Planned New Rig

[Kisskerven]

Its still only a dream on the hazy eyes of the awaking dreamer- however it IS becoming more of a reality, here are the planned parts... tell me what you think.

*note* this is NOT an intel. AMD haters leave now. Please.

AMD Phenom 9700, 2.4Ghz, 2+2mb l2,l3 cache quad core
Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP Motherboard (am2+)
Seagate Barracuda 500 GB sata 3.0gb/sec 32mb cache HDD x2
*unsure if going to run in Raid or not*
mushkin Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 Dual Channel x2 (4gb)
---------unless it would be better to get some 800 and OC it---------
and i was thinkin of something like quad crossfire .. maybe.. but it couldnt be with the larger cards- since it would block one of the PCI 2.0 slots....
Graphics cards need recommended please.
(and no 8800gt- Iam going to at least crossfire since it supports the newer crossfirex)

not sure how much power thats going to need though for a PSU- at least 600 with high 12v rails Iam sure but yea.. its still being processed... help and input would be great.

Question- would it be better to just run 2 higher ranked GPU in normal crossfirex then in quadfire? (cant fit 4 "double" thick cards without blockin 1 of the Pci 2.0 slots ><)


Note* there is no price limit on this- it is a dream- when funds and parts become available THEN there will be discussion of prices.

I intentionally left out case, cdrom, moni and the rest due to the fact... there more preference then anything. and yes I will be getting some kind of aftermarket cooler for the CPU (and maybe GPUs)

 

[Invisible]

if your getting 2 identical hdd, definatly get a RAID compatible mobo
get this for phenom
Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU Cooler for AMD AM2, Intel LGA775
i'm not quite an expert on these new ATI cards
but definatly dont go quad CF with bad cards
go regular CF with high end
i assume your not keeping your 15'' CRT
i recommend this
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1(DC 3000:1) - Retail

 

[Nagasama]

depending on the cost of the asus, it may be more it may be less...is it for sale anywhere yet? newegg has this one for 180 bones:
Newegg.com - MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

depending on overclocking abilty i would (will) probably go with the 9500. it consumes less power and will (should lol) overclock as well as the 9700.
the specs are all the same, unlike my 3600 and say, apok's 6000 (cache difference). so, in effect, the 9500 clocked to 9700 speed should be EXACTLY the same. the 9700 would be more for folks who dont want to OC.

i agree with invisible about 2 great cards vs. four so-so cards.
the 3870's are pretty tight and they are cheap as well. like 220. and they are FAST.

even though i am a huge AMD fan (we all know this heh), prices are going to have to be pretty cheap for me to buy even the 9500 if it can't out-do a q6600 (overclocking it probably will NOT). not that i would buy a q6600 in any event...but the cost will be a deciding factor for me. ie if the prices don't out-do price/performance from the intel quads i will wait until they drop. which they will at release of penryn probably.