No compatibility issues?). Will the Ultra-120 fit in the Antec 300? Is this LCD good? Is this ram good?


All opinions appreciated, Thanks a lot :beer::beer::beer:

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Some people will tell you to chuck the Crucials and go for either Corsair or G.SKILL.

The Crucials were the rage last year and before because of their "D9" parts. I can personally say they are "very over-clockable," but the company probably overstated the highest recommended or "warranty" voltage limit on various models.

They do pretty well at voltages that are 0.075V lower than the warranty spec. You can also tighten up the latencies fairly well, but don't run them (or any) modules at a 1T command rate unless you're curious about how many months they'll last before they blink out on you.

Now that I see the link at Newegg on these, they've actually reduced the warranty limit by 0.1V. I have a set of Tracers that I run at 2.125V. Just be mindful of these factors.

As I recall, the P5Q -- certain incarnations of it -- are pretty good. The Pro board has 8-phase voltage regulation, which is also good, although they actually have the Deluxe touted to deploy 16-phase. More than a year ago, I thought others -- and I myself -- thought 8-phase power design to be the cats-meow.

The board seems to be fairly popular for the frequency-count of customer reviews and the cumulative average 4-star rating.

Check for benchtest reviews on the web. Try and find some comparison reviews that stack it against other boards. Look at the ASUS forums to see how people cope with it or what problems they may have. And do this with an eye toward how BIOS revisions fix various bugs, or especially which BIOS revisions are optimized for the C2Q Q9550. If the board ships to you with a BIOS version that shows up at the ASUS web-site with a posting date between fall, 2007 and March 08, and if there has been revision since then, I would urge you to flash the latest BIOS to the board before you undertake any over-clocking project, or assess processor temperatures as you begin to over-clock it.

For the price, it seems like a good bet. I think I know several people who had the P5Q in their sights for an upgrade or rebuild.

 

[OCGuy]

You can get that same overclock with a Q9450. Last I checked microcenter was selling them for $279. DONT PAY FOR A Q9550 IF YOU ARE GOING FOR 3.2...THEY ARE THE SAME @ THAT SPEED! /caps. Use the money you save for a 4870/260/280/GX2

 

[palladium]

I would try and get a PSU with 8-pin PCIe power connectors, if I were you, just in case you need to upgrade your graphics card later.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

-drop the CPU a notch lower
-DROP THE CRUCIAL RAM RIGHT NOW. i recommend GSkill.
-there are better CPU coolers out there than the TRUE, check out xigmatek

 

[KingstonU]

I was thinking of the Q9550 because it is less than $50 more than the Q9450 and I wa contemplating trying to go for higher than 3.2 OC, maybe 3.4-3.6 and the Q9550 has an 8.5 multiplier versus 8.0 so I figured it would be better.

I'll look around or G.Skill. How about Mushkin are they good too? There's so much OCZ ram at every retailer, how are they?

The Corsair 520HX doesn't have an 8-pin PCIe power connector? It has 6+2, isn't that the same? Corsair site specifications near bottom of page

8-pin would be needed for a 4870 and future cards right? Can you recommend a ~550W modular 80+ PSU with this 8-pin then? Does the 620HX have it? The Enermax Modu82+ also has 6+2 but the 520HX is available at more stores.

Is there an updated chat on cooler performance charts/reviews like this one: AT air cooling review

Will the Antec 300 case fit large tower coolers?

Any one have experience with this vendor? directcanada.com?

Thanks a lot

 

[geokilla]

This should've been in General Hardware.

Your components look fine except for the following.

$100 for 2GB RAM is not worth it. Get at least 4GB RAM for like $60. NCIX had a special this week for OCZ 4GB RAM for like $50 AR. It's DDR800, but it can easily be overclocked to DDR900+.

The Corsair HX520 should come with 8pin (6+2). That's what my OCZ StealthXStream 500W came with.

Get the OCZ Vendetta 2 from Direct Canada. Way better than the Thermalright in terms of bang for buck.

Direct Canada's parent company is NCIX, which is very good. If you don't want to buy from DirectCanada, just buy from NCIX and get them to price match whoever they want (includes Direct Canada and sister companies)

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: geokilla

$100 for 2GB RAM is not worth it. Get at least 4GB RAM for like $60. NCIX had a special this week for OCZ 4GB RAM for like $50 AR. It's DDR800, but it can easily be overclocked to DDR900+.

Agreed! For a modern gaming rig, 4 Gig is what you want over DDR2 1066 and 2 Gigs.

The Corsair HX520 should come with 8pin (6+2). That's what my OCZ StealthXStream 500W came with.

It actually comes with 2x (6+2) pins. So you can drive an HD 4870 X2 with one of those. But unless you want modular, you can get better value in Corsair's 650 watt model for example or VX550 for less $.

Get the OCZ Vendetta 2 from Direct Canada. Way better than the Thermalright in terms of bang for buck.

Most definately. Or anything like Xigmatek 1283, Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer.

----

- My personal recommendation would be to ditch the quad and get an E5200 which goes like hell or even E7300, etc. If you want a quad, in my mind the $190 Q6600 is better value.
- Go for Visiontek ATI card for lifetime warranty or Palit/Sapphire for better cooling.
- For gaming, you might want to step up to 4870 and get a dual core instead

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
-drop the CPU a notch lower
-DROP THE CRUCIAL RAM RIGHT NOW. i recommend GSkill.
-there are better CPU coolers out there than the TRUE, check out xigmatek

See? I knew he'd say that! Crucial is on everyone's shit-list right now.

Go for the G.SKILLs or the Corsair XMS2 - DHX modules.

Again, though, if you look at newer-issue Crucials, they changed the voltage spec by -0.1V.

It was just more than a year or two ago that Anandtech wrote their comparison review on the Ballistix -667, -800 -- and I think, the -1000's. They gave them a rave at that time.

I know I blew a set of Ballistix; AigoMorla burned some; another buddy here went through them like a Gorilla on a food binge with bananas.

I think they were overwhelmed with the RMA business -- an expensive business cost. I suspect they were separating good from bad modules in returned kits, taking the good ones, re-pairing them and using those as RMA replacements.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
You can get that same overclock with a Q9450. Last I checked microcenter was selling them for $279. DONT PAY FOR A Q9550 IF YOU ARE GOING FOR 3.2...THEY ARE THE SAME @ THAT SPEED! /caps. Use the money you save for a 4870/260/280/GX2

True if he's only going after 3.2


This Rev. tho is available on the 9550 and not 9450.

http://i125.photobucket.com/al...gomorla/460x853910.jpg

Crucial fixed that problem by fixing there sinks on the 2gb sticks.

I absolutely love my red tracers.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
You can get that same overclock with a Q9450. Last I checked microcenter was selling them for $279. DONT PAY FOR A Q9550 IF YOU ARE GOING FOR 3.2...THEY ARE THE SAME @ THAT SPEED! /caps. Use the money you save for a 4870/260/280/GX2

True if he's only going after 3.2


This Rev. tho is available on the 9550 and not 9450.

http://i125.photobucket.com/al...gomorla/460x853910.jpg

Crucial fixed that problem by fixing there sinks on the 2gb sticks.

I absolutely love my red tracers.

You know, I was looking at those red Tracers. I was too cautious because the frequency-count of customer-reviewers at the Egg was lower than 10 when I saw them. I should've been bold to embrace the risk, and be among the first to tout my ecstasy.

And after all those Tracers and Ballistix you burned out, Aigo!! But you will notice, at least on some Ballistix kits -- the recommended warranty voltage is 0.1V lower than it used to be . . . .

 

[gplracer]

I have a Q6600 running at 3300mhz prime stable. I am using g. skill ram and 4 gigs was cheaper that what you are paying for the crucial.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
[But you will notice, at least on some Ballistix kits -- the recommended warranty voltage is 0.1V lower than it used to be . . . .

That's because they've switched ICs.

What used to be D9GMH is now [what is believed to be] D9JKH.

Not the same stuff at all.

I personally wouldn't touch Crucial with a ten foot pole; their failure rates on the Ballistix have been worse than i have ever seen with any RAM.

KingstonU
Check out NCIX's weekly sale: http://www.ncix.com/promo/promosale.php?webid=bigbang

I'd look at Q9450 or Q6600.
2x2 GB DDR2-800+, like this: http://www.ncix.com/products/i...e=MUSHKIN&promoid=1074
CM690 case
Look thru that sale link for a better deal on the 4850.


Otherwise seems okay.

edit: ahaha, you ordered minutes before i posted.

 

[KingstonU]

LOL thanks for input non-the-less. I wanted the higher multiplier of the Q9550 and I wanted higher than DDR2-800 because I plan on going above 400 FSB and I didn't want to try overclocking the ram on my first OC.

I feel really good about my purchase. A bunch of my friends all just spent hundreds more for similar builds.

Thanks a lot for the advice guys :beer: