RAM, OP, POS, and Cooling questions on a first build.

[BossChase]

Hi guys

My goal is to have a top of the line gaming pc. I have a spending budget of 5000.00 USD that I can put into the box. I would like to have enough left over to get a good monitor but I can use the one I have for a while so I can go all the way up to 5k on just the pc.

As for an OP I'm up in the air I read if you have more than 3gb of ram you need Vista Ultimate 64bit but i'v had some people that i've asked disagree. What's your opinion on the best OP for a gaming system?

I'm gathering a parts list for a high end gaming system that I plan on having ready by December. This is my first build and I have gotten mixed messages when it comes to getting ram ddr2 or ddr3. What are the pro's and con's of ddr2 and ddr3?


Here's what i have so far but you can see i'm still up in the air on the RAM. I'm really trying to get the best of the best. Do you have any recommendation for better parts?

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Motherbord: Newegg.com - ASUS Rampage Extreme LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Graphics Card: Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Ram: Newegg.com - OCZ Vista Upgrade 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Quad kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
Hard Drive: Newegg.com - Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
Hard Drive: Newegg.com - Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
POS: Newegg.com - ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ1100 1100W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 115 - 230V ± 10% tolerance TUV, UL, CE, CB, FCC, Semko, Nemko, Demko, Fimko - Power Supplies
Disk Drive: Newegg.com - PLEXTOR Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 20X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners
Case: Newegg.com - Antec Twelve Hundred Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases



I have no idea what kind of power supply or cooling system I need I have 3 USB Hard drives that I like to have plugged in and running and with my current system when I plug in the 3rd USB drive my USB modem drops my connection. So I want enough power to cover me. I've been told my POS listed above is unnecessary what do you think?

As for cooling I've read that the graphics card gets really hot. What kind of cooling setup do I need? I don't really know if I need fans for each part or ask long as I have good air flow i'm good.

I just want to get the best of the best.

Thanks so much for all the advice.

 

[spigen]

Well the Rampage Extreme is DDR3. So shouldn't you get DDR3 ram? Or can it run both ddr2 and ddr3?

Also if you have the money to spend why don't you get 2 4870x2 cards in crossfire?

Secondly if I had the money to spend like 5000 thousand dollars I might get a nice Lian Li case. Like there special edition ati spider case is pretty sick.

Third you should go water cooling if you have the money. I've read that the new Ati graphic cards get hot. So a water block for them would do wonders and I've seen some on some websites, but there not cheap.

Lastly you should be able to build a top end gaming rig + a dope *** 50 inch LCD screen for under 5000 thousand dollars. 5000 thousand dollars is a ton of money to spend of a self build gaming pc.

-Oh yeah by the way.... if I wanted to try and spend 5000 thousand dollars why don't you just get a skulltrail board with two extreme processors, 2 ati hd4870 x2, 1200 psu, some high dollar ddr3 ram, nice case, and some water cooling.

-or wait for the new line up coming out soon

 

[Spit-wad]

if you have 5k to spend, why wouldn't u drop a grand on an extreme processor?

 

[Redmo0n]

Ok i always have fun reading these types of builds.

Where the **** do you get 5k for a computer? It's absolutely ridiculous. If i had 5k i wouldn't spend near that amount on a pc. Computers usually go out of date after around 3-5years so 5k would end up in the trash.

If you do have that much money to spend, wait until the new line of processors come out which is in late September to November i believe. Then you will have a really powerful computer that can do anything. At the moment spending more than $2000 - $3000 on a computer would be insane and you would just end up throwing things in that you wouldn't need.

How some people have so much money to spend baffles me.

 

[BossChase]

What kinda of parts should I be waiting for in September?

I didn't just wake up one day and say i'm going to blow 5G's on a pc today. I've been saving up $200.00 from every check for a while now plus I have a birthday and Christmas coming up in December. It helps when you don't have kids and yet still have no social life lol

I would really like to know more about what all the different components do. Are there any books I could get that would be readable? I'm going to spend alot of time on the forums so I should beable to find some good info before December when I plan to order the parts.

This is my first build but I didnt think 5G's was to much to spend if you wanted to best system. Go to dell, gateway, hp, or anyone for that matter and max out there top system... You wont find one less that 5K

I had no idea it saved SO MUCH money buy building your own!!!

 

[wafflehammer]

yea just wait for nehalem...put $1500-2000 into it and you'll be set. anything after that is a waste...you won't see much/any at all of a performance upgrade :|

 

[Redmo0n]

Go to dell, gateway, hp, or anyone for that matter and max out there top system... You wont find one less that 5K

Thats because they want to make a lot of money and overcharge you as much a possible for parts that aren't worth their price tag. I really hate companies that fool people into spending huge amounts on computers and don't even give them half there worth.

New chips should be 20-30% faster so you will see a increase.