General Build Questions: From a noob.

[tinymonkey]

Hey all:

I've decided to go ahead and build myself a computer. Had a friend do it for me before, and after watching, researching, and reading, I decided to give to a go myself. I want a decent gaming build, nothing crazy just something decent, and I have a few questions I hope you all could help with with. For starters heres my current list of stuff:

-NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
-Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600
-ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
-Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
-Dual EVGA 01G-P3-N870-AR GeForce 9600 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
-SILVERSTONE OP1000-E 1000W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
-G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
-LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 - OEM

Now, my list of questions:

1. The graphics card(s), how is it? Do i really need two or is that complete overkill? Would it better to just run one more high end card?
2. Power supply. Is 1000w overkill? I've tried the calculators and stuff, and Ive gotten 400w, and 800w as answers, so I don't really trust them.
3. XP vs. vista. I already have an XP install disk and would hate to buy vista, but I know that XP will only handle up to 4gb. Should I just buck up and get vista or will xp be alright?


Thats all I can think of for now. Don't be afraid to be rough with me, I have only moderate knowledge of this stuff and will take any help I can get. ANY opinions would be great!

Thanks for the help all!!

 

[worshipme]

What site are you using? What is your budget exactly?

1. The graphics card(s), how is it? Do i really need two or is that complete overkill? Would it better to just run one more high end card?

I think it would be better to go with one higher end card, such as the HD 4850 or HD 4870, which would probably be around the same performance, but most likely cheaper. Not only that but you would be able to switch to an Intel board.

2. Power supply. Is 1000w overkill? I've tried the calculators and stuff, and Ive gotten 400w, and 800w as answers, so I don't really trust them.

Yes, 500W is perfectly sufficient for someone not overclocking. Try some of the OCZ StealthXStream units.

3. XP vs. vista. I already have an XP install disk and would hate to buy vista, but I know that XP will only handle up to 4gb. Should I just buck up and get vista or will xp be alright?

If you've alrwady got an XP disc, don't spend money where you don't need to.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

Adding to what worshipme said:

Dont' waste your money on a nVidia 750i chipset. A P45/35 should work fine. If you're only doing some mild gaming and web-browsing a quad-core is overkill. Even if you wanted to go with a quad-core for other reasons I wouldn't recommend the Q6600 anymore. Buy an Core 2 Duo E8500. You'll get better performance out of that.

 

[tinymonkey]

thanks for the help so far guys. as for now games i would probably be playing are steam games, like tf2 and cs source, hl2 so on. while i know this stuff is way overboard for that, i also want my computer to last me hopefully 2 years without any huge upgrades. thanks for the help so far tho everyone im looking into all your suggestions now!!

 

[rohan23]

Adding to what worshipme said:

Dont' waste your money on a nVidia 750i chipset. A P45/35 should work fine. If you're only doing some mild gaming and web-browsing a quad-core is overkill. Even if you wanted to go with a quad-core for other reasons I wouldn't recommend the Q6600 anymore. Buy an Core 2 Duo E8500. You'll get better performance out of that.

Why wouldn't you recommend the Q6600 anymore?

 

[JogaBonito1502]

If you truly need a quad-core go with the Core i7. Much less of a RAM bottleneck and performs much better.