A new desktop

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Okay, I am looking to splurge a bit now that I have money and have no immediate debts. These are two configurations I was toying with at work today. Not sure if they are even compatible so thats why I am posting here


PSU: Antec 850W TruePower Quattro ($269)
Mobo: Asus P5Q-Premium ExGATE 16PP S775 P45 ($348)
CPU: Q9650 @3.0GHz ($539)
Video: nVidia GTX285 ($669)
RAM: Corsair 4GB 1,333MHz ($193)
HDD: 2x Seagate 500GB SataII 7,200rpm ($176)
Monitors: 2x Samsung 22” LCD ($526)
Soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro ($171)


PSU: Antec 850W TruePower Quattro ($269)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EX58-DS4 LGA1366 X58 ($339)
CPU: i7 940 @ 2.93GHz ($919)
Video: nVidia GTX285 ($669)
RAM: Corsair 4GB 1,333MHz ($193)
HDD: 2x Seagate 500GB SataII 7,200rpm ($176)
Monitors: 2x Samsung 22” LCD ($526)
Soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro ($171)

(Add ~$800 for case, cooling and 5.1 sound system for both)

A question to you all: Would an extra $200 be worth it for either the GTX295 or 4870x2?

Cheers

 

First off...$800 for case, cooling and 5.1 sound system?!?! You going to have a liquid nitrogen cooling system or what?

I'd personally go for the Intel Core i7...newest socket means you'll be able to upgrade later in the future. Gigabyte mobos suck though...stick with ASUS.
I've got a 22" Samsung 2243, and while it's sweet, why do you need 2 of them?
Also, according to Tom's Hardware charts and Newegg, the nVidia GTX280 is a little cheaper and slightly outperforms the ATI 4870x2. Not sure about the 285....or the 295 for that matter.

 

I'll have to second BTA here. Gigabyte mobos have also been top notch for me.

 

Kit - I've been very happy with my Gigabyte mainboard was well. BTA recommended them a few years back, and I've been sold on them since.

 

Damn you all! You guys catch on quick! I'm just trying to get my stocks to go up here...that being said, ASUS *is* a really good brand. I used to be an Abit fanboy, but became an ASUS convert.

I only have 2 prior experiences with Gigabyte. The first resulted in 2 consecutive RMAs for a friend's rig, and the second had some *serious* BIOS issues, which to this day haven't been resolved...even after flashing it countless times and a BIOS update.

 

Remember to buy DDR3 RAM and not DDR2 if you go for Core i7. Consider also buying a Corsair power supply - they are generally the best.

Change your monitors to 24 inch - with the horsepower you have, it would be a shame to not have screens that an show it off. 22 inch monitors have a max resolution of 1680x1050, most 24 inch monitors have a max resolution of 1920x1200 (but check each individual monitor to be sure).

 

Kit, $800 is an acceptable figure in Aus at the moment, and considering the sound system i have my eye on is ~$550 . Also, I am an ASUS fanboy as well

The 2 monitors are for video editing which I sometimes undertake.

 

Geeze! I spent $80 on my Creative 5.1 speaker set a few years ago, and for gaming and general music listening, they're fine. Are you looking at a set that belongs in a home theater setup?

 

Nope, the Logitech Z5500 is what I am looking at. Could be used for both I guess but it will be handy for parties.

Spoke to a relie for a bit today and he has pretty much persuaded me to this system:

ASUS P6T
i7 920
Gskill 3 X 1G
WD 2 X 640G
Samsung 22" x 2
GTX285 Inno 3d
Corsiar HX 620
Noctua cooler

Costs a fair bit less and he reckons it will do a good job. Thoughts?

 

Looks good to me...though, I've never heard of Inno3D. Are they local to AU?

 

I'd say go for a beefier power supply, although the same brand. 750w would do fine.

Are you sure you wont consider upping your monitor size to 24inch?

 

@ Kit:

Might be, not sure. its definitely available through Umart over here though.

@ Proteus:

I may consider going up to 24", depending on the cost. Or start off with one and buy the other at a later date.
Is there a need for a beefier power supply? My relie said he runs the same PSU with 2 3870s, a similar motherboard, 2 HDDs, an overclocked quadcore, 4 fans and 2 dvd burners and rarely sees it go over 300w.

 

Actually, I'd usually be the one to say 620w is all you need. But... that was a few years ago, and the Core i7 and GTX 285 are both very power hungry. I dont know, its up to you.

A lot of system builders seem to err too much on the side of caution and end up getting gigantic PSUs that they never need. But, on the other hand, your components will draw a lot of power. I'd say 620w minimum, and you should probably do some research to verify that it will be enough.

 

I have a pair of WD 640s as well, and really like them. They run very quiet and are plenty fast. And no issues.

 

As a rule, a better graphics card makes more difference in games than a better CPU.

Also as a rule, quad power isn't fully used by games because even dual core isn't as fully taken advantage of as the hardware allows.

 

@ chevalier

I have heard that rule but there is one game that I am addicted to that requires a very good CPU: Supreme Commander
And as far as I am aware, it is one of the few that can take advantage ofmultiple cores. Correct me if I am wrong though.

Not the full reason why I want an i7 but still a very small part

...Always wanted to have an 8 way war with the full 1000 units per side....

 

From what I've seen with Supreme Commander it's gobs of RAM that it requires, more than either a good CPU or a good video card. I think 3Gb of RAM might be enough, but I've seen the speed with which it eats up 2Gb and I may be wrong

 

Gamemakers are getting the multitread facts.

The power can be a bit bigger but for the rest it is ok for me. You have 3 pci 16 slots so a second GPU for physics is an option. Therefor a bit more power towards 750 will cover that for the future.

As an afterthought: how about a blu ray player? If you like to video-edit...

 

I would go I7 mobo setup. As for the GPU I would go Nvidia as I find AMD/ATI GPU drivers are not as optimize as Nvidia drivers.