New Custom INTEL System Build

[midleman81]

I'm not 100% sure if this thread should be in this specific location or not. It does pertain to Intel motherboards so I hope it is OK here.

I'm looking to do a new build but I have hit some walls when it comes to certain topics. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. If possible, please try to narrow down my selections to maybe 2 or 3 choices instead of the MANY that I have now in certain areas. Thanks!

The definites are as follows; COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evo Case, Raptor hard drives in RAID 0, HT OMEGA CLARO Plus+ and the Q9450 CPU.

This system is going to be used primarily as a music, movie, high fidelity setup with my 42" 1080P LCD HDTV and my main 28" monitor. I also do a lot of DVD/DIVX video/music editing, encoding, decoding and creation. Blu-Ray, Windows Media, music listening, virus software running in the background and multiple window internet surfing all at the same time. This is part of the reason why I chose the HT OMEGA CLARO Plus+ sound card. I know it's not really for gaming. I just want crystal clear sound and good base out of my Z-5500 speaker system. However, if anyone thinks I should switch this card out for something else since I do play Crysis then please let me know. I also want to make sure that everything is pretty up to date so I won't have to worry about changing out major components at a later date which is why I went with the X48 or the 780i, as you will notice. I chose the Q9450 as opposed to an E8xxx b/c I do a lot of multi-tasking. However, I do play PC games as well. Not too often at all and I primarily only play one game. Of course, the game I do play is Crysis, as mentioned. So please keep all of this in mind. ONE LAST NOTE: I DO NOT DO ANY OC'ING! I know this is a lot to take in so I just wanted to say Thanks in Advance!


MOTHERBOARD: P35, X38/X48 or 780i SLI???

1) ABIT IX38 Quad GT LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard

2) GIGABYTE GA-EX38-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard

3) GIGABYTE GA-EX38T-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard

4) ASUS P5E3 WS PRO LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard

5) ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard 6) GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard

7) ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard

8) MSI X48 Platinum LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard

9) EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

10) ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard


CPU HEATSINK:

1) COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-LB12-GP 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler

2) ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

3) Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler

4) Scythe SCINF-1000 120mm CPU Cooler

5) ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

6) ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler

7) XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler


PSU:

1) CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply

2) CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick

3) SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM ATX12V / EPS12V 700W Power Supply

4) SeaSonic M12 SS-500HM ATX12V / EPS12V 500W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC

5) SILVERSTONE DA700 ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V 700W Power Supply

6) SeaSonic M12 SS-500HM ATX12V / EPS12V 500W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC


RAM: DDR2 800, 1000 or 1066??? Maybe even DDR3 or OTHER?

Corsair
Mushkin
OCZ
G. Skill


VIDEO CARD: ATI CF or NVIDIA SLI??? Please keep in mind what I will be using this system for.

ATI: I will eventually CF if I go this route.

1) SAPPHIRE Toxic 100225TXSR Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

2) ASUS EAH3870X2/G/HTDI/1G Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB (512MB x 2) 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

3) ASUS EAH3870X2/G/3DHTI/1G Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

NVIDIA: I will eventually SLI if I go this route.

1) EVGA 512-P3-N845-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

2) EVGA 768-P2-N882-AR GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card (This card might be out of my price range b/c it costs $500. All other cards listed are $400 and under. Did not want to spend more than $400 for a card. Besides the fact that I know the HD 3870 X2 gives this thing a run for its money!)

3) BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXOCE GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

4) XFX PVT80FSHE9 GeForce 8800GTX Extreme 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

5) XFX PVT88GYDF4 GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

6) XFX PVT88GYDD4 GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

 

[chupacabra]

What's your budget?

 

[computeruler]

MOTHERBOARD: P35, X38/X48 or 780i SLI???

9) EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU HEATSINK:

2) ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

3) Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler

5) ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

PSU:

1) CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply

2) CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick

3) SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM ATX12V / EPS12V 700W Power Supply

4) SeaSonic M12 SS-500HM ATX12V / EPS12V 500W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC

5) SILVERSTONE DA700 ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V 700W Power Supply

6) SeaSonic M12 SS-500HM ATX12V / EPS12V 500W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC


RAM: DDR2 800, 1000 or 1066??? Maybe even DDR3 or OTHER?

Corsair
Mushkin
OCZ
G. Skill


VIDEO CARD: ATI CF or NVIDIA SLI??? Please keep in mind what I will be using this system for.

NVIDIA: I will eventually SLI if I go this route.

1) EVGA 512-P3-N845-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
__________________

 

[oscaryu1]

1. 2
2. 2
3. OCZ GameXStream 700W
4. Corsair DDR2-800 preferably CL4
5. Single 9800 x2

 

[computeruler]

9800gx2s are a waste unless you have the $$

 

[oscaryu1]

9800gx2s are a waste unless you have the $$

If he's planning on SLi/CrossFiring 8800's and 3870's, then I'm pretty sure he has enough cash.

 

[midleman81]

What's your budget?

About $2500

 

[midleman81]

I'm kinda leaning towards the CF route b/c the new 4870's look like they are going to kill the competition. I would love to get my hands on one of those cards when they are available. So maybe CF two 3870's for now and get one 4870 when it's released. Decisions Decisions.... Or maybe I should just do one 3870x2 for now. Any suggestions? Two 3870's in CF or one 3870x2?

 

[midleman81]

9800gx2s are a waste unless you have the $$

I think they are a waste regardless.

 

[royalmarine]

I think they are a waste regardless.

you would'nt be saying that if you had one.
your sig says you have
EVGA e-GeForce 512MB 7950 GT KO Superclocked Video Card x2

 

[midleman81]

you would'nt be saying that if you had one.
your sig says you have
EVGA e-GeForce 512MB 7950 GT KO Superclocked Video Card x2

Yes, that is my current system setup but I am in the process of a new build and I have friends who have the 9800GX2's and they don't see much improvement from an 8800GTS (G92). At least not enough to warrant the extra $250+ markup on them.

 

[computeruler]

you would'nt be saying that if you had one.

you would be saying that if you had 2 identical systems and one had a 9800gx2 and the other had 2 8800gts's

 

[oscaryu1]

you would be saying that if you had 2 identical systems and one had a 9800gx2 and the other had 2 8800gts's

GTS 320/640's or G92?

 

[computeruler]

all of um