Thoughts and suggestions on new build?

[Impruv]

Case
NZXT APOLLO ATX TOWER CASE
Mobo
EVGA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Graphics Card
BFG GeForce 8800GT OC2 nVidia GeForce 8800GT Chipset (675Mhz) 512MB (1950Mhz) GDDR3 Dual Dual-Link DVI PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket LGA775, 3 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB, 6MB L2 Cache, 45nm (Retail Box) (BX80570E8400)
Ram
Crucial Ballistix (BL2KIT12864AA804) DDR2 800Mhz CL4-4-4-12 PC2 6400 2GB Kit (1GB x 2) 240-pin
HD
Seagate Barracuda (ST3500320AS) 7200.11 SATA NCQ 3.0Gb/s 500GB 32MB Cache (OEM)
PSU
OCZ StealthXStream 600W Power Supply


Total = $925 Cdn (tax included)

EDITED BUILD

Mobo - [Asus P5Q Socket 775 Intel Intel P45] http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=018817&cid=MB.157
Graphics - [Palit Radeon HD 4850 512MB] http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=019048&cid=999.243.272
CPU - [Intel Core 2 Duo E8400] http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3574211&Sku=CP1-DUO-E8400
Ram - [OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 2 x 2gb] http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=014638&cid=RAM.346.307
HD - [Segate 500gb] SATA 32mb] http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=014525&cid=HD.443.877
PSU - [OCZ StealthXStream 600W] http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013680&cid=PS.808

Total = $929.91 CDN (tax included)

 

[Impruv]

bump? =(

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Nice build, good selection of components.

 

[®ΔĐĮǾĦĘΔĐ]

Impruv,

I would like to know whether you are going to be purchasing two graphics cards of that model, and whether you plan on doing any major audio/video editing, rendering, or conversion.

My first tip: ditch that RAM memory, it offers little to nothing that other cheaper brands do not, and its value is very poor in terms of the amount of memory that it consists of. Whether you're gaming and working with media or just gaming, find 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM memory from a cheaper brand with better value. DO NOT underestimate the overclockability possible with G.Skill, A-Data, or Crucial DIMMs.

If you are just gaming, I recommend you up the video card to an ATi HD4850 or ATi HD4870, or an NVIDIA 9800GTX, as the 8800GT will quickly age (along with that 2GB pair you had picked out). Downgrade your CPU - contrary to what you might hear on this site and other sites, you will not see a noticeable increase in performance within games while running on an E8400 than an E6750 or something similar. You will however notice much better performance with a more up-to-date, more powerful card, with much better value also.

If you are also planning to work with media conversion and rendering, invest in an Intel Core2Quad or an AMD Phenom X4. Performance has been proven to be significantly higher when utilizing four cores instead of two. Also, do not just ignore the Phenom X4 series, as this model line's value is much greater than that of the Core2Quad series. If you are not looking into SLI, downgrade your motherboard.

Specialized SLI motherboards like the ones offered by EVGA and XFX I have found to be simply wastes of money, if you are not going to put it into use.

Do not underestimate the overclockability of cheaper boards and cheaper RAM memory. If you are shopping from Newegg, utilize the "Best Rating" organization feature.

Good luck, Impruv.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

Impruv,

I would like to know whether you are going to be purchasing two graphics cards of that model, and whether you plan on doing any major audio/video editing, rendering, or conversion.

My first tip: ditch that RAM memory, it offers little to nothing that other cheaper brands do not, and its value is very poor in terms of the amount of memory that it consists of. Whether you're gaming and working with media or just gaming, find 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM memory from a cheaper brand with better value. DO NOT underestimate the overclockability possible with G.Skill, A-Data, or Crucial DIMMs.

If you are just gaming, I recommend you up the video card to an ATi HD4850 or ATi HD4870, or an NVIDIA 9800GTX, as the 8800GT will quickly age (along with that 2GB pair you had picked out). Downgrade your CPU - contrary to what you might hear on this site and other sites, you will not see a noticeable increase in performance within games while running on an E8400 than an E6750 or something similar. You will however notice much better performance with a more up-to-date, more powerful card, with much better value also.

If you are also planning to work with media conversion and rendering, invest in an Intel Core2Quad or an AMD Phenom X4. Performance has been proven to be significantly higher when utilizing four cores instead of two. Also, do not just ignore the Phenom X4 series, as this model line's value is much greater than that of the Core2Quad series. If you are not looking into SLI, downgrade your motherboard.

Specialized SLI motherboards like the ones offered by EVGA and XFX I have found to be simply wastes of money, if you are not going to put it into use.

Do not underestimate the overclockability of cheaper boards and cheaper RAM memory. If you are shopping from Newegg, utilize the "Best Rating" organization feature.

Good luck, Impruv.

I'm sorry to disagree. The "Best Rating" does not necessarily mean it's good. You want to do "Most Reviews" and then go by those ratings. I would easily take a 4 star item review by 200 people over a 5 star reviewed by 20.

I think if you can you should get the Xeon E3110. It's slightly better than that E8400. Like he said, if you're doing some video/sound editing get a C2D. The Q6600 is pretty cheap nowadays. Also, if you're not SLI-ing from the beginning but you plan on, just go ahead and keep the motherboard you have, but if you're not, you can downgrade. I would say get a G. Skill or Corsair RAM. More trustworthy brands.

 

[A True Folder]

..... snip .....

if budget is not a consideration then I don't see any problem with the components listed and as the OP has not mentioned budget constraints .......

If you are not looking into SLI, downgrade your motherboard.

This I agree with, there are superior chipsets available for single card configurations, especially with a view to overclocking.

- contrary to what you might hear on this site and other sites, you will not see a noticeable increase in performance within games while running on an E8400 than an E6750 or something similar.

There is more to performance than fps, the lower temps and power consumption offered by the 45nm chip is something to consider here.

If you are shopping from Newegg, utilize the "Best Rating" organization feature.

Personally I would trust website reviews from reputable sites before a "customer feedback" rating from any reseller.

I would say E8400/E8500 or Q9450/Q9550, X38 or P45 chipset, 4870 or G280 depending on your budget/SLi aspirations and general usage requirements.



@ ®ΔĐĮǾĦĘΔĐ Welcome to the forum

 

[worshipme]

Mobo
EVGA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard

Like ATF said, there are far better motherboards out there than the 680i, and the choice is made even easier now that the HD 4800 series is released, SLI is no longer really needed. A P45 board would be perfect: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

Graphics Card
BFG GeForce 8800GT OC2 nVidia GeForce 8800GT Chipset (675Mhz) 512MB (1950Mhz) GDDR3 Dual Dual-Link DVI PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Ca

Although the 8800GT is still a good card, there is another card that surpasses it performance wise for around the same price, the HD 4850 can also be used in Crossfire on the P45: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=HD+4850&x=0&y=0

My first tip: ditch that RAM memory, it offers little to nothing that other cheaper brands do not, and its value is very poor in terms of the amount of memory that it consists of. Whether you're gaming and working with media or just gaming, find 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM memory from a cheaper brand with better value. DO NOT underestimate the overclockability possible with G.Skill, A-Data, or Crucial DIMMs.

I disagree with "these brands are good, these aren't" It all depends on the modules used. You can use this list to see what uses what: http://ramlist.ath.cx/ddr2/

Downgrade your CPU - contrary to what you might hear on this site and other sites, you will not see a noticeable increase in performance within games while running on an E8400 than an E6750 or something similar. You will however notice much better performance with a more up-to-date, more powerful card, with much better value also.

That is true, but the next real upgrade from the HD 4850 would be the HD 4870, and that's a $100 increase. If he shaved this off the CPU, I think it would have an impact on performance in games, especially as he hasn't mentioned overclocking.

 

[Impruv]

whoa.. lots of help, thanks guys.
Hmmm, I will definately not be overclocking, and my budget was to keep it under $1000 CDN. I probably won't be going SLI or crossfire for that matter as I really see no need. I will be using vista so 4gb or ram will be the better option.

As for graphics card and processor, the amount I can shave off to still get a decent cpu and upgrade the graphics card will probably not be that big? I won't be doing much video rendering or conversions like that, so would C2D be the better option than quad? Like say I can get q6600 for the same price as a E8400, would I then stick to the 8400 as I won't need the 4 cores?


Check first post for an updated build as well.

 

[A True Folder]

The edited build looks good mate, just check the memory is listed on QVL for that board at the Asus site, I know the P5E3 had some problems with OCZ memory (granted it was DDR3) but it never hurts to check imo

E8400 will be fine for your usage, not many programmes are multi threaded and fully utilise four cores at present, the 45nm consumes less power and runs cooler so I would go that way if it were me. The only thing I dislike about the 45nm series is the "faulty" temp sensors that seem to plague this release.

I'm glad to see you changed chipsets, a good move imo.

Good luck with your build.

 

[Impruv]

So what you're saying is to make sure the OCZ memory is compatible with the board?

One last question: If I can get ram that's cheaper by using 4x1gb as opposed to paying more for 2x2gb... I should still pay a bit extra for 2x2gb as its more future-proof, correct?