Thoughts on (Possible) set up.

[spigen]

Well I'm finally deciding to build a new computer. I've read up on several parts and done plently of research.
CPU:
-Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4G (over clock to 3.0G or higher)

Video Card:
-very difficult decision. between these two
-XFX Nvidia Geforce 9800 GX2 1 Gig (single for know, but when prices drop later on, possible upgrade to quad SLI)
-or
-dual XFX Nvidia Geforce 9800 GTX 512MB

-And then there is those new GTX 280 and 260s. The 280 are too much $$$. but what about a 260?
Motherboard:
-XFX Nvidia nForce 790i (DDR3)
-or
-eVGA 780i (DDR2)

Hard drives:
- Western Digital Raptor X 150 Gig 10,000 RPM
- Western Digital Caviar I TB 7,200 RPM

Case:
-2 choices
-Antec 900
-Ultra ATX black

Power supply:
-Ultra X3 1,000 Watt.

CPU Fan:
-Ultra Thermal Electric cooler (keep the over clock nice and cool)

Memory:
-2x1 DDR3
-or
-a bunch or DDR2 memory

Sound Card:
-Asus Xonar D2 Ultra 7.1 DTS

Extra:
-daul layer burner, Ultra media drive.

This set up is around 2,000 bucks. I would love to hear some thoughts on the products, or possible other directions to go with the build. Thanks

 

[QuadCore88]

Add more RAM, Vista Ultimate, for a nice setup.

Are you planning on water-cooling that rig?

 

[Luke]

^no ultimate, if you want vista get hp 64bit. also he said he's getting thermal elctric cooler
drop the thermal electric cooler and get a true if you wana spend more or a rifle.

get a p5q
4870
drop the rapto and get either a wd 640gb or a seagate 7200.11 500gb
no no no on the psu, get a 650tx from buy.com
if you were willing to pay that much for ddr3 get 4gb crucial tracers
never even heard of that sound card

 

[spigen]

^no ultimate, if you want vista get hp 64bit. also he said he's getting thermal elctric cooler
drop the thermal electric cooler and get a true if you wana spend more or a rifle.

get a p5q
4870
drop the rapto and get either a wd 640gb or a seagate 7200.11 500gb
no no no on the psu, get a 650tx from buy.com
if you were willing to pay that much for ddr3 get 4gb crucial tracers
never even heard of that sound card

-Get a True? OR a Rifle?
-Why do you suggest Asus over Nvidia
-I read that modular power supplies are better.
-im not willing to pay that much for DDR3. lol 2 Gigs of DDR3 is like 200 bucks, but I can get some really nice DDR2 4-8 Gigs for the same price.
-not really worried to much about the sound card yet.
-why drop the raptor...isn't speed better to run the os and games.

-I already have a copy of Windows XP Pro, Media Center, and Vista ultimate. I'm back to xp because vista used like 95% of my processor and memory. back on xp it uses like 5%, crazy.

 

[zedman3d]

-Why do you suggest Asus over Nvidia

Nvidia actually creates the video cards along with ATI. Brands like XFX, ASUS etc just put their own cooling, stickers etc on them.

If your asking with ATI over NVIDIA, its because while NVIDIA currently has the fastest card out, their pricing is abit harsh on people like you. We recommended the 4 series from ATI as it beats the 260GTX and comes very close to the 280GTX for no where near the price.

 

[spigen]

Add more RAM, Vista Ultimate, for a nice setup.

Are you planning on water-cooling that rig?

-No water cooling seems a little difficult to set up, plus the cases im looking into are meant for fans...antec 900.

-Ram all depends of the motherboard I get.

-The 780i uses DDR2 so I could get anywhere from 4 to 8 Gigs for a good price.

-While if I get a 790i i could only get 2 gigs for DDR3, but I would be able to upgrade in the future....and already have a motherboard that can use future ram.

 

[spigen]

Nvidia actually creates the video cards along with ATI. Brands like XFX, ASUS etc just put their own cooling, stickers etc on them.

If your asking with ATI over NVIDIA, its because while NVIDIA currently has the fastest card out, their pricing is abit harsh on people like you. We recommended the 4 series from ATI as it beats the 260GTX and comes very close to the 280GTX for no where near the price.

Well looking at the motherboards, XFX and eVGA, etc.. all look the same, unlike the Asus and Intel. Thought they might be different.

-I've heard that ATI and AMD products are currently the fastest becuase of Direct x10.1 update, but the power consumption or Watts used for there parts are REALLY high compared the Nvidia cards.

 

[Luke]

-Get a True? OR a Rifle?
-Why do you suggest Asus over Nvidia
-I read that modular power supplies are better.
-im not willing to pay that much for DDR3. lol 2 Gigs of DDR3 is like 200 bucks, but I can get some really nice DDR2 4-8 Gigs for the same price.
-not really worried to much about the sound card yet.
-why drop the raptor...isn't speed better to run the os and games.

-I already have a copy of Windows XP Pro, Media Center, and Vista ultimate. I'm back to xp because vista used like 95% of my processor and memory. back on xp it uses like 5%, crazy.

they are heatsinks the xigmatek rifle and the thermalright ultra 120 extreme. If it was my build i would get a rifle.

Because if you are getting an ati card then whats the point of getting an nvidea chipset (the 4870 will perform better then a 9800gx2, 9800gtx, 9800gtx+, and 260. and is cheaper

They are not any better then non modular (except for wire management, and if you want modular get a 620hx), they are just with detachable cables.

ddr3 ram is barely faster then ddr3 800, to see much increase it is with 1600 and up* and over 4gigs of ram is a waste as the performance boost is not noticeable, even 4gb over 2 isn't much.

The hdd's i listed are just as fast as a raptor (won't be able to tell the difference)

Thats good, and id stick with xp.

 

[QuadCore88]

I haven't heard anything about OS's yet. Vista is amazing. I personally spent money upgrading Vista to Ultimate because it runs so nicely and it's really fast. I highly recommend Vista since XP is too Fisher-Price with the blue toolbars.

 

[Luke]

^vista also cuts down on performance.