Your thoughts on a new system...

[BChico]

Haven't put together a new system in about 7 years. Let me know if I am making any major oversights.


Motherboard - ASUS P5Q Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 Intel Motherboard - Retail - 199.99
Processor - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9450 - Retail - 319.99
RAM - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail - 104.99
Graphics Card - EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail - 279.99
Monitor - Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor with HDCP support - Retail - 199.99
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 79.99
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 79.99
Case - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - 99.99
PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail - 119.99
Total - - 1484.91

 

[Roguestar]

GeForce GTX260 is beaten in performance and price by the ATI 4870.

Don't get those two 500GB drives when you can get two 640GB Western Digital ones which have much better performance.

I'd personally save a little on that motherboard and go with a Gigabyte P45 DS3. I'd also drop to the Q9300 on the CPU and overclock it slightly with the Xigmatec Rifle cooler.

 

[BChico]

The guy I am putting this together for wants a RAID 1 mirrored setup, only needs 500GB.

The P5Q Deluxe supports crossfire, so I am interested in the ATI 4870. Can you link to some reviews comparing the 4870 to the 260?

In the future I could throw another 4870 into the system since crossfire is supported, correct?

Any particular ATI 4870 models to look at?

 

[Roguestar]

Crossfire isn't a good upgrade path as it wastes more money for what ends up as a mediocre setup, but it's not you who's paying, so... ;

Originally posted in AnandTech 4850/4870 review:
As for the new business, the Radeon HD 4870 is not only based on an efficient architecture (both in terms of performance per area and per watt), it is an excellent buy as well. Of course we have to put out the usual disclaimer of "it depends on the benchmark you care about," but in our testing we definitely saw this $300 part perform at the level of NVIDIA's $400 GT200 variant, the GTX 260. This fact clearly sets the 4870 in a performance class beyond its price.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=23

 

[Blain]

1. Drop the Seagate HDs in favor of a pair of 640GB WD SE16's.
2. You asked for thoughts, but simply posted a list of parts.
We need to know how this PC will be used, in order to give you an informed opinion. :roll:
3. The PC2-8500 @ $105 is overkill, unless the system is being OC'd to high heaven.
4. The Corsair 750W PS is good, but not needed. This Corsair would be fine and much cheaper.
5. As with #2, we need to know how the PC will be used in order to say if the quad core is a good pick or not.
> Read This Thread, then give us more detail.

 

[BChico]

Originally posted by: Blain
1. Drop the Seagate HDs in favor of a pair of 640GB WD SE16's.
2. You asked for thoughts, but simply posted a list of parts.
We need to know how this PC will be used, in order to give you an informed opinion. :roll:
3. The PC2-8500 @ $105 is overkill, unless the system is being OC'd to high heaven.
4. The Corsair 750W PS is good, but not needed. This Corsair would be fine and much cheaper.
5. As with #2, we need to know how the PC will be used in order to say if the quad core is a good pick or not.
> Read This Thread, then give us more detail.

Any reason why going with the WD drives other than size?

Workstation/Gaming, I went with Quad core since applications like photoshop and visual studio will be used on the system, as well as future proofing.

The RAM is only $20 more, not worth the $20?

Went with the 750W since he might want to throw in another graphics card down the road.

 

[BChico]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Crossfire isn't a good upgrade path as it wastes more money for what ends up as a mediocre setup, but it's not you who's paying, so... ;

Originally posted in AnandTech 4850/4870 review:
As for the new business, the Radeon HD 4870 is not only based on an efficient architecture (both in terms of performance per area and per watt), it is an excellent buy as well. Of course we have to put out the usual disclaimer of "it depends on the benchmark you care about," but in our testing we definitely saw this $300 part perform at the level of NVIDIA's $400 GT200 variant, the GTX 260. This fact clearly sets the 4870 in a performance class beyond its price.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=23

Crossfire is no good? Isn't it comparable to SLi?

 

[jae]

Originally posted by: BChico

Originally posted by: Blain
1. Drop the Seagate HDs in favor of a pair of 640GB WD SE16's.
2. You asked for thoughts, but simply posted a list of parts.
We need to know how this PC will be used, in order to give you an informed opinion. :roll:
3. The PC2-8500 @ $105 is overkill, unless the system is being OC'd to high heaven.
4. The Corsair 750W PS is good, but not needed. This Corsair would be fine and much cheaper.
5. As with #2, we need to know how the PC will be used in order to say if the quad core is a good pick or not.
> Read This Thread, then give us more detail.

Any reason why going with the WD drives other than size?

Workstation/Gaming, I went with Quad core since applications like photoshop and visual studio will be used on the system, as well as future proofing.

The RAM is only $20 more, not worth the $20?

Went with the 750W since he might want to throw in another graphics card down the road.

Because the WD640's kick ass.. not only more space its faster. The HD4870 is a better buy,, the GX200 is faster but not by much. Unless he is an serious overclocking addict, then put the extra twenty into something else.

Dont want to try the new E8600 dual core processor?

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yea, the WD640 drives are great, significantly faster than my Seagate 500GB drives ...
As far as power supplies are concerned you could step down to 500 Watt range and save some money for your friend, but I will agree that keeping the 750 will be more "comfortable" if he were to upgrade to an SLI/Crossfire setup down the road, or upgrade the video card in a year to some power hungry future monster card ...

As far as the RAM goes ... any PC2 6400 should be more than enough bandwidth when in a dual channel layout unless he somehow thinks he's gonna run his FSB at 1600 mhz or higher ....

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: BChico
...as well as future proofing.

Future proofing is a myth.
The WD 640GB HDs = higher platter density over the 500GB Seagates
$20 more on the RAM? > This is 1.8v memory that saves you almost $40 after rebate :laugh:

 

[BChico]

Originally posted by: jae

Originally posted by: BChico

Originally posted by: Blain
1. Drop the Seagate HDs in favor of a pair of 640GB WD SE16's.
2. You asked for thoughts, but simply posted a list of parts.
We need to know how this PC will be used, in order to give you an informed opinion. :roll:
3. The PC2-8500 @ $105 is overkill, unless the system is being OC'd to high heaven.
4. The Corsair 750W PS is good, but not needed. This Corsair would be fine and much cheaper.
5. As with #2, we need to know how the PC will be used in order to say if the quad core is a good pick or not.
> Read This Thread, then give us more detail.

Any reason why going with the WD drives other than size?

Workstation/Gaming, I went with Quad core since applications like photoshop and visual studio will be used on the system, as well as future proofing.

The RAM is only $20 more, not worth the $20?

Went with the 750W since he might want to throw in another graphics card down the road.

Because the WD640's kick ass.. not only more space its faster. The HD4870 is a better buy,, the GX200 is faster but not by much. Unless he is an serious overclocking addict, then put the extra twenty into something else.

Dont want to try the new E8600 dual core processor?

Will pick up the WD640's then.

Probably will stick quad, but why the $85 price difference between E8500 and E8600? Seems steep for only 180MHz.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: BChico

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Crossfire isn't a good upgrade path as it wastes more money for what ends up as a mediocre setup, but it's not you who's paying, so... ;

Originally posted in AnandTech 4850/4870 review:
As for the new business, the Radeon HD 4870 is not only based on an efficient architecture (both in terms of performance per area and per watt), it is an excellent buy as well. Of course we have to put out the usual disclaimer of "it depends on the benchmark you care about," but in our testing we definitely saw this $300 part perform at the level of NVIDIA's $400 GT200 variant, the GTX 260. This fact clearly sets the 4870 in a performance class beyond its price.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=23

Crossfire is no good? Isn't it comparable to SLi?

Yes, but SLI isn't a good upgrade path either.

Consider the scenario:

You can either get a) a really good single card solution now or b) an okay card now and add one later on, for which you will require a specialised motherboard and you will need to invest in another card which by then will not be so great and you will end up with a mediocre setup that has cost you more in the long run.

 

[BChico]

The guy asked if he can get a board with WiFi on it.

The P5Q3 has Wifi, but only has DDR3 memory slots.

Whats the deal with DDR3? Looks like I can get 4GB of that for $180 or so, worth the money?

 

[BChico]

Also, is DX 10 possible on Windows XP?

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: BChico
The guy asked if he can get a board with WiFi on it.

Buy him a USB or PCI wi-fi dongle/card and don't get distracted in getting a good motherboard .

Originally posted by: BChico
Whats the deal with DDR3? Looks like I can get 4GB of that for $180 or so, worth the money?

Not at all.

Originally posted by: BChico
Also, is DX 10 possible on Windows XP?

Nope.

 

[BChico]

Well he decided he really wants DDR3.

The Q9450 has an FSB of 1333MHz, what will it default to for the RAM 1333MHz as well?

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: BChico
Well he decided he really wants DDR3.

The Q9450 has an FSB of 1333MHz, what will it default to for the RAM 1333MHz as well?

If left set to AUTO in BIOS, it will read the EEPROM info from the RAM and set the RAM speed accordingly. At the very slowest, DDR2-667 will run in-spec at 1:1 with the quad-pumped FSB of 1333 (333MHz); so fancy fast RAM or DDR3 isn't a requirement (just your customer's personal choice ).