Opinions sought on build

Banjo

Hi,
I'm upgrading my PC for the last time in the forseeable future, trying to get the best bang for my limited bucks, was hoping the knowledgeable folk on the forum might be able to help. System will be used for games mostly, usually MMOs (ok, basically it's City of Heroes all the way), with occasional video and audio recording / encoding thrown in for good measure, but nothing too serious.

CPU : Intel Core2 Quad 9550 - 2.83MHz
MB : MSI P45 Diamond DDR3 (bundled with a Creative X-Fi sound card)
Mem : 2x 2GB CL6 OCZ Reaper
HDD : 2xWD 750GB 16MB RE2
PSU : Thermaltake Toughpower 850W w/ 4xPCIe pwr
Vid : Sapphire 4870x2 2GB
Case : Antec 900
CPU Fan : Zalman CNPS9700 NT

Comes in at a shade under 1,600 from HardwareVersand.

I'll be moving the DVDRW drive from my existing machine, it doesn't see much action, it works fine and I'm not pushed about going Blu Ray at the moment. The MB comes bundled with an SB X-Fi, so sound is sorted. I'm also sticking with my existing monitor, keyboard and mouse for the moment anyway. I should probably replace the speakers but I can't be arsed Will probably dual boot Vista 64 bit and XP 32bit, but mainly XP for the moment so I'm not pushed about getting more memory in there, it won't see much action.

I've picked the PSU because it has 4 PCIe power connectors, which means I can double up on the 4870x2s in the future if I'm feeling flush (although wouldn't that split the PCIe bus to 4x per core?). The Antec case, as far as I know, is packed with fans so should be ok without me adding cooling. I hope.

Can anyone point out any glaring faults in the plan, and criticisms of the parts, or anything I've forgotten to buy? Ta in advance!

AlmightyCushion

What monitor do you have? If it's anything less than a 24" then the 4870x2 will be wasted on it. If it was me I wouldn't bother with the ddr3, costs way more than ddr2 and only gives a small performance boost.

Sqaull20

P45 have crossfire issues, go with a x38/x48 if you want that ( wouldnt recommend it )

I think the 4870 will run perfectly for what you're asking for, X2 is not worth it for your gaming.

Anyway I would ditch the ram and get good ddr2.

8GB might seem too much, but its so cheap and will help video encoding etc.

8192MB-Quad-Kit GEIL Black Dragon €122

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/4Vpf5ijX8jmSsK/articledetail.jsp?aid=21217&agid=599

Heck this is what I would get.

Banjo

thanks for the feedback, folks. I'm not sure about moving back to DDR2 - I know the performance increase per quid is not much on DDR3, but I have a one-off use-it-or-lose-it budget and I'll not be upgrading this machine again any time in the foreseable future unless works starts paying me a bonus based on my caffeine intake or it becomes legal to send kids to work up chimneys again. Given that memory prices vs capacity tend to fall over time, a small performance increase is preferable to higher RAM capacity at the mo. I think.

You right about the 4870x2, my monitor is not that high-res so it's probably a waste. The flat panel was a present though so I'm not ready to ditch it yet. The x2 gives me options for the future though if I get any more 20-30" presents over the next few years, hint hint . BTW, is there any word on how it performs vs 2 crossfired 4870s? Or even 4850s?

Squall - any particular reason you've picked that CPU cooler? (I ask because I only picked the one I did because it's expensive, Toms Hardware like it and looked cool )

sunzz

That pc, would just obliterate anything you throw at it, it's SICK
Although change to an x38 as stated

uberpixie

Banjo wrote: »

thanks for the feedback, folks. I'm not sure about moving back to DDR2 - I know the performance increase per quid is not much on DDR3, but I have a one-off use-it-or-lose-it budget and I'll not be upgrading this machine again any time in the foreseable future unless works starts paying me a bonus based on my caffeine intake or it becomes legal to send kids to work up chimneys again. Given that memory prices vs capacity tend to fall over time, a small performance increase is preferable to higher RAM capacity at the mo. I think.

You would be better going for DDR2 and spending the price difference Vs DDR3 on getting a better CPU or graphics card or harddrive, power supply,case etc..

Seriously you get much more bang for you buck, DDR3 is still a waste atm. Now that will change over time, but right now I honestly think you are just wasting money. €100 gets you 4gig of quality DDR2 that will run faster than the DDR3 you spend x3 or x4 times the money on.

Banjo wrote: »

You right about the 4870x2, my monitor is not that high-res so it's probably a waste. The flat panel was a present though so I'm not ready to ditch it yet. The x2 gives me options for the future though if I get any more 20-30" presents over the next few years, hint hint . BTW, is there any word on how it performs vs 2 crossfired 4870s? Or even 4850s?

According to benchmarks an 4870X2 is a bit faster than x2 4870s in crossfire. This is due to the fact the 4870X2 is skipping a bottle neck or two as it is sharing the information internally on the card skipping PCI express.

Also the X2 comes with 2gig of ram, half this amount due to the arse backwards way crossfire/SLI work and you get 1gig usable on the card for games: this is twice that of the 4870s in crossfire so it is much better at high res. (x2 1gig VS x2 512mb)

When you crossfire/SLI 2 cards you can only use the memory of one of the cards, the other half sits on it's ass doing nothing. This is why the 9800GX2 stuttered at high resolution, the card came with "1 gig" i.e. 512mb per card so it could only use 512mb of memory in actual use which of course is sh ite for gaming at high res.....

In general SLI/crossfire is a bag of sh it. Promises the sun and the moon and doesn't even deliver a fraction of that in most games unlsess you are on a 24"/30" screen.

I would skip the idea of doubling up on the 4870x2 in the future and keep some money aside for a gfx card upgrade in a year/year and a half. Much better value than gettign an extra 4870x2 and watch it suck down power and generate extra noise and heat while offering you very little extra performance.

The only glimmer of hope for SLI/crossfire is this:http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3385 Lucid Hydra. They talk a good game, may be total bollix but if it works like they say it will be amazing.

Also you could easily trim the PSU to a 600W seasonic or the like which would be more than plenty for what you want to run with plenty of spare juice for the future.

Remember a psu has to be running under a nice heavy load before it reaches it's peak 80%+ power efficiency. A 850W will be running very inefficently on you sample rig and will cost you more in electriciy in the long term that a good 500-600W psu.....

I am running a quad 2.4ghz, 4870, 2 harddrives and an optical drive on a 600W and thats overkill. I could easily run this rig on a good 450W/500W PSU. (600W gives me enough breathing for my next build in about 1.5-2 years time)