Opinions Desired

Jaxom92 · September 2008

Thought I'd post about a system I'm contemplating. Not sure when I'll purchase, so it's subject to change. The goal here is to go with a system that is not terribly expensive, but still is beefy. Whatever I purchase, the plan is to later upgrade to dual video cards and add more hard drives, but not immediately.

Sunbeam Transformer Case

BFG ES 800W PSU

EVGA nForce 750i FTW

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870

Corsair Dual Channel XMS2 DDR2 Memory

Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB

LG Black Blu-Ray/HD-DVD/DVD/CD ROM

Logitech G51 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers

Total Price: About $1700.

I already have a 22 inch monitor, and my keyboard/mouse are adequate.

Opinions, comments, etc. And yes, I already know it's weird to use an Nvidia mainboard with an ATI graphics card, but I can't find any reason why it shouldn't work.

CleffyII · September 2008

Because you cannot use Dual ATI cards on a nVidia chipset. It would be a waste of money with the extra PCI-e slot, and the 750i chipset isn't really that good. I find problems with your Case, Power Supply, Motherboard, and Speakers.

1st the case and power supply are not compatible. Also the case has that front swinging door which can be annoying. However, the case should suffice if you replace you power supply. You are using a non-modular 800w PSU. The problem is when you get to higher wattage PSUs, you end up with alot more cables. Even though there is a slight loss in power, modular cables are pretty much a necessity unless you want your case to be filled with cables and overheat as a result of blockage. Here is my recommendation for the same price.

Xigamatek 750w Modular PSU

Next is your motherboard. The 700 series nVidia chipset has been noted as having bad drivers. Also you are using an ATI card which won't be supported in a dual card setup. Honestly, a dual GPU setup still is not worth it. Also you are going to get problems with the sound. Spend the extra money on the 1GB edition of the 4870. Here is my recommendation on a motherboard.

ASRock P43

Last is your Speakers. I have the generation right before for those speakers. They have problems with electrical interference and pop. I really cannot recommend Logitech Speakers. Also your using onboard audio, which has poorer quality then a sound card and really makes using 5.1 worthless compared to spending the money on a sound card and headphones. I actually now use a pair of headphones that cost as much as those speakers and like it alot better. You also don't get background noise on a mic.

Ekibiogami · September 2008

Just a FYI If you like the ATI cards Becarefull WAR HATES ati atm. I just had to pull my 2900XT from my case and put a crappy 8800 in to it.

It Ticks me off because im a Ati man. And ATI cant even program a driver.

Edit: Not sure where in the Heck i saw War in your post LMAO.. I think its time to go to sleep.

Ekibiogami · September 2008

Originally posted by CleffyII

Because you cannot use Dual ATI cards on a nVidia chipset. It would be a waste of money with the extra PCI-e slot, and the 750i chipset isn't really that good. I find problems with your Case, Power Supply, Motherboard, and Speakers.
1st the case and power supply are not compatible. Also the case has that front swinging door which can be annoying. However, the case should suffice if you replace you power supply. You are using a non-modular 800w PSU.
If your gana Duel card it Id get at least a 1k power supply. you ALLWAYS want a Fudge load more power than you need. How many HD's you talking long term? a 1k would cover 2 cards and several more HD's.
The problem is when you get to higher wattage PSUs, you end up with alot more cables. Even though there is a slight loss in power, modular cables are pretty much a necessity unless you want your case to be filled with cables and overheat as a result of blockage. Here is my recommendation for the same price.
Dont worry about the cabbles. There is a space Behind the Mobo mounting bracket to hide the cabbles. it works great. May take a few minutes of Planning before you try and put any parts in tho.

Srry to hijack your post cleffy ;D

Jaxom92 · September 2008

Thanks for the replies and the heads up about the incompatable case/power supply. I didn't even realize there was a way to check for that - or that it would be a problem.

So, if I go for a 1000 watt like Ekibiogami recommends, would a Corsair modular power supply do the trick?

I also was afraid that the dual ATI GPUs wouldn't work on an Nvidia board. I just really like that board. The one you recommended Clefty is interesting with it's two memory slot sets for both DDR2 and DDR3. I kinda like that, and it's cheap.

As to the 1GB 4870, I already ran across that version of the card and I've put it on my list. Only 15 bucks more.

Ekibiogami · September 2008

Ram If your gana use Vista id go with this(If your gana 64 bit it).

HD And this would be a Mutch beter primary HD. If you need more space then the 300Gig is 80 or so bucks more.

Your Building a pritty sweet system. Dont let the HD be your bottleneck.

Tyres100 · September 2008

Also besides Cleffs great advice you should be getting a Velociraptor drive since you can afford such an elaborate system. Why not go all out.

Jaxom92 · September 2008

Originally posted by Tyres100

Also besides Cleffs great advice you should be getting a Velociraptor drive since you can afford such an elaborate system. Why not go all out.

You have a good point.

My guiding principle with this system was beefy, but not insanely expensive. So, I tried to go for high-end parts, but not ones that were way too over-priced for performance gain. Would my choice in hard drive really bottle-neck the system that bad? I suppose I could use the 300 gig Velociraptor and then put in the 1 TB drive for storage. I plan on collecting HD movies on this thing so...

Ekibiogami · October 2008

I have 2 of the 150 Raptors in my computer atm and a 500G Storage drive. I stick my games mostly on the second one so if i gata format then there is no loss. And you will see a Nice performance increase If your like me and think that loading screens are the Devil.

tiancaiok · October 2008

Originally posted by Jaxom92

Thought I'd post about a system I'm contemplating. Not sure when I'll purchase, so it's subject to change. The goal here is to go with a system that is not terribly expensive, but still is beefy. Whatever I purchase, the plan is to later upgrade to dual video cards and add more hard drives, but not immediately.
Sunbeam Transformer Case

BFG ES 800W PSU

EVGA nForce 750i FTW

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870

Corsair Dual Channel XMS2 DDR2 Memory

Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB

LG Black Blu-Ray/HD-DVD/DVD/CD ROM

Logitech G51 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers
Total Price: About $1700.
I already have a 22 inch monitor, and my keyboard/mouse are adequate.
Opinions, comments, etc. And yes, I already know it's weird to use an Nvidia mainboard with an ATI graphics card, but I can't find any reason why it shouldn't work.

This collocation of pc is ok and normal.....well

Jaxom92 · October 2008

Okay, based on some suggestions via this thread, some friends, and "professionals", I've revised my list. It's about 500 bucks more, so a bit beyond what I initially wanted to spend. However, I think I'm better "future-proofed", as much as one can be with this technology.

Sunbeam Transformer Case

Corsair 1000W Power Supply

Asus P5E3 Deluxe Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870

G.Skill DDR3 1333 Memory

Western Digital 150 GB 10000 rpm HD for System Drive

Western Digital 1TB 7200 rpm HD for Storage Drive

LG Black Blu-Ray/HD-DVD/DVD/CD ROM

Creative Inspire T1600 5.1 Speakers

Overall cost, about 2200.

Howdy, Stranger!

Opinions Desired

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Quick Links

Opinions Desired

Comments