[FiShA]

hey guys, im building my first ever build soon.
and ive researched these parts a fair bit, but i just want to see what you guys think

it comes to about $1500 but that is Australian dollars.

MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5Q-Pro

CPU: Intel ATX E8400 CORE 2 DUO /3.0GHz

GRAPHICS CARD: eVGA or XFX i would like some opinions on which brand please (9800GTX+)

HDD: Western Digital 640G SATAII 7200 rpm HDD

PSU: Corsair HX-620 ATX Power Supply

SCREEN: ViewSonic VA2026W 20inch

CASE: NZXT Alpha AHN02-UGB Black with blue Side Window(NO PSU)




and i would also like to know which ram is better for gaming, the 800mhz or 1066.

any help would be appreciated.

thanks

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not a bad system there,

First things first

Do you plan to SLi the Graphic cards? if so that mother board wont work it is designed for ATI's crossfire technology (different than the nvidia SLi)

Even if you choose a mother board that supports SLI I dont know if that PSU can handle 2 nVidia Cards Corsair makes a 750 watt PSU

The board you choose runs for ram @ ddr2 1200 so I would look for some ram @ that speed instead of 800 or 1066.

For the graphics card I can't tell ya too much on the eVGA or XFX, Some others will chime in on that brand.

Another thing, do you plan on OC'ing the cpu? if you plan on it, get a better cpu heatsink / cooler.

how much ram do you plan on putting in it? 2,4,6,8 gigs? anything over 3.25 (well 4) will need a 64 bit OS to see the full amount.

HTH

[amw_drizz]

not a bad system there,

First things first

Do you plan to SLi the Graphic cards? if so that mother board wont work it is designed for ATI's crossfire technology (different than the nvidia SLi)

Even if you choose a mother board that supports SLI I dont know if that PSU can handle 2 nVidia Cards Corsair makes a 750 watt PSU

The board you choose runs for ram @ ddr2 1200 so I would look for some ram @ that speed instead of 800 or 1066.

For the graphics card I can't tell ya too much on the eVGA or XFX, Some others will chime in on that brand.

Another thing, do you plan on OC'ing the cpu? if you plan on it, get a better cpu heatsink / cooler.

how much ram do you plan on putting in it? 2,4,6,8 gigs? anything over 3.25 (well 4) will need a 64 bit OS to see the full amount.

HTH

[kamille316]

Hi FiShA, welcome to Geeks To Go!

You're build looks pretty good to me. Just like amw_drizz mentioned, You won't be able to use the other PCI-Express slots on that motherboard for Nvidia's SLI (using 2 Nvidia video cards to increase performance) because the motherboard only supports ATI's Crossfire (2 ATI video cards) however if you're only using 1 video card, then it doesn't matter.

For the video card, I'd say whichever one is the cheapest. The only difference between the two companies would be their warranty. EVGA offers Limited Lifetime warranty, 90-day Step Up program and I think they don't care if you modify the card as long as its in one piece when you RMA it. XFX offers Lifetime warranty, Transferable Protection (that means if you sell the card, the buyer will also get the lifetime warranty) and Modder Friendly.

For the RAM, even though the motherboard supports a higher frequency, I suggest going with DDR2-800 if you're not overclocking and if you are, go with DDR2-1066.

You're also missing a DVD-drive, do you have a spare one that you'll be re-using?

Hope that helps,
Kamille

[FiShA]

thanks alot guys,

yeh i dont really plan to go SLI. ive heard that it is better to just save up for one better card than get 2 or 3 not so good ones...
i do have a DVD drive down i just didnt really think it mattered too much but it is:
Pioneer DVR-216BK 20x Dual Black OEM with software - SATA

as for the ram, i will definatly go for 4gb because im running 2gb now and it really isnt enough lol.
and at the place im getting all my parts from doesnt seem to have any ram running at 1200 only 800 and 1066

http://www.umart.com...ex2.phtml?bid=2 thats the site

and would the lower latency ram be better for gaming?

[snottoken]

If you have the money at the moment i would g for 6GB DDRII.

[FiShA]

oh really? will it give me better performance. because i really dont need that much.
plus ill have to get a 64bit OS

thanks

Edited by FiShA, 24 November 2008 - 03:38 PM.

[kamille316]

4GB should be enough, I don't see the need for more since this is just a gaming rig. Maybe if you're doing more multimedia work then the extra RAM wouldn't hurt.

[FiShA]

yeh, i mean i do do some website designing, but ive got 2gb now, and its enough

i use progs like:
fireworks
photoshop
flash
dreamweaver

and its enough for all them


and i think im gonna get the XFX9800gtx+ XXX edition. from tiger, coz they have lifetime warrenty which they dont have in australia...

[FiShA]

oh and i also changed my ram to this

Corsair DDR2 Twin2X 4096 6400C5 4Gb
because i heard that the difference between 800mhz and 1066mhz is really minimal

and also my screen to this

Samsung 953BW 19inch TFT Monitor 2ms DVI 8000:1 Black
cheaper, better and only 1 inch smaller