[troppo]

Hi all,
I am thinking of building a new PC first thing in the new year, here are the components i have picked out but its come in slightly over budget and i need to cut costs slightly please provide your opinions on the following:

Note: all prices in Australian Dollars

~ Intel "i7" 920 (2.66Ghz), Skt 1366, 8Mb Cache, 4.8 GT/s, QPI --> $475
~ Asus P6T Deluxe, LGA 1366, X58, 1600 FSB, 6XDDR3-1600, 3XPCi-Ex v2.0, ATX --> $499
~ Corsair 3Gb (3X1Gb) DDR3-1600, 9-9-9-24 --> $255
} Either:
Asus GTX260, 896Mb, 448-Bit, DDR3 (655Mhz, 2.25Ghz) --> $466
OR
xFx 9800GTX+, 512Mb, 256-Bit, DDR3 (738Mhz, 2.2Ghz) --> $332 (Option for Sli In the Future)

~ 2X Seagate 250Gb, 32Mb Cache, Running in RAID 0 (1 Owned) --> $125
~ Thermaltake 650W Toughpower, 14cm Fan, Modular, 18A X4 +12V Lines --> $213
~ NZXT Gaurdian 921 Case --> $153
~ Asus SATA DVD Burner --> $48

Totals --> $2234 (GTX260) Or --> $2100 (9800GTX)

Mainly i would appreciate advice on the graphics card choice, the GTX260 is still relativly expensive but i am nervous that the 9800GTX wont be up to scratch with playing the latest games on a 1920X1200 LCD Screen, but there is a large saving to be had in this department. Also can anybody point me in the direction of a decent manufacturer of the Graphics cards? i have a xFx 7600Gt at the moment and i like xFx but is there anybody else that cools better???

Also any advice on comprimises would be appreciated

Thank you for your advice and opinions,
Troppo

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Hi troppo!

Where are you getting these prices? They seems pretty high to me if they're in US or CAD currencies.

You can probably save money by going with a different PSU but I would need to know which website/store you're getting these parts from.

Thanks,
Kamille

[kamille316]

Hi troppo!

Where are you getting these prices? They seems pretty high to me if they're in US or CAD currencies.

You can probably save money by going with a different PSU but I would need to know which website/store you're getting these parts from.

Thanks,
Kamille

[james_8970]

kamille316, aussies get hit with the back end of the stick. Their prices are awful in comparison to that of canada and America.

So that we can help you better, can you provide us a link to your e-tailer? Personally, looks aside, I believe the Gigabyte and Evga boards are the best available, simply because slot layout is important to me and they've both got the best idea. I personally have the Gigabyte x58-extreme and love the board thus far, though, if I were to build again, I'd never pay a premium for the extreme board over gigabytes "lower" end x58 boards.
James

Edited by james_8970, 29 December 2008 - 10:22 PM.

[kamille316]

Oh wow, I missed that he mentioned its in Australian dollar

[troppo]

Sorry for the late reply, i have been working hard over the christmas period to pay for this build

In answer to your questions;

Yes the prices are terriable here in AUS and recently prices have increased due to the poor exchange rate (was .95 USD now trading at .65-.70) this is the reason why i am putting the pedal down and trying to get it built while imported stocks in AUS were imported under the higher exchange rate, i work in the consumer electronics department in a major retailer in AUS and know that TV prices have risen an average of 9.5% so i need to get in early to keep the costs down.

I am picking parts from these three e-tailers;

www.techbuy.com.au
www.msy.com.au --> Parts List
www.centrecom.com.au

It all depends on their range and the availability of the parts.

Can i ask again, do you think it is worth spending the extra money in purchasing the GTX260 or staying with the 9800GTX+ for the moment and running SLI in the future?

Also is there any reason not to purchase the ASUS board i really like the way the bios is set out with heaps of overclocking features, in my experiance the Gigabyte boards dont have the best bios (mind you only experiance is from an older board) and the ASUS has the Expressgate feature which i quite like to be honest. Opinions??

Cheers,
Troppo

Edited by troppo, 01 January 2009 - 04:12 PM.

[jrm20]

Sorry for the late reply, i have been working hard over the christmas period to pay for this build

In answer to your questions;

Yes the prices are terriable here in AUS and recently prices have increased due to the poor exchange rate (was .95 USD now trading at .65-.70) this is the reason why i am putting the pedal down and trying to get it built while imported stocks in AUS were imported under the higher exchange rate, i work in the consumer electronics department in a major retailer in AUS and know that TV prices have risen an average of 9.5% so i need to get in early to keep the costs down.

I am picking parts from these three e-tailers;

www.techbuy.com.au
www.msy.com.au --> Parts List
www.centrecom.com.au

It all depends on their range and the availability of the parts.

Can i ask again, do you think it is worth spending the extra money in purchasing the GTX260 or staying with the 9800GTX+ for the moment and running SLI in the future?

Also is there any reason not to purchase the ASUS board i really like the way the bios is set out with heaps of overclocking features, in my experiance the Gigabyte boards dont have the best bios (mind you only experiance is from an older board) and the ASUS has the Expressgate feature which i quite like to be honest. Opinions??

Cheers,
Troppo

Ya I know lots of people from AUS and they tell me about the high prices in electronics. To answer your question the gtx260 will scale better in sli than the 9800gtx will. The newer series nvidia cards have lil better performance when using SLI. So if you are looking to SLI in the future that is something to think about. Id rather have 1 gtx280 or 1 4870x2 right now if you could squeeze for the extra money but sooner than later they will have newer cards out again so you have some thinking to do.

Id try to get a little cheaper mobo to help you save some cash, but I do know the new I7 mobos are expensive as is..

[troppo]

Your right about saying that i7 boards are expensive, there is a cheaper P6T available but without the added chipset cooling, and when considering overclocking i would prefer not to cut it slim on the cooling side.

and i no what your saying about the GPU's this is what i have been thinkning;

Even though the 9800GTX is cheap now and i can SLI it in the future im worried about it being to redundant in the near future (i no this always happens) but when i can get a GTX260 for only ~100 more i feel that i should get that.

What are your thoughts jrm?

Cheers,
Troppo

[jrm20]

Your right about saying that i7 boards are expensive, there is a cheaper P6T available but without the added chipset cooling, and when considering overclocking i would prefer not to cut it slim on the cooling side.

and i no what your saying about the GPU's this is what i have been thinkning;

Even though the 9800GTX is cheap now and i can SLI it in the future im worried about it being to redundant in the near future (i no this always happens) but when i can get a GTX260 for only ~100 more i feel that i should get that.

What are your thoughts jrm?

Cheers,
Troppo

If you cannot go for the faster gtx280 or the 4870x2 now then Its a hard choice. Probably save your money and get the 9800gtx and within a little time these newer cards will be coming out and you will have a choice to get a faster single card solution or you could get another 9800gtx its all up to you man.
I thought about it more and save your cash and skip the gtx260.

[james_8970]

I broke my HD2900XT due to an ID-10-T error and got a 8800GS as a replacement because I personally I have a feeling that something is going to be released shortly by nVidia. Then again, when stuff is released in NA/Europe, it seems to take a while to arrive in Australia. Ultimately you're going to have to remember, that you can buy anything and it'll be out of date further down the line. Part of what influenced my decision is the fact that my life is getting busier and I'm beginning to use my computer for other things then gaming that require more and more computational power, but intend on gaming again in a few months.
If you have intentions on gaming pretty hard right off the bat, you might as well just go and get the best GPU that you can afford. Remember, you can wait forever or just upgrade to the hardware that's necessary for your current needs. If I was in your case, I'd get a GTX260 as I don't believe the price difference between it and the GTX280 is justifiable, but I do think the HD4870X2 is worth it, but that's a stretch and I'm not a huge fan of cards with two dies. But to each their own.
Lastly, if I were you, I'd take a serious look at the gigabyte boards over Asus' current offerings.
James

Edit: That was awful grammar.

Edited by james_8970, 02 January 2009 - 12:23 AM.

[troppo]

Thank you all for your opinions its greatly appreciated.

the GTX280 is out of my price range i would be stretching for the GTX260 as is and the GTX280 is approximatly another $400 on top of the $466 for the GTX260, the pricing here is just stupid there is such a huge gap from the middle of the road cards to the extreme and unfortnetly i have to draw the line in the sand somewhere its just to expensive for the moment and i have no justification to spend that money, because that could be a new monitor or a Blu-Ray Burner/ Player to go with my Plasma screen. I understand where you are coming from James and appreciate your opinion i simply cannot afford it at this present stage.

I will investigate the gigabyte boards and will come back with a few questions soon.

Any 3rd party vendors for the GPU's you guys specifically recommend??

Thank you both again its much appreciated,
Troppo

[jrm20]

Thank you all for your opinions its greatly appreciated.

the GTX280 is out of my price range i would be stretching for the GTX260 as is and the GTX280 is approximatly another $400 on top of the $466 for the GTX260, the pricing here is just stupid there is such a huge gap from the middle of the road cards to the extreme and unfortnetly i have to draw the line in the sand somewhere its just to expensive for the moment and i have no justification to spend that money, because that could be a new monitor or a Blu-Ray Burner/ Player to go with my Plasma screen. I understand where you are coming from James and appreciate your opinion i simply cannot afford it at this present stage.

I will investigate the gigabyte boards and will come back with a few questions soon.

Any 3rd party vendors for the GPU's you guys specifically recommend??

Thank you both again its much appreciated,
Troppo

Nvidia and ATI is the top 2 and only 2 (GAMING) video cards to buy. They have other brands out there but its for workstations / hardcore video editing like they use for movies etc..

If you are talking about specific companies that make the nvidia / ati video cards almost all of them are good. XFX,bfg,evga,msi,palit,sapphire,asus etc..

[troppo]

Sorry Yeah i did mean companies such as xFx and the like,

They all come from teh reference boards anyway dont they?? Are there very little differences?

[jrm20]

Sorry Yeah i did mean companies such as xFx and the like,

They all come from teh reference boards anyway dont they?? Are there very little differences?

They are pretty much the same just made in different factory's and some have different pcb colors and different fans / cooling.

[kamille316]

Sorry Yeah i did mean companies such as xFx and the like,

They all come from teh reference boards anyway dont they?? Are there very little differences?

You will also notice a big difference between each company's warranty and customer support. I have heard great things about EVGA and XFX customer support. EVGA, XFX and BFG all have limited lifetime warranties (double for XFX).
If you can spare the money get either XFX or EVGA because of the reasons I have stated already and EVGA is usually cheaper than XFX/BFG.