Be Honest..

koviktir

koviktir

New Member
Is there ultimately anything wrong with my current build? I've had it as my signature for a while, here, as a display of what I will have, but frankly, I want to know if there's anything you guys can see wrong with it? Now, I can only imagine that this sounds more like a "Hey, my computer's gonna own your computer's face" kind of post, but I promise, I'm genuinely looking for any suggestions.

I've been looking at multiple possible options, in terms of Motherboard/RAM/GPU combo's, but as far as I can tell, I definitely plan on going with the Q9450 (unless someone can show fact at a better CPU for the price range)

In case anyone was wondering; yes, I looked into building an AMD/ATI build.. but unfortunately couldn't find a combination I was happy enough with, to be worth the 4870 x2 Crossfire'd. Not that anyone could POSSIBLY need that much GPU power, but I like to future-proof to somewhat of a degree: prepare myself for the computer demands a couple of years down the road.

Case:COOLER MASTER RC-690 w/5 120mm Fans
Motherboard:ASUS Maximus II Formula LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX
CPU:Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 (will probably get this overclocked to 3.3ghz or higher, with the cooling setups I'll be pulling)
CPU Fan:ZALMAN CNPS9500
RAM:16GB OCZ Vista Upgrade Kit (4x4GB) PC2-6400 800MHz
PSU:COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro1000
GPU:EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ Superclocked Edition - 512MBx2 SLI'D
Hard Drive:250GB Seagate Barracuda - 7200RPMx2 (500GB)
Hard Drive 2:1TB Seagate Barracuda - 7200RPMx2 (2TB)
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Monitor: Acer P243WAid Black-Silver 24" 2ms Widescreen LCD

So there's the build. I was torn, at one point, between going with 8GB of 2000MHz DDR3 RAM and an EVGA nVidia 790i motherboard, but for the 8GB, I'm paying TWICE what I would for 16GB of 800MHz DDR2. I personally feel like the DDR2 is more stable, and will require less overclocking and tweaking, than getting the DDR3 to ACTUALLY be stable at 2000MHz would. Plus, I feel like to solve my quarrels with Vista, I'll run virtual XP, as well, and devote 4-8GB to that, anyway. I'm PRETTY sure that's doable; not an expert on Virtual Boxing. :rolleyes: (waits for someone to make a joke on that one)

So, in all seriousness, guys. I'm asking if there's anything you think could be different about this $3000 build. :confused:
 
Its just so overkill,why on earth you would need 16Gb of ram :D,also 9800 GTX+ x2 SLI'D is overkill.

one 9800GTX alone will be able to handle pretty much anything you throw at it.

with the money you save on say,getting just 4gb of ram,1x 9800GTX you could put it towards a future upgrade.
 
That's true.. but trust me; I can use the memory. It's only about $400 for the 16GB of RAM (not that I'm not having trouble finding a site with the RAM in STOCK. Heck, I'm even willing to pay extra shipping, just to find the stupid thing; I've considered overseas, but it's not fast enough), vs about $150 for 4GB, plus, I run ProTools, Adobe CS3, and maximize very commonly run multiple applications/games at once. I suppose I could stick with one GPU, though. At least, for now. Don't see anything wrong with it, other than that, do you?

Plus, we'll say that money's not a HUGE problem; I'm just not a huge fan of spending more than even $3000 on a computer, that no matter how powerful I make it, will be obsolete in a few years. Even a $10,000 computer's only going to be beyond powerful until 2012. :P
 
You're right in that being a better option. Yeah, it's a little more pricey than two 9800GTX+'s, but it's got more power than those two could ever dream. Wouldn't even need to Crossfire those, and by the time that I did, I'd be needing to upgrade to an entirely new computer, anyway. It would certainly be worth the difference.

I kinda turned away from an x2 just because I didn't want to worry about finding a Crossfire board, but heck; who needs crossfire, with the 2GB of vRAM? >.<

Might look into that more, man. Guess it was nice for someone else to suggest it, rather than me just attempting to imagine the sheer power differences. o_O
 
I kinda turned away from an x2 just because I didn't want to worry about finding a Crossfire board, but heck; who needs crossfire, with the 2GB of vRAM? >.<
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You don't need a crossfire board for 4870X2; you'll only need a crossfire board when joining up two separate cards, but 4870x2 is a dual-GPU single-card solution. Even if you're not going to get it, a single 4870 will soundly beat the 9800GTX, and AFAIK offers better performance for the value.
 
hackapelite said:
You don't need a crossfire board for 4870X2; you'll only need a crossfire board when joining up two separate cards, but 4870x2 is a dual-GPU single-card solution. Even if you're not going to get it, a single 4870 will soundly beat the 9800GTX, and AFAIK offers better performance for the value.
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Actually, I was more-so referring to potentially running two 4870 x2's in Crossfire. The 4780 x2's are beyond powerful, but I still wouldn't mind running two of them, for the sheer ability to run what will be coming, in the next few years. Crisis may be the current game to beat (not that everyone NEEDS to run it at max settings), but even one 4870 x2 only pumps about 20-30 FPS on max: if that.

Trust me, too. If I could have found an AMD board capable of using the Q9550 AND 16GB of RAM, with Crossfire capabilities, I'd probably be going with that. If anyone can find one on NewEgg/Tiger/etc let me know. Might end up switching boards once again. Though, it'd be nice if Crossfire were capable of dual 16x PCI-E, but nooo: has to be dual 8x PCI-E.
 
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I'm glad to see you chose OCZ for your ram but 16GB is just ridiculous.

Nothing that you mentioned in your above post will need more than 4GB.

You could easily save 1000.00 dollars on that build by making some simple, yet effective changes.

p.s.

The rig in my signature destroys all games I have played...including giving Crysis the proper treatment...and it, with a monitor, keyboard and mouse was over 1000.00 less than what you have proposed.

just my thoughts.
 
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I totally forgot to mention the fact that I run CAD, as well. CAD demands a LOT out of a computer, as does ProTools, when you need to devote several buddy-programs some RAM too, with my setup. Plus, with RAM devoted to a virtual machine/dual boot, it doesn't hurt to have it. I could tolerate 8GB total of RAM for this build, but no less. :\

Plus that, evidently, I've been saying Q9450, when the Q9550 is what I'm ACTUALLY going with. Evidently, my signature is incorrect. Whoops.
 
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koviktir said:
I totally forgot to mention the fact that I run CAD, as well. Plus, with RAM devoted to a virtual machine/dual boot, it doesn't hurt to have it. I could tolerate 8GB total of RAM for this build, but no less. :\
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Ultimately it is up to you but I utilize all those programs too..

I do blueprints and designs for work and 4gb is plenty good.

but, to each their own--if you have money to burn, I'm not gonna stop yeh....
 
Firstly, just to say - your post isn't an in-your-face-my-computers-better-than-yours-post to me. If you see the PC in my signature, you know what I mean. 4870X2 owns - good ATi card (finally, not meaning to insult anyone!) Should even play Crysis on 1440x900 (maybe 1680x1050, and probably more if shaders turned down) at Very High, no problems. 2GB vRAM too. Now enough of that.

I still do not see how you could ever use 16GB of RAM. I have 8GB, and am using Autodesk 3DS Max 2009 (1.5-3GB), Adobe After Effects CS3 (1.5-2.5GB), Vista (1-1.5GB) and VideoStudio (250MB-1GB - and yes, I know its not great, but combined with After Effects, it does what I need). I barely even use 7GB, even with all those applications running together (I make fan vids using 3DS meshes - 3D - and add some stuff in by editing in After Effects, then compile into VideoStudio). My processor runs at like 15-25% idle here, but exporting can only use one app at a time.

Seem to have gone a bit off topic here, so now back on. With regards to your last post, you cannot get AMD boards with XFire that support Intel CPU's. Why would AMD support the competitions products? I think they did for a time, but I can't find any of those boards any more. They want you all AMD/ATi or they don't want you at all (because you can't stop someone using a single nVidia card - it just works).

Really, you could just stick a GTX280 2GB OC'ed Edition in there, maybe even in SLi (supports 3 way! 6GB vRAM!) I know I'm running GTX280's, but I'm not an nVidia/Intel fanboy - I have AMD/ATi PC's too. They're about £300~, so about $500 maybe? If you sold the 9800GTX's, you could probably get most of that from them.

As scooter says, if you have money to burn, go for it. But you can't really NEED that much.

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EDIT: Yay! My Gold Member post!
 
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Well no, I know I can't truly NEED that much RAM, but it doesn't hurt to have. I'd be looking at about $200 range for 8GB of RAM, or about $380 for 16GB. Truth be told, that's only $180 more, so what could possibly be wrong with that? Of course, my only potential issue is that I know of there being issues installing an OS, with a 4GB stick in the motherboard. At least, I know Vista has this issue.

Plus, wouldn't THREE 280's be more expensive than TWO 4870's? I know there's quite a noticeable improvement when doing so, but c'mon: three cards is BOUND to outpower two; even if the two are running in a more efficient communication system (I love nVidia, by the way, but I can't deny that Crossfire's more efficient than SLI)

I dunno though, maybe I'll see what I can take down, and put somewhere else. I suppose I could certainly go with a CPU more in the lines of yours, azwebs.

Granted, I dunno if I feel like making a $700 adjustment for a CPU; maybe I could just go with a Q9650 and just migrate the $200 difference from RAM, to the CPU?
 
koviktir said:
Well no, I know I can't truly NEED that much RAM, but it doesn't hurt to have. I'd be looking at about $200 range for 8GB of RAM, or about $380 for 16GB. Truth be told, that's only $180 more, so what could possibly be wrong with that?
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It's not that its wrong or right...it's quite simply, flat out a gross waste of money!! To be quite blunt!--its a pointless move and a big waste...but..thats my opinion..

koviktir said:
.. but c'mon: three cards is BOUND to outpower two;
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No,....don't assume that!
 
Thats probably a better idea. You're much more likely to use the processing power than that amount of RAM. You're probably also correct about my processor. It's still $1020~ on Newegg - when I got it, it was more like $2000. Good power and speed though. The Q9450 is probably a better choice, and you can OC it anyway.
 
Now, how might you guys feel about this, instead?

ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz
8GB of OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Then maybe eventually SLI two EVGA GeForce GTX 280 FTW Edition 1GB's? (Hopefully that's doable, anyway, with a 1KW PSU >.<)

Though, I worry if I could actually mount the ZALMAN on the Rampage.. anyone know?

I might go with OCZ Platinum instead, though.. and get an actual RAM cooler. Opinions on that one?

That more along the lines of what you guys'd rather see me get? :)
 
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You might want a CPU fan - I got a Freezer 7 Pro. Only about $10.

Instead of getting GTX280 FTW's, why not get XFX GTX280 XXX 1GB OC'ed Editions? Check out the reviews compared to 4870X2 XFire. More info about it here.

Personally, its up to you what you get, we're only trying to help you along.
 
Actually, I was more-so referring to potentially running two 4870 x2's in Crossfire. The 4780 x2's are beyond powerful, but I still wouldn't mind running two of them, for the sheer ability to run what will be coming, in the next few years. Crisis may be the current game to beat (not that everyone NEEDS to run it at max settings), but even one 4870 x2 only pumps about 20-30 FPS on max: if that.
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Oh, kewl ;)

Trust me, too. If I could have found an AMD board capable of using the Q9550 AND 16GB of RAM, with Crossfire capabilities, I'd probably be going with that. If anyone can find one on NewEgg/Tiger/etc let me know. Might end up switching boards once again. Though, it'd be nice if Crossfire were capable of dual 16x PCI-E, but nooo: has to be dual 8x PCI-E.
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It sounds as if you were under the impression that you should go with AMD+ATI or NVIDIA+Intel, but not mix. This is not true; you can get a mobo that supports CrossFire and takes Intel CPUs, as a matter of fact Intel+ATI setup is a norm among heaps of gamers as the 4-series totally owned. As I said, there are heaps of CrossFire boards that take Intel CPUs out there, that should be nothing to worry about.
 
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