[alea_tory]

Hey im attempting to build a computer... obviously...
I hit a wall ummm somewhere around the beggining of this journey.
i'd say i did some research into each part but i didnt realy even do that i just copied what others had used in different systems or had the "thats looks good??" aproach... please assist me in building this monster i have a $4000 limit um below is what i ...tried to fashion but i dont even know the entire compatibility of the parts so chop and change as you see fit.

ill be doing alot of audio creation, anime watching, game playing. im not using the audigy soundcard for recording purposes ive got a mixer n stuff i was gunna plug up for that.

CPU
Intel CORE 2 QUAD Q9450/2.66GHz/12MB CACHE/1333MHz FSB/LGA775

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 1600MHz Dual DDR2-1200 Dual PCI Ex16 SATA II RAID PATA GLAN 1394 8Ch DTS UDES AT


RAM
DDR2 4G(2x2G)PC8500 1066Mhz Heatspreader G.Skill(F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK)

Video Card
Asus EN8800GT 1G DDR3 PCIE2.0 HDTV 2xDVI-I HDCP

Power supply
Thermaltake Tough power 1200W with PFC cable Management PSU

Hard drive
Samsung 1TB SATA II 7200RPM 32M

Disk Drive
LGE GGW-H20N/L Black Blue Ray HD Writer

Case
Thermaltake Xaser6 VG4000BWS Black case

Coolers
Cooler Master Hyper TX2 (AMD Socket 754/939/940/AM2/ Intel Socket 775)
Corsair DOMINATOR AIRFLOW Fan
Zalman ZM-NB47J Northbridge Heatsink
Thermaltake Smart Case Fan 12CM

Soundcard
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi? Elite Pro

Mouse Keyboard
Logitech Cordless 1500 Rechargeable Desktop USB/PS2 OEM

Monitor
Asus ASUS VW222U 22 WIDE 2MS DVI/VGA Tilt Speakers HDCP

Speakers
Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers System

Any assistance is greatly apreciated

[Advertisements]

Hi alea_tory, welcome to GTG!

I have a few questions, is there a specific reason why you went with that motherboard? That motherboard is good if you're going Crossfire (using 2 ATI/AMD graphics card), however you have picked out an Nvidia graphics card so you won't be utilizing the extra PCI-E slot which is one reason the price is too much. I would suggest a different motherboard with only one PCI-E slot. How about this motherboard?

Also what kind of games are you going to play? (the 1GB you selected isn't very good)
Either get the 8800GT or the 8800GTS 512MB, I can suggest something better too but I need to know if you're a mild or a hardcore gamer.

For the power supply, 1200Watts is overkill, get this one Corsair 750W instead.

Do you have an OS already?

Kamille

[kamille316]

Hi alea_tory, welcome to GTG!

I have a few questions, is there a specific reason why you went with that motherboard? That motherboard is good if you're going Crossfire (using 2 ATI/AMD graphics card), however you have picked out an Nvidia graphics card so you won't be utilizing the extra PCI-E slot which is one reason the price is too much. I would suggest a different motherboard with only one PCI-E slot. How about this motherboard?

Also what kind of games are you going to play? (the 1GB you selected isn't very good)
Either get the 8800GT or the 8800GTS 512MB, I can suggest something better too but I need to know if you're a mild or a hardcore gamer.

For the power supply, 1200Watts is overkill, get this one Corsair 750W instead.

Do you have an OS already?

Kamille

[alea_tory]

I want to get back into a bit more gaming so being able to play crysis and other high end games at a nice pace would be good ummm i can change motherboard or get multiple cards i can and will change the entire setup. Ill probly be going with dual monitors probs 22" im hopeless at building a sytem...

[alea_tory]

HELP... i changed a bit.. well all of it now is this a better system or can i make something better for heaps cheaper if so just tell me please

XFX nForce 790i Ultra N790-IUL9 Socket 775 DDR3 1600FSB 3 PCIe 16X SLI Ready

Intel CORE 2 QUAD Q9450/2.66GHz/12MB CACHE/1333MHz FSB/LGA775

Thermaltake Golden Orb II (P4 S775, AMD S754, S939, S940))

Thermaltake Xaser6 VG4000BWS Black case(NO PSU)

XFX GeForce 9800GX2 1G Black Edition DDR3 700hz Dual DVI TV Out HDCP(PV-T98U-ZHB9

Asus 2GB(2x1G) DDR3 1333MHz 240pin

Thermaltake Tough power 850W with PFC cable Management PSU

LGE GGW-H20N/L Black Blue Ray HD Writer

2 X::: Acer AL2216WD SLV 22


Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion with I/O Drive & IR

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit version

Artic Silver 5 Thermal Grease

Logitech Cordless 1500 Rechargeable Desktop USB/PS2 OEM

Logitech X-540 5.1 Speakers System

2 X:::Seagate SATAII NCQ 500GB 7200RPM 32mb Cache(ST3500320AS)

[kamille316]

I have done some research and it seems like the SLI of 9800GX2 does not work for dual-monitors, only way you can get the other monitor working is if you buy a low-end card to support the second monitor. No idea when nvidia will support multi-monitors with their SLI (crossfire now supports multi-monitor). Search this in google as I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links to other forums.

About DDR3 memory, they are too expensive and their timings is too slow. Here's one of the tech's mentioning it on another thread.

DDR3 RAM is expensive, and yes - the timings are still too slow. A fast set of DDR2 would be the way to go

Cheers

Troy

However, I have read that the 790i boards are better than the 750i (chipset are different and 790i has the better one). Since you have a big budget and if you really want good components then go with that.

For the heatsink, I'd suggest a better one like
Thermalright ULTIMA-90 6 Heatpipe Cooler LGA775 AM2 CPU Heatsink *Fan Not Included*

Computer case is subjective, just make sure its big enough to fit your components (especially the 9800GX2).

I've heard that the Thermaltake Toughpower 750W has problems with buzzing noise, however I can't comment if the 850W experience the same noise. I still recommend a Corsair or PC Power & Cooling though.

Kamille

EDIT: Note that there's a new generation nvidia card (supposedly better) that will be released in mid-June, I suggest waiting for it instead of jumping on 9800GX2 right away.

Edited by kamille316, 03 June 2008 - 02:54 PM.

[stettybet0]

You can disable SLI in the drivers, and enable dual-monitors and it will work. Then, when you want to use SLI, just do the opposite (disable dual-monitors, enable SLI). It's not ideal, but there's no need to spend the money (and waste a precious PCI slot) on an additional video card.

The 790i is a chipset that I have to warn you away from at this time. The chipset has problems with hard freezing for no apparent reason. There is no fix available for this yet, and it's unacceptable to pay top dollar for a board that can and will freeze at any time.

I would recommend the 780i chipset for you. It is very similar to the 790i, except it uses DDR2 instead of DDR3. DDR3's performance does not justify the price difference. Memory speed is very rarely the limiting factor in a build, so you won't even notice the difference except in synthetic benchmarks. Oh, and the 780i is much cheaper.

Here is a list of some top heatsinks. I would personally recommend the Xigmatek HDT-1283. For thermal paste, get some OCZ Freeze or Arctic Cooling MX-2. Both work better than Arctic Silver 5, and won't fry your motherboard if you spill a drop like Arctic Silver 5 will.

And from a gamer's perspective, you do not want a wireless keyboard or mouse for gaming. These devices are never as precise as their wired counterparts, which can be the difference between living or dying in the gaming world.